From 1979 to 1997, there was perhaps no driver better at getting to the front of the Daytona 500 than Dale Earnhardt. The only problem? At the end of 500 miles, he never crossed the start-finish line in first place. In 1986, the 28th running of the Great American Race played out as if Martin Scorsese was behind CBS' cameras.
In the mid-1980s, Earnhardt's rivalry with Chemung, New York, native Geoff Bodine made headlines on a weekly basis. In the closing laps, it was Earnhardt and Bodine battling for the sport's biggest prize. In what turned out to be a precursor for future heartbreaks, Earnhardt ran out of gas with three laps remaining.
While Earnhardt's No. 3 quietly inched down pit road, his biggest rival at the time in Bodine took the victory. In 1990, Earnhardt was on the losing end of one of the most heartbreaking losses in NASCAR history.
In a race that kicked off a five-year stretch in which Earnhardt won four Winston Cup championships and 24 races, the black No. 3 was by far the fastest car in Daytona Beach. As Earnhardt entered turn three on the final lap, though, the right-front tire on his Chevrolet went down, handing Derrike Cope the first victory of his Winston Cup career.
A fourth-place finish and a blown tire were all Earnhardt and the No. 3 team had to show on a day where they led 155 of 200 laps. In 1993, Earnhardt was on the losing end of the infamous "Dale and Dale Show," watching as Dale Jarrett took the win.
In 1997, Earnhardt tumbled down the backstretch.