I wanted to go over how Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won his first Busch Series race in the 1998 Coca-Cola 300. In his 16th Busch Series start, he started 16th. He slowly made his way to the top 10 and then into the top 5.
He sustained some damage in the Hermie Sadler/Jeff Purvis/Buckshot Jones accident, so he had to make an unscheduled pit stop. This enabled Junior to stay out when the leaders had to make a splash of fuel to make it to the finish. It was marginal if Junior could have made it if the race stayed green. However, it did not as Jimmy Spencer hit the wall on lap 185. Junior's team decided to get four fresh tires and ended up second in the race behind Joe Nemechek.
After another caution, it was a 6 lap dash to the checkered flag. Coming to the white flag, Junior got Nemechek loose off of turn 4. This allowed Dale to pass him for first and hold off Elliott Sadler for his first NASCAR Busch Series victory.
In my opinion, it was a monumental moment in NASCAR as the win spurred off Junior's run to the championship and eventual rise to Winston Cup. As Mike Joy alludes to in the race, there were some doubters about Dale being ready to make the jump to full-time Busch competition with such limited running beforehand. However, this race proved Dale had what it takes to compete in NASCAR's highest levels. It would begin a run of super stardom for the third-generation driver.
Race uploaded by nick hebert. Video is for awareness purposes only. All credit to NASCAR and CBS.
