NASCAR Lore - Honorable Mention

Honorable Mention

• "They're not changing tires!" – 1981 Daytona 500 (February 15, 1981)

  After over 40 lead changes, the race came down to the final series of pit stops. Bobby Allison's Pontiac LeMans was the class of the field, but Allison needed one more pit stop. After Allison took on tires and fuel, Dale Inman, crew chief for Richard Petty, called his driver to the pits. With 24 laps to go, the crew gambled and took on fuel only. They decided not to change tires, and Petty's blazing 6.8-second pit stop allowed him to re-enter the track and hold the lead. A startled Ned Jarrett, working as a pit reporter for CBS, proclaimed "They're not changing tires! A change of pace for the Petty crew!" Petty held off a shocked Allison by 4 seconds, and won his record 7th Daytona 500 crown.

• 1981 Talladega 500 – (August 2, 1981)

  On the final lap, Darrell Waltrip leads Terry Labonte coming out of turn 4. As the cars go into the tri-oval, Labonte attempts a slingshot pass around the outside of Waltrip, but Waltrip is just able to hold him off. Suddenly, Ron Bouchard darted below both of them, and edged a shocked Waltrip by inches in a three-wide photo finish. It would be Bouchard's only career victory. After the race, Waltrip, who had thought Bouchard was a lap down, asked, "Where the hell did he come from?"

• 143 Lead Changes – 1984 Winston 500 & Talladega 500

  The most competitive pair of races in NASCAR history occurred at Talladega Superspeedway in 1984. At the Winston 500 on May 6, the race recorded a NASCAR record 75 official lead changes. That number only includes the leader of each lap at the start/finish line, and not any intermediate lead changes on other parts of the track, which were estimated at many more. Less than three months later, the Talladega 500 on July 29 nearly matched the record when it saw 68 official lead changes, the second-most in history. The record would hold for 26 years until it was broken in 2010 (88 total).

• 1990 Daytona 500 – (February 18, 1990)

  Heavy favorite Dale Earnhardt, still searching for his elusive first Daytona 500 victory, dominated most of the race, leading 155 laps of the 200-lap race. Earnhardt was leading by over 40 seconds when a caution came out on lap 193, bunching the field. After the restart, Earnhardt re-took the lead, and led Derrike Cope and Terry Labonte. Going into the third turn on the final lap, Earnhardt ran over a bell housing from the blown engine of Rick Wilson's car. Earnhardt shredded the right rear tire, and Cope suddenly was handed the lead of the race. Cope held off Labonte in the final turn, and won his first-career NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in shocking fashion. It is largely considered one of the greatest upsets in NASCAR history.

• Mr. September – Harry Gant's win streak

  In September 1991, Harry Gant tied a modern era record, winning four consecutive Winston Cup races, and also won three consecutive Busch Series events, driving nearly undefeated for the month. As a preview, on August 31, Gant started on the pole for the Gatorade 200 at Darlington. A day later on September 1, Gant started out the month with a win in the Southern 500. The following week, Gant won both the Autolite 200 & Miller 400 at Richmond. A week later, Gant won both the SplitFire 200 & Peak 500 at Dover. Yet another week later, Gant continued the streak with, winning the Goody's 500 at Martinsville. On September 29, Gant started on the pole for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro, looking for a 5th consecutive Winston Cup Series win, and 7th consecutive NASCAR-sanctioned event. Winning from the pole position would also make him eligible for a $144,400 bonus from the Unocal 76 Challenge. Gant dominated the race, but an O-ring failure saw Gant fall out of the lead with 12 laps to go, and he finished second. As an "encore," Gant won the All Pro 300 at Charlotte, his third consecutive Busch Series win.

• Inaugural Brickyard 400 – (August 6, 1994)

  After over two years of preparation, and decades of speculation, NASCAR held its first event at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A NASCAR-record crowd watched the Winston Cup regulars, and numerous one-off entries, compete for a then-record $3.2 million purse. The popular hometown hero Jeff Gordon from nearby Pittsboro, Indiana, won the race after his strongest competitors Geoff Bodine and Ernie Irvan fell by the wayside. The event thrust into one of the biggest races on the circuit, and elevated Gordon's young career.

• The Iron Man Streak - 1996 First Union 400 (April 15, 1996)

  Terry Labonte tied NASCAR's all-time consecutive starts record at the final spring race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Driving an "iron grey" painted Kellogg's Monte Carlo, Labonte drove in his 513th straight race, tying the record set by Richard Petty. The streak was a culmination of seventeen years of racing, continued until 2000, and his record would stand until 2002 (see The Iron Man Streak II below). Two days after the race, Labonte was invited to Camden Yards to throw out the first pitch of an Orioles game, and meet baseball's ironman, Cal Ripken. Not only did Labonte take over the record, he won the race, and went on to win the 1996 Winston Cup Championship.

• The Iron Man Streak II – 2002 Coca-Cola 600 (May 26, 2002)

  Ricky Rudd bested Terry Labonte's streak of 656 consecutive starts in the 2002 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. He drove a special grey "Iron" colored Texaco Havoline Ford Taurus that night. He would go on to start 788 consecutive races before his first retirement in 2005.

• 2000 Winston 500 (October 15, 2000)

  The fall race at Talladega would end up being Dale Earnhardt's 76th and final career victory. Earnhardt was shuffled deep in the field for the final restart on lap 174 (of 188) but began dramatically charging through the field. With 4 laps to go, he was scored 18th. What followed was beyond anybody's imagination. Earnhardt took a center groove in the field and fought his way back up front with such hustle, that after only 3 laps had concluded, he was perched atop the scoreboard, averaging 6 positions gained during his 3-lap comeback. He edged out Kenny Wallace for the victory, and won the Winston No Bull 5 Million as a result. Shortly after his stunning come-from-behind triumph, startled onlookers began to claim that Earnhardt had a God-granted ability to see the aerodynamic wind and decipher the best route through it.

• Drag race all the way back to the S/F line – 2007 Daytona 500 (February 18, 2007)

  In one of the most dramatic green-white-checker finishes, Kevin Harvick edged out Mark Martin by 0.020 seconds, the second-closest finish at Daytona. After 25 years of misfortune, veteran Mark Martin led the field with one lap to go, hoping for his elusive first Daytona 500 victory. Down the backstretch, Kyle Busch darted back and forth in an attempt to get by, but got loose. Kevin Harvick passed Busch in turn three, and closed in side-by-side with Martin. As the field exited turn 4, Busch spun, collecting several cars, and a huge crash ensued. Clint Bowyer flipped over, and slid down the track on his roof. The leaders battled to the finish line and Harvick beat Martin by a nose. In addition, it was the first Daytona 500 to finish in prime time.