Published 12/26/2022, 11:00 AM EST
Since its inception in 1949, NASCAR has come a long way and had its ups and downs. In the modern era, there are plenty of fans who fondly reminisce about how NASCAR was in the old days. Speaking of which, in those days, the rules were not at strict as they are now. The lack of policing did lead to some great battles, and one person who brought the entertainment aspect was Dale Earnhardt. This was something that his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr, could attest.
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On one occasion, Dale Sr was battling with Darrell Waltrip and they entered the pit lane side-by-side. Around that time, the officials had now fixed the pit road speed limit. Hence, the duo was racing each other in the pits. The best part was that both of their pit stalls were one behind the other. So their race soon transferred to their pit crews as they desperately tried to get their driver ahead of his rival.
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How did Dale Earnhardt Jr, and other NASCAR fans react?
Dale Jr retweeted the clip of the pit lane dogfight, but other fans had a variety of opinions. According to some of them, battles like these were what made NASCAR a great racing series. Others wondered about the pit road speed because Earnhardt and Waltrip were traveling very quickly. Some people rued how old they were, lamenting that the lack of a Twitter handle for Dale Sr clued them in.
Few people even pointed out the hypocrisy of the scene, that everyone was praising Dale Sr. At the same time, they were condemning Ty Gibbs for his pit-lane antics. He had bumped into a rival on pit road. They observed that it was a miracle that more NASCAR drivers managed to get away with such antics in the pit lane.
10 Feb 1999: Dale Earnhardt #3 races his car during the Daytona 500 Speedweek at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida. Mandatory Credit: David Taylor /Allsport
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A few observers noted how slow the pit stops were during those days. Fans even noticed that a few cars were not even fully in their pit box while being serviced. Considering that this was an era when pit lane speed limiters were not enforced, many fans enjoyed the dogfight.
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