DownNDirty
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Slow season leaves room for us to talk about things like this. I will try to list several of my most memorable races in NASCAR and why.
1. The first race that comes to my mind is the 1986 Miller High Life 400 from Richmond. I remembered that race all my life because Dale Earnhardt dumped my hero growing up Darrell Waltrip with only a couple of laps to go. I was only 6 years old at the time and could still remember that day watching the race and seeing DW go head first into the wall and being so upset and mad at Earnhardt over that move. About a year ago I found someone selling alot of old races on DVD and bought quite a few and this was one I got. The actual race that day was spectacular. The battle between Earnhardt and DW over the last 40 laps was fierce. They beat each other to death. This is also the race where Earnhardt got mud splashed up on his windshield and, under caution, unstrapped himself and hung out of his moving car wiping off the windshield with a rag.
This race right here exemplifies everything that was right with NASCAR. Good ol' boy racing on the old Richmond bullring. The guys beat each other to death and they raced hard for every position and raced like it was the last lap. Seeing Earnhardt sideways nearly every lap over the last 30-40 laps and smoking his tires trying to hold off DW was just a pleasure to watch. If you ever get a chance to see this race its definitely worth getting.
2. 1988 World 600 from Charlotte. There was some truly amazing racing that day for the 600. Side by side for the lead early with side by side for 3rd right behind them and side by side for 5th right behind them for at least 7-8 laps straight. There were stretches during the race where there was side by side racing for the lead for nearly 10 laps at a time. You never see that anymore. Guys could actually run high on those bias ply tires and smoke that right rear. This was also an intriguing race in the Hoosier/Goodyear tire wars. Alot of torn up cars because of tires failing this day.
Also Earnhardt/Bodine get into it a couple of times here. In the Busch race the day before they wrecked twice with one another. Then early in the race here Earnhardt spins Bodine out and NASCAR sits him down for 5 laps. This race had some very hard licks too - Buddy Baker took a hard crash and never was the same. Harry Gant broke his leg. Dave Marcis and Sterling Marlin had a spectacular crash. Marlin hit a slowing Marcis who had just crashed in the wall. He hits him mid corner in the right side door and literally comes all the way off the ground and flies into the outside wall with no tires touching the track.
Many drivers had good cars this race and Rick Wilson and Brett Bodine both seemed to have dominant cars at times - Wilson especially. Wilson was spanking them when he blew a tire and slammed into the wall while leading. The race ended in a near photo finish between DW and Rusty Wallace with DW squeezing out the win. This is funny because in the fall race they had nearly the exact same finish with Rusty barely edging DW.
3. 1986 Summer 500 at Pocono. One of my least favorite tracks had one of the most awesome finishes in Cup - ever. Geoff Bodine was leading going into the last lap. Tim Richmond passes him - Bodine back around Richmond and then Richmond back around Bodine in turn 4 with Ricky Rudd coming out of nowhere and making it a 3 wide drag race to the line with Richmond winning by .005 over Rudd and Bodine right there too.
4. 2003 Carolina 400 from Darlington just for the finish alone. That last lap is why I still watch Cup every week and every race to this day. Just to get to see something like this once every 5-6 years. What a last couple of laps and especially what a finish.
5. 1991 Banquet 300 Sears Point. This was a good road course race and had such an interesting finish. First, Tommy Kendall replacing an injured Kyle Petty in the Mello Yello 42 was leading with 2 laps to go and Mark Martin spun him out for the lead but Martin cut down a tire. This put Davey Allison in the lead with Ricky Rudd in second. Rudd barely taps Allison and spins him for the lead. Allison regroups and doesn't lose much time. They black flag Ricky Rudd as he crosses the line for the win and give Allison the checkers and the win. Still a horrible call on NASCAR's part in my book. But the excitement in this whole race and the last couple of laps especially make this one memorable.
1. The first race that comes to my mind is the 1986 Miller High Life 400 from Richmond. I remembered that race all my life because Dale Earnhardt dumped my hero growing up Darrell Waltrip with only a couple of laps to go. I was only 6 years old at the time and could still remember that day watching the race and seeing DW go head first into the wall and being so upset and mad at Earnhardt over that move. About a year ago I found someone selling alot of old races on DVD and bought quite a few and this was one I got. The actual race that day was spectacular. The battle between Earnhardt and DW over the last 40 laps was fierce. They beat each other to death. This is also the race where Earnhardt got mud splashed up on his windshield and, under caution, unstrapped himself and hung out of his moving car wiping off the windshield with a rag.
This race right here exemplifies everything that was right with NASCAR. Good ol' boy racing on the old Richmond bullring. The guys beat each other to death and they raced hard for every position and raced like it was the last lap. Seeing Earnhardt sideways nearly every lap over the last 30-40 laps and smoking his tires trying to hold off DW was just a pleasure to watch. If you ever get a chance to see this race its definitely worth getting.
2. 1988 World 600 from Charlotte. There was some truly amazing racing that day for the 600. Side by side for the lead early with side by side for 3rd right behind them and side by side for 5th right behind them for at least 7-8 laps straight. There were stretches during the race where there was side by side racing for the lead for nearly 10 laps at a time. You never see that anymore. Guys could actually run high on those bias ply tires and smoke that right rear. This was also an intriguing race in the Hoosier/Goodyear tire wars. Alot of torn up cars because of tires failing this day.
Also Earnhardt/Bodine get into it a couple of times here. In the Busch race the day before they wrecked twice with one another. Then early in the race here Earnhardt spins Bodine out and NASCAR sits him down for 5 laps. This race had some very hard licks too - Buddy Baker took a hard crash and never was the same. Harry Gant broke his leg. Dave Marcis and Sterling Marlin had a spectacular crash. Marlin hit a slowing Marcis who had just crashed in the wall. He hits him mid corner in the right side door and literally comes all the way off the ground and flies into the outside wall with no tires touching the track.
Many drivers had good cars this race and Rick Wilson and Brett Bodine both seemed to have dominant cars at times - Wilson especially. Wilson was spanking them when he blew a tire and slammed into the wall while leading. The race ended in a near photo finish between DW and Rusty Wallace with DW squeezing out the win. This is funny because in the fall race they had nearly the exact same finish with Rusty barely edging DW.
3. 1986 Summer 500 at Pocono. One of my least favorite tracks had one of the most awesome finishes in Cup - ever. Geoff Bodine was leading going into the last lap. Tim Richmond passes him - Bodine back around Richmond and then Richmond back around Bodine in turn 4 with Ricky Rudd coming out of nowhere and making it a 3 wide drag race to the line with Richmond winning by .005 over Rudd and Bodine right there too.
4. 2003 Carolina 400 from Darlington just for the finish alone. That last lap is why I still watch Cup every week and every race to this day. Just to get to see something like this once every 5-6 years. What a last couple of laps and especially what a finish.
5. 1991 Banquet 300 Sears Point. This was a good road course race and had such an interesting finish. First, Tommy Kendall replacing an injured Kyle Petty in the Mello Yello 42 was leading with 2 laps to go and Mark Martin spun him out for the lead but Martin cut down a tire. This put Davey Allison in the lead with Ricky Rudd in second. Rudd barely taps Allison and spins him for the lead. Allison regroups and doesn't lose much time. They black flag Ricky Rudd as he crosses the line for the win and give Allison the checkers and the win. Still a horrible call on NASCAR's part in my book. But the excitement in this whole race and the last couple of laps especially make this one memorable.
