Top 15 Greatest Finishes In NASCAR History

3. 2000 Winston 500 at Talladega Super Speedway: Earnhardt goes through the field

17 spots in just six laps. While that might sound like something that would only be possible in a NASCAR video game set on the lowest difficulty settings,  that is exactly what Dale Earnhardt managed to accomplish in the closing laps of 2000 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Although the simple fact that he was able to gain all those spots in such a short amount of time added to the excitement of the finish, it was ultimately how Earnhardt was able to move up through the field that makes this an exciting moment for NASCAR fans to witness.

It all started with six laps go, as Earnhardt started to put the moves on the rest of the field, even coming back up the track and banging doors with one car while three wide. Things got more intense from there, as Earnhardt started to use the middle lane of the track to try to sneak his way into the Top-ten.

Earnhardt, with a timely assist by Kenny Wallace, was then able to use the high line of the track to push past the leaders and pull into the lead with only two laps In the race.  It was all Earnhardt from there, as he was able to throw a few timely blocks in the closing moments of the race and finally take the well-deserved win all for himself.

While this moment will always go down in history as one of the most exciting of all time, especially for fans of The Intimidator, I can’t help but feel cheated that we didn’t get to see Earnhardt Sr. versus Earnhardt Jr that day. Earnhardt Jr. was leading the race with only a handful of laps to go, but once his dad made his move through the field, it seemed like Jr got lost in the shuffle and sadly was bumped down to the apron of the track.

Keep in mind that this race was still a top tier moment, but it would have been nice to see Earnhardt versus Earnhardt at Talladega.

Next: Battle at The Coliseum