Beyond the Flag
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NASCAR: 5 fantastic Atlanta finishes in the modern era

By Marty Czekala

HAMPTON, GA - FEBRUARY 24: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #17 Little Hug Ford, and Aric Almirola, driver of the #10 Smithfield Ford, lead the field at the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
HAMPTON, GA - FEBRUARY 24: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #17 Little Hug Ford, and Aric Almirola, driver of the #10 Smithfield Ford, lead the field at the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24, 2019 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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12 Nov 1995: Dale Earnhardt Mandatory Credit: David Taylor /Allsport
12 Nov 1995: Dale Earnhardt Mandatory Credit: David Taylor /Allsport /

4. 2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500

  • Sunday, March 12, 2000
  • Winner: Dale Earnhardt
  • Margin of victory: .010 seconds

When you first watch the final seven laps or so, it looks like the Intimidator had this race in the bag. ESPN/ABC’s timing systems had the gap at around four-tenths of a second when the top two drivers reached five laps to go.

Dale Earnhardt was pulling away in a big way. But coming to the white flag, he bobbled in turns three and four, giving Bobby Labonte a chance. Labonte had a lot of momentum coming out of turn four and was able to get a tow off of the black #3 Chevrolet.

On the final lap, in the same turns, Labonte got up to the spoiler of Earnhardt’s car entering turn three. Earnhardt went high and Labonte went low. It was a clean side-by-side race to the end with nobody touching, and Earnhardt took the checkered flag for career win #75.

It was so close that it was unknown at first who won until timing later confirmed that Earnhardt was the winner.

The win for Earnhardt was the first of two wins in what was unfortunately his final full-time season. Ironically, at the end of the 2000 season, these same two drivers battled for the championship. But it went the opposite way, with Labonte taking home his lone title and Earnhardt finishing runner-up.

Earnhardt left a legacy at Atlanta that included nine wins and 26 top five finishes, two records he still holds to this day.

Of course, 2001 at Atlanta was also unbelievable.

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