It may be the greatest season NASCAR has ever had. The 1992 season was one that changed the sport in many ways. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty was in the midst of his fan appreciation tour, marking the end of his 35-year career. Petty made the announcement during the 1991 season and from …
Editor’s Note: For Part One of Matt’s retrospective on Davey Allison, click “here.”:https://frontstretch.com/mmclaughlin/34578/
Robert Yates Racing and the team’s talented young driver Davey Allison made their official debut at the 1989 Daytona 500. Things got off to an inauspicious start. Davey was running well when Geoff Bodine got into his rear bumper and sent the No. 28 car spinning. The car rolled, but came down on all four wheels, and Allison limped off to the pits, where the crew was able to repair the car well enough to get him back out there for points. Allison finished 25th in that year’s race.
I’ve got to admit, finding out this was an off-weekend for the Cup Series caught me by surprise. Traditionally this had been the second Pocono race weekend, but I guess it makes sense to separate the two Pocono dates by more than a month. Fans need a couple more paychecks to help pay for seats. …
The segment that TNT did last Sunday on Davey Allison brought some memories flooding back. I met Davey’s dad while flagging for ARCA and then ASA and, just like everybody else, I really liked Bobby. I recall his description of the high-banked half-mile at Winchester, Ind. the first time he ran there. He had run …
Denny Hamlin got a huge jump on the final restart, then drove off into the sunset like the rest of the field was on tricycles.
Playing hurt is something that virtually any driver will struggle with at some point in his career. The urge to remain in a car that is literally yours, custom built to your specifications around your dimensions can be overpowering. We all remember Dale Earnhardt being driven to tears at Indianapolis in 1996, giving way to …
It’s been almost 17 years now. Most devoted stock car fans know the story of the 1992 Atlanta season finale and the three-way battle royale for the title in that event that many of us label it the greatest stock car race ever. But with so many years passed by and so many new fans …
I keep hearing comments on television that Mark Martin might be the best NASCAR driver who has never won a Cup championship. That may well be true, and I have a LOT of respect for Mark. We were friends while he was in ASA and I was working in that series, and I’ve always liked him. I would really like to see him win a Cup title before his career is finally over.
One of the things I like most about his staying in racing is the way he says it’s not about winning a championship. I’m sure he’s honest in that. You can’t fault a passion for the sport, and with Mark, he is staying in it is because he simply loves to race, and getting a competitive ride was too big an opportunity to turn down. And I believe at this point he may be one of the best NASCAR drivers who have never won that title.
Some drivers dread going to NASCAR’s fastest track for more reasons than one these days. But there’s one concern you might not have heard of, an issue that goes beyond the dangers posed by modern-day restrictor-plate racing – and proves far more difficult to fix. The truthfulness of the legend of the Talladega Curse is …
My first week in the States, I watched a “Beyond the Glory” program which focused on NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. Not knowing his story – remember, I’m a transplanted Brit – I was mesmerized by Warner’s meteoric rise from shelf stacker to Super Bowl MVP. Whether you like the guy or not, it would be …
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