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Earnhardt Country: Dale(s) at home at Talladega
By RJ Kraft | Friday, April 23, 2021
NASCAR Creative Design
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The Earnhardts are synonymous with Talladega Superspeedway and racing in the draft. Combined, Dale and Dale Jr. won 16 NASCAR Cup Series races at the high-banked 2.66-mile Alabama track. Earnhardt Sr.'s 10 wins are the most among all drivers, while Dale Jr.'s six wins have him tied for second. Here's a look back at their successes at the biggest track on the NASCAR circuit.
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July 31, 1983: Earnhardt's first NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega marked his last victory driving for Bud Moore behind the wheel of the No. 15 Wrangler Ford. Earnhardt led 41 laps and traded the lead with Darrell Waltrip and Tim Richmond over the closing 30 laps of the race. Earnhardt darted to the inside coming to Turn 3 with Bobby Allison to make a last-lap pass of Waltrip to score the win.
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July 29, 1984: A year later, Earnhardt got his first of 67 wins with NASCAR Hall of Fame car owner Richard Childress. Earnhardt led 40 laps on the day and again needed a last-lap pass -- this time on Terry Labonte -- to take the checkered flag. This time, he went to the high side in Turn 3 to grab the lead on the final circuit.
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May 6, 1990: Earnhardt's next win at Talladega was a dominating performance that saw him lead 107 laps, including the final 22 of the race, for his third Talladega victory. The win marked his first victory at Talladega's spring event. This photo shows his crew celebrating immediately after the race.
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July 29, 1990: If his spring performance at Talladega was viewed as dominant, the summertime performance was blistering. Earnhardt led more than two-thirds of the 188 laps -- 134 to be exact -- to top Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin for the season sweep at the 2.66-mile track. Earnhardt went on to win his fourth championship later that year.
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July 28, 1991: Just as he did in the summer a year earlier, Earnhardt led triple-digit laps -- 101 this time -- in topping Bill Elliott at Talladega. The Intimidator led 47 of the final 57 laps for his fourth summer win at the Alabama track.
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July 25, 1993: Earnhardt's sixth Talladega win was much like his first two, where he led some laps but had to stalk down the lead late in the race. This time, Kyle Petty was his prey as the driver of the No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet took the lead for good with four to go but had to hold off Ernie Irvan in a nail-biting finish.
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May 1, 1994: Earnhardt hunted down Jimmy Spencer late in the race, taking the lead for good with five laps to go. For the second straight Talladega race, Ernie Irvan was second. Earnhardt’s seventh and final championship would come later that season.
Photo by Brian Cleary
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April 25, 1999: Earnhardt's first win since his long-awaited Daytona 500 victory in 1998 came on this date. In a battle of the Dales, Earnhardt held off Dale Jarrett for the victory. Earnhardt took the lead from Jarrett for good with 14 laps to go.
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Oct. 17, 1999: Again, Earnhardt got the better of Dale Jarrett for the victory at Talladega, with one Hall of Famer edging the other by 0.114 seconds. Earnhardt got past Jarrett with four to go for the victory. The 18 laps led by Earnhardt were the fewest for one of his Talladega victories -- and the laps out front came in the race's second half.
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Oct. 15, 2000: Earnhardt's final premier series win saw him edge Kenny Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Jeff Gordon for the victory. This race was the textbook example of Earnhardt's ability to 'see the air' at plate tracks. Earnhardt stunningly drove from 18th to first in the final five laps of the race.
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Oct. 21, 2001: Driving for his dad's company Dale Earnhardt Inc., Dale Jr. would roll off the first of four straight 'Dega wins. Junior led 67 laps and had to hold off Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton for the victory. But it was Bobby Labonte that was the biggest challenger as the 2000 champion held the lead coming to the white flag -- but a big wreck ended Labonte's day and vaulted Junior to the lead.
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April 21, 2002: In a dominating performance that was reminiscent of his dad's win in the summer of 1990, Junior led 133 laps to get the better of Michael Waltrip for the race win. Talladega is known for seeing the lead change hands plenty of times, but on this day, over the final 58 laps, only one other driver -- Dale Jarrett (two laps led) -- was out front.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
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Oct. 6, 2002: This time, Dale Jr. really came on strong late in the race, holding the lead for the final 39 circuits to take the victory over Tony Stewart. The win was his third in a row at Talladega -- a track that serves as his winningest venue in the series.
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April 6, 2003: In a race that saw 43 lead changes, including eight over the final 13 laps, Dale Jr., Matt Kenseth and a host of others battled in the closing laps of this high-speed chess match. With four laps to go, Junior used a big run on the inside to take the point position from that year's eventual champion. Kenseth took the lead back with three to go, but then Junior came back to the lead with two to go and then put on a clinic in holding the lead for his fourth win in a row at 'Dega.
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Oct. 3, 2004: Dale Jr. led 78 laps and had to hold off a host of stars such as Kevin Harvick, Dale Jarrett and Tony Stewart to capture this one. Harvick held the lead with four to go, but Junior made a big run from fourth to the lead with three remaining -- using some drafting help from Ricky Rudd.
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May 3, 2015: Days after what would have been his dad's 64th birthday, Dale Jr. got back to Victory Lane at Talladega for the first in more than 10 years. Junior led 67 laps -- including the final 27 -- of a race where he had to hold off teammate Jimmie Johnson for the victory.
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