When the crash occurred Junior drove through the
infield grass at 180 MPH to avoid hitting cars spinning
in front of him. That detour damaged the nose of his car
on the left front.
Team engineers had spent hours in the wind tunnel
massaging the sheet metal on the front of the car to
eliminate aerodynamic drag and make the car as fast as
possible.
Now the team was faced with the need to slap a new
nose on the car with the help of 200MPH tape and pop
rivets.
During the lengthy caution to clean up the track
following the big wreck Earnhardt made a series of pit
stops. The team would work on the car until the pace car
was coming, then send Earnhardt around again to avoid
losing a lap.
The car was good enough to maintain the minimum speed
when the green flag fell, but definitely not a contender
to win, or even finish near the front.
Junior was about to go a lap down early on when a
debris caution came out and allowed him to pit for more
repairs. This was the break he needed. The crew got the
car right and Earnhardt was looking for the leaders.
Earnhardt would lead 9 times for a total of 34 laps
on the way to his 8th career victory.
On lap 185, just 3 laps from the finish, Dale Jr was
3rd behind Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. Junior moved
to the inside of Kenseth in turn 1 when Kenseth turned
left in what was an obvious attempt to block the 8.
Junior moved lower on the racetrack to avoid Kenseth
and briefly crossed the yellow line. Earnhardt fans held
their breath while NASCAR reviewed the pass. It's a
violation to go below the yellow line in order to
advance your position.
NASCAR determined that the pass was legal. "He did
not go below the yellow line to improve his position,"
explained Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice-president of
communication. "He had already passed before he went
under the yellow line."
Junior himself offered the simplest explanation, "I
think it was just one hell of a move, more than
anything."
Elliott Sadler was right behind Earnhardt and saw
what happened. "I was the one pushing and they ran him
down" Sadler said. "He had to do that or cause a big
wreck, so it was a smart move. He's just like his dad
driving that car."