|| *Comments on the 1996 DieHard 500:* View the most recent comment <#70> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Tim Seay posted: 01.17.2005 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big, bad wreck on lap 117. Dale Earnhardt flip over and struck on top of roof. Race was shortened to 129 laps due to rain/darkness. 2. Anonymous posted: 03.09.2005 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) without a doubt the scariest crash i've ever seen in 12 years of watching nascar 3. Gordon fan posted: 04.13.2005 - 3:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Whoever made this page has it confused with another race. The weather was perfect the whole race and it was not shortened for anything. 4. je24go posted: 05.11.2005 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The weather was perfect, but the race was canceled due to the crash. 5. Josh posted: 06.03.2005 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The race was delayed several hours due to rain and therefore not shown live via ESPN, but tape delayed for days later. Due to two large accidents and the lateness of the start NASCAR shortened the distance as the sun went down. 6. Anonymous posted: 06.15.2005 - 4:27 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) It was an awesome sight when Dale walked to the ambulance and thumbs-upped the fans, letting them know he was ok, that was a classy move. 7. binno posted: 07.30.2005 - 9:23 pm Rate this comment: (4) (1) i'll end the confusion over this race right now... ...the race was delayed several hours and shown on tv(cbs) a couple days later, it started under caution(12 laps under green/yellow) due to the amount of rain, crash on lap 104(andretti spun triggering a chain reaction) damaged several cars, crash on lap 116/117(irvan touched marlin's left rear turning him into earnhardt's right rear, flipping the #3 and being hit several times including on the roof by cope and pressley) collected several cars, dale climbed out of his battered car and dropped to one or both knees before getting up and walking to the ambulance while giving a thumbs up to the crowd, following the caution and red flag to clean up the wreck nascar announced a 5 lap shootout to shorten the race 129 laps instead of the scheduled 188 laps due to darkness closing in... ...on a side note, earnhardt broke his collarbone, broke his sternum, and bruised his pelvis... ...don't believe me? i just watched it on tape and i'll put my earnhardt knowledge up against anybody. 8. Thomas Wells posted: 11.07.2005 - 8:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Binno, you are exactly correct, that is how the race ended up. 9. D.E.I. JR #1 posted: 03.23.2006 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale said he wanted to lay down on a stretcher that was provided by the ambulance, but he thought if he did lay down, he would pass out, so he walked, despite the pain. He was a tough guy, and a nice guy. 10. Anonymous posted: 04.30.2006 - 4:03 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) 1st Win For Jeff Gordon at Talladega 11. CanucksAndNASCAR Fan posted: 05.14.2006 - 7:20 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I was pissed that CBS showed Senior PGA golf while the race was going on. I know I was only 11 years old then, but I had a right to be angry because CBS was showing golf at the same time the race was going on. I had no idea that Earnhardt was injured until I saw video of his wreck on Sportscenter later that evening. 12. Bill posted: 06.01.2006 - 6:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'll never forget the first of the big wrecks when Darrell Waltrip somehow snaked his way through a mass of cars crashing everywhere. It was a pretty cool combo of luck and skill 13. Frogger49 posted: 10.09.2006 - 2:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) They showed the wreck on Sportscenter that night? I thought some local tv station hijacked the footage back then and didn't release it for a couple of days. I didn't see the wreck for almost a week after it happened, although I did see a small picture of the crash in the Sports section of the Times Union (Albany, NY) the next day. The taped coverage was aired August 3rd, 1996 (Saturday afternoon) on CBS. 14. CBCMikeyfan posted: 12.18.2006 - 8:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Frogger, I think it was aired on August 4, which was a Sunday afternoon. The Brickyard 400 had been run the day before, so there was no race on Sunday. That left CBS a day to finally show this race. 15. CanadianFan posted: 01.19.2007 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O43TJeCe00M 16. myself posted: 02.19.2007 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First pole for Cale's car, driven by "The Squeal," since Dick Trickle's in 90'! 17. The Real Thomas posted: 04.02.2007 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They definitely showed the footage of the wreck on the local news that night. However, I think it was only on local newscasts on CBS affiliates, since they were really anal about giving footage to other media outlets before it aired on CBS. 18. CBCMikeyfan posted: 04.18.2007 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They did show the footage that night on my CBS affiliate. 19. CHAD posted: 12.14.2007 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DID THEY RED FLAG THIS RACE 20. Ryan posted: 02.12.2008 - 12:58 am Rate this comment: (3) (1) They should have showed Earnhardt's old Wrangler commercial after this race. "One tough customer." 21. Ryan posted: 02.12.2008 - 1:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also after the race, Marlin was reported trying to fight Ernie Irvin because of the wreck he caused. Swervin Ervin for sure that day 22. myself posted: 02.26.2008 - 9:48 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Marlin would have kicked Irvan's ass. He's a tough ole' mountain boy! 23. RaceFanX posted: 10.05.2008 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last summer Talladega race Bobby Labonte drove a red "Washington Redskins" paint job in this race to recognize Joe Gibbs recent induction into the Football Hall of Fame 24. Art D posted: 06.26.2009 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 15th career win for J. Gordon 25. jp posted: 09.23.2009 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I saw a diecast of that scheme at the AutoFair they have at Lowe's last year. 26. Matthew Sullivan posted: 09.24.2009 - 10:53 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) This race ended Earnhardt's chances of winning the '96 title and hindered him for the next two years or so. It boggles the mind that he was able to survive this wreck but not the one at Daytona... 27. RaceFanX posted: 10.17.2009 - 11:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gary Bradberry's best-career finish in 23rd 28. SoxFan24 posted: 11.18.2009 - 3:37 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) 15th career win for Mr Gordon and first at Talladega This race was run on a Sunday but the rain delay and the two massive crashes in this race caused this race to be shortened by 59 laps due to darkness. CBS who covered the race had other obligations this day and would not show the last half of the race and showed an encore presentation the following Sunday afternoon 29. 18fan posted: 03.20.2010 - 3:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I agree that was the scariest crash I have ever seen. The worst part of it was that it basically handed Jeff Gordon the win as the two best cars, Earnhardt and Marlin, were taken out and Gordon was able to get back around the Fords that had ganged up on him on the restart to take the lead and the win. 30. 00andJoe posted: 11.01.2010 - 2:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #23 - "Last summer Talladega race." As I recall, The Wreck was indirectly responsible for that - the constant weather (afternoon thunderstorm) problems, combined with the heat, finally got too much to be worth dealing with, and the wreck causing the race to need to be shortened was the last straw. 31. Ryan posted: 08.01.2011 - 12:22 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) I didn't even think about it at the time, but this was the race that cost Earnhardt a lot of heartache the next few years. He wasn't well and it also possibly cost him his eighth title. I believe we all know he would have been a top 5 car at Indy the following week if he didn't have to get out of the car. Once again, big thanks to Ernie Irvan... 32. Anonymous posted: 09.24.2011 - 10:15 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "The worst part of it was that it basically handed Jeff Gordon the win as the two best cars, Earnhardt and Marlin, were taken out and Gordon was able to get back around the Fords that had ganged up on him on the restart to take the lead and the win." Was that REALLY the worst part? The fact that Earnhardt had lingering problems from his injuries that stretched into 1999 isn't worse than the fact that Jeff Gordon won the race? I've been a NASCAR fan since '96 and you Gordon haters have never failed to amuse me. 33. Anonymous posted: 01.06.2012 - 10:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Swervin Irvan strikes again.There was also a big crash in this race in turn 4 just before the Earnhardt wreck. 34. RaceFanX posted: 02.26.2012 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #18 Bobby Labonte- Interstate Batteries / Joe Gibbs Pro Football Hall of Fame Labonte ran Washington Redskins red and yellow colors on the #18 Chevrolet in this race to celebrate owner Joe Gibbs recent induction into the Hall of Fame for his massive success as a 3-time Super Bowl-winning NFL coach. 35. RaceFanX posted: 07.10.2012 - 12:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #25 Ken Schrader- Budweiser / US Olympic Team 36. Unser1 posted: 01.14.2013 - 8:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Marcis dodges the wrecks and finishes 11th for his best finish of 1996. 37. Ed posted: 01.19.2013 - 8:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 29. 18fan posted: 03.20.10 - 3:30 am "The worst part of it was that it basically handed Jeff Gordon the win as the two best cars, Earnhardt and Marlin, were taken out and Gordon was able to get back around the Fords that had ganged up on him on the restart to take the lead and the win." DJ and Irvan combined to lead 6 laps. Jeff led 37 laps. Who had the better car? 38. Will posted: 03.12.2013 - 6:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mayfield's 1st career pole 39. Jorge posted: 04.04.2013 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Well the Earnhardt wreck also knocked off Robert Pressley who surprisingly had a top 5 car the whole race. So with the three strongest cars out, Gordon had the easy win. Another thing I noticed about the Earnhardt wreck is how the hell Mark Martin who was directly behind them only suffered a spin without hitting anyone. Any other Big One his car would have been totally destroyed. DW also maneuvered his way though the second wreck as well if you look at the video closely. Almost avoided crashing into the back of Greg Sacks car. 40. Ryan W posted: 07.25.2013 - 1:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Ed, 18fan mentioned that Earnhardt and Marlin had the two best cars and after that Gordon was able to pass the Fords back after they ganged up on him after the Earnhardt crash restart. Get it? 41. Ed posted: 12.22.2014 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rick Mast probably would have totalled that car along the back straightaway had it not been raining prior to the race, as the large puddle along the bank back there slowed his car dramatically before he hit the wall 42. Paul M. posted: 09.26.2015 - 2:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another interesting side-note Texas Terry labonte almost flipped in the first big pile up. You had to follow it really closely but he got on his side 43. BMan0213 posted: 09.26.2015 - 2:40 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) @42 Pretty sure Terry almost flipping was in the same wreck Dale flipped which would have been the second big one. If I remember right Terry hit a tire and it got stuck under his car for a few seconds which is what almost made him flip. 44. SuperG posted: 02.16.2016 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (3) (7) This race didn't cost Earnhardt a chance to win an 8th title. That went down the drain when Gordon absolutely handed his ass to him on a silver platter every week in the mid-to-late 90s. Earnhardt crashed, and Jeff passed the Fords back to win the race. He wasn't handed anything, and he sure as hell isn't a driver who needs a race handed to him. Deal with it. You need a box of tissues. If Dale Earnhardt truly was the "One Tough Customer", and the God-like driver Earnhardt fans claim him to be, he wouldn't have trouble beating Gordon in the next few years after this wreck, injured or not. But he couldn't do it. According to them, Jeff isn't on Dale's level, and yet Dale couldn't beat him. Dale Earnhardt competed in every race after this crash on the same level playing field as every other driver, and he couldn't get the job done. That's not Jeff Gordon's problem, that's Earnhardt's. You got it? 45. Maverick11 posted: 02.16.2016 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I would like to see an injured 40 year old Gordon beat Earnhardt in his prime first. 46. Johnson6timechamp posted: 02.17.2016 - 7:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (3) Rainbow Princess only won this race because JJ wasn't around yet. 47. Man from 1996 posted: 02.17.2016 - 9:35 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Jimmie Johnson? That Chevy off-road truck guy? What's he got to do with pavement racing? 48. Matthew Sullivan posted: 04.06.2016 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Gordon fans: the same people who blamed everyone BUT their driver the last 14 years of his career when he couldn't win a fifth championship. Always remember, seven is greater than five. 49. Trevor posted: 07.07.2016 - 3:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No...whoever thinks this is the race where ricky craven flipped ate sadly mistaken. This is the DieHard 500 that was run on July 28th. it rained that whole morning and far into the aforenoon. This is the race that was shortened due to darkness. This is also the race CBS didn't air live due to golfing. Earnhardt wrecked on lap 117/118 after ernie Irvan made made contact with the left rear or Sterling Marlin'so car turning him into the right rear of Earnhardt sending him straight into the wall in the trioval..Earnhardt's car got on the drivers side, hit in the hood area, then the roof area flipped it completely over and then hit in the right front again. Jeff Gordon won the 5 lap shootout after nascar made the decision to shorten the race due to darkness 50. PD posted: 09.13.2016 - 7:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sad thing is before the wreck, Earnhardt clearly had the dominant car and probably would've won the race. Would've been a great car to take to Daytona in '97 to, but that wasn't to be either. 51. HD11 posted: 02.12.2017 - 8:16 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This crash led to the creation of the Earnhardt bar which was designed to protect impact to a car's roof and windshield. It was made mandatory by NASCAR. 52. blackgold42 posted: 04.12.2017 - 6:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) If the Chase system hadn't been implemented then Gordon is a 7-time champion as well and Johnson is only a 3-time champ. Also on an interesting side-note Harvick would be a 3-time champ and Edwards a 2-time champ. I like the chase/playoffs but it has benefitted Johnson in that it is run on the tracks he tends to be best at 53. Sean posted: 04.12.2017 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Or the #48 team simply predominantly focused on the tracks that are in the chase, while the other teams cared about the first 26 races too much. That's what I think. 54. M posted: 08.15.2017 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) 30 top-10s in a 36 race season in 2007 isn't good enough? Gordon took everybody to school that year as well as 2004 but was robbed of dominant seasons because of a bullshit playoff system. That's not blaming everything and everybody else but the driver. Was Jimmie Johnson REALLY better than Jeff Gordon in 2007? For 10 races at the end of the season maybe, but in those 10 races Jeff was consistently in the top 10. Why should 10 races negate 26 other races when Jeff Gordon was HEAD and SHOULDERS above the competition. Does that mean Jimmie Johnson is better? Hardly. He has a "title" on his resume, but not one that I would consider worth a damn. And as for #45, I have no doubt an injured 40 year old Gordon could handle Earnhardt in his prime. Earnhardt was dominate at restrictor plate tracks, Atlanta, and Bristol. Everywhere else he would benefit from weaker competition or other drivers' misfortunes. Gordon was a faster, smarter driver than Earnhardt who knew how to save his equipment for the long haul and charger up at the end for the win. He was also as aggressive as Earnhardt without the reckless abandon that usually resulted in other competitors being put in the wall. Gordon was able to win decisively on short tracks, restrictor plate tracks, speedways and road courses, something Earnhardt couldn't claim. 55. Aaron Camp posted: 11.16.2017 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was the last top-level NASCAR race that was not aired live in any part of the U.S., with the race being aired on a one-week tape delay by CBS. Although the 2001 season finale at Loudon was aired live by NBC in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain Time Zones, it was aired on a 90-minute tape delay in the Seattle TV market and a 60-minute time delay in other Pacific Time Zone TV markets. 56. BassPro78 posted: 11.16.2017 - 5:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's crazy honestly. I guess in a day without smartphones and YouTube, you could get away with showing a race a week late and not spoil the results for the majority of the viewers. 57. Corey posted: 11.16.2017 - 7:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @56 Problem is newspaper subscriptions were still around. I remember seeing the results in the paper the next day and was mad that I didn't get to watch it. Of course, I was only 9 at the time and didn't know anything about tape-delay (1996) was my first season watching NASCAR). I never knew they put it on tape delay till I saw the comments here. For that 2001 Loudon race. I was there, but I spent laps 150-250 under the grandstands as the concessions lines were so darn long. 58. Who cares posted: 02.14.2018 - 9:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well damn, Dave Marcis was one spot from scoring a top ten in this race. It would have been his first since Bristol two years earlier, which turned to be his final top ten finish. 59. RaceFanX posted: 03.10.2018 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @41 Yup, Mast spun into the grass and sent water flying everywhere when he hit the puddle and it slowed him down, saving massive damage to the Hooters #1 Pontiac. "That was a little aquacade action" joked Ken Squier as he watched it. 60. Jimmie4Life posted: 03.12.2018 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This may be controversial(maybe not), but they could've finished 15 more laps. Sunset was around 8:00 Central Time, and it was 7:15(according to some articles found deep in the internet), and also, if you look on Camera on the youtube video(shoutout TheRacingJungle), it doesn't look that awfully dark. 61. M posted: 04.27.2018 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) The all-time restrictor plate winner in NASCAR history wins his first of 6 races at Talladega Superspeedway. The Rainbow Warrior holds off 6 rival Fords all by himself in a shootout after rain/impending darkness shortens the race to 129 laps. It's his first of 2 race wins in the summer/fall 'Dega race - his 4 other wins came in the spring race. It's also his only win at Talladega with Ray Evernham and the original Rainbow Warriors pit crew. Another win under his belt en route to 10 total victories in a dominating 1996 season. On the taped coverage after the race, they practically interrogated Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin about the accident that sent Dale Earnhardt into the wall. I thought it was pretty classless to assume that Ernie and/or Sterling purposefully crashed Earnhardt. If Dale Earnhardt tapped Ernie/Sterling and sent THEM into the wall (like he did plenty of times to other drivers in his career), nobody would care (as evidenced by the comments here in this thread). But HOW DARE anybody accidentally touch the precious God Almighty Dale Earnhardt. Jeff drove a pretty masterful race in this one, as he usually did at Talladega and Daytona throughout his career. 62. Brad24 posted: 08.29.2018 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What I couldn't figure out is why the race couldn't be shown on another station like TNN? TNN was owned by CBS communications at the time. 63. RaceFanX posted: 11.28.2018 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Loy Allen, Jr.'s 21st-place finish was the best of his abbreviated 1996 season. HIs best only career top-10 had been at Talladega the previous year; while he usually qualified well at Talladega this was by far his worst start and yet it became his second-best finish. This was his last Cup race at the Alabama track and he never posted another top-25 in any of his remaining seven points-paying Winston Cup starts. 64. Ryan posted: 07.22.2019 - 12:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @44 Jeff Gordon said on the show Unrivaled about him and Earnhardt that the reason he was able to beat Earnhardt a lot during the mid to late 90's was that he simply he had better cars and equipment than Dale had. Nuff said. Any knowledgeable Nascar fan could see that then. Kirk Shelmerdine said on the Dale Jr. download not long ago that RCR during the mid 80's to early 90's they had maybe four to five cars with 20 employees at their peak and that they always felt like they were the underdogs where teams had twice as much resources and people as they had. It's why Dale Earnhardt is considered the best driver ever. No one did more with less. @61 He didn't try to kill anyone over and over like Ernie Irvan did. Ernie made some very poor decisions in his career. '90 Darlington, '91 Talladega, '92 Daytona, and '96 Talladega. Don't even bring up the Winston 500 at Talladega in 1993 either. Nascar robbed Dale Earnhardt that day of a win. And then from anti-Earnhardt fans they blamed him for wrecking Rusty coming to the finish when in reality Rusty came down on Dale in the trioval coming to the checkered flag. Rusty admitted such on the Dale Jr download recently that he came down on Dale. 65. SweetRich posted: 02.16.2020 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Commentators For The Race Were Ken Squier, Buddy Baker And Ned Jarrett. The Pit Road Reporters Were Mike Joy, David Hobbs And Dick Berggren. 66. OangeWaffle43 posted: 05.22.2020 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not sure if anyone will see this. But this was the last race on tape delay (not same day as @55 alluded to). But I'm still itching to know, what was the last highlight race ever aired? Like not the whole thing? 67. Corey posted: 05.22.2020 - 2:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @66, Comment 55 mentioned this being a one week delay. The same day times he gave were for the Loudon race in November. 68. nascarman posted: 05.22.2020 - 2:10 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @66 Some of the tape delayed ESPN races in the early 1990s like Martinsville and North Wilkesboro were edited down to 2.5 hour broadcasts. The last real shortened highlight broadcast was probably the October 1988 Charlotte race, that was only 1.5 hours. 69. OangeWaffle43 posted: 05.23.2020 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @67 Yes I know haha that's what I was saying @68 Nice! Alright thanks. I know late 90's-onwards you can usually find newspaper or internet archive pages, but I've been struggling to find broadcast records of anything pre-internet, especially cable ones. Do you know of any sources that have stuff like that by chance? 70. Chase9Fan posted: 06.19.2020 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I dunno guys, I know this race was delayed by rain and storms, but I remember it being on TV later that evening when they went back to racing, not days later. Scary Earnhardt crash. Amazing he survived that head on into the wall but not Daytona. Just goes to show you when it's your time, it's just your time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: