The 1993 Charlotte "Coca Cola 600"

Night moves

or

"Oh, so he's a magician..."

Charlotte, May 31, 1993

A post-race fireworks display couldn't compare with ones ignited Sunday night by Dale Earnhardt, who twice overcame penalties imposed by NASCAR officials to win a wild, wild Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"Dale showed again why he's every race driver's worst nightmare", Greg Sacks said after the race. 

Dale, the wild one, the sliest of the sly and bravest of the brave, kept slipping out of deep trouble and somehow whipped that dreaded No.3 through little cracks and crevices where angels fear to drive. 

And by the end of the Coca-Cola 600, he was out front and going away. It must be magic...!

Dale was twice penalized, once for breaking the rules, once for being a bad boy. Total assess- ment was about a lap and a half, maybe 2 laps. Two to 3 miles.

Twice, he had to make up an entire circuit oh the mile-and-a-half oval just to be up with the leaders, and twice he did it.

Dale doesn't just drive, he races. Oh he races very hard. And shame on anybody who gets in his way. Greg Sacks did.

Dale Earnhardt was in the process of trying to make up a mile or so that he had lost when he pitted under a green flag. He was in a hurry and Greg Sacks was in his way. Dale drove up behind him and suddenly, Greg Sacks was doing a samba, into the wall (ouch), across the track and onto the grass (ouch once more). 

This "Sundy-Night-Fever-Dance" of Greg Sacks produced the caution flag Dale Earnhardt needed to make up his lost ground but, whoa...., NASCAR officials thought Dale is a bad boy and slapped a 1-lap penalty on him for rough driving. Rough driving? Dale a rough driver? Never!

Dale said when it was all over: "I was close, but I didn't hit him (Greg Sacks). Maybe our bumpers touched a little or I touched him a little bit but it wasn't like I rammed the hell out of him. I don't think I nudged him." An then, with his typical smile in his face: "I might' ve been a-gin him....!"

Back to the race. When the green flag came out again on Lap 335, Dale was a mile and a half behind and time was starting to become precious. So he did what he always does. "I was runnin' the hell out of it," Dale said.

When a caution flag allowed him to close a big ground, you knew what was coming...! On the reststart, he made some cool moves (no, no, not rough driving) that chilled your blood and suddenly burst out ahead of everyone. Like magic.

I forget to tell you the first penalty. So I said, he broke the NASCAR rules. 

Earlier, he had been leading after 221 laps but had come in for gas and tires and had gotten a 15-second penalty for exceeding the 55-mph speed limit on pit road.

"I was going too fast on pit road?" he asked the media after the race. Who knew? Was he?

"I don't know but Davey Allison was right behind me and he was gaining on me", Dale said.

Oh, Dale did hit Ernie Irvan...! Ran into Irvan's rear end by accident, and admitted it. Dale is no angel, he's a race car driver, don't forget it.

"I'm really excited about winning the first 600 to finish under the lights", said Dale, NASCAR's Terminator, whose voice showed his emotion. "It's history, and it' ll always be special, they can start' em whenever they like. I' ll finish' em......!"

Jeff Gordon (in his rookie year), the later long time rival of Dale ended his day as runner-up before a speedway record crowd estimated at 162,000, attending the first day-into-night race in NASCAR history.