1995 - No.8 Eludes Dale Earnhardt

One more race. That's all Dale Earnhardt my have needed in 1995 to earn his King-usurping eight Winston Cup championship. With four races left in the season, he trailed young gun Jeff Gordon by a seemingly insurmountable 302 points. 
Too much to make up, right? Well, Dale Earnhardt gave it his best shot and nearly pulled it off.
Dale started his final-four run with a second-place finish at Charlotte that trimmed Gordon's lead by almost 100 points, followed by a seventh-place showing at Rockingham that sliced the difference to just 162 points. 
The Intimidator continued to do his part at Phoenix, running a solid third, but Gordon's fifth-place finish allowed Earnhardt to narrow the gap by just 15 points.
At the season-ending race at Atlanta, Dale did everything he could, leading the most laps and winning the race. 
Jeff Gordon, however, needed only to start the race- and finish 42nd or better. Jeff essentially did just enough when he finished 32nd, 17 laps behind of Dale's pace. Jeff Gordon won his first Winston Cup title by 34 points, the eighth closest race in Winston Cup history. 
For Dale Earnhardt his role in the case was reminiscent of Cale Yarborough hunting a young Dale Earnhardt in 1980. Like Dale staring down the wily Yarborough, Jeff Gordon gained instant credibility by surviving the feverish charge form Dale, the most talented and toughest veteran in the series.

Those last four races were just an extension of a season-ending run that saw Dale stake a claim to the Top 10 in 1995's final 10 races. Besides Atlanta, his other win in that span came at Martinsville, where he led 253 of the 500 trips around this short track. 
Those victories were two of five on the season, including one at North Wilkesboro, which was in its final season on the Winston Cup schedule. 
His two biggest victories in 1995, however were logged at Indianapolis, where Dale claimed the second Brickyard 400 at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and at Sears Point.
Though the Save Mart 300 at Sears Point does not quit have the same ring as Daytona 500 or Brickyard 400, winning it was a significant accomplishment in Dale's career. 
The triumph was the first and only time Dale earned the checkered flag on one of NASCAR's road courses, a prize he long coveted. The road-course win left Dale with just one hole left on his impressive resume, a victory in the Daytona 500. That void required three more years to fill.