“Well, I’ve won a road course.” That is the most Dale Earnhardt reaction ever. Gritty, matter-of-fact, and straight from the heart of The Intimidator. Winning was stitched into his very being, and 30 years ago, he checked off one missing box: a road course victory. It didn’t come easy; Sonoma Raceway humbled many, but on that sun-drenched day in Wine country, Earnhardt wheeled the black No. 3 Chevrolet to victory Lane, etching his name into a different kind of NASCAR history.

As the NASCAR Cup series rolls back into Sonoma this weekend, the timing couldn’t feel more poetic. Road course phenom Shane van Gisbergen leads the charge now, dominating the new era. But for long-time fans, every twist and elevation change at Sonoma echoes back to that one iconic triumph. It was a kind of win that didn’t need a flare, just fire, finesse, and a little bit of Earnhardt magic. That moment still stands frozen in time, reminding us that even the most rugged oval king can master the art of the road.

Dale Earnhardt’s sighs of relief after winning Sonoma

When Dale Earnhardt rolled into Sonoma in 1995, he already stood tall as one of NASCAR’s all-time greats. The black Goodwrennch No. 3 car had amassed a legacy of dominance. Seven championships, the same number as Richard Petty, and over 60 premier series wins by then. But even with all that hard work, there was a glaring omission on his resume: a road course victory.

Whether it was Riverside, where he had gone winless in 20 starts before the track disappeared from the calendar after 1988, Watkins Glen (nine starts, no wins), or Sonoma (six starts, same result), the road courses had remained a stubborn Achilles heel for the Intimidator. Checkers and wreckers put it best when they took to X and reminded us all, “On May 7, 1995, Dale won the @NASCAR race held at @RaceSonoma, then named ‘Sears Point Raceway’. This win would become the ONLY road course victory Dale would achieve out of the 76 (100) total NASCAR wins. 30 years ago. Raise hell and praise Dale.”

The 1995 Save Mart Supermarkets 300 at Sonoma didn’t initially promise to be any different. Dale Earnhardt was in the mix, but the day seemed to belong to Mark Martin. Known as one of NASCAR’s sharpest road course drivers, Martin led 66 of 74 laps in his slick Valvoline-sponsored No. 6 Ford at Sonoma. He started third, took control, and stayed in command.

Meanwhile, Earnhardt’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet lurked in the background, threatening, but not quite close enough to pounce. Then came the final laps. Martin, still leading, hit the carousel section, turns five and six, only to slip in a streak of oil laid down by another car. It was the smallest window, but that was all Dale Earnhardt needed. In true Intimidator fashion, he dove low, took the lead, and never backed down. He led only two laps that day, just enough to get to the checkered flag. His margin over Martin? 0.32 seconds.

What followed was one of the most iconic post-race celebrations in Earnhardt lore. He climbed out of his car, steering wheel still in hand, something fans have never seen before or since. After embracing Teresa in Victory Lane, he couldn’t help but exhale the weight he had carried for years. He said with his famous smirk, “Well, I’ve won a road course. Maybe I can break the ice and win Daytona next year.” 

Three years later, Dale Earnhardt finally broke his winless streak at the Daytona 500, conquering the Great American Race in 1998 after 20 tries. But that day at Sonoma was a different kind of exorcism. Speaking to ESPN’s Dr. Jerry Punch, Earnhardt admitted he had no idea why it took so long. He went on to say, “I don’t know why we hadn’t won a road course until now. We’ve been close.” Reflecting on the last two laps, Dale explained, “Well, in the last couple of laps, somebody threw some grease out, and that was a little deterrent, and he (Mark Martin) slipped and slid, and he slipped out on the carousel, and I got under him, and that’s all it took.”

The very next year, Dale returned to Watkins Glen and, despite a broken collarbone and sternum from a savage Talladega wreck just weeks earlier, qualified on pole and muscled his way to a sixth-place finish, refusing to give up on a single lap. It was one of the gutsiest efforts in NASCAR history and proof that even if road courses weren’t his playground, Dale never bowed out from a fight.

And that’s what made him the Intimidator. However, his beloved son and NASCAR’s favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has a different story to tell about his run at Sonoma.

Dale Jr. claims his ALMS 2004 car to be jinxed at Sonoma

Back in 2004, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was stepping out of a stock car comfort zone and into the American Le Mans Series, piloting a Chevrolet Corvette C5 R at Sonoma Raceway. Everything seemed routine until the practice session went horribly wrong. Recounting this event last month on the Dale Jr. Download, the Hall of Famer said, “It was a brand-new race car, and in the morning warm‑up they told me to change your line over this bump—next thing I know, it bounced me into the inside wall in fourth gear and then into the outside wall. It tore the whole front end off while my foot was dragging on the ground. We never took the green flag. They put a whole front clip on it, and the next person didn’t take a green flag either. That car’s jinxed.”

The car had veered off course and impacted a barrier in Turn 8, rupturing a fuel line that sparked a massive fireball, with Junior still strapped inside the cockpit. The inferno erupted fiercely around him, lap after lap, until rescue relief finally arrived. Junior managed to escape on his own, but not without cost; he suffered second- and third-degree burns on his neck, chest, and legs, and he was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center for treatment. The Corvette was totaled and never ran that weekend.

What makes the crash unforgettable are Junior’s own chilling reflections. In an interview with Kenny Wallace in 2017, he shared, “I think he had a lot to do with me getting out of that car. I don’t want to put some weird, you know, psycho twist on it like he was pulling me out or anything, but he had a lot to do with me getting out of that car.”

Adding to the eerie lore, Junior recalled during his podcast about how he could feel “physical hands grabbing me under the armpits and pulling me up,” yet no one was visibly there. Rescue crews confirmed no one was nearby at that precise moment, leaving his history suspended between heroism and something otherworldly.

He returned to NASCAR after missing two Cup races, but the incident marked a turning point in his career and his psyche. Though Dale Junior’s career continued to flourish, the somber flames at Sonoma remain one of its most haunting chapters, burned into memory long after the fire was extinguished.