The 1996 Diehard 500 was a Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) event held at Talladega Superspeedway on July 28, 1996. Jeff Gordon pulled off the victory, holding Dale Jarrett at bay when the race was called on account of darkness at lap 129. The race had been delayed 3 hours due to rain, then another 35 minutes because of a crash that involved Dale Earnhardt on lap 117. Earnhardt was leading the event when 3rd place driver Ernie Irvan made contact with Sterling Marlin, who was to Earnhardt's outside. Marlin made contact with Earnhardt's right rear corner panel sending both cars head on into the wall infront of the field. Earnhardt's car turned on its side as it came off the wall and got hit by Derrike Cope, and Robert Pressley through the roof. Earnhardt broke his shoulder and sternum in the cra