How Dale Earnhardt’s Tussle With Terry Labonte at Bristol Gave the Motorsports World One of Its Most Iconic Phrases of All Time

When the mercury dips at Bristol, history has shown that chaos and drama are never far behind. Take last spring, for instance—after a rain delay cooled the surface, the Goodyear tires reacted in a way few had anticipated. Though expected to last upward of 80 laps, they wore down at an alarming rate, forcing drivers to pit every 40 to 50 laps.

Likewise, Bristol witnessed another unexpected race 25 years ago in 1999, when Dale Earnhardt famously rattled Terry Labonte’s cage in one of the most talked-about finishes in NASCAR lore.

Earnhardt, who had started from P26, moved his way through the field and grabbed the lead on Lap 380, held it for 32 circuits, before trading it blow-for-blow with Labonte in the closing laps. On Labonte’s end, it looked like smooth sailing after leading 51 consecutive laps, until Jeremy Mayfield’s spin brought out a caution with just 10 to go.

Then came the plot twist. Darrell Waltrip nudged Labonte’s rear bumper, sending his #5 Chevy for a spin and handing the lead back to Earnhardt. Labonte, opting for four fresh tires under yellow, restarted fifth. By Lap 497, he used the grip from those new tires to storm past both Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

He slipped past Tony Stewart the very next lap and had only one car left to chase — Earnhardt, with just two laps remaining. In Turn 3, Labonte gave Earnhardt a slight nudge, dipped beneath him in Turn 4, and crossed under the white flag with the lead in hand.

With worn-out tires and time running out, Earnhardt knew he had one bullet left in the chamber — he had to unsettle Labonte before Turn 3, where fresher rubber would give Labonte the upper hand.

So, Earnhardt rolled the dice in Turn 1, tapping Labonte just enough to send him spinning, triggering a chain reaction that swept up several frontrunners. With chaos in his rearview, Earnhardt sped away to take the checkered flag. In his post-race remarks, Earnhardt didn’t dodge the elephant in the room — he addressed the move head-on:

“Well, we knew we didn’t get tires. I didn’t know who got tires behind us. All I knew was I needed to protect that bottom. Terry got into me in the middle of 3 and 4. I was gonna get back to him and just rattle him. I wasn’t going to wreck him. But I got to him and turned him around. Didn’t mean to turn him around. I meant to rattle his cage, though.”

The phrase gained such traction that it remains woven into the fabric of NASCAR culture more than 25 years later, largely owing to Earnhardt’s legacy in the sport.

Years down the line, Labonte revealed just how furious he was with Earnhardt after that incident. In the heat of the moment, he seriously contemplated slamming his own car into Earnhardt’s during the latter’s victory lap.

With tempers flaring, Labonte sat on the apron — his Chevy angled with the rear of the car facing the track — and considered throwing it into reverse to take a swipe at the celebrating #3 car.

But as he dropped the clutch, the car jolted, snapped a gear, and came to a dead stop. That mechanical hiccup became his saving grace. Labonte later admitted that the mishap snapped him out of his fury.

A quick “Really?” crossed his mind, and with that, the adrenaline gave way to resignation. His post-race demeanor was unexpectedly composed, though he didn’t shy away from pointing a finger at both Darrell Waltrip and Earnhardt for how it all unraveled.