The bent fenders, hot tempers, and short track beating and banging that the high banks at Bristol Motor Speedway have made the track a fan-favorite stop on the NASCAR® schedule for decades. It is also a place where NASCAR Hall of FameTM inductee Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed one of the ultimate signs of toughness in the face of in-race adversity.
Early on in the 2014 Night Race at Bristol, Earnhardt was cruising and keeping himself near the front of the field when disaster struck. The race leaders made contact and a spun car bounced off the inside wall and right into Earnhardt’s path. His No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet was struck and suffered extreme damage.
Even though their chances of victory ended with the collision, Earnhardt and his Hendrick Motorsports crew refused to give up on gaining additional positions. Damaged body panels were removed, tape was applied to hold other parts of the car together, and even the No. 88 on the car’s driver side had to be recreated using neon orange tape to meet NASCAR® regulations. With all the damage repaired as best as possible, Earnhardt returned to the race for several more laps after the incident and picked up additional points due to the team’s diligence to return to the track.
