#78 - MPH Not MPG ~ The Michigan Of Old
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08/21/2018 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
The ultra-wide, ultra-fast Michigan Speedway is
perfect for high-speed three-wide racing with the outcome of the event seemingly
always in doubt until the final lap. By the time the Winston Cup circuit
returns to the Irish Hill's for their second annual visit in August the
summertime sun is typically baking the area, but the action is even hotter on
the track. Though a good number of races there as of late have featured less
than exciting finishes based on fuel economy, there have been a number of
memorable events through the years.
More than perhaps any other race track, there seems to
be some secret to Michigan that once a team had mastered it, they are always in
the hunt there. From the August race of 1972 until after the June race of 1977,
Richard Petty finished in the top five every visit to the track. Bill Elliott
won four straight races at Michigan from June of 1985 until August of 1986, and
from 1983 until 1988 he always finished in the top five there. David Pearson
was the Master of Michigan, with a record nine wins there, and a top five
streak from 1973 until 1979 that also saw him chalk up six of those nine wins.
The 1971 running of the late summer race at Michigan
was marred by no little controversy. As they usually were that year, Bobby
Allison and Richard Petty were the cream of the crop that day. The King assumed
the lead on lap 49 and either he or Allison led the rest of the event,
exchanging the lead 15 times between them. Buddy Baker was a lap down running
in third, driving the Petty Enterprises Dodge and trying to pass the fleet pair
to get his lap back. Richard angrily motioned for him to back off to give him room
to fight for the lead with Allison. Baker refused and kept right in there. A
few laps later, Baker got a pit signboard message that said in no uncertain
terms, "BACK OFF!" He shot the bird at Maurice Petty but finally
complied with the request. Meanwhile up front, Richard decided he didn't have
anything for Allison and with three laps to go simply backed off and broke
contact with Allison and his Mercury. It was the King's way of protesting rules
changes he felt gave the Ford products an advantage over the Mopars.
Richard Petty was involved in another exciting duel in
the 1975 August Michigan race, but it was with David Pearson that year. Bobby
Allison had made one of those odd decisions that sometimes had fans scratching
their heads wondering what he was thinking, by agreeing to drive part time that
year for Roger Penske in a less than lovely and not all that fleet AMC Matador
that belonged in a circus as a monkey hut. Petty in his Petty Enterprises
Dodge, and Pearson in his Wood Bothers Mercury were the stars on the
superspeedways throughout the middle part of the 70's and they staged a fine
duel for top honors that day. In the last five laps they swapped the lead
between them five times, with Petty making the crucial pass for the win when
Pearson got a little high coming out of the fourth corner. The King held David
off by about four feet at the flag.
The 1979 summer race at Michigan once again saw
Richard Petty involved in a frantic last lap battle to the checkers. The
running of that day's race was marred by one of the worst wrecks during a race
in the Speedway's decade of existence. Sometimes racer Blackie Wangerin got the worst of the frightening third lap mishap.
H.B. Bailey skidded in some oil in the third turn and spun. Wangerin
hit Bailey's car so hard it flew up and over it, and barreled into the
retaining fence upside down. The errant Mercury tore down 17 fence posts before
finally going out of the ball park, bouncing once on a service road and
tumbling down an embankment. The race had to be red flagged as the unconscious
driver was cut out of what was left of his vehicle. In light of the severity of
the accident, he was lucky to escape with two broken bones in his shoulder and
bruises and cuts all over his body. Buddy Baker, long since departed from the
Petty organization, tried to pay back his ex-boss, and heavy pre-race favorite,
Richard Petty, for the incident in 1971. Baker and Petty battled over the lead
but Buddy seemed to have the advantage, leading from lap 116 through lap 199.
Knowing Richard would try to use the slingshot to pass him coming out of the
final corner, Baker dove down low to block the move. The King made a daring
high side pass that would have put most drivers into the wall, but Petty's
Charger took that corner like a cat on cut pile carpet and continued carrying
him to the checkers, two car lengths ahead of Baker.
Once again Richard Petty found himself right in the
thick of things as the laps wound down in the August Michigan event of 1981.
Though the King's glory days were behind him, that afternoon he showed he still
knew a thing or two about driving. That day it wasn't a two-car shoot-out
however. In the waning laps there were seven cars all in contention for the win
and seven drivers battling to do just that. While Petty was not involved in the
points battle, the two drivers who were having a whale of a wrangle for the
Winston Cup, Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison, were right in the mix. To show
how much more competitive stock car racing had become since the three or four teams
dominated the seventies, 14 different drivers led that race, swapping the lead
63 times. Richard Petty passed Bobby Allison, who had long since departed
Penske and retired those Matadors to the Ugly Farm, with five laps to go. Ricky
Rudd scooted into second at the white flag, but "Not Quite So Old as He is
Today" DW was hot on Rudd's tail. In fact, there
was a stampeding group of seven stock cars slugging it out for top honors.
Petty took advantage of Waltrip's battle with Rudd to
open up a couple car length lead and took the win, but all seven cars crossed
the stripe within one second of the King's Buick.
Bill Elliott's day at Michigan was indicative of the
dream season he was having that year, but the ending foreshadowed its
nightmarish ending. Elliott took the pole and clearly
had the fastest car on the track. Darrell Waltrip was also a rocket in Junior
Johnson's Chevy and actually led a few more laps than Bill, but in the end he
had nothing to offer for the fleet Ford driver, and Elliott cruised home to an
easy 4-second win, one of a record eleven superspeedway wins he posted that
year. But by finishing second and leading the most laps Darrell Waltrip scored
the same amount of points as Bill, and thus despite winning Elliott made up no
ground in his quest to catch Darrell. After the race, no less an expert than
Darrell Waltrip weighed in as saying that the points system was ridiculous and
the winner should receive a bonus. Of course, at the end of the year DW was a
bit more circumspect as he accepted his Winston Cup championship trophy despite
winning only three races to Elliott's eleven.
Awesome Bill's 1986 season was a real letdown after
his performance in 1985, and he scored only two victories that year, both at
Michigan. In doing so, he established a record for most consecutive wins at any
superspeedway. The win was not as easy as it looked on paper, as a determined
Tim Richmond was coming on hard at the end. In the final fifteen laps Richmond
charged from 14th to second, but Bill held him off by a second and a half at
the line.
The finish of the 1987 August Michigan race was a real
barnburner, with some of the track's favorite sons having a chance to shine.
Winless in over three years, Richard Petty got the crowd on its feet by forcing
his way past another storied veteran, Bobby Allison, with 37 laps to go. Petty
remained in the lead until the caution flag flew with just 12 laps left in the
race. Unfortunately, his tires were badly worn after a gas and go on the
previous stop and all those hard laps, and the King had to pit, handing the
lead to Rusty Wallace. While attempting to fight his way back to the front
after the green flag dropped, part of an 11-car scramble, Richard and Davey
Allison made contact; Richard headed for the wall, and dropped to eleventh in
the final running order. Back up front, Dale Earnhardt shoved his way past
Rusty to retake the lead, with Bill Elliott hot on his tail. With three laps to
go Dale's car bobbled and Elliott took command of the race. Earnhardt had a
tire going down, but despite that handicap he never lifted and gave Bill all he
could handle for the last three laps. Elliott held on to win by three quarters
of a second over Earnhardt, but those two positions were reversed in the end of
the year Winston Cup points rundown.
The closest and most memorable finish at Michigan
occurred in August 1991, and involved two second generation drivers from
legendary racing families. Davey Allison had asserted himself all day and was
dominating late in the race with a four-second lead. Meanwhile, Dale Jarrett
had been mired back in the pack most of the event. A caution flag flew with 12
laps left to go and most of the lead pack ducked into the pits to get fresh
rubber for the final laps showdown. Dale Jarrett's Wood Brothers crew elected
to roll the dice and go with a gas only stop. Thus Jarrett returned to the
track in the lead. Allison on fresh rubber had no problem catching DJ, but he
had all sorts of problems passing him as Jarrett struggled to make that
Thunderbird as wide as he could. The two cars ran side by side for the final
two laps, with DJ having the preferred line, but Allison having those fresh
tires. Contact was made between the two cars several times, and some of it was
heavy. Coming out the final corner, the two cars were still side by side and
were beating and banging for real as they headed for the stripe. The race was
too close to call but the photo finish cameras revealed Jarrett had a ten-inch
advantage over Allison at the line. It was the first victory of his career for
Jarrett, who was able to add his name to the same illustrious roll call of
NASCAR winners as his father Ned, who called that race from the booth.
Harry Gant is credited with developing the fuel
economy strategy at Michigan with his 1992 victory at the track and other teams
have used the same stunt since. But to real race fans the only factor gas
mileage should play in a race is whether you make it to the driveway or end up
hoofing it home after the event.
*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.