 | | Dale Earnhardt won three all-star races, but none more memorable than his first. Credit: ASP |
Official Release May 19, 2006 08:14 AM EDT (12:14 GMT)
Dale Earnhardt's "Pass in the Grass" of Bill Elliott in 1987 stands alone in the media's mind as the best moment in 22 years of all-star racing. Executed in the infield along Lowe's Motor Speedway's frontstretch, it gave Earnhardt the first of three all-star victories. Each of the 10 all-star moments received 10 points for first place, nine points for second place, eight points for third place, seven points for fourth place, six points for fifth place, five points for sixth place, four points for seventh place, three points for eighth place, two points for ninth place and one point for 10th. A total of 56 votes were cast. Earnhardt's "Pass in the Grass" received 489 points and 20 first-place votes -- only 10 more points than the second-place moment: Davey Allison's victory in the 1992 all-star event, where he, Kyle Petty and Earnhardt battled on the final lap for the win. Earnhardt spun coming off Turn 3; Petty and Allison continued to duel as Allison ducked under Petty for the victory. Contact between the two cars sent Allison's into an LMS wall, and the driver to the hospital instead of Victory Lane. Third place: Rusty Wallace's spin of Darrell Waltrip during the final two laps of the 1989 event. Wallace won, drawing both fans' and Waltrip's ire. This moment received 406 points and three first-place votes. Fourth place: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2000 victory. It received 283 points and four first-place votes. Fifth place: Michael Waltrip's 1996 all-star victory. He made the field by finishing fifth in the qualifying event prior to the all-star race. At that time, the top-five finishers in the qualifying race qualified for the all-star race. Waltrip, the final qualifier, went on to win the all-star event. This moment received 272 points and one first-place vote. Sixth place: Darrell Waltrip's victory in the inaugural all-star event in 1985. Seventh place: Jeff Gordon's 1997 victory in "T-Rex," a specially engineered car that also sported a dinosaur-embellished paint scheme. NASCAR requested T-Rex's retirement following the event. Eighth place -- Geoffrey Bodine's 1994 win. Bodine had purchased the equipment of the late Alan Kulwicki's race team. Following his all-star victory, he drove a Polish (counter-race) victory lap in tribute to the 1992 series champion, who was killed in an April 1, 1993 plane crash. Ninth place -- Mark Martin's 1998 victory, his first of two, to-date, all-star victories. Martin beat Jeff Gordon, who ran out of gas on the final lap. 10th place -- Dale Earnhardt's 1990 victory; he led all 70 laps en route to his second all-star win. |