Dale Earnhardt Targeted as Rusty Wallace Recalls Wild NASCAR Water Bottle Incident at Bristol

Dale Earnhardt wasn’t just The Intimidator—he was a walking highlight reel of raw, old-school NASCAR grit. From the infamous “Pass in the Grass” to spinning Terry Labonte at Bristol in ‘99, Earnhardt built a legacy on moments that blurred the line between legendary and controversial. Fans loved him. Rivals respected (and sometimes feared) him. On-track payback? Pit road stare-downs? He didn’t just thrive in chaos. He was the chaos. But behind the dark shades and the chrome bumper was a guy who knew how to push buttons and get under skin, intentionally or not.

Over the years, stories about Earnhardt have grown into folklore. But now and then, one pops up that feels completely unhinged… and somehow totally on-brand. Just ask Rusty Wallace, who once turned a bottle of water into a weapon, aimed right at Dale! In a recent interview, Rusty Wallace shared more unheard details about the incident.

Rusty Wallace’s aim was impeccable

Bristol Motor Speedway has always been a cauldron for NASCAR’s fiercest rivalries, but the 1995 night race took things to another level. Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, two titans of the sport, entered the race with a plan. Rusty Wallace explained, “He [Dale Earnhardt] came up to me, so he said, ‘Man, look. When we start this race, let’s bump this kid out of the way and let’s get out of here.’” Their target was Jeff Gordon, the young upstart dominating the series at the time.

Wallace and Earnhardt executed their plan at the start, muscling Gordon up high and moving into fourth and fifth. But by lap 33, the alliance crumbled. “I’m coming off Turn 4 and got a little loose, and he [Earnhardt] stuck right into me and put me right into the wall,” Rusty Wallace recalled. Instead of battling Gordon, Wallace’s night was ruined. He finished 21st, 46 laps down, while Earnhardt went on to finish second after a controversial last-lap tangle with race winner Terry Labonte.

Wallace’s anger simmered all race long. “I stayed mad the entire race cause we were supposed to team up… I was so mad I couldn’t keep myself under control,” he admitted. After the checkered flag, Wallace’s frustration boiled over. As Earnhardt gave a post-race interview, Wallace approached with a water bottle. “I yelled ‘Hey!’ and he didn’t hear me… I put my hand around the neck of the bottle and slung it, and it went straight as an arrow, and it hit [Dale] in the forehead,” Wallace recalled.

“I was so mad I couldn’t keep myself under control.” @RustyWallace and @ESPNMcGee reminisce about an infamous bump-and-run. pic.twitter.com/YJOVNkm0gK

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 29, 2025

The bottle, mostly empty, bounced off Earnhardt’s nose, startling everyone, including pit reporter Winston Kelley, who was mid-interview. The two exchanged heated words, with Wallace shouting, “I won’t forget Talladega!” referencing a brutal 1993 crash caused by Earnhardt. But the drama didn’t last. The next day, Wallace and Earnhardt talked over the phone, and the two hashed it out in private. “The madness was over just like that,” Rusty Wallace revealed.

This says a lot about the Intimidator’s true personality. While he was ruthless on the track, he never held a personal vendetta against anybody, and when offered the chance to talk it out, Earnhardt always took it. This is probably why, despite all the wrecked race cars he inflicted throughout his career, Earnhardt remains such a beloved figure, as he always patched things up. “Some of the problems I had with him [Dale Earnhardt], the encounters, we would get over them so fast you couldn’t believe it,” Wallace added.

The water bottle incident remains one of NASCAR’s most memorable moments, a testament to the passion, grudges, and friendships that define the sport’s golden era.

Earnhardt vs. Labonte: Bristol’s most controversial finish

The drama between Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt at Bristol in 1995 was just the beginning. As the laps wound down, the race became a showdown between Earnhardt and Terry Labonte – two veterans with everything on the line. What happened next would become one of NASCAR’s most debated finishes.

Labonte had been strong all night, qualifying on the outside of the front row and running in the top five throughout the race. With 69 laps led, he finally grabbed the lead from Dale Jarrett after a tense battle. Meanwhile, Earnhardt had to recover from an early black flag penalty for spinning Wallace, which forced him to the tail of the lead lap. But the Intimidator was relentless, clawing his way back to the front with fresher tires and sheer determination.

As the race entered its final lap, Labonte was leading but found himself boxed in by lapped traffic. Earnhardt closed in and, in the final turn, made his move. On the final turn of the race, Earnhardt would bump Labonte. This sent him into a slide. Labonte would try to get the car straightened up. However, it turned in the other direction, straight into the wall, crossing the finish line while hitting the wall. Despite the contact and the wrecked car, Labonte crossed the line first, earning his 17th career Cup win.

The crowd erupted (some cheering, many booing) as Labonte’s battered Chevrolet smoked its way to Victory Lane. Earnhardt, who finished second, later claimed he only meant to “rattle his cage.” But the move remains one of Bristol’s most iconic and controversial moments. For Labonte, it was a victory earned the hard way. For Earnhardt, another chapter in his legend as NASCAR’s ultimate aggressor.

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