"It didn't sink into me": When Larry McReynolds remembered the day Dale Earnhardt finally conquered Daytona

Dale Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500 win sits in a category of its own, and Larry McReynolds has often said that nothing in his career felt quite like that moment. The former crew chief and Fox Sports analyst once looked back at the day the seven-time champion finally claimed the race that had escaped him for two decades.

For Earnhardt, the wait was long. Entering the 1998 season, he had 70 career victories but no Daytona 500, despite years of dominance at the track. From 1984 to 1996, he finished runner-up four times, dominating Speedweeks year after year. He carried a decade-long top-10 streak. He had won everything else the venue offered, from Duels, the Clash, Busch races, summer races, to even IROC. However, 500 remained elusive.

The previous season made the moment even heavier, with his violent rollover in 1997 serving as a reminder of how quickly Daytona could turn on him. McReynolds described how the weight only shifted after the checkered flag in 1998, when the celebrations concluded.

Speaking on The Dale Jr. Download podcast (aired in February 2021), McReynolds recalled the victory lane and the post-race ritual that followed:

“I remember victory lane. I remember going to the Unical suite with your dad and Richard and having a toast and going to Bill Junior’s Captain Jack suite. He gave us all a cigar. Going through the media car wash down on pit road, Richard, your dad, myself. And then the guys had taken the car and tore it apart for inspection. And then you have to put it back together. Honestly, I remember all those things, but it didn’t sink into me.” (58:38 onwards)

Dale Earnhardt led almost all of the final 70 laps, and while the win looked straightforward, everyone in the garage knew how many times the 500 had slipped away from him. In 1998, with a backup engine installed that morning, the win meant something deeper for the No. 3 crew that lived those losses with him.

The 1998 Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s win on the Harley J. Earl Trophy. Source: Getty

McReynolds said that the moment finally landed much later that night. The crew had loaded the No. 3 Chevy into the trailer for its place in the Daytona Experience. It was pouring, and the garage area was nearly empty. McReynolds walked alone to his motor coach and only then understood what they’d achieved:

“When I sat down to take my shoes off, that’s when it finally hit me. I went, ‘Damn, just won the Daytona 500 with Dale Earnhardt.”

McReynolds also remembered taking a moment to step back and watch Earnhardt, Teresa, Richard Childress, and their families absorb what had just happened.

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How the 1998 Daytona 500 unfolded for Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt (3) on June 28, 1998, at Sears Point International Raceway. Source: Getty

Dale Earnhardt’s path to the 1998 win had 20 years of disappointment. The heartbreaks had stacked up with a blown engine with three laps to go in 1986, debris costing him the win on the last lap in 1990, the seagull incident in 1991, and countless late-race losses when he had dominated most of the afternoon.

A caution on Lap 174 set up the final stretch. Earnhardt surged to the front, giving up the lead only once, to teammate Mike Skinner at the line, before taking control. Even Bill France Jr., usually reserved in moments like these, was quietly pulling for Earnhardt from his radio.

The industry reaction afterward sealed the moment in NASCAR history. Crews filled pit road, lining both sides as the No. 3 rolled past. Dale Earnhardt Jr. described the win years later, via NASCAR:

“The lasting image for me of that day is Dad coming down pit road and getting all the congratulations from all the teams. Nobody’s ever received that type of pat on the back… pretty much the entire industry dropping that competitive guard and saying, ‘Man, I’m happy for you. You’ve earned this.”

Earnhardt finally completed the story that had defined nearly half his career. For McReynolds, the win wasn’t just a trophy. It was the moment he watched a driver, a team owner, and a sport exhale after 20 years of waiting.