|| *Comments on the 1995 Winston Select 500:* View the most recent comment <#58> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. HomeDepot20TS posted: 02.26.2005 - 8:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt led into the final lap. Mark Martin took the lead and contact between Morgan Shepard and Earnhardt sent the 3 into the wall on the backstretch. 2. Chris posted: 03.12.2005 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The last lap was pretty wild, but that's not exactly what happened. Mark Martin was leading as they tok the white flag. Morgan Shepherd was with the 6 and 3 as they came off of turn 2 and he drifted up into Earnhardt, turning him around. I think he had lost track of Dick Trickle, a lapped car that was running with the leaders, so he moved up thinking he was going to run into Trickle. Earnhardt tried mightily to save the car, and I really thought he was going to, but he lost it. He didn't hit the wall, but recovered and finished 21st, last car on the lead lap. 3. HomeDepot20TS posted: 04.24.2005 - 8:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I seem to remember him nosing it into the backstretch wall. 4. je24go posted: 07.18.2005 - 8:09 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I have this race on tape, here's what happened. Dale Earnhardt holds the lead out of the trioval, as his car drifts up, Mark Martin dives underneath with Jeff Gordon pushing him by. Morgan Shepherd tries to go along with Gordon and Martin but pushes out of turn 2 right into Earnhardt's left rear quarter panel. Earnhardt's rear wheels lifted about a foot off the ground before the roof flaps caught it finally, then he spun and hit the wall with his nose. He limped home 21st and lost a bunch of points, which eventually cost him the championship. 5. Chicago posted: 12.21.2005 - 1:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) Did it really cost him the championship? Gordon waltzed into Atlanta only needing to beat one car in the event to clinch the title. Hendrick fielded a third car for Jeff Purvis as insurance just in case anything happened. Their attitude was nonchalant to say the least. But indeed it obviously had an effect on Earnhardt's title chase. 6. Matthew Sullivan posted: 12.24.2005 - 3:39 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) I'll never forget Shepherd's excuse after the race. He blamed Trickle coming up into him which was not the case. Take the blame for your mistake Morgan. 7. Darrell posted: 01.15.2006 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Only caree top-ten finish for Loy Allen Jr., the Don Majkowski of NASCAR. 8. je24go posted: 03.09.2006 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Did it really cost him the championship? Gordon waltzed into Atlanta only needing to beat one car in the event to clinch the title. Hendrick fielded a third car for Jeff Purvis as insurance just in case anything happened. Their attitude was nonchalant to say the least. But indeed it obviously had an effect on Earnhardt's title chase." Earnhardt got 105 points for finishing 21st. Had he finished the race he would have earned at least 170. That's 65 points, and he lost by 34. 9. Dalejrfan14 posted: 03.14.2006 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (4) SHEPHARD?INTIMIDATOR OF THE DAY?!YAY SHEP! 10. CanucksAndNASCAR Fan posted: 05.17.2006 - 7:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember watching a replay of this race on New Year's Eve in 1995-96. Derrike Cope was interviewed by ESPN after being taken out of the race and I remember him saying that Michael Andretti took him out. WHAT?! It was John Andretti, and he too, was taken out of the race in that wreck. 11. J. Kircher posted: 05.18.2006 - 3:44 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) I also saw this race for the first time during the ESPN New Year's Eve marathon( as I had not starting watching NASCAR until Aug. '95). This was the first Talladega race I saw and I didn't realize how monstrous the place was until I heard a pit report that it was sunny in one of the turns, but raining in another! One of the coolest pit moves ever: During the last round of pit stops for fuel only Andy Petree, Dale Earnhardt's crew chief at the time used a clever move to try and give the 7-time champ the edge leaving the pits. When the car came in someone, possibly Petree himself, sprinkled some quick dry(what the track crew uses under caution for fluid spilled on the track) by the right rear tire. After the splash n' go, Earnhardt hit the gas and because of the slickness caused by the speedy dry it caused the wheel to spin before gaining any traction giving it more acceleration without burning the rubber of the rear tires. Just thought it was a cool move in a effort to get Big E out first. 12. myself posted: 05.17.2007 - 7:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A RARE restrictor plate win for Mark Martin! 13. Bill posted: 08.25.2007 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually it was Coca Cola. The Coke helps the driver gets traction. 14. Anonymous posted: 09.09.2007 - 8:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) The race that proved Derrike Cope was an idiot, because he said Michael Andretti crashed him out of the race. Michael never made a cup start-it was John Andretti who crashed Cope out. 15. myself posted: 02.22.2008 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember that Cope quote. 16. Clayton posted: 03.25.2008 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) So happy when Morgan got into Senior! A little taste of his own medicine! Way to go Morgan!! 17. rustyfan posted: 05.09.2008 - 11:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Typical Rusty luck at Dega.I remember Earnhardt being rather snide to Jerry Punch after the race in his interview.(Punch)"Dale,what happened?(Earnhardt)"Got in a wreck.(Punch)"Did you have a little help up there?(Earnhardt)"I don't know,watch the replay." 18. Ryan posted: 01.08.2009 - 7:16 pm Rate this comment: (2) (7) Yep, Morgan had no business even in racing at the time... True Intimidator championship count- 9 19. RR posted: 02.27.2009 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (2) (4) I guess Dale didn't have any business being in racing, since he's taken out many more cars than Morgan. Give me a break. 20. Mark O. posted: 10.28.2009 - 3:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) One question Ryan: Why not? 21. Anonymous posted: 11.29.2009 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (4) (2) i hate when people say someone lost the championship so early in the season he had almost 25 races to make it up 22. 18fan posted: 04.05.2010 - 12:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This finish was set up by Rusty Wallace running out of gas with 5 laps to go, then Sterling Marlin pulled Gordon and Shepherd up to Dale and Mark. After the contact, Earnhardt almost missed the wall. If he missed the wall, he still had a shot at fourth place, where he probably would've finished if there wasn't contact, and would've won the championship. 23. Breaker posted: 10.15.2010 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (8) (1) Jeff Gordon was actually the points leader after this race, for the first time in his Cup career, due to his 3 wins over Earnhardt's 1 at this point in the season. You could say that if Earnhardt hadn't wrecked at Talladega he would have won the title. Then you could say that if Jeff Gordon hadn't gotten taken out in Lajoie's wreck at Darlington that Gordon would have still won the title. Then you can turn around and say that if it wasn't for a wreck and a broken timing belt at the Michigan races that Earnhardt would have won the title, but wait, then it was the broken fuel pump for Jeff Gordon at Richmond that cost him the title. However if Earnhardt hadn't gotten crunched up at Bristol and Martinsville ... but if Gordon's pit crew didn't drop the jack in the Daytona 500 ... if Davey Allison and Tim Richmond had still been alive ... End Result: True Intimidator championship count- 7 24. Ryan posted: 08.01.2011 - 4:22 am Rate this comment: (2) (8) "I guess Dale didn't have any business being in racing, since he's taken out many more cars than Morgan. Give me a break." It's called bump and run, not taking out... Give me a break. Sterling never did like Dale. That was a douche move for him to draft Gordon up to them. He had no business doing that. "One question Ryan: Why not?" Because if stuff like that, guys are running for the points title and he is screwing things up. Jeff Gordon was actually the points leader after this race, for the first time in his Cup career, due to his 3 wins over Earnhardt's 1 at this point in the season. "You could say that if Earnhardt hadn't wrecked at Talladega he would have won the title. Then you could say that if Jeff Gordon hadn't gotten taken out in Lajoie's wreck at Darlington that Gordon would have still won the title. Then you can turn around and say that if it wasn't for a wreck and a broken timing belt at the Michigan races that Earnhardt would have won the title, but wait, then it was the broken fuel pump for Jeff Gordon at Richmond that cost him the title. However if Earnhardt hadn't gotten crunched up at Bristol and Martinsville ... but if Gordon's pit crew didn't drop the jack in the Daytona 500 ... if Davey Allison and Tim Richmond had still been alive ..." End Result: True Intimidator championship count- 7 Or if Dale wasn't taken out at North Wilkesboro, one of his better tracks. And another mishap at the second NW race. For him to lose the title it was no talent driving weasels taking him out of contention for the title... Sterling Marlin, Ricky Rudd, and Morgan Shepherd. This race still gags me. Allison and Richmond huh? Difference between them and Earnhardt: Earnhardt was either in victory lane or some where on the podium while Allison and Richmond were either in victory lane or wrecked or in Richmonds case a hangover. Should have 9 if it wasn't for idiot drivers. 25. Mark O. posted: 10.23.2011 - 8:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (3) I'll note that at the time of this race, Marlin was 4th in points and Shepherd was 9th. But like you said, no talent, huh? Hint: If they were in the top 10, they were racing for a championship too, you jackwagon. 26. SYH posted: 10.29.2011 - 10:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 24. Yeah, noted Bad NASCAR Drivers Sterling Marlin, Ricky Rudd, and Morgan Shepard. Hey wait for some reason I seem to recall those guys being pretty good 27. 18fan posted: 01.05.2012 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (3) (3) Ryan, so Morgan was just supposed to let Dale back in line? Morgan went for a gap, then he got the car out of shape and drifted up into Dale. It was a racing incident on the last lap between two guys racing hard for a top 5 position. I have another question for you: If Morgan had hit another driver instead of Earnhardt, would you have the same opinion about him? 28. Breaker posted: 03.25.2012 - 12:30 pm Rate this comment: (2) (3) Ryan, you missed my point. I was just pointing out the fallacy of arguing "what if?." You can craft an argument of "what ifs" where that if he had a little better luck, had missed all the crashes, made all the races, and had all the drivers crash in front of him, Loy Allen could have won all 31 race in 1995. Lastly, words of wisdom that we all can learn from ... "Arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded." 29. Dave posted: 06.01.2012 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (4) (2) Ryan is an idiot. He idolizes one of the dirtiest men to ever race but goes on a rambling rant every time someone so much as touches Earnhardts fender. Ryan would only be happy if every one on the track came to a complete stop on the last lap & let Earnhardt win. It's called racing for a win, moron. And as far as the "true championship count" nonsense, it's SEVEN BECAUSE THAT'S HOW MANY HE WON. There's 30+ races in a season that determine a champion based on points that reward the MOST CONSISTENT DRIVER. Gordon crashed in races too but he had a better all around SEASON than EARNHARDT which is why he won the title. Have I dumbed this down enough for you Ryan? 30. Schroeder51 posted: 06.28.2012 - 5:17 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Some footage from this race was used in the intro for the 1996 PC game "NASCAR Racing 2". Most of the footage shown was from early in the race when Loy Allen was leading the way. 31. DW posted: 09.27.2012 - 7:36 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Bill posted: 08.25.07 - 10:38 pm Actually it was Coca Cola. The Coke helps the driver gets traction" Uh actually if you skip to :30 in this clip, you'll see and hear, it's oil dry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sizeSM6zy00 32. Chris posted: 10.30.2012 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Regardless, Earnhardt still has 7 championships!! Only 1 other driver can say that. He was the greatest there ever was and this is coming from an Earnhardt HATER!!!! 33. Ryan W posted: 07.25.2013 - 12:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) 18fan, Yes, I would still feel the same about Shepherd. He should have thought better of it instead of spinning him out. He wasn't going to win anyways. Dave, How does it feel to have your cage rattled? LOL. It's not racing when you have no business running into a guy in the middle of a turn at TALLADEGA and the championship leader at that, tool! 34. 23andJoe posted: 02.26.2014 - 1:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #53 sponsor: Southern Pride Trucking #65 sponsor: Elena's 35. wrank fakefield posted: 08.03.2014 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (5) (2) For guys that love him for his toughness, no one whines like an Earnhardt fanboy. 36. RaceFanX posted: 11.21.2015 - 11:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was Loy Allen, Jr's first race back in Tri-Star's #19 Ford after starting the season with Junior Johnson in the #27, getting fired after two DNQs in the first six races, and spending two races on the sidelines without a ride. The return of the prodigal son turned out to be Loy's finest hour in Cup as he qualified great, led a lot near the start, and as noted earlier scored his only top-10. Allen replaced Phil Parsons in the #19 who had also DNQed for two races early in the season. Coming off a Daytona 500 win earlier in the season Sterling Marlin had to be a pre-race favorite and he was running up front during the early stages here. Ultimately a rocker arm problem doomed the Kodak Film Chevy's chances of a good finish, it didn't put the #4 out of the race but fixing it led to Sterling losing a lot of laps. Ritchie Petty's Cup career ends in the a DNQ. 37. Ryan W posted: 12.06.2015 - 4:41 am Rate this comment: (2) (7) "For guys that love him for his toughness, no one whines like an Earnhardt fanboy." Sounds like your typical Ford fans who got freight trained by Dale's greatness over the years. 38. 88&4Fan posted: 12.06.2015 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (6) (1) So let me get this straight... you condone Dale Earnhardt, Sr., who was notorious for wrecking people on purpose and driving overaggressively, but Ernie Irvan, who at times could drive in over his head and the wrecks that he caused just happened to have bad consequences for the victims, is a "menace"? Look, I like Earnhardt too but to support him while bashing Ernie Irvan for essentially doing the same thing, if even that, is beyond hypocritical. 39. MAR posted: 12.06.2015 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) 37 different teams and driver combos 40. Josh posted: 01.17.2017 - 11:01 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ryan - "Yep, Morgan had no business even in racing at the time... True Intimidator championship count- 9" Ryan - "The Real Thomas get over it buddy. Childress owns Roush and Martin and he owns you! He had all year to make up those 48 points... He had a big lead during the middle of the year. He messed up at Phoenix by pitting late. You know Earnhardt had some misfortune at Daytona with a flat tire, that cost him 20 points, but he didn't go out and moan and groan and cry about it like most men would, he went out and kept competing and "won" the championship." 41. Greg24ChaseFan posted: 10.15.2017 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I was a Rusty fan at the time and I remember watching this race. He was just having another ho-hum Dega run. 18-20th basically all day. I remember when he went for it I was like, holy crap! He could actually win this and the largest margin of victory in restrictor plate era. Well, he didn't. And it wasn't really close. Nothing lost by going for it though, finished around where he would have anyway. 42. RaceFanX posted: 02.08.2018 - 9:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Geoff Bodine charges the Exide Batteries car through the field to finish seventh in his self-owned #7 Ford after starting way out back on the last row of the grid. This was Bodine's first top-10 finish of the season. 43. Turn 4 posted: 03.13.2018 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 3rd caution, Earnharts crash on the backstretch. 44. Ryan posted: 05.25.2018 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I guess I was little tough on Morgan, but it was costly to say the least. @38 There's a difference. Dale wouldn't have caused a big pile up being 10 laps down in a race like Irvan did at Darlington (racing the leader Schrader) that about killed Neil Bonnett in 1990. Irvan caused a lot of big crashes at places where you go 200 mph '91 dega (Kyle Petty leg broke), '92 D500 (took out most of the main leaders besides Davey), '96 Dega (About killed Earnhardt and Marlin). Most of Earnhardt's hard racing incidents was on short and intermediate tracks. Yes, he gets blamed for the Rusty wreck at Talladega in '93, but he should have never been in that position. NASCAR made some bad decisions in that race late, particularly with calling the caution late for mist. They decided to have a 2 lap shootout and that was a recipe for disaster. I kind of feel like Rusty came down on Dale through the tri-oval as well. They're not the same driver. Anyone can tell you that watched during the 80's and 90's. Anyone with sense. 45. Ryan posted: 05.27.2018 - 7:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) @40 Earnhardt was wrecked by another driver in this race. Mark Martin had an illegal part in 1990. Just a tad different. 46. GoPM21 posted: 01.26.2019 - 8:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @43 Back then, a caution on the last lap didn't count as a true caution and the reason wasn't recorded as such. 47. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.02.2019 - 3:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First career plate win for Mark Martin in Nascar. All 3 national touring series. 48. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.02.2019 - 3:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Have to correct all of the comments saying Cope said, Michael Andretti took me out. Cope possibly had a concussion after that accident, they weren't very strict about them and didn't think they were a big deal back then. And although he did call John, Michael Andretti, Cope said the accident was totally his fault. He thought he had room to go up and he didn't. So he took the blame for the incident and didn't blame Andretti as the several of the comments said. 49. RaceFanX posted: 04.04.2020 - 11:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Part of the hood on Rusty Wallace's #2 Miller Genuine Draft Thunderbird started caving in at speed during this race but it did little to slow the team's black-and-gold Ford. Wallace pitted on lap 123 and after his team did the math they said that he was half a lap short based on their mileage but that Rusty should go for it in the hopes he could stretch it far enough to grab the win. As noted earlier ultimately he ran dry five laps short. A 12-year-old girl from Minnesota gave Rusty Wallace a rabbit's foot before this race as a good luck charm trying to reverse his usual tough luck on the plate tracks. The team put it in his #2 but luck ultimately still wasn't on their side at the end. Still a neat gesture though. Terry Labonte spun off Turn 4 with four laps to go in this one but since he didn't hit anything and came to rest on pit road NASCAR didn't throw the caution. Labonte fired the #5 back up and drove to his pits. NASCAR was reluctant to throw a yellow in the closing laps during this era because without the green-white-checker rule that usually meant the end of the race. 50. Anthony2 posted: 04.30.2020 - 9:17 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @21 Tell that to Jeff Gordon's 1996 season. He finished 42nd & 40th in the first two races of the season & Mark Martin's 1990 Richmond penalty. It doesn't matter if it's early in the season, middle of the season, or at the very end, you will lose a championship regardless of how it took place. 51. JSPorts posted: 04.30.2020 - 9:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Back then, you would've. These days, you could have just 1 top 10 in the regular season, if that top 10 was a win, and then luck your way into a championship. Heck, you could even miss nearly half the regular season and still win it... 52. Joshua posted: 04.30.2020 - 9:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 45 Ryan Illegal part or getting spun, both of those were out of the drivers' control, right? 53. Chase9Fan posted: 05.05.2020 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ryan haha, going back reading his Earnhardt fan boy comments is making this social distancing fun. He is way out of league. What if this, what if that haha geez. What if Sr didn't wreck Rusty in 1993 at Dega, Earnhardt would have one less title. See, 2 can play this game. 54. RyanM posted: 05.05.2020 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) There are so many hypotheticals you can bring up to reaward titles and they can almost always go both ways. Jimmie Johnson is as close to having 10 as he is to having only 2 or 3. Jeff Gordon is as close to having only 1 or 2 as he is to having 7. David Pearson might've taken a few from Petty had always been full-time. Believe it or not, titles are generally pretty close and it's often only one or two key moments that decide them. Those who are good enough to constantly put themselves in position to win often see a handful go their way but also some that don't, so take what you can get. (I'm not that same Ryan btw) 55. Onion posted: 05.05.2020 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No no no no no. RyanM, you got this wrong. The right way of doing hypotheticals is giving your favored driver and ONLY him that one break he didn't get in real life, let it be ignoring a clumsy wreck or perfect reliability and then complaining over his oh so terrible luck. Being an F1 fan first and foremost, I meet the Alonso 2012 Spa crap the most often, here it appears to be a competition between Gordon and Earnhardt fans, but I guess you won't need much help to figure out a bunch of others. 56. Chase9Fan posted: 05.14.2020 - 11:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Re-watched this race earlier, not sure if he would have made it, doubtful, but why the heck didn't he fall behind and run behind the cars he was drafting with instead of leading the pack? It would have saved him some fuel. 57. Chase9Fan posted: 05.14.2020 - 11:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 54. Yup about Petty, of course back then they didn't really race for titles, more for wins and $$ to provide for family as winning the championship really wasn't the goal just a nice bonus. Had Petty really tried for titles with the domination his cars had, he could have easily had 10 or more, I think he finished 2nd like 8 times or something. 58. Rich posted: 12.27.2020 - 7:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons were the commentators. Dr. Jerry Punch, John Kernan and Bill Weber were the pit road reporters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: