The Dale Jr. Download - Becoming Earnhardt Vol. 2 - First Impressions

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

It’s January of 1979, and 28-year-old Dale Earnhardt is ready to embark on the greatest challenge he’s faced in his young career to date: a full season in the NASCAR Cup Series. As the teams and haulers head west to California to kick things off, we zero in on the blue-and-yellow Osterlund Racing No. 2, which Dale will chauffeur for the first time on a road course. After a promising afternoon, his overzealousness gets the best of him, and the Rookie of the Year spotlight is shifted to another promising newcomer.Once the Los Angeles skyline is behind them, the teams and drivers travel back east, this time on a collision course with history. Thanks to the recent split in the American championship car ranks, the motorsports world was ripe for a new leader. NASCAR had just the bill of excitement to make its case to be a household name in entertainment: Daytona Speedweeks. But little did anyone know what the 1979 rendition of the Great American Race had in store for the world, and how a network television deal, a fight, and the return of NASCAR’s King would win over a new generation of stock car fans.Real fans wear Dirty Mo. Hit the link and join the crew.👇shop.dirtymomedia.com/FanDuel: Must be 21+ and present in select states (for Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino) or 18+ and present in D.C. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets, which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call [phone] for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. With open wheel racing going through a national divorce in 1978, its rain as America's top brand of motorsports was in doubt. The timing was perfect for stock cars to come in and capture the hearts and minds of a country that didn't know if it had a stomach for fenders and fisticuffs. Well, NASCAR's 1979 season fed us all we wanted and more. Like NASCAR, 28-year-old rookie Dale Earnhardt was trying to make a name for himself.

Up until that point, people didn't know him as the seven-time champion or one tough customer. Whatever notoriety he had was more for being the son of Ralph Earnhardt. Everything changed in 1979. Not just in how NASCAR became America's favorite motorsport, but in how my dad became the Dale Earnhardt, we'd come to know. I am Dellenhart Jr. And on this episode of Becoming Earnhardt, we open up the family scrapbooks

to begin our race-by-race journey through the 1979 NASCAR season. And my dad's number two, Austerlund Racing Team. Our first stop, California. Well, hello, everyone, from Riverside, California. Barney Hall and Jackie Root and the entire Motor Racing Network crew

ready to bring you the kickoff race of the 1979 Winston Cup Racing season, the Winston Western 500. The Northside International Raceway first opened in 1957, and it was located about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. NASCAR begins competing on the nine-turned 2.6-mile course in 1958. By the early 60s, it's an annual stop on the Grand National Schedule, and the only road course the series would run for decades. An interesting storyline that it developed in the off-season was that the king, Richard Petty, had 40 percent. of his stomach removed due to an ulcer which had actually healed but left problematic scar tissue

that needed to be tended to. They operated on Richard Petty and Bernie, he does look drawn and pale. We went before the race. How is your physical condition? And he said he feels fine, but there is a Petty. David Pearson would go out and sit on the pole and he breaks a track record that was held for nine years by Parnelly Jones. And there's a fun fact about that particular day nine years ago when Jones made the qualifying run. Apparently he made it on unapproved tires and a suspect engine.

So NASCAR officials relegated Parnelly Jones to the rear of the field that day, and he actually sues the racetrack NASCAR and everybody else for a million dollars, claiming all sorts of damages. But the matter never went to court. But let's get back to 1979. If you listen to our last episode, you'll recall that there was a shakeup in the Austerland Racing driver roster. Well, how about this for early season drama?

Starting in Roe 7 Monte Carlo, he will be driving the O2 out of the Shoney's restaurant stable. What makes this even more interesting to me is that on Dave's way out of the door at Austerlund, he purchases a car from the team and reunites with his former crew chief, Dewey Levingood, to once again make a go at the Grand National Circuit as an independent. Green flag and the Winston Western Western Western. 300 500 is underway, Cale Yarbrough, dives to the inside of David Pearson, and pulled him by one car length as they head up into the essence.

Upon the start, Darrell Waltrip wastes no time getting out front of the field, showing that his DiGuard team would be picking up exactly where they left off in the 1978 season with the same speed that parked them in victory lane a total of six times. Richard Petty fell out on lap 14 with a blown engine, and this brings his winless streak to 45 races. This is the longest slump in his career. Also, Petty's car was noticeably void of the usual cover of STP decals, and it's known that the brand has withdrawn nearly half of their support to the team in this new season.

Kudos Barney should go to your fifth place runner as well. Dale Earnhardt from Colapolis, North Carolina. You talk to all the drivers who are here at Riverside. They feel that he is definitely probably the most promising young driver to come along at a long time, and he'd come quite a racing background. Dad would run well in his first trip to the challenging road course, spending time in the top five before developing shifter issues that would sideline his promising performance.

Earnhardt was having trouble shifting gears as he went up to the bridge just before he went to the pit. You may watch, he may be developing a problem. Incidentally, Dale Earnhardt is in the garage area right now. They have a gearing problem with that car. They're trying to give him prepared and get him back down. The race would run green without a yellow, and this is only the second time in history that this had happened at River

side. You see, back then, NASCAR was more likely to use local yellows rather than a full coarse caution. If someone spun out in a corner, they'd wave a little yellow flag over there, and you're just probably not supposed to pass or do anything crazy while the car gets itself out of the way. It has started to rain on the back straight away. So rain being reported on the facility here in the Winston Western 500. Rain began falling in those final laps, and the race eventually looked to be in the hands of Bobby Allison. interrupt a quick second. We do have a new leader on the course here at Riverside, California. It is Bobby Allison. He and Pearson were door to door going into the number nine corner,

and Allison made the move on him there, and is now the leader. Allison may be having problems. He's slowing down. Oh, he is going very, very slow, and Waltrip went around him like he was standing still. But his motor blew while leading with just a bit more than 14 to go, and that clears the way for Dare Waltrop to win. Derr's going to kick off the year with a bang by bringing his dieguard and Juanicarlo, affectionately named Wanda to the lead point with 14 circuits to go, and he held on to win the race over David Pearson by 3.2 seconds. It would be Waltrip's 16th win in his Cup career, and this

would be the last race for Dygards Wanda, which would be replaced by an Oldsmobile named Mabelene for Daytona. See, Darrow was fond of naming his cars, having won most of his races with the DiGuard team driving the famous car named Bertha. Pearson runs second, Kale, Bill Schmidt, and Donnie Allison round out the top five. So, Waltrip, he starts the year with a win after settling those contract disputes with DiGuard owner, Bill Gardner. And the two parties seem to feel confident that their current five-year contract was safe and secure.

Joe Milliken, the new rookie, is sixth in his debut with the LGDWIT team. This is the best finish of any rookie. in the class. While it's early in the season, this has to feel like a major upset in the race for rookie of the year. Milliken, the longtime Petty Enterprise's employee, he's getting his first big shot, and despite winning a few high-profile NASCAR sportsman races, his accomplishments and his experience that paled in comparison to his fellow rookie classmates, Harry Gant, Terry Labani, and

Dad. Milliken's quiet yet strong finishes throughout the season would be something. to keep an eye on. It'd be a month, a whole month, before teams would travel to Daytona for Speed Weeks. And as the teams headed east from California, NASCAR was on a collision course with national exposure and never experienced before. From Daytona Beach, Florida, this is the MRN Broadcasting Company. But now we're in Daytona, and according to Stock Car Racing magazine, Daytona has a fresh coat

of asphalt for speed weeks. The track has been repaved, and we're going to have a little exhibition. It's called the Bush Clash. This will be the first running of the race, and it was an idea thought up by Bush Beer brand manager, Monty Roberts, in an attempt for promotion

for the brand. A field consisting of poll winners from 1978, they would compete in a 50-mile sprint race with no caution laps or pit stops. This race is advertised as the fastest race of the season, and it paid 50,000 to the winner and 18,000 for second place, thus an incentivized pole speed runs for years to come.

Guys would win the poll, and the first thing you might hear out of their mouths during an interview was, hey, we're in the bush clash. This race was also known as the richest race per mile, promoted as a 18-minute dash for $50,000. Here at Daytona International Speedway, we are just moments away from the start of what is being tied. out of it is the greatest race ever conceived. The first clash field consists of Neil Bonnet, David Pearson, Kale Yarborough, Lenny Pond, J.D. McDuffie, Bobby Baker, Darrell Waltrop, and Benny Parsons. Parsons would sit on the pole for the race, which was determined when the drivers drew Bush beer cans with starting numbers assigned to each one.

Pontiac Safety Car dives on the pit road and nine of the best drivers in the world as some 50,000 people hold their breadth. There are 300 yards from the start finish line, waiting for the green flag. Vinnie Parsons, Darrell Waltrip, eye each other on the front row. Green flag. And the bushflash for 79 is underway. At the start of the race, Baker and Waltrip raced away from the rest of the field in a two-car breakaway. Waltrip made a slingshot pass, and he led briefly before Baker retook the lead.

Baker would survive a late race pass attempt from Waltrip to win the $50,000 price. Walter put a move on him in the middle of the corner, couldn't get him. what he does at the line. Here they come to the strike. Baker sticks out front. Waldrop can't get him. He tries him on the outside. Buddy Baker will win the bush clash. Walter said of Baker's car, I knew it was all over when I went past that time and he passed me right back. Man, is he strong? Darrell said that he and Buddy had actually discussed a plan to run away and split the money for first and second. Well, it looks as if these two talked over their strategy before they dropped the green. They linked up in a draft as they dropped the green flag. They've never relinquished that.

They continue to stretch their lead as they head back into the east end of the speedway. They agreed not to run side by side and rather draft nose to tail to victory. And I wondered did they split that money after all. Baker's car would affectionately become known right in that moment as the gray ghost. You see, it blended in so well with the gray asphalt at Daytona that the competitors, they couldn't see it in the rearview mirror. The car was so freakishly fast that NASCAR actually asked the team to add some dayglow orange paint to the nose so that the competition could recognize the rocket ship closing quickly

from behind and smartly make maneuvers to clear the lane and not impede on Baker's forward progress. The clash was only the beginning of a master class in speed for the Grey Ghost at the Super Speedway tracks like Daytona and Talladega. Due to increased speeds in qualifying, tires were blistering in the Bush clash and Good Year officials had tires that were designed for Talladega brought all the way to Daytona for the remainder of speed weeks. The official explanation for the tires poor performance up to that time were the tremendous G-forces causing side pressure due to unexpected speeds. The new pavement also seemed to be at play. Good Year officials said that they expected the speeds to increase maybe by five

miles an hour, but instead they saw increases of up to 11 miles an hour. The twin 1-25s were heat races that served as the final qualifications for the Daytona 500. Today, you know them as the duels at Daytona. Earning a spot in the Daytona 500 isn't easy any year, but in 1979, there were 59 19 entries, meaning that 18 cars out of the duels failed to qualify. This doesn't include another 19 entries. that withdrew before the jewels. In the first race, Buddy Baker,

he's going to continue to demonstrate the sheer horsepower of the Grey Ghost by erasing a 4.1 second deficit in the final 10 laps to beat Kell Yarbrough. That's incredible. Dad is going to make his twin 125 debut in the second race, and he would start 8th and finish fourth

behind Darrell Waltrip, A.J. Foyt, and Dick Brooks. Dad made a bold move in the race on the very first lap going from 8 to 3rd, and then another one on the final lap trying to pass A.J. Voight for second. He would get hung out of the draft and lost the spot to Dick Brooks. Dad's spirited fourth place finish,

and the Twins is going to assure him a 10th place starting position for his first Daytona 500. There's a couple other races that happened throughout Speed Weeks outside of the regular cup action. One of those is the Sportsman 300. This race is remembered for a vicious crash on the

back straightaway involving multiple cars, including Freddie Smith, Joe Frizzan, and Don Williams. Williams would suffer the worst injuries and would live in a semi-comatose state for 10 years before his death. While avoiding serious injury or death has always been a driving force for improved safety in NASCAR, the technology in the 70s made that possibility a very close reality for all the drivers in Daytona and every week. Dad was entered in this race driving in Austerlund Monte Carlo and he qualified fourth. Dad might have had race winner Darrell Walchrop beat until he cut a tire late in the race

and the race was actually red flag for rain. They only completed 69 of the scheduled 120 laps. Another event that weekend was the ARCA 200 and this race is famous for one thing. At age 18, Kyle Petty makes his stock car racing debut and he wins the event in one of his father's 1978 Dodge Magnums. They are side by side to the stripe. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the ARCA 200 is Kyle Petty, 18 years of age. He wins his first racing debut here in the ARCA 200.

Petty has won this automobile racing club of America event. And this makes him the youngest driver to date to win a major stock car race. You see, Kyle had talked his dad out of the car. He asked Uncle Maurice to borrow an engine, and he had Valveline, give him a little bit of sponsorship money to be able to put this deal together. I think Buddy Arrington might have said it pissed. I find it hard to believe that this boy had never driven a race of any kind. From Daytona Beach, Florida, this is the MRN broadcasting company with the broadcast of the Daytona 500.

NASCAR, Winston Cup Grand National Stock Car race. All right, so the Daytona 500 is upon us, and let's set the top 10 starters for that race. You have Buddy Baker and the number 28 Grey Ghost on the pole. He has been fast all week. Doesn't seem like anybody can contend with the speed of this car. Donnie Allison and Haas Ellington's number one is on the outside of the front road. Road two is Kell Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip. Then you have Benny Parsons, A.J. Foyt, Bobby Allison, Dick Brooks, David Pearson, and Dad.

Coming into this race, there were some big, big things happening in the sport. After nearly two decades of abbreviated racing bruce, broadcast. Through programs like ABC's Wide World of Sports and CBS's Sports Spectacular, Bill France Senior in NASCAR have inked a deal with CBS and Senior Vice President of CBS Sports Barry Frank to broadcast five Daytona 500s from start to finish, beginning in 1979. This would be only the second time in history that an entire NASCAR race would be broadcast in its entirety, the first being ABC's 1971 broadcast of a. 100-mile at Greenville Picking.

Now, the network had set aside only four hours for the race to be held on Sunday, February 18th, and it proved to be a rainy morning. Once the rain stopped late in the morning, a lengthy track drying process begins. The race is going to get started 10 minutes late into its CBS broadcast window, and the first 15 laps were actually held under caution to help speed up the drying efforts. So they give the green flag and the yellow flag at the same time, and the cars are just kind of cruising around at pace car speed. As the race has officially started under a green caution situation,

so these laps will count. No positions will change. So Buddy Baker will officially lead the first lap in the 1979 rendition of the Daytona 500. And at one point, you know, they're trying to figure out whether this track's dry or not. So they send Darrell Waltrip on a flying lap at speed, and he's going to report back to his crew, how the track looks. And now, Jackie, we look up in turn four.

We see that Darrell Waltrip has pulled out of the pack and is coming out of turn four, beginning to punch the throttle a bit and test this track. Darrell finally gives them the A-LK that the track is ready, and NASCAR throws the green flag, and the 1979 Daytona 500 is finally underway. Here comes the Pontiac Pacecar, diving on the pit road, field bunches tightly.

They are less than a quarter of a mile from the start-finish line. Chip Warren gives them the indication to hold it down, Green flag and the field goes to green to the Daytona 500 on the 16th lap. After setting a pole speed of 196 plus miles an hour, Buddy Baker is thought to be the driver to beat. And as the green flag drops, Donnie Allison assumes an early lead.

Steadily, the gray ghost driven by Baker is beginning to drop through the field, one spot at a time. And Buddy Baker continues to drop back. He has lost the fifth spot to Waltrip. Now he and A.J. Ford's struggle for six. Now throughout all of speed weeks, The car had competitors humbled, but his Harry Reneer-owned Rosemobile spoiled an engine, and eventually he would park it after 38 laps into the contest.

In the garage area right now, Buddy Baker, driver, of course, the car number 28 is out of the race. Buddy, disappointing happening for you. What's wrong with the car? Well, I really don't know when we started out on the caution laps. It started skipping real bad, and it never cleared up. We changed plugs and distributor and everything. It's still skipping. I don't know whether, I just don't know what.

happened. The car was running beautiful yesterday. We put it up and didn't touch it until this morning. Set the timing and all. It sounded good and it never ran all day. Disappointing. Very disappointing. Loads of cars had motor issues throughout the race, including Darrell Walter and Benny Parsons. Many of them pointed toward the long periods of caution running at part throttle to dry the track before the green flag was finally waived. Having such a powerfully tuned engine, meandering around a large oval at less than half speed can foul spark. part plugs and burned pistons.

And there are problems for Darrell Walter. Daryl has been into the pitch now for three times. The motor is starting to skip. First two times, they've made some minor changes. Now the tools are coming out. The hood is up. The engine is shut off. So it could be some real problems from Darrell Walter.

We'll keep you posted on that. After 25 laps, Dad was unable to stay with the lead draft, which only consisted of seven cars. He was in the following group, nearly half a straightaway behind. If you want some foreshadowing, Well, it happened on lap 32, an wreck that involved three drivers, and you guessed it. It's Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, and Kell Yarborough. Now, this is not the incident that led to the big fight.

That comes at the end. But these three, they seem to find each other one way or another all day long, and it starts on lap 32. Here's what happened. On lap 32, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Kell Yarborough are battling for the lead. And as they exit turn two, they are all collected in a cross. crash, which began when Bobby made such slight contact with Donnie's left rear coming off a turn two. And so the three cars, they go spinning down the back straightaway and into the grass.

And they end up getting stuck in the mud. Bobby was far off the racetrack against the dirt berm that separated the competitors from Lake Lloyd. Kail and Donnie, they were mere car links from the track surface, urgently spinning their rear tires in search of any grip to free them from the muddy swamp that the backstretch infield had become. Kale and Donnie both would be pushed by hand out to the track. Kale's car would struggle to refire and he would lose three laps. Bobby, he would lose two laps in the mud, but Donnie only lost one lap in the accident.

On the next restart, this is the first moment when Dad enters the picture. He's now dicing it up amongst the lead draft. Broadcasters, Squire, and Hobbs, they're a bit startled and they quickly deliberate over whether Dad is actually even on the lead lap or not. Dale's had a fantastic week here. He really has. As I say, I think he's a lap down, but I'm not sure. This debate went on for three laps as Dad's swap positions inside the top three. We're checking out to see if Earnhardt is that lap down.

Finally, as Dad clears Neil Bonnet with a push from Bobby Allison, he comes off turn four with nothing between him and the flag stand. And lap 44 is complete. Ken Squire quickly notes, Earnhard is the leader. Earnhard reported as the leader. This is the very first lap in Dad's Cup. career that he has led.

At Lab 55, the largest accident of the day would unfold. It's a multi-car accident, which would include mostly drivers that weren't really threats to win the race, except David Pearson. As they head to turn number four, we've got two cars. H.A. Point is involved. He cuts in front of Pearson. He goes harder to the wall. Along come three or four cars spinning through the dirt.

We've got two more cars in the wall to Freckley in front of us. Six, seven, eight, possibly nine cars involved. Back to the tower. David had started the event running amongst the top ten, but a lengthy pit stop under the yellow had him working his way forward from the back of the pack. It was 1979 and only a few months removed from a decade-long dominant run by the Silver Fox and the Wood Brothers Mercury. So it was incredibly unusual to see the famous number 21 going behind the wall early with severe damage. Many fans in attendance had expected to cheer Pearson on late in the race, as he almost always would be a factor. in the finish, but not today.

Under this particular nine-lap caution period, Darrell Waltrip and his number 88 Gatorade Diagard Olds would change spark plugs after they had developed a miss in the engine. Waltrip gave an unintentionally humorous live interview from the seat of his race car in the pits showcasing his frustration with the amount of caution laps that are creating engine troubles for many. Too many caution laps! They're running too many darn caution laps. Darrell was right. During the first 100 laps of the race,

nearly half had been run under yellow. Too many cautions. We filed all the plugs under the cautions. As the race resumes at lap 65, Dad is trading the lead with the king, Richard Petty. There's a great moment at this point in the broadcast when Ned Jarrett interviews car owner Rod Osterlin from the pits. Ned had asked Rod if he was surprised by Dad's ability or knew he'd be able to run among the front runners in his first Daytona 500. Rod's response?

We sure did. See, Rod knew that between the two men, him and Ned, Ned probably knew Dad better. You see, Ned was the promoter at Hickory Speedway and Metrolina during Dad's early asphalt days. And Ned, he was great friends with Ralph Earnhardt, and they were competitors on the southeastern dirt tracks in the 1950s. Rod has a cool quote. He's got natural instinct, and you know all about that, Ed.

Moments later, Neil Bonnet would spin his car off term four, and this would give Donnie Allison the opportunity to get his lap back. And of all the cars out there, Donnie's appears to be the strongest. He threw along with him, the coattails sideways. Neil Bonnet, he takes Terry Lampton with him. Trouble in turn number four, as one car crashes, spins down on the apron of the track, and one car skittering, Harry Gett, slams into the wall and bounces all the way back out into the middle of the speedway

and hit the outside retaining wall. The green flag would return, and as the field ran to the halfway mark, the CBS broadcast interviewed Kyle Petty about his arc-a-win. Kyle seemed less interested in the conversation and more focused on getting the air pressure right for the King's next set of good years. Kyle, how are things going for your dad out there? They're going all right now. They're going all right right now.

We've been changing tires, and we're a little behind on the tires, so we've got to get them ready here. Benny Parsons grabbed a big lead with the help of Cal Yarbril, who is still too laps down. But a yellow on lap 102 gives Kale one of his laps back. Many Parsons would then develop some pesky engine grimlins at this moment. On lap 120 of 200, another blown engine and another yellow, and Kale Yarborough passes leader Donnie Allison off turn four coming to the caution to get another lap back. And we have just been informed from scoring that Kale Yarborough is just one lap down as Kale continues to pick his way back to the front. Over the next 12 laps, Kale Yarbril,

once again, positions himself behind leader Donnie Allison waiting for another yellow flag to fall. Lap 138, and we've got another blown motor. Kail now jives low around Donnie and streaks to the yellow flag to return to the lead lap. Caution is on the speedway for the seventh time. And here goes Kail Yarbrough. In the back stretch, you'll try to get back that last lap. Kale side by side with Donnie. Kale goes by Donnie and turn number three.

The yellow light is on. They'll be racing to the yellow flag. The last restart, Haaskska, says he's at least five laps down. This is Don't worry about. Nasscar competitor and member of the Alabama game. Well, we come to the next caution, and he almost wrecked me going into the trial. To make a lap back up. and I said,

oh, you don't wreck somebody five laps down. We're now set up for an iconic race to the finish. Kail and Donnie have equally matched hot rods at this point in the race, and the rest of the field is left to compete for third place on back. Within that group is Dad, who's been battling in the top five the entire second half of the race. With 50 laps to go, the teams are starting to make preparations for their final pit stops. These actually would be the first green flag,

stops of the race. Dad is going to have a hood pin fail on the left front corner of his car, and this is going to delay his green flag splash for gas, and he would disappear from the lead draft. Here's Earnhardt, pitting his car, and this might be a routine pit stop, and there might be some trouble on the car. Let's go to Joe Alloy. Earnhardt is really coming in on the throttle, and he had some difficulty stopping. The mechanics are going over to the right-hand side of the car. They are changing the tires. Now, this is an unscheduled pit stop, and we are not under caution, cleaning the windshield and putting in the gasoline. We'll watch for a moment and see if they go over to the other side of the car.

But as we said, he came in very hot, very fast on to pit road. And it appears that he's going to change only the right side rubber. Wow, they had a problem with the jack. The jack got hung underneath the car, and he had a problem getting started, but he is going back out on the track now. Could have had a cut tire on the machine. It's Earnhardt. Tries to beat the field, back to the start finish line.

Here they come out of four. He does not want to go a lap down, and he gets back onto the speedway. as the field closes on him across the stripe. Donnie and Kale would link up in a two-car tango, and they distance themselves from the rest of the field once everyone has made their final stops. 178 laps have been posted on the scoreboard here as we get down to the conclusion of the Daytona 500.

Now, two cars jump out into the lead. Donnie Allison is in front. Cale Yarborough picks up the draft, and they try to pull away from the field, and they have broken the draft on Bobby Allison. When they take the white flag, they are half a lap ahead of A.J. Foyton 3rd, Richard Petty and Darrell Walter.

Here they come. Out of turn number four, the white flag is in Chip Warren's hand as he gets ready to display it to Donny Allison. Cale just tucked in there. When will Yarborough make his move? They flash across the stripe and white flag for Donnie Allison.

They're back in turn one. For some reason I was going to turn one, and I glance up, and I see him going down. And I said, no way, buddy. I knew, and I was prepared for what might have happened.

coming off turn four. I was not prepared for what happened coming off turn two. Coming on to the backstretch, Kale moves down to make his move for the lead, but Donnie, he drives low to block the maneuver. Kale manages to pull alongside Donnie, but he's ran down into the dirt and the grass and the mud, and he loses control. He comes back across the racetrack, and him and Donnie slammed together to two cars smashing repeatedly before careening into the third turn wall, and then sliding down the banking across the apron and coming to rest in the grass. And here I am the third, maybe fourth time

I should have won the Daytona 500 and I'm in a damn grass, three quarters a mile from the start finish line. And I'm not going to win it again. At the time of the yellow flag, third place running FOIA, he backs out of the gas anticipating a wreck. He doesn't know where this crash is. So Petty and Waltrip go

flying past. And the three cars are going to race back to the start finish line, while Ken Squire is yelling over the broadcast for the cameras to the leaders. In the backstretch are the leaders. The leader is Richard Petty, and he is sailing across the finish line,

winning narrowly over Walter. Tensions are rising over on the backstretch between Donnie and Kale, and brother Bobby has stopped by the wreck site, and a fight breaks out. Well, Bobby shows up, and Kale and I had already pretty well had the words we were going to have, and Kail goes over to Bobby,

and I seen him, you know, hit Bobby was, Helmets who went up, what the hell is this about? So I go over and I grab kale by the arm and I spun him around. I said, if you want to fight, I'm the SOB. You need to be fighting with, buddy. This becomes one of the most iconic moments in NASCAR history. Kale admittedly takes a swing at Bobby, who is rumored to have a cut lip. And there's a fight between Kale Yarborough and Donnie Allison.

The tempers overflowing. They're angry. They know they have lost. I never touched a man. and he never touched me. And I said, The Good Lord looked out for us twice that day, one time in a wreck,

one time he didn't touch me. If he'd ever touch me, I'd have probably killed him. Kale was quoted as saying, it's the worst thing I've ever seen in racing. And he accused Bobby of actually slowing down to help block him and ensure Donnie's victory in the race.

Donnie said, I made up my mind that if he's going to pass me, he's going to have to pass me high. When he tried to pass me low, he went off the track. He spun and he hit me. Cale, he got out of his car, and he called me a dirty bastard. Bobby stops his car, and Cale poked him through the window screen.

Then Cail swung his helmet at Bobby. Donny felt as a leader that he had the right to go anywhere on the track that he wanted. Winner Richard Petty says, I didn't know what happened on that last lap. I saw the yellow light flash. I radioed to my pick crew and asked them where the wreck was, and all they said was go, go, go. I couldn't believe it when I saw both those cars sitting in the grass.

Betty was 15 seconds behind Donnie and Kel at the time of their crash, and the cane would go on to win $73,900 for his effort. It would be a sixth Daytona 500 win. What happened when we come off the number two corner, Darrell and myself and Fort was facing racing at that time for third place. And I looked ahead and I seen the caution. I hollered in the radio for Dale to find out where the caution was because if it was like coming off before, I didn't want to drive in blind.

And he said, come on, come on. And when I got, just as I started in the third corner, I could see that it was number one and number two car. You know, kale and Allison, and, you know, then my heart went right through my top of my head then because I said, well, I'm going to run for the flag, and here comes 88, you know, and 88 wasn't running a whole lot better than I was, and he just was lucky to run second. Not everything went Richard Petty's way during speed weeks. One interesting thing happened the night before the Daytona 500. Somebody broke into his van in the hotel parking lot and stole his CB radio and his buzzbuster. It sounds like he's going to need that money. Following the race, many spectators who traveled to Daytona were stranded due to the massive snowstorm that blanketed the southeast,

canceling most flights for the day. The snowstorm had resulted in most of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast being snowed in and unable to do anything but watch a race broadcast. I don't even watch stock car races, said one race fan. but I was snowed in, and I'm sure glad I was. For millions of first-time viewers, this is the first glance of what NASCAR and stock car racing are all about. High speeds, door-to-door action, and all-out mayhem. The CBS broadcast of the race is the top-rated show during its time slot, bringing in an estimated 16 million viewers.

The network is elated, and the ratings return far exceeded expectations. CBS would actually go on to win an Emmy for the first. the race coverage. Following the highly publicized Allison Yarborough fight, NASCAR declared that they would not tolerate this type of behavior from competitors going forward, and all three drivers are fined $6,000 each. NASCAR said that Donnie used up too much of the racetrack on the final lap, and that resulted in him also being put on probation. Bill Fence Jr. said, we've got the greatest show going on in sports. We don't need wrecks and fights to sell tickets. The Allison's are going to attempt to appeal Donnie's penalty.

But Kale, he agreed with NASCAR's decision and didn't dispute his fine. Over the next five weeks, each driver would receive $1,000 per week back in return for good behavior. The final $1,000 per driver would go back into the NASCAR Point Fund. Now, this is definitely my favorite race to rewatch. I've watched it so many times, and I think it's such a critical moment for NASCAR in the sport. it really delivered. And during all of the fuss, Dad would run up front and lead laps

in a formal introduction to race fans all across the nation. One interesting thing I learned about this race that I didn't know was that Dad loses a cylinder with 10 laps to go. I read about this in the articles of Aunt Kay's scrapbooks. He's going to run in and among the top five

most of the day, and he finishes eighth, but he is the last car one lap down. I'd often wondered how he'd lost nearly two laps to the leaders in the late-race pit stops for fuel that shuffled the running order. Throughout the day, he led the field for a total of five different occasions. He would lead his first lap ever in NASCAR competition on lap 44, and he would lead the field as late as lap 142 of the 200-lap event. Dale did a masterful job all week, said Rod Austerlin.

Next time on Becoming Earnhardt, Dad would prove his performance in the Daytona 500 was no fluke. Not only would he lead laps, but for the first time in his cup career, he would lead the last lap. It would happen at a little short track in the East Tennessee Mountains, affectionately known as Bristol. Becoming Earnhardt is a podcast series by Dirty Mo Media. It is written and produced by myself, Dale Earnhardt Jr., with Bobby Marcos and Mike Davis. Sound design by Ben Potts. Production assistance by Tiff Powers, Michael Caldwell, Dustin Lee, James Brousan, Andrew Curlin, and Alex Thames.

This project is in partnership with NASCAR, NASCAR Productions, and the Motor Racing Network. For full replays of classic races, visit the Motor Racing Network's website at mrn.com. Special thanks to Cadence 13 and Silver Tribe Media. For additional content on Becoming Earnhardt, including exclusive videos, visit DirtymoMedia's YouTube page and follow us on all major social media platforms.