Earnhardt Wins Opening Round Of 1996 Iroc At Daytona

Dale Earnhardt, who has yet to win NASCAR’s biggest race in 17 tries, passed fellow NASCAR stock car star Terry Labonte with three laps remaining Friday and went on to win the opening round of the 1996 International Race of Champions series at Daytona International Speedway.

It was his record 28th trip to Daytona’s Victory Lane, and second in as many days, adding the IROC triumph to Thursday’s win in one of the Twin 125-mile qualifying races for the 500-mile feature Sunday.

With some drafting help from IROC rookie Robby Gordon, Earnhardt won his third straight Daytona IROC, his fourth in five years and his seventh overall IROC race second only to Al Unser Jr.’s nine.