25 Years Ago This Week, "One Tough Customer" Silenced DW, Wrecked with Timmy and Beat "Handsome Harry" at CMS Enroute to 1986 Championship
General
From a recent Tom Higgins column and well worth the read. As Tom says, I can't believe this was 25 years ago this week. When racing was racing, when Dale & Timmy scrapped,when Geofflearned not to get in Earnhardt's way and when DW was finally shut up!
Richard Childress stands in front of a bronze sculpture depicting the team owner and Dale Earnhardt at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2003. Behind Childress is a 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo resembling those Earnhardt drove. Associated Press file
Earnhardt's rally at Charlotte among keys in '86 title run
TOM HIGGINS SCUFFS
By Tom Higgins - ThatsRacin.com Contributor
Thursday, Sep. 29, 2011
Second in a four-part series on notable fall races at Charlotte Motor Speedway leading to the tracks Bank of America 500 on Oct. 15.
It was classic Dale Earnhardt.
He lost two laps early because of cut tires, but quickly made up the deficit, thanks to an all-out charge and opportune caution flags.
Surely, such a close call would have sobered most drivers, and led to a bit of conservatism the rest of the way.
Not Earnhardt.
He later wildly, recklessly sped into a near costly accident while having fun racing Tim Richmond.
All this happened in the Oakwood Homes 500 on Oct. 5, 1986, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
That Cup race remains strong in memory. Its difficult to believe that it unfolded 25 years ago before a crowd estimated at 112,000. And its even harder to believe that Earnhardt rallied to win.
At that time Earnhardt was the embodiment of his sponsors slogan, One Tough Customer. That backer of Earnhardt and his Richard Childress Racing team was Wrangler , the jeans-maker.
Tough, yes, but also at age 34 a man with a bit of boy-like mischief and sense of adventure.
And these almost cost him, Earnhardt conceded.
The incident took place on the 193rd of 334 laps at the 1.5-mile track.
Earnhardt and Richmond a pal off the track but a fierce rival on the speedway were racing at close quarters for the lead. Geoff Bodine and Neil Bonnett followed closely.
The quartets battle had the fans standing and screaming in excitement.
I got caught up in the action, Earnhardt admitted after securing a thrilling victory.
Me and Tim were having fun, and it could have cost me the race. I went into a turn too hard and almost wrecked. It shook me to my senses.
The slight contact with the wall caused Earnhardt to fall a second behind Richmond.
I almost tore the bleep out of my car, Earnhardt said. My heart was in my throat. I mean, it really got my attention.
Earnhardt got back to business and began pursuit of Richmond and another strong contender, Harry Gant.
The chances of a shootout between the mercurial Richmond and Earnhardt misfired on Lap 266 when the engine failed in Richmonds Chevy.
As the race rolled on, only Gant and Earnhardt were on the lead lap. Earnhardt swept to the front on the 297th lap and was ahead the rest of the way.
The triumph gave him a 159-point lead over Darrell Waltrip toward a second Cup championship with three races remaining in he 86 season.
Waltrip had been engaging in what he called psychological warfare in their battle.
At one point, Waltrip suggested this mind stuff might not do any good, because Dale and his boys cant read.
Shot back Earnhardt, I can read. See Darrell run his mouth. See Darrell fall.
In the press box at Charlotte after the race, Earnhardt grinned. Darrell will still have something to say, I dont think this will silence him."
Last weekend at North Wilkesboro he said he saw me talking to myself in the car. Well, I imagine he was talking to a lot of people today (in finishing ninth, two laps behind).
Come to think of it, I dont want him silenced. Itll make the remaining three races more enjoyable to see what he has to say.
Earnhardt was destined to claim the title by 288 points over the second-place Waltrip.
He considered the rally from two laps down at Charlotte a key development in his title run.
That victory gave Earnhardt a weekend sweep at the Charlotte speedway, which he considered his home track. Hed won a 300-miler in what now is the Nationwide Series a day earlier.
It also gave him a Cup sweep at Charlotte that season. He had won the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25.
That put Earnhardt in elite company. At that time only four other drivers had won Charlottes two major events in the same season Fred Lorenzen in 1965, Bobby Allison in 71, David Pearson in 74 and Richard Petty in 1975.
It was obvious the accomplishment had deeply touched Earnhardt.
Records like this mean a lot to me, said the eventual seven-time champion, who was to lose his life in a Daytona 500 crash in 2001. This is because I know how much they would mean to my daddy (the late Ralph Earnhardt, a NASCAR national Sportsman Division champion who died of a heart attack in 1973). "Ive patterned my racing style after his.
I wish he could have been here today in body, not just in mind and spirit.
Read more: http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/09/29/75006/earnhardts-rally-at-charlotte.html#ixzz1Zq28LK00
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
