DieHard 500
The DieHard 500 was run on July 28 on the Talladega Superspeedway. The #98 of Jeremy Mayfield won the pole. The race started late due to rain delays, and was marred by "The Big One" on lap 117 that injured Dale Earnhardt after he, Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin got together, sending Earnhardt and Marlin head-on into the tri-oval wall at approximately 200 miles per hour. Earnhardt flipped onto his roof and collected 11 other cars. Earnhardt took a hit to the roof from Robert Pressley's #33 and another big hit from Derrike Cope's #12. Earnhardt suffered a broken collarbone and sternum in the crash. Marlin suffered several contusions from the hard impact. Due to darkness caused by the rain delay and red flag, it was shortened to 129 laps.
Top Ten Results
- 24-Jeff Gordon
- 88-Dale Jarrett
- 6-Mark Martin
- 28-Ernie Irvan
- 23-Jimmy Spencer
- 7-Geoffrey Bodine
- 99-Jeff Burton
- 18-Bobby Labonte
- 17-Darrell Waltrip
- 2-Rusty Wallace
Failed to Qualify: 97-Chad Little
- This is the last points race in NASCAR that was tape delayed. The rain delay made CBS transfer to golf. One week later, one day after the Brickyard 400, the race was finally televised.
Read more about this topic: 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series