1993 season recap

Five-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt captured his sixth title and third in the past four years in 1993. The Intimidator tallied six wins that season and held off a hard-charging Rusty Wallace to wrap up the championship. 1993 also saw great tragedy as defending champion Alan Kulwicki and sperstar Davey Allison both lost their lives in off-track accidents.

Wallace was working on a career season, but he would run out of races in which to catch Earnhardt.

FIVE RACES TO GO:

North Wilkesboro, NC - With five races remaining in the 1993 season, five-time champ Dale Earnhardt led 1989 champion Rusty Wallace by 82 points. The lead would shrink, but not considerably, after Rusty Wallace picked up his eighth victory of the season at North Wilkesboro. However, Earnhardt was right behind him at the checkered flag. Earnhardt's strong showing kept him 72 points ahead in the standings with four races to go. The chase for the championship had narrowed to two drivers as third-place Dale Jarrett trailed by 306 points.

FOUR RACES TO GO:

Charlotte, NC - Ernie Irvan dominated the race and Dale Earnhardt picked up 10 points on Rusty Wallace by spending time at the front of the pack and finishing third to Wallace's fourth. The duo headed to Rockingham with Earnhardt on top by 82 points.

THREE RACES TO GO:

Rockingham, NC - Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt struggled in qualifying but the two stormed through the field. Wallace would prove to be the better, leading the most pas and winning the race. But again, Earnhardt was next in line and he lost only 10 points off his lead. He left town with a 72-point edge over Wallace and a comfortable 360 points in front of Mark Martin.

TWO RACES TO GO:

Phoenix, AZ - A gamble with tire pressure doomed Rusty Wallace's brilliant pursuit of Dale Earnhardt for the NASCAR Winston Cup title. While running third - and in front of Earnhardt - Wallace blew a right-front tire on lap 250. His Pontiac limped around the one-mile track spewing sparks, and later would lose two laps due to a broken sway bar. The result was a 19th-place finish. The Intimidator overcame an ill-handling car and a couple of incidents to finish fourth. He headed to the season's final race with a 126-point advantage, needing only to finish 34th or better at Atlanta to sew up his sixth championship.

FINAL RACE:

Hampton, GA - Rusty Wallace refused to go down without a fight. He won the race - his tenth victory of the season - and led the most laps, but Dale Earnhardt's points lead proved too much. Earnhardt has wrecked his primary car in practice on Friday and was forced into a backup. But as one car after another succumbed to the slick Atlanta high banks, Earnhardt inched closer to his sixth title. After a mishap with Greg Sacks, Earnhardt fell off the pace and eventually finished tenth, a lap down. Earnhardt completed the season with 4,526 points. Runner-up Rusty Wallace, driving a Pontiac for the final season before switching to Fords in 1994, was 80 points back with 4,446. Mark Martin finished third, followed by Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty.