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1987 - The Third Championship, Back-to-Back for the First Time Dale Earnhardt's championship season in 1986 was a mere glimpse into the excellence on the horizon. His 1987 campaign was simply awe-inspiring. After his annual Daytona disappointment, Dale won six of the next seven races (failing only at Atlanta when started from the pole) and took the championship by the throat. Back-to-back victories at Rockingham and Richmond, then four straight at Darlington, North Wilkesboro, Bristol and Martinsville, put him 157 points in front of Bill Elliott. And so went it. Dale rolled through his campaign, building his lead over runner-up Elliott to an astonishing 608 points by early September. In the end, Dale posted 11 victories, including sweeps at Darlington, Bristol and Richmond. He also added dominating triumphs at Michigan and Pocono. The
wins hardly told the entire story, however. Dale led all but two races,
for an astounding 3,358 laps, the fifth highest single-season total in
the modern era. Looked at another way, in the 1987 season, more than a
third of all
The 1987 season was the finest of Dale's career (and also Richard Chlidress' ), maybe the finest of anyone's, and marked the first time he displayed all of his promise during the course of an entire season.
By winning his third championship, equaling the number of titles won by legends David Pearson, Lee Petty, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt answered any remaining doubt about his position among NASCAR's all-time greats.
The
Winston All Star Game race in May at Charlotte would also became a name
that Dale created with his performance; the famous In a wham, bam, controversial 10 - lap dash to the finish, Dale Earnhardt spectacularly avoided disaster and withstood the rage of his rivals to record the victory worth $200,000 at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. Elliott thought Dale had instigated a wreck and sought to retaliate. He bumped Dale on the backstretch, then coming off fourth turn forced Dale down into the grassy infield between the track and pit road. In a remarkable display of driving, Earnhardt kept the car on a straight line through a 150-foot plowing job with more than 150 mph! More here....!
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competitive
laps found Dale at the front of the field. His only DNF was posted at
Dover, when engine trouble knocked him out after 304 laps. Of the
circuit's 29 races, Dale finished in the Top 5 incredible 21 times.
