The Daytona 500's greatest upset, 30 years on
In 1990, Dale Earnhardt ruled the NASCAR roost. But at the Daytona 500, one plucky underdog swapped all of his luck for a blockbuster victory bigger to some than the overall title itself. This is Derrike Cope's story
At the beginning of 1990, things could not have been much more exciting if you were a NASCAR fan. The previous year was the first where every race featured flag-to-flag TV coverage, and the title had gone down to the wire - with the ever-popular Rusty Wallace beating "The Intimidator", Dale Earnhardt, to the title. Dick Trickle won rookie of the year.
Looking ahead, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman among others were polishing off Days of Thunder, which would launch NASCAR even further into the public domain. But, it would get even better for those watching on. For fans of the then-Billboard 100 number one and Phil Collins, the Daytona 500 to kick off the 1990 season was truly another day in paradise.
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