SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDtv.com for frequent updates... » More Photos

Earnhardt started the segment from the pole, flanked on the outside by Terry Labonte, with Rusty Wallace and Waltrip on Row 2. Two laps into the 10-lap dash for the cash, Earnhardt and Labonte were side by side in Turn 1, when the black No. 3 suddenly drifted up the track into Labonte and both nearly wrecked. Seeing the chaos, Waltrip went low and passed both of them in Turn 2.

“I knew something like that might happen when Dale and Terry got side by side,” Waltrip said. “I just took the car low and went past them. I seen it on TV.”

Once in the lead, Waltrip stayed there, taking the checkered flag by 1.052 seconds over Wallace, with Earnhardt third, followed by Martin and Terry Labonte. The first-time NASCAR Sprint Cup winner pocketed $211,200 for the victory.

“Wow, that's big,” Waltrip said in victory lane. “I ain't supposed to win this race. I don't even know what to do. That'll show you what the Wood Brothers can do.”

And he quickly dismissed potential criticism that his first Cup victory was in a non-points race. “Well, they'll say, ‘He never won a points race.’ Well, I won a lot of money and I've got a nice trophy, and I don't care what they say,” said Waltrip.

Meanwhile, Labonte was furious that Earnhardt’s move cost him a shot at victory in one of NASCAR’s biggest races. “You don’t want to talk to him right now. Nobody does,” said Labonte’s car owner, Rick Hendrick. “I’ve never seen him this upset. Earnhardt took him out. Earnhardt just moved up the track and hit him.”

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDtv.com for frequent updates on the history of the event and all the details about this year’s action. Watch and Win!