“Dad drove to the bottom so I just went around a little bit higher and it stuck, and I got along his outside,” the younger Earnhardt recalled. “I was going by and he hit me.”
Dale Earnhardt won that race over Earnhardt Jr. by 0.007 seconds on one of many memorable days at Michigan International Speedway for Earnhardt Jr., whose farewell tour is passing through the track this weekend. Earnhardt Jr. would go on to win Cup races at MIS in 2008 and 2012, and he’ll try to add another victory Sunday in his final race at the venue before he retires at the end of this season.