|| *Comments on the 1972 Qualifying Race #1:* View the most recent comment <#31> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Anonymous posted: 03.29.2005 - 9:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) friday hassler was killed in a wreck on lap 19 2. SPENCER posted: 01.26.2006 - 1:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To bad he was a good driver with the best first name 3. Steve posted: 02.06.2006 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Friday Hassler won two poles. Ironic that Nextel Cup qualifying is typically on a Friday. Ryan Newman is literally a "Friday Hassler". 4. race posted: 03.26.2007 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) the crash on lap 19 was caused when David Boggs cut a tire 5. Anonymous posted: 09.16.2007 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ:Johnny Halford, Wendell Scott, Dick May, Doc Faustina, Friday Hassler, Joe Frasson, G. C. Spencer, Verlin Eaker, Dean Dalton, Jimmy Crawford, Dr. Don Tarr, Phil Finney, Lem Blankenship. 6. WillG_46 posted: 12.06.2008 - 7:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First ever Daytona Qualifying race not worth any points. 7. RaceFanX posted: 09.23.2009 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Unlisted nationality: Verlin Eaker is an American racer from Blooming Prairie, MN, he mainly did USAC's stock car series 8. Anonymous posted: 07.15.2011 - 2:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hassler went into the wall head-on, before spinning twice. Through all of the smoke someone broadsided him in the passenger door. 9. Terry Maynard posted: 01.10.2012 - 9:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was the Dodge of Jimmy Crawford that hit Friday Hassler. 10. Anonymous posted: 01.11.2012 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Verlin Eaker's sponsor was Dodge. 11. Anonymous posted: 05.02.2012 - 5:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crawford was also seriously injured in this one. 12. RaceFanX posted: 01.12.2013 - 11:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors (and missing owners): #71 Bobby Isaac- (owned by Nord Krauskopf) #14 Coo Coo Marlin- Cunningham-Kelley (owned by H.B. Cunningham) #79 Frank Warren- (owned by Frank Warren) #24 Cecil Gordon- (owned by Cecil Gordon) #4 John Sears- J. Marvin Mills Heating & Air #61 Jimmy Finger- Bierschwale-Haverlah (owned by Don Bierschwale) #70 J.D. McDuffie- (owned by J.D. McDuffie) #30 Walter Ballard- Hekimian's Foreign Car Sales #45 Bill Seifert- (owned by Bill Seifert) #34 Wendell Scott- (owned by Wendell Scott) #11 Buddy Baker- STP #5 Doc Faustina- (owned by Doc Faustina) #43 Richard Petty- STP #39 Friday Hassler- See Rock City in Chattanooga (owned by Friday Hassler) #64 Elmo Langley- (owned by Elmo Langley) #18 Joe Frasson- (owned by Joe Frasson) #47 Raymond Williams- (owned by Raymond Williams) #49 G.C. Spencer- (owned by G.C. Spencer) #7 Dean Dalton- (owned by Dean Dalton) #48 James Hylton- Pop Kola #80 Phil Finney- (owned by Wallace Finney) Richard D. Brown's third-place finish here was his best in a Cup car, his best in a points race was fifth. 13. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 08.14.2013 - 12:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I found a pic of cars lined up on pit road for this race, and David Pearson's 15 is among them. I'm assuming he wasn't able to start, and therefore also DNQed. 14. Schroeder51 posted: 11.03.2013 - 1:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The cars involved in the big crash that claimed Friday Hassler's life were... #7 Dean Dalton #18 Joe Frasson #32 Johnny Halford #39 Friday Hassler (obviously) #47 Raymond Williams #49 G. C. Spencer #54 Jimmy Crawford #57 David Ray Boggs #59 Dr. Don Tarr #64 Elmo Langley #84 Dick May #94 Verlin Eaker 15. Schroeder51 posted: 11.03.2013 - 2:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #25 of Jabe Thomas also spun in the accident. 16. Schroeder51 posted: 03.07.2014 - 10:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, some aftermath footage of Hassler's car (and his corpse) after the fatal crash has recently surfaced on Youtube. It's not a pretty sight...the whole passenger's side of his #39 car was completely crushed over into the driver's side of the car. There was actually blood splattered on the driver's side door of his car. Hassler's head was nearly twisted off his body from the sheer force of the impact from Jimmy Crawford's car. 17. cjs3872 posted: 02.16.2015 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, no driver has ever lapped the entire field in a qualifying race, but thanks to the mechanical failures that both Petty Enterprises cars ran into that placed them 31st and 32nd on the starting grid, Bobby Isaac came the closest, as he finished about 5-6 seconds behind runner-up Coo Coo Marlin to lap him, and that is as close as anyone ever got to lapping the entire field in a qualifying race. Bill Elliott came close to lapping the field in his 1985 qualifying race win, but I think he was further behind the runner-up in that race than Isaac was in this one. 18. cjs3872 posted: 02.16.2015 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Schroeder51, Raymond Williams' involvement in that massive crash that killed Friday Hassler led to his being the answer to a trivia question regarding the Daytona 500. That question is, who is the only driver in Daytona 500 history to start last and finish last in the same Daytona 500? And as he was going by the scene of the massive crash that killed Friday Hassler, Bill Seifert had to have lumps in his throat, because he was involved in a similar (but much smaller) crash in the same area two years earlier that killed Talmadge Prince. In one of the qualifiers for the 1970 Daytona 500, Prnice spun exiting turn two and was slammed broadside by Seifert's #45 car, so for Bill Seifert, driving through that area while that wreck was there (and for the rest of the race, even after that wreck was cleared) had to have brought back some bad memories. It's also interesting to note that Benny Parsons and James Hylton, who were to finish fourth and fifth in the Daytona 500, completed a grand total of 13 laps in this qualifying race between them. 19. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 05.02.2015 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) there were 2 cautions for 12 laps 20. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 05.02.2015 - 6:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) check that 14 laps were under cautions 21. nascar_vd / racing-reference.info posted: 08.03.2015 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Note for visitors: we have found some informations missing and/or correction until now on the website (cautions). But there are still a lot of missing information. 22. Rob McKeever posted: 02.22.2016 - 1:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spartanburg Herald-Journal story on the drivers remembering Friday Hassler: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B3csAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EMwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7276%2C3023479 2-18-72 page C1 23. Rob McKeever posted: 02.23.2016 - 11:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another story in the Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 2-18-1972, that has a great six-photo illustration of the Hassler wreck. Also, that wreck led to the format change that gave us the top 14/15 of each heat setting the field (that would last until it changed this year in 2016) https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zk8fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u9EEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1536%2C4805314 24. Rob posted: 03.22.2017 - 7:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Never noticed it before but you can see the car of Richard Petty pass Hassler's spinning car seconds before the fatal hit. 25. Mr.Victory posted: 10.31.2018 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To me, it's quite weird how Hassler was killed in this wreck, but another giant pile up at Talladega the next year had no one receive serious injuries. 26. Mr.Victory posted: 03.16.2019 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was this race the first Daytona qualifier without points involved in it? 27. Pacer posted: 03.16.2019 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @26 Yes, as was mentioned back in post 6. 28. Yeet posted: 01.09.2020 - 10:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #25 and #64 need to be included in the Lap 18-26 Caution 29. Youraverageracingfan posted: 01.10.2020 - 11:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) According the Racing Reference, this is the first official big one in cup series history. If that's so, then that would be sad since this wreck was marred with the death of Friday Hassler. 30. Mile501 posted: 01.10.2020 - 12:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am confused by the newspaper article mentioned in comment #23. It states that the multi-car crash in the qualifying race led NASCAR to change the format so that the top 15 cars in each qualifying race would make the Daytona 500. However, that appears to be the same format that was used the year before in 1971. So, had NASCAR decided to change that qualifying format, only to change it back after the big accident? I'd love to get a response from someone who may know the answer to that question. As a side note, it seems that several drivers (those who finished 16th-20th) would have thought that they had made the Daytona 500, only to be told later that they didn't. How frustrating the situation must have been for those drivers. 31. RaceFanX posted: 03.05.2020 - 12:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #05 David Sisco- DeLong #23 Vic Elford- Nolen's Restaurant #24 Cecil Gordon- Casa Linda Motel #47 Raymond Williams- Jet Way Products #48 James Hylton- Madden Food Systems #54 Jimmy Crawford- Crawford Enterprises (owned by Jimmy Crawford) #56 Jim Hurtubise- Miller High Life #57 David Ray Boggs- Sponsor Wanted #72 Benny Parsons- Carolina 500 #79 Frank Warren- Talladega 500 / SSP #83 Lem Blankenship- Howard Racing (owned by Richard Howard) #91 Richard D. Brown- Dogwood Valley Golf Course ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: