Two Hundred Six Days and Counting
to the 50th Running of the "Great American Race"
July 26, 2007 Mickey
Mills – SCR
Without a cup race to
catch my eyes this past weekend, the old attention deficit disorder kicked into high gear. Sitting at the keyboard, I
scratched my noggin' searching desperately for something of note to write about. My motor head mind wandered all over
the NASCAR landscape, eventually settling in on the first event of next season; the 50th running of the Daytona 500. The
mother race, if you will.
I thought about the new
history that will be written on the asphalt lanes of the Daytona International Speedway (DIS) to open the 2008 season. I
reflected on the past. I was all of five years old in 1959 when Lee Petty inched out Johnny Beauchamp at the finish line
to win the first 500. Controversy in the sport started that day when Beauchamp was declared the winner and escorted to
victory lane. Sixty one hours later, the governing body reversed their decision and declared Petty the official winner. Stock
Car racing was poised to grow into the American mainstream.
Consider all the history, all
the records, all the great drivers that have come and gone since that day. The contrast between the cars and drivers
we watch today and the fifty nine cars that raced in the first 500 is startling. The average speed in the 1959 race was
135.5 mph, compared to this year when Harvick nudged out Mark Martin to win with an average speed of 149.3 mph. That
doesn't seem like a lot considering the difference in the car that Lee Petty drove and Harvick's high tech Chevrolet.
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Forty one thousand fans
were on hand to watch fifty nine cars race for a purse totaling $67,760; pocket change for most of today's drivers. A
twenty one year old Richard Petty pocketed a hundred dollars for finishing fifty seventh. The eventual winner, Lee Petty was
forty five years old. He took home a grand sum of $19,050. The minimum wage in 1959 was $1.00. If the pay increases
had kept up with the purses at Daytona a minimum wage worker today would be pocketing a sweet half million an hour.
The field was packed
with men that forged the sport in the early days; Richard and Lee Petty, Joe Weatherly, Cotton Owens, Junior Johnson, Elmo
Langley, Fireball Roberts, and Buck Baker all drove in the first race. Names that have since been chiseled into the NASCAR
record books punctuating their contributions to stock car racing.
The Great American Race
has also seen some of the most memorable finishes in the history of NASCAR. I looked back and tried to come up with the
top five.
1: 1979 - The CBS
television network begins broadcasting the 500 live. That year, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were dueling for the
lead down the backstretch on the final lap. Hammering on reach other in turn three, they crashed on the high banks and
slid down into the infield. A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip were a half lap behind the leaders. Foyt slowed
for the caution and watched Petty and Waltrip race back to the finish line with Petty crossing first to win his sixth Daytona
500.
The CBS cameras immediately
panned back to the crash site to find Yarborough and Allison in a gentlemanly engagement of fisticuffs (with helmets). Bobby
Allison joined the fray to help his brother explain back stretch etiquette to Yarborough.
2: 1976 - Richard
Petty and David Pearson had been battling each other closely for the last 100 miles of the race. Pearson goes around
Petty coming down the backstretch and entering turn three. His car slipped high towards the wall near the apex of the
turn. Petty slipped back down inside Pearson edging his Pontiac beneath his opponent, they touched exiting turn four and careened
into the walls, ultimately sending both heavily damaged race cars into the grass inside the tri-oval.
Petty's car would not
restart. His race car stalled still a good hundred yards from a win. Pearson was able to keep his machine rolling
and limped past Petty to cross the finish line first, still rolling through the grass. Richard Petty's crew members ran
into the field and pushed the #43- STP Pontiac across the finish line just ahead of a surging Benny Parsons to take second
place. 1976 Daytona 500 Video
3: 1998 - After
nineteen straight shutouts in the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt finally led the field to victory. In an unprecedented show
of respect for the seven time champion, every member of every team lined pit road to congratulate The Intimidator. Mike
Joy in the broadcast booth dubbed the spectacle: "The longest receiving line in the history of celebrations." Earnhardt had
come close several times with four second place and a host of top fives, including the 1990 race where he cut a tire entering
turn three leading the last lap and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. 1998 Daytona 500 Video
4: 1988 - Two months
past his 50th birthday, Bobbie Allison became the oldest driver to ever win the 500. This was also the first time a father/son
combination had taken first and second. Davey Allison was just behind his father at the finish line. What I remember
most about this is the look on Judy Allison's face in the closing laps of the race. 1988 Daytona 500 Video
Also, in that race, Richard
Petty had a horrific crash (1988 Daytona 500 Petty Flip Video) coming out of turn four on lap 170. He escaped serious injury suffering only a broken right ankle and temporary
vision loss resulting from the excessive G forces of the crash. During the live event, broadcaster Chris Economaki prematurely
stated that "This accident will undoubtedly end the career of Richard Petty". Fortunately for the sport he was wrong. Petty
drove another four years, retiring at the end of the 1992 season.
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5: 1993 - In another
father/son circumstance, Dale Jarrett won his first Daytona 500 with father Ned Jarrett in the broadcast booth calling the
exciting finish. Unfortunately a video of this could not be found.
I know I said top five,
but I have to give Kevin Harvick an honorable mention for his win in the 2007 chapter of the “Great American Race.” Harvick
charged out of nowhere to eclipse Mark Martin by the thinnest margin in Daytona 500 history: 0.020 seconds.
In a sport that was founded
on the talents of man and power of machine, no facility has contributed more to the history of the sport than the Daytona
International Speedway. Careers have begun and ended abruptly at this cathedral of speed. It's fitting that the
Car of Tomorrow will make its debut at Daytona on the 50th anniversary of the great race.
What history will the
new car write on the old track? If the first fifty years are any indication, it is going to be good.
2006 StockCar Review.
