#33 - The Daytona 500 1994-1997
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04/25/2018 Matt McLaughlin |
(Editor’s Note) In 1997
- 1998, Matt McLaughlin penned a special Anthology of historical pieces in
honor of the 50th Anniversary of NASCAR entitled "50 Years of NASCAR
Racing." Matt has entrusted the entire collection, minus one or two that
were misfiled back then and cannot be salvaged, to my tender, loving care.
As NASCAR turns 70, the
Anthology itself will celebrate a 20th anniversary through 2018, and will run
again here on Race Fans Forever. As before, there is no record of which pieces
came first, so it will appear in the sequence presented earlier. Please, sit
back and enjoy as you take a journey back through the pages of history and
perhaps relive a memory or two.
As always, many thanks
to Matt, and God bless you my friend. ~PattyKay
When the Winston Cup
crews arrived at Daytona for the kickoff event of the 1994 season, one of the
track's favorite sons had, tragically, been lost. Davey Allison, who had been
part of those memorable finishes of 1988 and 1992, had lost his life in a helicopter
accident the previous summer. Ernie Irvan had signed on to drive the Havoline
Ford Davey made famous, leaving the Morgan-McClure team that had helped him
claim the 1991 Daytona 500. The split had not been an amicable one, and there
were hard feelings on both sides. Sterling Marlin had gotten the ride Irvan had
left, in the Kodak Chevy. Perhaps fittingly, that year's Daytona 500 would come
down to a contest between those two drivers and teams. Early in Speedweeks, it
seemed the story to watch was going to be the return of Hoosiers and the
resumption of the tire war. Only a few teams had signed on to run Hoosiers,
most notably Darrell Waltrip and Geoff Bodine. But it was Loy Allen in a
Hoosier shod Ford that stunned everyone by taking the pole position for the
race. The expected confrontation between the tire companies never took place.
While the Hoosiers were fast for a few laps they did not wear well. In a
terrible tragedy, Neil Bonnett was killed while practicing for the 500. While
it was not immediately known if it was a tire failure that caused the fatal
wreck, Bob Newton, president of Hoosier, announced for safety's sake, they were
withdrawing their tires from that event. (It later turned out it was a cut
tire, not tire failure that led to the tragedy.) Ernie Irvan seemed to have the
car to beat that day, with plenty of Robert Yates horsepower under the hood.
Sterling also had a strong car, and he assumed the lead late in the going but
Irvan managed to regain the advantage. Unfortunately for Irvan, his last set of
tires were not to his liking, and Marlin took the lead for good with 21 laps
remaining. For a time, it seemed the two Fords of Irvan and Mark Martin would
draft together to get by Marlin, but Mark ran out of gas, for the second time
in as many races at Daytona. Sterling Marlin won his first race in 278 starts
that day at Daytona. It was also the same track where his father, Coo Coo Marlin, stunned everyone by winning a 125-mile
qualifying race as an underdog independent, proving the nut does not fall far
from the tree.
Tires once again were a major story at the Daytona 500
of 1995, but the problem was a perceived shortage of Goodyears, leading to dire
predictions that by the end of the race there would be no tires left for the
final pit stops. NASCAR tried to intervene, to distribute the tires to all the
front runners as other competitors fell out, leading to the memorable scene of
Dave Marcis sitting atop his tires and refusing to
give them up, having promised them to his friends on Dale Earnhardt's team.
Sterling Marlin was back, and though he had not won a race since the '94 500,
he was considered an early favorite. But Sterling was living in the shadows of
the week's big winner, Dale Earnhardt, with everyone saying it was finally
going to be Dale's day to win. Earnhardt had already won his qualifying race,
the Busch Clash and the IROC race. There was just one trophy left to collect
and Dale was on a roll. For numerologists it was also Dale's 17th attempt at
the 500, the exact amount of tries it had taken another star-crossed Daytona
500 veteran, Darrell Waltrip, to win his first race. While Earnhardt may have
had the pre-race attention, it was Sterling Marlin who emerged from his shadows
to dominate the race, leading over half the laps. Running on worn rubber in
fifth place, Earnhardt knew he had nothing to offer Marlin, so his team gambled
and pitted for fresh rubber during a late caution period, while most of the
lead lap cars stayed out. Earnhardt restarted in 14th, but quickly began
charging through the field. In the end, his gallant effort came up one position
short, and once again Dale was "first loser" the Daytona 500.
"This is the Daytona 500 and I don't reckon I'm supposed to win the damn
thing." a frustrated Earnhardt told the TV crews. Meanwhile, Marlin was
celebrating in Victory Lane, adding his name to a short list of back to back
Daytona 500 winners that had only consisted of Richard Petty and Cale
Yarborough... pretty good company to keep.
Sterling was back for the 1996 Daytona 500, and
followed all his normal pre-race rituals including the fried bologna sandwich
for breakfast, in an attempt to be the first driver ever to win three
consecutive Daytona 500s. Unfortunately, Marlin also fried an engine and wound
up 40th. Once again Earnhardt looked like the man to beat. He won the pole for
the race, the IROC race, and his seventh straight 125 qualifier race. It seems
Lady Luck only takes a dislike to Dale for the 500 itself. Dale Jarrett was
back with Robert Yates, driving a team car to Ernie Irvan's,
a move that surprised many people, as Jarrett had only won one race with the 28
bunch. He was out to prove Yates' confidence in him was well founded. As it
turned out, it was. In the closing laps of the race it came down to the Dale
and Dale show, just as it had in 1993. Ken Schrader and Mark Martin were the
jokers in the pack. With the draft as important as it is at Daytona, whichever
Dale they chose to partner with would have a clear advantage. Mark was in a
Ford and Schrader in a Chevy so it seemed obvious which of the twosome they
each would choose. It didn't happen like that. Earnhardt ducked low on Jarrett
several times but Schrader would not join him. Kenny was trying to hook up with
Mark to get around Earnhardt and perhaps take a shot at Jarrett. Just as they
had in 1993, Jarrett and Earnhardt raced hard to the checkered flag, but once
again Jarrett took the victory, and a clearly annoyed Earnhardt had to settle
for yet another second place, while crossing Ken Schrader off his Christmas
card list.
Most of you will recall last year's 500, and the
exciting finish. While the early stages of the race were run without any of
those fearsome chain reaction wrecks that often mar restrictor plate races, in
the end it was a crash that decided it. Jeff Gordon seemed out of contention
after having to pit for an equalized tire that almost had him a lap down, and
running by himself while the lead draft closed in on him. A timely caution let
Jeff stay on the lead lap. Longtime fans of the sport were thrilled to see two
favorites, Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt, leading the pack, and seemingly
trying to open a little distance so they could decide the race amongst
themselves. Behind them the two Robert Yates cars, Ernie Irvan and Dale Jarrett
were working together to close in on Jeff Gordon who was positioned third. But
behind the Yates cars, streaming to the aid of their Hendrick teammate, Gordon,
were Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven. It looked to be a strategist's race at
that point. The complexion of the race changed in the blink of an eye.
Earnhardt skated up the track a little and Gordon dove low for the pass.
Earnhardt brushed the wall, came back and tagged Gordon. While Gordon was able
to drive on, Ernie Irvan got into the back of Earnhardt, setting off a wreck
that saw Earnhardt's car roll violently, and also collected Jarrett. While in
the ambulance Earnhardt noted, somewhat surprised, his thoroughly battered race
car still had four wheels under it, heading in approximately the right
direction. He climbed out of the ambulance and asked the tow truck operator to
try starting the car. When the engine thundered to life, Dale hopped back in
his car and drove it back to the pits, where after some brutal sheet-metal
surgery, a bunch of bungee cords, and a mile of duct tape were employed, the
team got the car patched up enough to finish the race, to the thunderous
applause of the crowd. No, Dale doesn't have any Daytona 500 wins, but he sure
has a lot of heart.
Imagine poor Bill Elliott looking in the rearview
mirror heading to the restart and not only seeing three bow ties and no blue
ovals, but three teammates to boot, carefully coordinating their strategy via
two way radio . Shortly after racing resumed, Gordon dove low to try to get
around Elliott. Elliott moved low to block him, and Jeff moved still lower. Longtime
fans were expecting a replay of Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough's wreck at
the '79 500, but Bill moved up just enough to allow Gordon enough room for the
pass, rather than having them both wrecked out of the event. That minor lift
out of the throttle allowed the other two Hendrick cars to pass Elliott as
well. Whether Bill could have battled back to win became a moot point, when a
violent 11-car wreck caused the race to end under caution. The three Hendrick
teammates, Gordon, Labonte and Craven, finished 1-2-3, in that order, a Daytona
500 first. Gordon also became the third different Team Hendrick driver to win
the Daytona 500, a feat only the Wood Brothers had managed previously.
*Matt can no longer
field comments or email at Race Fans Forever. If you have comments or
questions, please leave them below and I’ll do my best to supply answers.
~PattyKay Lilley, Senior Editor.