|| *Comments on the 1994 GM Goodwrench Dealer 400:* View the most recent comment <#60> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. HomeDepotKid posted: 01.09.2005 - 1:46 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) During practice for this race, Ernie Irvan was critically injured in a crash in turn 1. It took him over a year to fully recuperate. 2. ogarek posted: 06.08.2005 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) also during this race jeremy mayfield's hood suddenly flew off as he raced into turn 1 mayfield had not been involved in a crash like when robby gordon's hood came off at daytona in 2003 thankfully no one was hurt 3. Darrell posted: 11.18.2005 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I just noticed something intresting. If the "Chase for the Cup" had been implemented at the time, Irvan would still finish in the top-ten in points. Amazing the stuff I can discover when I'm bored, eh? ;) 4. nascarman posted: 05.13.2006 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) bobby hillin got on his side in a first lap crash 5. Steve posted: 05.19.2006 - 7:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Looks like Darrell has found another flaw in the "CHA$E". Ernie Iravn would have finished 10th in points, despite missing 11 races. Here's the Top 10 in points form 1994, if they had the "CHA$E", and in parentheses, where they actually wound up: 1. 3 Dale Earnhardt 6639 (1st) 2. 6 Mark Martin 6391 (2nd) 3. 21 Morgan Shepherd 6367 (6th) 4. 2 Rusty Wallace 6350 (3rd) 5. 10 Ricky Rudd 6312 (5th) 6. 25 Ken Schrader 6272 (4th) 7. 24 Jeff Gordon 6267 (8th) 8. 15 Lake Speed 6103 (11th) 9. 30 Michael Waltrip 6004 (12th) 10.28 Ernie Irvan 5045 (22nd) 11. 5 Terry Labonte 3876 (7th) 12.17 Darrell Waltrip 3688 (9th) 13.11 Bill Elliott 3617 (10th) 14.16 Ted Musgrave 3477 (13th) 15. 4 Sterling Marlin 3443 (14th) Earnhardt still would have wrapped up the Championship with his win at Rockingham. 6. gomer posted: 10.23.2006 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wasn't Irvan's crash techincally in Busch practice? 7. Anonymous posted: 01.13.2007 - 1:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) no irvan's crash was in cup practice his 1999 mis crash was in busch practice 8. myself posted: 02.16.2007 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The dreaded #28 Texaco Havoline JINX! 9. Dave posted: 05.31.2007 - 3:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone have a piccture of the #82 wich entered here? 10. Anonymous posted: 08.21.2007 - 9:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Hillin, Jr. just about flipped over in a crash in turn 1 lap 1. 11. Anonymous posted: 09.03.2007 - 8:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dick Trickle's 7th DNF Greg Sacks' 5th DNF Harry Gant's 6th DNF 12. Steve posted: 10.27.2007 - 3:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt's first crash-inflicted DNF since the 1986 Firecracker 400. 13. Anonymous posted: 11.04.2007 - 1:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Todd Bodine wrecked him. 14. RaceFanX posted: 01.07.2008 - 4:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The previous week, John Andretti had stated that he was done racing in NASCAR, but after landing a ride at Petty Enterprises during the week his tune quickly changed. In his first start for Petty Enterprises, Andretti debuted his new ride in the #43 by sitting on the outside of the front row 15. Zeppelin posted: 04.15.2008 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On the DNQs...who is Laura Lane? 16. most posted: 05.16.2008 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks for that stat Steve, that is an amazing run for old #3! 17. 22Fan posted: 06.03.2008 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why is Irvan listed as a DNQ? Did Robert Yates not hire a substitute driver after Ernie's wreck? 18. allen posted: 06.30.2008 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yates considered hiring Hut Stricklin who had DNQ'd but Ernie was in grave codition and Yates decided not to run. 19. 4320 posted: 07.16.2008 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Labonte's first career Top 5 finish. Overall, Bobby had a great run that day, qualifying the car fifth and finishing fifth. 20. Ryan posted: 12.10.2008 - 1:54 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The championship race was over when Ernie went out. It would have been an awesome battle between Dale and Ernie. 21. Anonymous posted: 04.16.2009 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Does anyone have video of Hillin's crash? 22. Zeppelin posted: 04.18.2009 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Hillin's crash: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0mQLZQNXiI 23. Baker posted: 06.10.2009 - 1:51 am Rate this comment: (1) (4) Another Championship was gift wrapped for Dale Earnhardt after this race weekend. Ernie would have taken him down the stretch, hell if it weren't for a crash late in the race at Loudon Ernie would have had a 100 plus points lead at this point. 24. RaceFanX posted: 02.23.2010 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Laura Lane was an ARCA driver at the time Dave Marcis drives his first race with Prodigy as his sponsor, making this the first time an internet company sponsored a NASCAR racer. 25. Chas posted: 08.16.2010 - 8:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am not sure Ernie Irvan should be listed as a DNQ for this race either. If I recall properly, the RYR team withdrew from the event after Irvan's crash. They never even attempted to qualify after the accident. 26. The Great Dave posted: 08.22.2010 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last Career DNQ for Bobby Hamilton 27. Walleyewhacker posted: 05.26.2011 - 1:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Earnhardt initated the contact that took out Todd Bodine and himself. Earnhardt never won a August event at MIS, and only won two June MIS events. Both of those June wins were hardly dominating. Elliott had him by half a lap in 1990 with fifteen laps to go before a slow oil leak caused an engine failure. Davey would have passed Earnhardt with ease in 1987 has the race been 1 lap longer. MIS was easily Earnhardt's worst track not including the road courses. 28. Ryan posted: 07.30.2011 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) "Another Championship was gift wrapped for Dale Earnhardt after this race weekend. Ernie would have taken him down the stretch, hell if it weren't for a crash late in the race at Loudon Ernie would have had a 100 plus points lead at this point." Another Earnhardt hater NOT looking at both sides of it. You fail to mention the Talladega race where Earnhardt had a blown engine! Hmmm... And that was Ernie Irvan people, he ran good and he crashed more than others... At New Hampshire that year he about put a lap down on Earnhardt and then he spun out. The guy was a weapon out on the track, simple is that. His name is Swervin Irvan. Hell he about killed Neil Bonnett when he was laps down with no chance at winning the race at Darlington in 1990 and Dale Earnhardt both, not counting all the other crashes he started. He also cost Davey Allison the title in '92. I know people got on to Dale Earnhardt about bumping people out of the way to gain a position here and there, but with the exception with Rusty's tumble at Talladega (which is debatable on whose fault that was with Rusty coming down on Dale) Earnhardt never would try to take people out going at high speeds, most of his bump and runs were at short tracks where rubbing is racing. Earnhardt wasn't stupid like Ernie was until he last race when he kept blocking Marlin. 29. Ryan posted: 07.30.2011 - 1:16 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) We don't know for sure or assume if Ernie would have "taken anyone down the stretch" where he had never done that. Now if you mean trying to kill someone maybe. "Earnhardt initated the contact that took out Todd Bodine and himself. Earnhardt never won a August event at MIS, and only won two June MIS events. Both of those June wins were hardly dominating. Elliott had him by half a lap in 1990 with fifteen laps to go before a slow oil leak caused an engine failure. Davey would have passed Earnhardt with ease in 1987 has the race been 1 lap longer. MIS was easily Earnhardt's worst track not including the road courses." No, he didn't, Todd Bodine was a weapon, too. Yeah, Earnhardt only led 152 laps of the 1987 race and led the last 71 of that race as well. So oh no he wasn't dominating at all was he?? And he held a frustrated Davey in check the last laps of the race. He was toying with him making him think he could get by him, get serious. And engine failure is part of racing. Engine failure can take and give, thats racin'. We all forget the 1999 August race, where the Intimidator made his prescense known that he was back! If not for the Stewart and Burton accident he more than likely would have won that race because his car was better on shorter runs and until they had that wreck they had one more stop close to the finish. 30. RaceFanX posted: 11.04.2011 - 1:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If you want to link a page for Laura Lane like some of the other DNQ drivers she's from El Segundo, CA. 31. Dave posted: 06.01.2012 - 8:14 am Rate this comment: (3) (4) Ryan just shut up already. You're a huge fan of one of the dirtiest men to race a stock car but every time someone brings his habits to your attention you go on a rambling rant blaming everyone but Earnhardt for what he does & trying to justify his actions. For the record I respect Dale because he's a legend but I'm so sick of his fans on this board acting like he was a God who did no wrong 32. Chris posted: 10.27.2012 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 7 Championships!! The numbers don't lie. 33. Thomas posted: 06.15.2013 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 12. Steve posted: 10.27.2007 - 3:07 am Dale Earnhardt's first crash-inflicted DNF since the 1986 Firecracker 400. What made that streak all the more impressive is that in those 238 races, he never DNF'ed for handling (which all too often is a DNF due to crash damage) either. His 16 DNF's during the streak were all mechanical failures (13 engines, 1 valve, 1 camshaft, 1 rear end). 34. Ryan W posted: 07.24.2013 - 10:36 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Dave, Go ahead, make my day. People say all the time Dale cheated to get this or that and all this bs that he did. Most of you guys never watched during the 80's and 90's and you all act like you know everything that happened. It's easy to look at highlights and be convinced. It's a totally different story when you get in the trenches of it. Ok so he was aggressive during the 80's. Tell me how you can say he was dirty??? Aggressive driver? Yes. Other than maybe the '86 Richmond race with Waltrip (And that had been brewing for a long time as much as Waltrip had been talking garbage to Dale and his team for years, they didn't do or say the things they used to do after that) he just drove hard. How can people hate a guy that drives hard and gives everything he had out there and more? Dale's cars never failed inspection after a race. How many of these other drivers that are in the top 10 in Wins can actually say that? Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Gordon, Allison, Yarborough, Johnson with Knaus has had times where they have got busted. Never heard that about Dale. A lot of the time he was already at a disadvantage because others were cheating. Just like the #4 car at Daytona in 1995. They were calling Sterling, Nigel Marlin because his car sounded like an Indy car. 35. Matthew Sullivan posted: 11.13.2013 - 12:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Typical Cueball Bodine, driving like he's the only car on the track. He tried turning up in front of Earnhardt going down the backstretch when he wasn't clear and ended up wrecking them both. 36. Anonymous posted: 03.09.2014 - 8:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) Earnhardt never won a August race at MIS and wouldn't have won the 1999 race because he wasn't a consistant closer at MIS. Elliott snookered him in the final laps at August of 1987, with Earnhardt taking bizarre laps way too low on the front stretch at the end of the race. Elliott easily pased him up high. MIS rewards a driver who has a smooth driving style and that can find the best groove and not attack the track every lap, and that was not Earnhardt. Davey would have passed Earnhardt at the Spring race in 1987 at MIS as well with another lap. I was at that race 20 rows up from the start/finish line and saw thier lines live, and Davey had the best car at the end. Earnhardt in his best year ever was barely able to hold even a rookie like Davey off for another lap. Davey would win at MIS the following year in 1988 and was the best driver at MIS durring 1991-92. Ryan, you weren't even around in the 1980's and early 1990's didn't watch the races live or subscribe to the car magazines like Circle Track, Autoweek, etc., that covered NASCAR races. Earnhardt was dispised by a ton of fans who didn't like his driving tactics. He was roundly booed at tracks, and articles as well as letters to the editor filled the magazines about his dirty driving, hence he only won one Most Popular Driver of the Year award. Sure he had a reliable car that helped him win cups and to give him credit he was dominating at four tracks, Talladega, Bristol, Atlanta and Darlington. He had great car control at the short tracks. However at the other tracks he not the top dog and rarely won or was a threat to win at Pocono, MIS, Rockingham, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Sonoma and Dover, and he had a ton of trouble closing a NASCAR points race at Daytona. I just dont't think he was as well rounded of a driver or as smart as Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Cale. 37. 23andJoe posted: 06.19.2014 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #44 crew chief: Tony Gibson 38. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 07.30.2014 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) WD Ernie Irvan 28 Texaco / Havoline Robert Yates Ford 39. nascarman posted: 09.22.2014 - 6:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For the record, Ernie Irvan qualified 19th for this race as they had qualifying the day before his accident. 40. Ryan W posted: 09.12.2015 - 3:04 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) "Ryan just shut up already. You're a huge fan of one of the dirtiest men to race a stock car but every time someone brings his habits to your attention you go on a rambling rant blaming everyone but Earnhardt for what he does & trying to justify his actions. For the record I respect Dale because he's a legend but I'm so sick of his fans on this board acting like he was a God who did no wrong." The only problem I ever had with Dale was in his last race. He blocked so others could win instead of winning himself. So he raced hard? He hardly had the best equipment and cars to win with and most of the time he was at a huge disadvantage because of it. 1987 is the only year he really dominated and at times Bill Elliott had the car to beat that year. "Ryan, you weren't even around in the 1980's and early 1990's didn't watch the races live or subscribe to the car magazines like Circle Track, Autoweek, etc., that covered NASCAR races. Earnhardt was dispised by a ton of fans who didn't like his driving tactics. He was roundly booed at tracks, and articles as well as letters to the editor filled the magazines about his dirty driving, hence he only won one Most Popular Driver of the Year award. Sure he had a reliable car that helped him win cups and to give him credit he was dominating at four tracks, Talladega, Bristol, Atlanta and Darlington. He had great car control at the short tracks. However at the other tracks he not the top dog and rarely won or was a threat to win at Pocono, MIS, Rockingham, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Sonoma and Dover, and he had a ton of trouble closing a NASCAR points race at Daytona. I just dont't think he was as well rounded of a driver or as smart as Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Cale." Anonymous/Walleye, I was indeed around for the 80's and 90's and cheered like crazy for him at the races I went to. Pocono may have very well been one of his worst tracks. His avg. finish was 14.6 (although he did have seven engine failues there early in his career). He normally didn't have the horses at Michigan, but still had a respectable 12.6 avg. finish there with two wins. He should have won there in 1999 if not for an ill timed caution. His average finish at Rockingham was 11.4 with 3 wins. One of the wins was to lock up his 7th championship (clutch). He also had top 10 finishes in 13 out of 14 races from 1990-1996. His avg. finish at Dover was 12.1 His career avg. finish at Daytona was 10.7 (unbelievable for restrictor plates era). He had 10 straight top 10's in the Daytona 500 from 1987-1996. He had some bad luck in that race, not necessarily a bad closer. Flat tire, run out of gas, wreck, hit a seagull... He may have had the best car for that race twice in his career and those were 1990 and 1998. Arguably those two races Scharder in '90 and Gordon '98 probably had equal cars. He had 34 top 10's there and was easily the most dominant driver at Daytona during the modera era of Nascar becasue he always was a threat... If you weren't watching a race and asked who was winning and didn't say Earnhardt, they would ask where he was with the next question. He won 6 of 11 of his IROC races there, 6 of the 12 Busch Clash races he was in there, 7 of 13 Daytona 300's, and 12 of 23 Qualifying races including 10 straight from 1990-1999. He only won 3 points races there, but when you think of Daytona you will always think of Dale Earnhardt. He made the Daytona 500 super exciting because of his career long pursuit of that race. There was nothing like trying to see him win it. There was so much suspense with him there. What will happen to him this year? Will he finally break through? Lets talk about Dale's underated stats at road courses. Although he only won 1 race at a road course he was very good and consistent at them. If not for a lap car in 1993 he would have won Sonoma then. His avg. finish at Sonoma is 8.6, his avg. finish at the Glen is 11.5, and at Riverside his avg finish was 10.6. He had 13 top 5's at Riverside out of 20 races including three 2nd place finishes. He may not have been dominant everywhere, but he was better than good at about every track with a sub-par car or equipment most of his career. He raced every lap like it was his last. 41. Paul posted: 02.26.2016 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #02 Jeff Purvis ran with Kendall sponsorship in this race after the #40 DNQ'd. http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g395/70charger426/94michiganfall02jeffpurvis1.jpg 42. HD11 posted: 05.03.2016 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A youngster named Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first late model feature at Myrtle Beach the night before this race. 43. Anthony posted: 09.21.2016 - 9:51 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Although Irvan was right with Dale prior to the accident, I highly doubt whether he would have been able to contend to the end of the year without the accident. In this race and the next 10 races, Earnhardt averaged 9.3 with 8 top 3's, a 7th and 2 DNF's. Irvan's consistency before the accident had started to falter, so its debatable as to whether he would have been able to return to early season form. 44. JSPorts posted: 09.21.2016 - 10:38 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Agreed, Anthony. Dale had passed Irvan, and would probably have won the championship. People say the same thing about Sterling Marlin in 2002, even though Stewart probably would've won anyways. 45. Sean posted: 09.21.2016 - 8:15 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I think Earnhardt probably would have won the title either way, but I also think that if Irvan had still been in the points hunt, that would have forced Earnhardt to be more aggressive which might have led to more mechanical failures. It's pretty obvious that once Irvan was out of contention, all Earnhardt really had to do was play it really safe and make sure he didn't have any DNFs. Earnhardt at this point in his career was focusing on consistency much more than dominance, so if Irvan had managed to keep the consistency up (and he was much more dominant at that point), Earnhardt would have certainly had a fight on his hands, and I don't believe he would have gotten such consistent results in the last 10 races (especially because Irvan would have beaten him in some of those races, and probably scored more bonus points), but we'll never know. 46. Rando posted: 10.05.2016 - 1:15 am Rate this comment: (1) (3) And yet all those Busch Clash and Daytona Qualifying races mean absolutely nothing. The 10 straight races is impressive because of the consistancy, but they mean Zero in the record books. Why does everybody add exhibition races to Earnhardt's total at Daytona but not do it for anyone else? Richard Petty has 7 500s. Earnhardt has 1. 47. Bramblegrunt posted: 10.18.2016 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was an extremely somber event, almost every interview besides Geoff's for winning was very monotone. Everyone was thinking about Irvan. Everyone is debating about the Todd Bodine-Earnhardt crash, however Earnhardt's interview after the incident simply stated they had gotten together after drafting off each other and it is pretty much implied it was more a racing incident. Which likewise appeared to be everyone's opinion of the first major accident of the day on lap 1...people going after real estate that wasnt 100% there. As far as whether or not Irvan would have won the title, of course we will never know. Statistically Irvan was terrible in the last 10 races of the season from 1990-1992 in the Kodak car, however in 1993 after getting the vacated seat left by Allison, he dominated down the stretch. So would we have gotten the 1990-92 Irvan or the 93? It did appear that Earnhardt had more momentum since Irvan had almost an entire race worth's of points ahead of Earnhardt earlier in the season and seen it fizzle by Watkins Glen, but again the ebb and flow of momentum can always change 48. greengold4 posted: 08.30.2017 - 7:35 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Not going after Earnhardt because he definately was a great driver but first saying he had subpar equipment most of his career is just absolute BS. RCR especially in the 90s was one of the more elite teams in NASCAR for example look at how much success Harvick had when he took over after Dale's death as a rookie. Harvick is a good driver but no rookie is going to be that successful without good equipment under them. Also look at how solid Skinner was at RCR in the late 90's I know he never won but he was often in contention for wins or running up front. Also both in 93 and 94 it is hard to know whether he would have won those two championships if in 93 Allison hadn't died and in 94 if Irvan hadn't had his crash. Maybe Dale does win both of those titles but in both cases the guy in third when the incidents happened was far enough back to allow Earnhardt to coast 49. Ryan posted: 05.17.2018 - 12:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Just for the record, One reason Davey was able to make it some what close in 1987 when Dale won after Dale led 152 laps was when the last caution came out with about 12 laps to go, Earnhardt stayed out and some of the guys pitted behind him including Allison and had fresher tires. Earnhardt was still able to hold Davey off. @48 How much success Harvick had at RCR? Dude, he won 23 races in 13 years. He won some big races, but he didn't set the world on fire as you're implying. One reason Harvick did well was because Dale had already set up a lot of those cars for the 2001 year. Well what happened the next few years when Harvick had to start setting them up himself? He struggled and had a slump. That being said, right now he can say he is the best driver out there. Mike Skinner? He led 577 laps in 67 races from 1998-99. Yea, he set the world on fire, too. smh. First place Earnhardt was ahead of 5th place Davey Allison in 1993 by 323 points after Loudon (Davey's last race). I highly doubt he would have overcame that, considering Dale won six races and was solid down the stretch. In '94, Earnhardt had 20 top 5's and 25 top 10's and locked up the championship by WINNING at Rockingham. Not exactly coasting. RCR's power was behind Junior Johnson, Rick Hendrick, Ernie Elliott, Robert Yates, Penske and in the mid to mid to late 90's Jack Roush and Joe Gibbs. Dale was usually at a disadvantage because of it. He would have won over 100 races had he got with Hendrick. Easy. 50. Ryan posted: 05.17.2018 - 12:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) @46 Most of the time when Dale is mentioned with Daytona on TV they mentioned that he is the all time leader at Daytona in wins. Meaning everything that has been raced there. He has 34 wins there. Tony Stewart, Dale, Jr, and Bobby Allison are about halfway of his total. He also won six IROC races there as close as equal cars with everyone else. Richard Petty won 7 Daytona 500's when maybe a handful of cars had a legit shot at winning the race. Earnhardt raced when about 15 did. 51. Alex posted: 05.17.2018 - 10:59 am Rate this comment: (1) (3) We get it, Ryan. You cherry pick facts. We understand clearly that you're blind to the reality of Earnhardt's extremely suspicious career. This hearkens to my post about fans of certain drivers having extraordinary psychological issues. 52. Ryan posted: 05.17.2018 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) We get it Alex, you're a moron. Cherry pick? You don't even know what that means. smh. I state facts because people want to assume they know what happened and don't really get in the trenches of things or in this case, races. Just because someone proves you wrong over and over again doesn't mean they have psychological issues, it just means they are smarter than you. So perhaps I have a psychological advantage over you, when in reality I'm just a little more knowledgeable than you and own your face. Suspicious? 7 championships bruh 53. Anonymous posted: 05.18.2018 - 8:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) If performance in equal IROC cars is your proof of Earnhardt being the best, you have failed. Earnhardt had eleven IROC wins in 59 starts, nine of those wins at Daytona and Talledega which are the two tracks where the least driver ability is required. Mark Martin had thirteen wins in 47 IROC starts, including two at Darlington and one at Richmond, where more driver ability is required. Based on your own logic, Ryan, Earnhardt was not the best. 54. Ryan posted: 05.18.2018 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've got one guy telling me that winning at Daytona doesn't matter then another guy telling me that it does matter that Dale wasn't good there, so I back it up with stating that Dale has 34 wins at Daytona and 6 wins in IROC there and and all of a sudden Daytona has the "least driver ability is required". Or is it the same guy contradicting himself? Excuse me, but being able to draft and knowing when to make your move has a lot to do with driver ability. Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace both found out on the last lap at Daytona and Talladega in 1999 when Earnhardt passed them strategically after following them at the end of the race. Earnhardt didn't win in his first 17 races in IROC competition, however, from 1990 on when he was at his peak, he won 11 out of his last 42 starts and won four championships in nine full season in IROC. I don't count '93 because he raced for Kulwicki the last three starts and those points went toward Alan's. In '96 Jarrett filled in for him in the last race due to his bad wreck at Talladega in WC, and of course in 2001 he only raced at Daytona (where he showed unbelievable car control after Cheever slammed in to him) and died two days later. No where did I say just because you win a lot of IROC races that it means you're the best. Someone did mention that Earnhardt "wasn't that good" at Daytona. I stated that in equal cars against his competition he won six times in 13 races including two 2nds, and two 3rds. The 1992 and 1999 race was unbelievable what he did at the finish. So I think six wins in 13 races at Daytona is very impressive with equal cars. That was my logic/argument. For whatever reason, Mark Martin was brought up in the conversation. But I'll agree that Mark Martin had a better IROC career than Earnhardt, but not by much. It's hard to believe that someone had a better career than Earnhardt in IROC with Dale's resume' in the series, but Martin did. He won 13 races in a 36 race span which is very impressive and out of 12 years he had five titles, four 2nds (three of them to Earnhardt), a 3rd, 4th, and 5th and led about 26% of the laps he ran. In the overall grand scheme of things though when it really mattered, Earnhardt has more Nascar wins and 7 championships to Martin's 0. Earnhardt beat Mr. Bridesmaid head to head in '90 and '94. Martin finished 2nd to some great ones. Earnhardt twice, Gordon, Stewart, and Johnson. Pwned again... 55. Amanda K posted: 09.01.2018 - 7:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan is the closest thing to a voice of reason on this site. Nothing he's stated is incorrect and/or can't be backed up by facts and observation. 56. RaceFan98 posted: 08.09.2019 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Irvan actually had qualified for the race before his accident in practice. He would have started in 19th position. It would seem that the team withdrew after the second round of qualifying was completed, moving everyone behind them up one spot, since ESPN showed Kyle Petty and Bobby Hamilton as being provisional starters. 57. RaceFan98 posted: 08.09.2019 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oops, I meant Kyle Petty and Jimmy Spencer. 58. Altracing posted: 08.26.2019 - 11:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to Dale Jr in his book "Racing to the Finish" Dale Sr actually broke a bone in his neck in the crash with Todd Bodine and told no one about it at the time 59. Bayne&BowmanFan posted: 10.09.2019 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is Earnhardt Sr's only career 37th-place finish. He finished in every other position 1-42 multiple times. 60. Rich posted: 09.25.2020 - 11:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons were the commentators. Dr. Jerry Punch and John Kernan were the pit road reporters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: