The final 7 laps of the 2000 spring race at Atlanta, with Bobby Labonte approaching ever closer to race leader Dale Earnhardt before moving right up to the #3 Chevy's back bumper with one to go. A classic finish ensues.
When Petty retired, it had been 6 years since his last win, and his average finishes were like 20th or worse. When Earnhardt died, he was still a contender, still running up front with the guys!
I felt he was the 2001 title favorite. Seeing how well Harvick ran, plus it being a relatively weak year overall (look at Jeff Gordon's stats compared to earlier Gordon, Jarrett or even Labonte) I think title #8 was in the bag.
Dale finished and in points in 2000 and was getting better and a favorite for 2001 championship. I was he was around because nascar would be so much better off and he would rip the idea of a chase or playoffs and the fans would side d with dale.
Earnhardts death served a larger purpose. The sport would have changed regardless if he liked it or not and he'd have had to evolve with it or get left behind.
@@rdtworld9720 god rest his soul, but man had Dale been just a little more considerate about his safety & wore a safer helmet he might still would be here
Back then, I was a huge Bobby Labonte fan (still am, technically), and my brother-in-law lived and breathed Dale Earnhardt. We had a friendly rivalry going on about it, imagine us watching this finish. Bobby would go on to win the championship that season. For Christmas, my brother-in-law gave me a framed picture of a dejected-looking Bobby with the caption "I just got lucky." The first race of the following season was Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash. My brother-in-law took down all his Earnhardt posters, and NASCAR was never the same after that for either of us. Meanwhile, having just come off the 2000 Winston Cup and the most respected driver in the garage dying in an accident, I would give practically anything to know what was going on in Bobby's head after that. He was never the same, either.
That was smart driving by Earnhardt. He knew how good the runs Labonte was getting off the high line were, so on the last lap, he took it away. He sacrificed track position, allowed Labonte to get alongside, knowing that he would have the run on Labonte going to the line. I still have to remind myself that Earnhardt was 48 YEARS OLD when he won this!! He was so great for so long. Consistency was his trademark.
@@NoNameNo.5 look at the way Harvick ran in that car, as a rookie with no prior cup experience in 2001. Earnhardt would’ve given Gordon a run for his money. Could’ve been fun.
Bobby didn't win this race but he used to flat out own Atlanta and it actually started before they reconfigured it. But after they reconfigured it, he took his dominance to another level. He had 6 wins, 12 top 5's and 13 top 10's in 18 races from 1995-2003. His average finish was 10.6 and that is skewed by 4 bad finishes of 31, 43, 33 and 37. Take those 4 races out and is average finish is a mind blowing 2.4.
@@michaelfreeland2791 Yeah..9 times in what, 20 years ... Labonte had 6 wins in just 6 1/2 years. Not really a comparison. Labonte was the man at Atlanta.
This finish is electrifying. The energy of the fans in the jam packed grandstands and knowing that this was NASCAR’s peak makes rewatching this that much more fascinating
One of the greatest finishes of all time, and it was between the top-2 guys in the points of that season. Amazing. Great driving by Earnhardt, great driving by Labonte, this is NASCAR racing at it's finest.
I just have to say it. I used to be one of those douchebags who talked shit about Nascar and the people who watch it. But one day I caught this race on espn classic and became a believer. I can't even explain to my friends properly now why I like racing so much.... It's just dale man... it's just dale.
One Of My Favorite Memories is Dale Battling Bobby Labonte for the Lead & the Win. The More they raced, the Louder I Cheered for Dale to Win. And When Dale Earnhardt beat Labonte by An Inch, I Went Crazy. It was That Race that Got Me hooked & It was that Race that I Became a Huge Fan Of Dale Earnhardt. From then On I Started Reading Every Book & magazine I Could find to Learn about The Earnhardt Family's Legacy. REST IN PEACE DALE! 12 Years Ago today.
Anybody else see the back of Dales car jumping around coming off of 4? Bobby had the best car and would have smoked anybody else , lots of respect between these two.
These production based cars were so much better than this NASCAR dream car of today, these were drivers cars, made about 3 or 400 more horse power, had to use the engine each manufacturer produced and being sold to the public at the time, now everybody gets to use a detuned version of the Chevy engine.
It’s really something crazy reading the comments here and some date back to 11 years ago... just wild. Bobby was my favorite driver and you gotta appreciate the respect he had for Dale by racing him so damn clean at the end he easily could have pushed him into the fence, but Bobby wasn’t that kind of driver, and Dale usually didn’t rough this Labonte up either... haha can’t say the same about how Dale raced Terry tho hahahaha
+thereal eht543 Hey Kyle is doing great things with that 18 car now. He just took home the championship, his first, Toyota's first, and the first Gibbs championship since Tony Stewart left the team.
I never have gotten how they couldn't tell who won this race until after they look at the scorin' monitors, but they could see who won the 2007 Daytona 500 & who won Darlington in 2003, oh well, this is one of the greatest races of all time, always will be, just Dale Earnhardt will always be the best there ever was in racin' #3 forever!
A lot of people don’t know the reason Dale Sr wore an open face helmet was so he could feel the draft better on his face. The man was an absolute master of drafting
Was there with a labonte fan and I was a Jeff burton fan sitting in turn 4 stands n saw rear of cars go across line looked side by side n heard Earnhardt wins it over speaker. Was cold as sh&t with a wind of 25
Guy was still running for championships until his death .....1979 to 2001 always in it for a championship....if that’s not the best driver ever I don’t know what is
@stormchaser34869 Marlin in the 40 Coors Light car is how most remember him though. I think between the 90's and about 2002 were the best most memorable paint schemes fro drivers
Ray Evernham would fill-in for Ned Jarrett on the ABC televised races. Ned was already contracted to do the races on CBS and wasn't allowed to do the races on ABC.
true not ALL the time but most of the time and also if he did wreck people on higher than 1.5 miles it was because they were blocking him on last lap or if they cut him off
go ask all the drivers who they think is the cleanest driver in the garage and half will say Bobby Labonte; Tell me one time Bobby spunout someone on purpose?
EMPiiRE 18 different leaders in this race with like 30 lead changes. It would take an entire season now to get those stats with the way the cars work now lol
