The pole position was held by Joe Gibbs Racing's Tony Stewart, who also led the most laps with 225.

However, NASCAR said Marcis had a chance to reach pit road on the two laps he was driving slowly before stopping.

Jimmy Spencer finished second, followed by Ricky Rudd, Jeff Gordon, and Stewart.

Earnhardt's victory was subsequently met by boos and obscene gestures from the crowd.

Earnhardt later stated, "I didn’t mean to wreck him, I just wanted to rattle his cage a bit.