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ALL-STAR: Earnhardt’s Pass In Grass Tops The List
The 1987 Sprint All-Star Race arguably stands as the greatest ever...
Jim Pedley  | http://www.RacinToday.com  |  Posted May 20, 2011   Kansas City, KS
Dale Earnhardt celebrates his win in the 1987 Sprint All-Star Race. (Photo: Charlotte Motor Speedway)
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The big, heavy, concrete block-like stock cars they were running in NASCAR in 1987 were tough enough to handle on dry pavement at 185 mph. On soft surfaces like dirt or grass? A person could get hurt doing that.

But in 1987, Dale Earnhardt was not just any person. He’d won two Cup championships and would win a third that year. He had won 20 races heading into that season and would win 11 more that year.

In the middle of that season, Earnhardt took a ride through the grass at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 185. He not only emerged unhurt, he emerged with his near-legendary reputation kicked up to full-legendary.

And he just smirked that Earnhardt smirk when asked afterward how he survived. “I just held on,” he said.

The race was NASCAR's All-Star Race, then known as The Winston. Earnhardt won it that year and afterward, the 1987 edition would be forever known at “The Pass in the Grass” race.

Because of what happened in the infield grass at Charlotte that day, because of what happened on the pavement before and after that, because of what it did for the reputation of the All-Star Race and because of who was involved, the 1987 race checks in as No. 1 on the list of 10 best All-Star Races.

The 1987 Winston was the third for Cup cars. It came on the heels of 1985 and 1986 events which were fairly bland. Darrell Waltrip won the first by a healthy margin in Charlotte. The second was moved to Atlanta and was held in front of a small, quiet crowd on Mothers Day. The winner was Bill Elliott, another of the highly popular drivers of the day.

And it was Elliott, driving the No. 9 Ford for Harry Melling, who dominated the first two segments of the three-segment 1987 event, winning both.

But it was the third, 10-lap-dash segment where myth and fact combined to create history.

On the first lap, Elliott and Geoff Bodine bounced off each other and that allowed Earnhardt to blow past and take the lead.

Shortly after the ensuing restart, Elliott and Earnhardt began bumping each other. The anger level inside their cars climbed.

With seven laps to go and coming out of Turn 4, Elliott hooked Earnhardt from behind. The move sent Earnhardt into the grass. Earnhardt kept the wheels straight, blew back onto the track, and was still in front of Elliott.

There was, you see, really no pass. But there was grass and there was a fabulous save by Earnhardt.

Richard Childress, owner of the No. 3 blue and yellow Wrangler Chevy Earnhardt was driving, would describe the big moment by saying, “When Elliott stayed in the gas and kept pushing him across the grass there, I just thought it was all over. But Dale’s a great race driver and he proved it right there. A man who can hang onto a car like that deserves to win.”

Earnhardt would say, “Elliott got under me and clipped me sideways. I almost got the car started the other way before I went into the grass and then I was able to get it right
while I was in it. If I hadn't, I might have gone right up into the flag stand right there with (flagman) Harold Kinder. I can guarantee you that, if I had turned someone sideways like that, I would be hanging from the flagpole right now."

Bill Elliott (9) and Dale Earnhardt battle in the 1987 Sprint All-Star Race. (Photo: Getty Images)
The race was not over. Neither were the hard feelings and hard racing between Elliott and Earnhardt. They would bump some more before the checkered flag. They would bump after the checkered flag on the cool-down lap.

Heading into the pits after the race they would faint and weave at each other, and as Elliott headed from pit road into the garages, he swung wide and put Earnhardt into the grass a second time.

Crews of the two drivers exchanged angry words.

Then, changed into street clothes, a still seething Elliott gave his take on it all. He accused Earnhardt of overly rough driving before, during and after the so-called pass in the grass.

“We come down the front straightway and I was clearly under him right here,” Elliott said. “He cut down on me there and nearly spun himself out. He let me in on the back straightaway and run me straight into the wall.

“I clearly had the quickest car and he was trying to cut me off everywhere he could,” Elliott said.

And Elliott, one of the more mild mannered drivers in the series, ended his version with a subtle threat and a statement.

“I had him covered. That’s the thing about it. If we’re going to let stuff like that go, we’ll see what happens next week,” Elliott said.

His statement was that if it took driving the way Earnhardt was driving to win a championship, Elliott did not want to be a champion.

Earnhardt and Elliott were fined $2,500. Also Earnhardt was required to post a $7,500 bond, which would be returned to him after the next seven races if no further incident occurred.

None did. But, the ill feelings continued on for years.

And so has the legend of the Pass in the Grass.

Jim Pedley is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

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