|| *Comments on the 1987 Champion Spark Plug 400:* View the most recent comment <#56> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. STbastien posted: 11.15.2004 - 1:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was Tim Richmond last Winston Cup start. He later died of AIDS. 2. Chicago posted: 06.05.2005 - 4:04 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) Tim Richmond's last ever start. He blew the motor intentially -- the tach was maxed out. Tim was a heck of a driver. One of the best by far. Dale Earnhardt wouldn't have seven championships if he hadn't died so prematurely. Rest in peace, Tim. Heaven's having a heck of a race up there. 3. Paul MacInnis posted: 12.26.2006 - 2:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Six of the drivers in this race are now deceased: Dale Earnhardt,Davey Allison,Alan Kulwicki,Neil Bonnett,J.D.McDuffie and Tim Richmond.May they all RIP. 4. Bill posted: 01.04.2007 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Supposedly Richmond blew his engine on purpose. This was later used for a scene in Days of Thunder when Tom Cruise does the same thing. (for those of you who don't know, the movie is very loosely based on the life of Tim Richmond). 5. Bill posted: 01.04.2007 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Petty also had a very legit chance of winning this race too. He was with the leaders until the final round of pit stops and ultimately wrecked on the last lap. 6. myself posted: 02.16.2007 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was it ever said or understood why Richmond blew his motor on purpose? 7. Andy S posted: 06.14.2007 - 2:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As far as purposely blowing up the engine, I had heard an ol' DW story about winning a race with a questionable engine, so he detonated it after crossing the finish line so that whatever they did would not turn up in inspection. 8. Steve posted: 01.20.2008 - 7:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not long after his comeback in June, Tim Richmond started to lose momentum. By this time, he was figuratively off his rocker, due to AIDS which ended his life, and started having anxiety attacks. I guess the car wasn't handling right and so he decided to break the engine. He over-revved the engine and drove directly to the garage. 9. Destiny posted: 02.07.2008 - 1:31 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Nice job for Rusty, who finished 4th. He and his wife Patti welcomed their last child, Stephen. Steve is the cutest I ever seen. 10. Destiny posted: 02.07.2008 - 1:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, Steve was born two days after the race was over. 11. myself posted: 02.21.2008 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) But Destiny, Steven can't drive a lick! He literally wrecks every week! 12. RaceFanX posted: 05.01.2008 - 10:29 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was basically King Richard's last shot at a win. He led 28 laps in this event, he'd never lead more than 9 in a single event after this. Shame he didn't at least get a top-10 for his efforts but that's racing 13. Clayton posted: 06.09.2008 - 10:56 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Add Benny Parsons to the drivers in Heaven!! that makes 7! 14. Clayton posted: 06.09.2008 - 10:59 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bobby Wawak died in September of 2004. He finished 32 in this race. That makes 8! 15. jp posted: 03.19.2009 - 8:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) UHHHH... Friday Hassler, Ricky Knotts,Bruce Jacobi,Joe Booher,Rodney Orr, Curtis Turner, Tiny Lund. They all died,but they werent in the race, I do know that. Oh, and the total is now 15!!!!!! 16. fannie davis posted: 03.04.2010 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) may all those great drivers and legends rest in peace .... maybe with all the comments on drivers that have all died maybe the person who created this website will create a in memory of all those great drivers this would make an awesome site even more awesome btw thanks web site creator keep up the great work . 17. Ryan posted: 06.10.2010 - 1:50 am Rate this comment: (3) (5) Chicago posted: 06.05.05 - 4:04 am " Tim Richmond's last ever start. He blew the motor intentially -- the tach was maxed out. Tim was a heck of a driver. One of the best by far. Dale Earnhardt wouldn't have seven championships if he hadn't died so prematurely. Rest in peace, Tim. Heaven's having a heck of a race up there." I've really had it with some people saying Dale wouldn't have his titles. Dale was a smarter driver than Richmond when it came to points. Richmond had the Ricky Bobby syndrome. He wasn't consistent like Earnhardt was. 18. 18fan posted: 06.13.2010 - 4:04 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) 1987 would've been very interesting since Richmond was coming off a great season and a third place points finish, and the in the years to come Richmond could've become a smarter driver like Dale. 19. Walleyewhacker posted: 05.26.2011 - 9:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Maybe the best race ever at MIS. I taped it live and still watch it once in a while. Nine drivers had a shot to win this thing at the end with a very nice brand mix of three Fords(Eliott, Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki), two Pontiacs(Richard Petty and Rusty Wallace), two Buicks (Bobby Allison and Morgan Shephard)and one lone Oldsmobile(Buddy Baker)and Chevy(Earnhardt). 20. pit crewman posted: 07.26.2011 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Andy S Posted As far as purposely blowing up the engine, I had heard an ol' DW story about winning a race with a questionable engine, so he detonated it after crossing the finish line so that whatever they did would not turn up in inspection. ------------------ The race you are refering to is the first Winston All Star race. I was there, and was sitting between the start/finish line, and turn #1. It looked the whole race like Waltrip had a 'cheated up' car as he could pull away with ease. As Waltrip took the checkers I heard him rev the motor and hold it wide open,.. then boom the motor blows. SO it was easy to know it was intentional. Common sense says you'd be letting OFF the gas after the checkers and starting to slow down. Junior Johnson was asked about passing post race inspecation, and he said "Let them check,.. all they got to look at is just a bunch of pieces" 21. Evan posted: 08.21.2011 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Petty's last top 10 finish was at Watkins Glen in 1991, Tim Richmond's final event in an automobile race. Still quite sad that Tim Richmond died due to AIDS and everything, had he gotten proper treatment by NASCAR and more knowledge of the disease and not alienated by his fellow drivers he might still be around. Magic Johnson is still here, why couldn't Tim still be here, too? 22. 1995z71 posted: 09.30.2011 - 10:19 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) Im a huge Dale Fan (my favorite driver ever) but he would have had 3-6 championships if Davey Allison, Tim Richmond, & Alan Kulwicki had not passed away. 23. Terminator posted: 11.02.2011 - 7:29 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Easily the best cup race ever at MIS. 24. myself posted: 01.25.2012 - 3:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) 22. 1995z71 posted: 09.30.11 - 10:19 pm Im a huge Dale Fan (my favorite driver ever) but he would have had 3-6 championships if Davey Allison, Tim Richmond, & Alan Kulwicki had not passed away. I agree, 100%. 25. Walleyewhacker posted: 02.16.2014 - 12:34 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Speaking of Earnhardt, he sure got out foxed by Elliott at this race at the end. He took some bizarre moves towards the bottom of the track way too early off of turn four the last few laps, and Elliott easily passed him up high. Earnhardt wasn't very good at MIS. Only 2 wins at the June race (and the 1990 win was a gift due to a late blown engine by Elliott when Bill had half a lap lead) and he never won an August race at MIS. 1987 was Earnhardts year at most tracks, and it was the only year Earnhardt was a threat to win both races at MIS. He barely held off an inexperienced Davey Allison at the June race in 1987, and lost this won at the end. 26. b4il3y posted: 02.28.2014 - 2:42 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Petty had a real chance at this race. 27. Walleyewhacker posted: 04.06.2014 - 12:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Elliott had cured his 'first half of the 1987 season engine woes' by August and started cleaning up at the big tracks. Talladega a couple of weeks earlier and this one at MIS with three more wins coming at Charlotte, Rockingham and Atlanta. Bill would have easily won 9-10 races in 1987 had they not had the engine problems in the first half of the season. 28. Ryan W posted: 09.11.2015 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) I say if Dale wouldn't have died he would have championships from 2001-2003 to give him 10 for his career. You guys say Richmond, Kulwicki, and Allison would have won championships yet Earnhardt beat Davey to win his 5th in 1991, he was ahead of Kulwicki and Allison in the standings in 1993 when they had their fatal accidents, and was ahead of Irvan in 1994 when Ernie had his crash at Michigan... Richmond, Ernie and Davey were a lot a like when it came to racing. All or nothing. It's not Dale's fault Richmond had his off the track issues. What Alan Kulwicki did in 1992 was absolutely insane. It really doesn't get enough respect. I think it's one of the top 5 championship runs in all of sports... He did well with what he had and I love what he did, but I doubt he would have won more championships. His point tally was one of the lowest of all times, and even though he made up 278 points in the last 7 races, Bill Elliott and Allison lost this more than he won. They choked and he capitalized. Allison and Richmond both wrecked too much to win a title. We'll never know guys. 29. nascarman posted: 01.18.2016 - 11:45 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) For the record, Tim Richmond was running 8th when his motor blew. 30. Walleyewhacker posted: 06.16.2016 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Earnhardt had a fluky good year in 2000, because he certainly wasn't very good the few years before that. It was sort of like the year that fifty year old plus Harry Gant had in 1991. To say that Earnhardt in his early to mid fifties was going to win three championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003 is totally nuts. Besides, he was already planning on retiring at the end of the 2001 season. 31. Eric posted: 07.29.2016 - 7:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sorry Walleyewhacker, But I disagree with you that Earnhardt had a fluke year in 2000. I don't see Dale winning a cup championship in 2002 or 2003 unlike Ryan. What you ignored was a couple things. 1.) Dale back in August of 1999 was showing signs of getting back to his old form by seeing what he did at the 2nd Race at Michigan, Dale getting top 3's at 2nd Bristol race, and 2nd Martinsville race. 2.) Dale was completely healthy going into the 2000 season and is something you couldn't say about Dale since the 1996 Talladega crash. Remember he suffered multiple injuries that Talladega crash that forced Dale Sr. to get out the car during the 1996 Brickyard 400. Dale Earnhardt Sr had neck surgery for correcting a lingering injury after the 1999 season. Dale had the lingering Injuring since the 1996 Talladega crash that he suffered multiple injuries. 32. Eric posted: 07.29.2016 - 9:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I think Ryan W overestimated Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s as cup champion in 2002 and 2003. I know 2001 to 2003 were weak years from the cup side due to new drivers going into the cup series and the older drivers were in decline. Dale had very good odds being a champion in 2001 considering how Jeff Gordon and other drivers were down the stretch since RCR was ready for a championship run in 2001 with Dale. Jeff Gordon did fade after his Kansas win by not finishing the top 5 in the last 8 races. That is big deal with Dale was strong at Martinsville in 1999 and 2000 besides Atlanta and Talladega. The only question mark with Dale Sr. in 2001 would've been Southern 500 weekend with Steve Park. The fact is Dale was the person who was involved with DEI from a racing standpoint including hiring drivers and people and I am sure Dale would've been busy with the 1 car in terms of finding a replacement. Kevin Harvick in 2001 had good stats a rookie, but Dale Earnhardt in 2001 actually was the stronger driver despite his age at the time despite the fact his qualifying skills were on the decline. Dale during into 2001 wasn't quite the driver he once was, but still was a hard charger on race day. The other thing is Dale was trying to improve his road racing technique and is why he was in the 2001 24 hours of Daytona. Kevin Harvick in 2001 wasn't yet the driver became during the late part of his tenure of RCR. Dale was still a great plate driver and short track driver besides still knowing how to get around his best tracks such as Atlanta. The truth is RCR was down in 2002 and would've happened even with Dale Sr because RCR would've had 3 teams that year. RCR had issues when they turned from being a single car team to a 2 car team and what happened with RCR when they became a 4 car team. RCR had problems when ever they increased the amount of teams. I am not sold on Dale being champion in 2003 because I think he would've retired after 2002 or be on the decline on race day. Morgan Shepherd is the oldest driver ever to finish in the top in points and Harry Gant was oldest cup driver to win a cup race. My point is a 52 year old Dale Sr. had very long odds for a cup championship despite 2003 being a weak year from a cup series standpoint. 33. Maverick11 posted: 07.29.2016 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) 2001-2003, weak years? They were the most competitive years in history! 34. Force posted: 02.07.2017 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (2) (4) Nobody was touching Jeff Gordon in 2001. He was consistently fast at every track and was in contention to win in most of all the races in which he didn't win. He did it on superspeedways, short tracks, and road courses. You're kidding me, right? Dale Earnhardt probably would have been SLIGHTLY better than Kevin Harvick in 2001. Kevin Harvick drove the exact same cars prepared by the same crew by the same team for Dale Earnhardt had he not died at Daytona. Dale maybe would have had a few better finishes, but the wins would have been the same. From 1996-on Dale Earnhardt was an also-ran, who was maybe good for 1-2 wins at best. This fairytale that delusional Earnhardt fans like to believe in that he was going to win 10-15 more championships and that everybody else winning was the result of luck and because of Dale having misfortunes is so silly to me. 2000 was the exception to the trend, but by the time he died Dale's career was all but done. 2001 was Jeff Gordon all the way, the only people who were really even close were Jarrett, Rudd, and Stewart, and to think Dale would have had better years than those guys is laughable. The 2000-2002 design cars along with new rules packages made the competition more competitive than ever, which further leads me to believe that Earnhardt would have struggled to win, that is unless of course he won by bulldozing his way through people like he had to do to beat Terry Labonte at Bristol in 1999. 35. Eric posted: 02.07.2017 - 10:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Maverick11, I called that era weak for a reason. If Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd was on the decline down the stretch in 2001, I feel they would've beaten Jeff Gordon. Jeff Gordon in 2001 had the same signs as he did in 1995, 1996, and 1997. After Kansas, Jeff had 4 finishes 15th or worst in 2001. Dale Jarrett was not at his peak as a driver and already was starting to be on his downside of his career back in 2001 and 2002. Ricky Rudd was declining as a driver in 2002. Terry Labonte was not in his prime at all from 2001 to 2003. The only reason Terry was in the top 10 in points was his normal conservative driving style. Rusty was on his downside of his career that era too. Bobby Labonte was in 2001 to 2003 was back to being his normal 1995 to 1998 form. 36. JSPorts posted: 02.07.2017 - 11:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I had never thought about that era as being weak, but more of having a lot of parity. Now that you mention it, it makes more sense; most of those guys were replaced by the "young guns." 37. Sean posted: 02.08.2017 - 6:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Maverick is right and Eric is wrong. 2001-03 was the strongest period for competitive depth in Cup history. Yes, the baby boomer veterans were declining, but they were still winning: Jarrett, Rudd, Wallace, Martin, Elliott, both Labontes, Marlin all won at some point while the Gen-X rookies started winning and fast very early in their careers (Stewart, Junior, Kenseth, Harvick, Busch, Newman, Johnson.) This was NASCAR's popularity peak when it got by far the highest ratings in its history which allowed for even the worst teams to have Fortune 500 sponsorships and pretty much everybody had the resources to win and afford talented drivers capable of winning. The late '90s were a relative nadir for competitive depth because those same veterans were already starting their decline but the rookie classes were striking out. Craven, Benson, Skinner, R. Gordon, Park, and Nadeau were all good, but not that good (and most of those drivers developed and reached their career peak in the same 2001-03 period as well, which also helped.) Think about it. I think Gordon was still as good as ever from 2001-03, but Robbie Loomis was slightly worse than Ray Evernham (only slightly though...Loomis is one of the most underrated crew chiefs of all time), and he faced a lot of good drivers who were in his age group, as opposed to the late '90s, when he was the only Gen-X star competing against a bunch of baby boomer stars. Surely the competition was not worse than it was when he was regularly winning 7+ races a year. In fact, I would say the veterans were more of a force in this period because Rudd, Elliott, and Marlin got their first shots in good cars in quite a few years in the 2001-03 period and made comebacks. What you were saying would be more correct for the late '90s. I agree with Force that Earnhardt was not going to win a championship at that point. His 2000 wasn't really the 2nd best season that year, and he was about a 5th-7th place driver at that time and RCR was not the premier team of the time and Earnhardt aged, which means with that full-season points system he was pretty unlikely to win another title. However, also ran is way too harsh. A driver who is expected to finish in the top ten in points and win a race is not an also ran. Also ran would better describe Terry Labonte at about the time of Earnhardt's death. 38. Bobby B. posted: 08.25.2017 - 11:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was probably the closest Petty ever came to winning #201. His car was fast and he had pulled away a little by the time the last caution came out. But when that caution did come out, he pitted for tires and no one behind him did. With only a handful of laps to go, he wasn't able to get back up to the lead. 39. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 10.28.2017 - 8:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution 1: #04 spun backstretch Caution 2: Caution 3: #77 accident turn 2 Caution 4: #21 engine Caution 5: #5,89 accident frontstretch 40. 48johnsonfan posted: 11.10.2017 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Second caution was for debris. 41. Ryan posted: 05.04.2018 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Dale Earnhardt probably would have been SLIGHTLY better than Kevin Harvick in 2001. Kevin Harvick drove the exact same cars prepared by the same crew by the same team for Dale Earnhardt had he not died at Daytona. Dale maybe would have had a few better finishes, but the wins would have been the same." Dale Earnhardt and his team set up the cars. Harvick was driving Earnhardt's set up. You saw what Kevin did the year after when he had to start setting up his own cars. He struggled. However, he is the best driver out there now. Force it's easy to see where your emotions are when you said about Earnhardt bulldozing people. You're a hater. LOL at Sean saying Earnhardt "aged". The man finished 2nd in the points, won two of the most exciting races that year in 2000, and was very competitive at a lot of tracks. If not for a mistake in tunnel turn on the last lap at Pocono he would have won three races. And if not for Bobby Labonte's unbelievable consistency Dale probably would have won his 8th title. He more than likely would have won the title in 2001. Everyone was saying that Earnhardt was finished around 1997 (He finished 5th in the standings). He had lingering neck and back pain because of a crash caused by Ernie Irvan at Talladega and finally had surgery on it and felt a lot better. Another reason was plain and simple. Richard Childress was down on power and speed from 1997-1998 and the early part of 1999. Yet, Dale still stayed loyal to him. RCR had to make some financial decisions to get competitive again and Dale was making decisions for DEI. It's possible that Dale would have raced for himself eventually. I didn't see him retiring while he was competitive. At the same time, he would have never been the type like Darrell Waltrip or even Tony Stewart to stroke around the last few years of competition. 42. Ryan posted: 06.24.2018 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) just for the record for people that said Earnhardt would have retired at the end of 2001, he actually was signed to race for RCR through 2003. 43. #BowmanNation #TKNation #JRNation posted: 06.24.2018 - 11:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How long do you think he would have kept competing? 44. Ryan posted: 06.25.2018 - 1:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @43 As long as he was competitive and thought he was able to win and not stroking around like Darrell Waltrip and Tony Stewart did at the of their careers. People thought he was "washed up" in 1997, yet he still finished 5th in the standings. It's hard to believe, but that was considered a "down year" by his haters and fans both. That's how much they expected out of him. I really believe he wasn't the type that would want a farewell tour either like a lot of drivers have had. For one second if he thought he couldn't compete like he thought he could he would probably call it quits right then. He also wasn't the type that if he had won the championship in say 2003, that he wouldn't have retired for 2004. His last race he led laps (was the last leader of the race before MWaltrip took over and held the lead) and had a decent chance at winning the race. Honestly if he was going to go out, he probably wouldn't have minded going out the way he did. As a matter of fact and ironically he once told Sterling Marlin that if he died racing he wouldn't consider that a tragedy, but wrecking in a ditch would be a tragedy. 45. #BowmanNation #TKNation #JRNation posted: 06.25.2018 - 9:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 44. Damn that is a freaky coincidence 46. Ryan posted: 08.20.2018 - 11:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @25 "He barely held off an inexperienced Davey Allison at the June race in 1987, and lost this won at the end." It helped that Davey had fresher tires at the end of the race than Dale did. Well, actually it didn't help. 47. GoPM21 posted: 12.02.2018 - 7:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @21 Johnson has HIV. His HIV has never progressed to AIDS. 48. Jimnsimforever posted: 12.02.2018 - 10:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ok, how about this then. 1) Dale Earnhardt got his shot at a full time ride in 1979 and won rookie of the year. He finished 7th in points (would've been top 5 had he not had to miss 4 races due to a bad crash at Pocono). Imagine if somebody would've given him that shot earlier than the age of 28 how many titles he would've won considering he won his 1st the very next season in 1980. 2) Imagine if after winning that first title if the next season, 1981, wouldn't have gotten messed up for him. In 1981 Dale was racing his 2nd year of a 5 year contract he signed with Osterlund after winning ROY. Halfway through the 81 season Dale was doing well, still in it, 4th in points. Osterlund suddenly sold the team to Jim Stacey. Dale ran the next four races for Stacey, who nobody liked. Then finished the season out for Richard Childress who retired one week, became an owner the next with Dale as his driver for the last 11 races. Childress himself told Dale to leave and find somewhere else to finish the last 2 years of his contract with cause he wasn't ready to field a competitive car yet. 3) What if Dale would've not spent those 2 seasons driving for Bud Moore in a Ford in the 82 and 83 seasons? Dale was hard on cars and Ford's would have a tendency to blow up back in those days. Look at his finishes in those 2 years. They were all either DNFs or top 5s basically. Dale was still relatively young and drove them hard, he was a racer, Elliott was a driver and even Bill used to blow up his Ford all the time in the 80s. 4) Dale went back to Richard Childress and had plenty of great weeks in 1984 and 1985 but it took a couple years to get the team to where it was in 1986 when Earnhardt won his 2nd title. Heck, at this point he wins his 2nd championship he was already 35 years old. The next year (1987) was his 3rd title at 36. He is 40 when he gets his 5th. Dale could've won 77 titles instead of 7 is what i'm getting at. :) 49. JSPorts posted: 12.02.2018 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is pretty incredible that Earnhardt accomplished what he did, given that he didn't get into a stable, competitive ride until he was 33 years old. 50. Chase9Fan posted: 06.08.2019 - 9:29 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) 49. That was generally the norm back then. You had to actually earn it. 51. Jacob posted: 08.05.2019 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And shortly after this race was the Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crash which killed two people on the ground and left a 4-year-old girl that was one of the passengers who was the only survivor (among those killed were Phoenix Suns center Nick Vanos, killed alongside his fiance - whose family he had just visited). Incidentally; several NASCAR beat writers (including Tom Higgins, the longtime NASCAR beat writer for the Charlotte Observer) were in a hotel waiting for a scheduled flight to Charlotte the next day and ended up witnessing the crash. 52. SweetRich posted: 02.16.2020 - 8:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Commentators For The Race Were Bob Jenkins And Larry Nuber. The Pit Road Reporters Were Dick Berggren And Jerry Punch. 53. Wrongwaywillie posted: 09.18.2020 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Walleyewhacker is a moron. Earnhardt's 2000 season wasn't a fluke and he wasn't retiring after 2001. It had been said 2003 was probably going to be his last year. You're always throwing out these stats that Elliott had at such and such track. Then you mouth off about how Earnhardt wasn't as good as Elliott at certain tracks. Earnhardt was a 7 time champion. He may not have won a lot at Michigan, Rockingham or Pocono. But he was consistent and that's what matters then. If Bill was so damn good, why did he only have one championship? And don't tell me if he hadn't have started his own team he would've won at least 1 or 2 more, because he wouldn't have. Because if Earnhardt didn't win them Kulwicki, Allison or Irvan would've beat him. 54. RaceFanX posted: 01.30.2021 - 6:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jocko Maggiacomo's weekend ended up on the hook before it even really began. He crashed the #63 Chevy in qualifying and failed to make the field as a result. 55. HD11 posted: 04.15.2021 - 2:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This really is one of the more underestimated greatest races at MIS, if not anywhere. The excitement of Richard Petty leading with 10 laps to go and holding off seven other cars lap after lap before a late caution had the fans in a frenzy and the commentators excitement is clear through the broadcast. Petty dove on to pit road coming to that yellow choosing for fresh tires when most of the other leaders stayed out, he was running fifth on the last lap when he crashed although I don't know what caused it. Whether he would've held onto the lead had it stayed green or if he had stayed out is debatable as Rusty Wallace seemed to have several shots to pass him. Rusty seemingly had the race won but brushed the wall off turn two with six to go handing the lead to Earnhardt. Earnhardt kept running to the bottom of the front straightaway in an attempt to break the draft but Elliott powered by on the outside with two to go and drove off with the win. An outstanding race for sure. 56. Greg posted: 04.16.2021 - 7:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @55: Alan Kulwicki moved to the outside of Petty into Turn 1 on the last lap so it was either side-drafting or Petty cutting it too tight off Turn 2 that caused him to spin out to the infield. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: