Classic NASCAR (May 27th 1979)

20th World 600

Sunday May 27th 1979 

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, NC

Pole winner - Neil Bonnett (160.125 mph)

inside pole - Richard Petty

A turn away crowd of 135,000 people witnessed Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip battle for 600 miles with Waltrip finally get the best of both of them to win his 2nd consecutive World 600.  This was also his 2nd of an eventual 5 wins at the Memorial Day event.

The video is CBS Sports but the audio is the fantastic Motor Racing Network with Eli Gould, Ned Jarrett and Mike Joy.

Classic NASCAR

Daytona 500

February 14th 1982

Pole Winner - Benny Parsons

Winner - Bobby Allison

2nd - Cale Yarborough 

3rd - Joe Ruttman

4th - Terry Labonte

5th - Bill Elliott

2018 Daytona 500

February 18th 2018

The 60th running of the Daytona 500

Race winner - Austin Dillon  (#3)
2nd - Darrell Wallace, Jr.  (#43)

3rd - Denny Hamlin  (#11)

4th - Joey Logano  (#22)

5th - Chris Buescher (#37)
Pole winner - Alex Bowman (#88)

Austin Dillon bumped Aric Almirola  (#10) out of the lead on the last lap to take the win in the 60th running of the Daytona 500.  This was only the 2nd time that the #3 has been in the winners circle of the Daytona 500 with Dale Earnhardt winning the 1998 500.   This was also the 17th anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt, who died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 500 race.

Jeff Gordon Wins 1st Dayton 500

February 16, 1997, 25-year-old Jeff Gordon claims his first Daytona 500 victory, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the 200-lap, 500-mile National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) event, dubbed the “Super Bowl of stock car racing.” Driving his No. 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for the Hendrick Motorsports racing team, Gordon recorded an average speed of 148.295 mph and took home prize money of more than $377,000. According to NASCAR.com, Gordon was “a veritable babe in a field that included 27 drivers older than 35, 16 at least 40.” Gordon’s Hendrick teammates Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven finished the race second and third, respectively.

We Love Gunsmoke

September 4th 1967

Milburn Stone (Doc Adams) and Ken Curtis (Festus Haggen) stars of the CBS classic Gunsmoke greet the crowd before the NASCAR Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.

Richard Petty ('67 Plymouth)  winner of the 1967 Southern 500, he led 345 of 364 laps. 

Memorial Day Weekend of Speed

2016 Memorial Day Weekend of Speed

Again this year there were 3 major races held across the globe. 

The day started in Monaco with the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix 

This year won by defending world driving champion Lewis Hamilton

Next up was the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

This year was a celebration of 100 races and then became even better with a fantastic race that saw a huge gamble by rookie Alexander Rossi.  His team decided to not pit for fuel in the last 60 laps and try and make it to the finish.  He made it and crossed the finish line on fumes and became the first rookie since 2001 (Helio Castroneves) to win the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".

The night finished up in Charlotte, North Carolina with the longest race of the year in the NASCAR Coca Cola 600.  2016 saw Martin Truex, Jr. dominate this race like no one ever has and he led 392 of 400 laps to capture his first 600 and set a new standard of dominance.

1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion

1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion

Richard Petty wins his 2nd consecutive Winston Cup championship.

He would eventually win 7, with the last in 1979

1986 Nascar Firecracker 400

The 1986 Firecracker 400 (now the Coke Zero 400) was run on Friday July 4th and was won by the very popular and controversial Tim Richmond.  Richmond had won the 1980 Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500 and then moved to Nascar later in 1980. 
The 1986 stock car season was Tim's best year in NASCAR as he finished 3rd in points and had 7 wins, the most for any driver in 1986.

Alan Kulwicki April 1st 1993

21 years ago today NASCAR and the racing world lost a true champion in Alan Kulwicki.  Alan was the last owner/driver to win the NASCAR (then Winston Cup) championship in 1992.   Sadly his life was cut short in a plane crash outside of Bristol TN.   Alan came to NASCAR with just an idea and a dream and became a hero to all the fans and proved he belonged with the greats.