NASCAR Through The Decades — The 1990s

As teams, drivers and fans entered Daytona Int’l Speedway to start the 1990 NASCAR Cup Series season, Dale Earnhardt had another chance to record an elusive Daytona 500 victory.

However, Earnhardt struck a piece of metal from a broken bell housing while leading with less than half a lap remaining. It cut the right-rear tire on his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, handing the victory to Derrike Cope of Spanaway, Wash.