|| *Comments on the 1996 Daytona 500:* View the most recent comment <#77> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. MegaRacer posted: 03.14.2005 - 8:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Dale and Dale show! Jarrett edges Earnhardt for his 2d Daytona 500 win. 2. --- posted: 05.03.2005 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Andretti had a hard head on hit into the wall 3. Chicago posted: 05.05.2005 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Andretti's wreck was real bad, but he walked away. He also collected Michael Waltrip, but Waltrip had a strong car and fought back, with damage, to be fighting for the win with a few laps to go before tangling with Mark Martin and coming home tenth. After Labonte fell out of contention with overheating issues and Sterling Marlin blew up in pursuit of his third straight 500 win, Jarrett had the best car. 4. je24go posted: 05.11.2005 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Andretti, having his best career run to date, suddenly turn sharp right out of turn two and hit the backstretch wall straight head on. The car then slid on its side for a little bit until coming to rest on its wheels. It looked horrifying, but John emerged with only a few bumps and bruises. 5. Chris posted: 06.10.2005 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) In the closing laps, Earnhardt would pull out to pass Jarrett and Schrader, running in 3rd, wouldn't go with him. The 2 of them had enough to pass Jarrett together, but Earnhardt couldn't do it by himself. 6. Djrfan posted: 09.08.2005 - 2:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Jarrett collects the 5th win of his career. 7. Thomas Wells posted: 11.07.2005 - 8:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember falling out of my chair after watching that race because it was so exciting. When asked why he didn't draft with Earnhardt, Ken Schrader said slyly "That's not my job." John Andretti got loose in turn 2, hit the front of Michael Waltrip's car and overcorrected it sending him head on into the backstretch wall. Geoff Bodine had a back injury after his crash with Chad Little and said it felt like a knife stabbed him. 8. Chicago posted: 02.13.2006 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was arguably the best 500 of the '90's. One of the best of all time. So many cars were good and had a shot to win. Jarrett, Earnhardt, Schrader, Martin ... Cope ran up there for a time, Andretti was a surprise before he had his savage crash ... Dallenbach drove his Bud Moore Ford with freshly painted on Hayes Modems sponsorship to the front and stayed there, Michael Waltrip looked like he could win in his first outing for the Wood Brothers. 9. J. Kircher posted: 05.18.2006 - 5:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield made contact off turn 2 very early in the race sending Gordon's car into the wall with the right front fender and tire taking the brunt of the impact. The car was badly damaged but the crew did manage to get it back out for a few laps, thus the reason for going out with "handling" issues. 10. dalejrfan14 posted: 05.19.2006 - 8:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) oh sorry my bad.I honestly didnt see the race. 11. CBCMikeyfan posted: 06.02.2006 - 12:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) This might as well have been called the race of the surprises and upsets. Wally Dallenbach, in a Bud Moore car with an impromptu sponsorship, gets damaged and finishes 6th, Michael Waltrip damages his car and still is a factor at the end. Plus, the fact that Dale Jarrett won was pretty much an upset at this time. He hadn't quite broken out as a star yet, and only had four career wins, each one considered an upset. This race marked the coming out of Dale Jarrett as a legend. 12. mcmurrayfan posted: 06.15.2006 - 3:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cup debut for Johnny Benson Jr. 13. Thomas posted: 08.25.2006 - 9:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry Labonte's car overheated while leading because a paper plate blew onto the front grill. 14. Anonymous posted: 11.25.2006 - 5:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Purvis has his best career finish, in 12th. 15. Steve posted: 02.04.2007 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One of the most competitive Daytona 500s of all time. The plate racing in 2001 was reminiscent of 1996 Speedweeks, as Ken Squier said that the field needed to be brought in 3 or 4 times in practice, because they were constantly 3, 4, sometimes even 5 wide! Bud Moore Racing (#15 Wally Dallenbach Jr.) and Tri-Star Motorsports (#19 Loy Allen Jr.) used 1995 Thunderbirds for this race. 16. myself posted: 02.19.2007 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Terry Labonte & John Andretti had the field covered til' they both had problems. Never could figure out why the #37 was painted purple w/ K-Mart & Little Caesars as sponsors. 17. Cecil Davis posted: 02.23.2007 - 10:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The big one started on lap 157 when Chad Little Got turned into Darrell Waltrip spinning both around. Geoff Bodine was injured in the 11 car scramble. 18. mcmurrayfan posted: 03.03.2007 - 12:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First race that Jeff Burton competed in with Jack Roush. 19. Douche Bagolow posted: 08.31.2007 - 11:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only NA$CAR start for car owner Brittan Schnell. He owned Dick Trickle's car. It only lasted 9 laps before the engine blew. 20. Destiny posted: 09.19.2007 - 3:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You're right, Jeff Purvis' sponsor MCA is a Nashville Records. 21. RaceFanX posted: 02.12.2008 - 9:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ernie Irvan makes his long-awaited return to his #28 Ford in this event. Ernie started on the outside pole and lead a few laps but his chances of a good finish ended when he smacked the wall early in the event and had to pit for extended repairs. 22. myself posted: 02.25.2008 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Typical Irvan! 23. Ryan posted: 08.02.2008 - 2:20 am Rate this comment: (3) (5) Yeah, I still am bitter at Schrader for not helping Earnhardt, guarantee you Hendrick had something to do with that... 24. Clayton posted: 11.27.2008 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (4) (3) If Earnhardt was in the same spot would he have helped Schrader, I don't think so. He would have figured out a way to leave Schrader high and dry and take second if he could. So let's not make it out like Dale was an angel out on the track! These races are every man for themselves espically the Daytona 500. So let's leave Scharder alone! 25. Ryan posted: 12.03.2008 - 2:27 am Rate this comment: (2) (10) whatever, pretty cut and dry after the race what he said... Schrader is a douche! Dale would have helped him and then he would have tried to pass him... This was Kenny's thinking... "By God if I can't win it, he ain't going to"! Proves my theory even more that it was Earnhardt versus everyone during those times... Childress finally wised up and got a teammate for him and look what happened in '98. But then Skinner himself didnt realize his role and he never became anything... 26. myself posted: 02.13.2009 - 1:04 pm Rate this comment: (4) (2) "So let's not make it out like Dale was an angel out on the track! Clayton | 11.27.08 - 8:40 pm INCREDIBLE understatement! 27. Mike posted: 05.20.2009 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First 500 with three Wallaces in the starting lineup. 28. 18fan posted: 09.07.2009 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) In my opinion, Earnhardt would have helped Schrader if he was third and the 25 was second. He would have pushed Schrader around Jarrett, then tried to take it three wide. 29. 18fan posted: 01.23.2010 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dave Marcis's best 500 finish since 1981. Also, I think 1993 is when Jarrett first showed he could compete week in, week out, leading to a fourth place points finish. However, this started what was a run of about 5 years(the amount of time Quality Care sponsored him) where he was a force to be reckoned with. After the first half of 2001, he really fell off and never regained it, with one last hurrah at Talladega in 2005. 30. Brad posted: 02.14.2011 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now that I think about it, this race and the next race at Rockingham pretty much cost Gordon the '96 Championship. Look at the roll he went on from there. I thought this was an awesome Daytona 500 as well. Dale & Dale Show part 2! 31. Austin posted: 07.28.2011 - 5:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If Gordon finished this race he would have become the 1996 champion. 32. Ryan posted: 08.01.2011 - 4:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) "In my opinion, Earnhardt would have helped Schrader if he was third and the 25 was second. He would have pushed Schrader around Jarrett, then tried to take it three wide." Right on 33. Evan posted: 11.03.2011 - 12:20 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I still have the news clipping of the paper for this race the next day which has Jarrett taking the flag over Earnhardt. That blue and Red 88 scheme was the most sought after scheme that year in diecast, it was absolutely one of the best non-chevy schemes of that era along with Bill Elliott's car. I finally got one of my own that spring. Jarrett showed he can get up for the big moments and wins a defining race of his career. 34. RedChevy14 posted: 01.12.2012 - 10:18 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) After Davey Allison died and until Tony moved to Cup, my favorites were Bill and DJ. This was an awesome day, Dale winning and holding off Earnhardt - who I never could stand - in the process. Can't help but be amused at some of the negative comments towards Kenny Schrader. Like someone else said, it's the 500. Kenny - and everyone else - were their own man that day. I get tired of people scapegoating Ernie any time he was in an accident. His wreck in this race was caused by Wally Dallenbach. I like Wally and it wasn't on purpose or whatever, was just a matter of the 28 getting stacked behind Earnhardt and Wally got in the back of Ernie and that was it. Yeah Ernie caused a lot of wrecks in the Kodak days and had a couple in the 28, but he was a great driver and woulda easilly made it to the Hall of Fame if not for the injuries. He may still make it eventually. 35. 3man posted: 01.20.2012 - 9:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Irvan wrecked because Earnhardt's car quit running. The ingnition quit on him, he suddenly slowed, Irvan ran into the back of him, Dallenback ran into the back of Irvan and it shot him right into the wall. I thought Earnhardt had blown up at first, and it took a while for CBS to tell us what happen, since they were focused on Irvan. But I noticed right away that Earnhardt, who was running in the top 5 at the time, was being passed by everyone as the wreck happened behind him and by the time they came back around to take the caustion he had fallwn back to 16th. Figured that was it, he'd have to wait another for the 500. Ended up being true, but not until the checkered flag flew. 36. 18fan posted: 02.20.2012 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Andretti had an incredibly strong car, but he was actually a lap down when he crashed because of a mistake on pit road on a green flag pit stop while he was leading the race just past halfway. 37. Daniel posted: 05.25.2012 - 3:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using top 20/21 from duels: #65 Steve Seligman, #73 Tracy Leslie, #95 Chuck Bown Out using top 20/21 from duels: #2 Rusty Wallace, #11 Brett Bodine, #18 Bobby Labonte 43rd based on qualifying: #81 Kenny Wallace 38. Dave posted: 06.03.2012 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @CBSMikeyfan How can you say this was a huge upset win for Dale Jarrett? He beat Dale Earnhardt 3 years before this AND won the Busch Clash to begin SpeedWeeks '96. Not to mention he had Robert Yates horsepower under the hood! Given these facts I'd hardly say he was a longshot going into this race..... 39. nascarfan2234 posted: 07.21.2012 - 12:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) and the first race for 97 Pontiac grand pix 40. Spen posted: 08.21.2012 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jarrett's stock had gone way down over the last two years. In '95, he wound up 13th in points with a team that had been in the top three in owner points for four straight years with multiple drivers. And let's not forget him DNQing a Gibbs car in '94. The general consensous at this time was that '93 had been a fluke, and that Yates was making a big mistake in keeping him onboard. 41. Ryan W posted: 07.25.2013 - 1:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree this was a big game changer for Jarrett. He kept his job and now he is some how in the Hall of Fame now. There's a lot of reasons why he got in so early. A lot of it is because there are many others that are more deserving not elegible yet. More than anything his two victories over Earnhardt in this race carried a lot of weight I'm sure when they did the voting for this year. He was in superb equipment from 95-2001 though. No one can doubt that. One could argue that he probably should have won five straight Brickyards from '95-99. 42. Walleyewhacker posted: 04.06.2014 - 7:27 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Good for Ken Schrader not helping Earnhardt. Earnhardt only had himself to blame, as he wrecked Scrhader a few times in the past years, so why should Kenny help him? There were a lot of drivers in the pits would didn't like Earnhardt due to past misdeeds, not to mention Earnhardt's ornery personality and week attempts at saying sorry for continually wrecking people. A lot of fans in the stands couldn't take Earnhardt's dirty driving either. 43. Evan posted: 08.18.2014 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors #4 Sterling Marlin Kodak/Back to Back Daytona 500 Winner This car had the words "Back to Back Daytona 500 Winner" on the trunk of the car to commemorate Marlin's achievement of back to back wins in 1994 and 1995 and to signify Marlin's run for the triple threat. #41 Ricky Craven Kodiak/Circle K Craven had sponsorship from Circle K in this race as it was shown on the trunk of the car. Source:Watched it on Speed's NASCAR Classics, Craven had the lead on a fuel only stop late in the race. 44. sk posted: 12.27.2015 - 11:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #44 Jeff Purvis - David Lee Murphy / MCA Nashville Purvis ran an unsponsored Chevy (with the Phoenix Racing logo) in the 125, but after Joe Ruttman failed to qualify the Stan Hover car with MCA sponsorship, the country music regalia found its way onto Jeff Purvis' car, and after a great 12th place finish that's where it stayed for the remainder of the season. The car specifically promoted David Lee Murphy's latest album, "Out With a Bang". The sides of the #44 boasted David Lee Murphy's name, with the MCA logo on the quarter-panels, while they simply used the album cover for the hood. 45. Maverick11 posted: 02.16.2016 - 11:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Yeah, I am still bitter at Schrader for not helping Earnhardt, guarantee you Hendrick had something to do with it." And you just answered your own question. They aren't teammates. Ken Schrader didn't enter the race to help Earnhardt win, he came to win it himself. 46. A posted: 02.17.2016 - 1:33 am Rate this comment: (1) (3) Everyone should bow down to Dalie. 47. Johnson6timechamp posted: 02.17.2016 - 7:54 am Rate this comment: (1) (3) Wrong, everyone should bow down to JIMMIE, 6 time champ! Boom confetti because I just won the championship AGAIN! 48. Tylor Thaber posted: 02.17.2016 - 8:29 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Quit jerking off to your idols Jimmie and Jeff holy f**k. 49. Braindead Zombie posted: 02.17.2016 - 8:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Do you people not get it yet? Gordon7timechamp, Johnson6timechamp, and all those other names (SuperG, Vince McMahon, JJ24, etc.) ARE ALL THE SAME PERSON!!! I figured this out weeks ago. 50. Sam posted: 04.07.2016 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last time the #63 has been in a sprint cup race 51. John Royal posted: 04.07.2016 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have always wondered why higher car numbers are far less used than lower numbers. 52. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 04.07.2016 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #50 It the last points race the #63 made since 1996 Trickle DNQ at Rockingham, Ed Berrier DNQ the Coke 600, and Mike Wallace WD at Indy Ed Berrier ran the Winston Open and finished 30th 53. Darrell posted: 04.08.2016 - 10:29 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) There was a common superstition in the early days that higher numbers were bad luck, or at least wouldn't bring as much success a lower number. Darrell Waltrip wrote in his autobiography that Jake Elder didn't want him to use #95 for that reason. 54. Canadianfan posted: 04.08.2016 - 12:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #53 Tell that to Buck Baker (87), Herb Thomas (92), and Tim Flock (91, and 300!) three of the most successful drivers of the early years. 55. Ed posted: 10.11.2016 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dale's only pole in 23 Daytona 500 starts 56. myself posted: 01.12.2017 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) #99 sure has seemed to do a fair bit of winning over the years with Jeff Burton & Carl Edwards, too. 57. Steve posted: 02.02.2018 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Andretti became the 100th driver in Daytona 500 history to lead a lap. 58. J posted: 04.05.2018 - 12:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dick Trickle Crew chief - Rodney Floyd 59. Ryan posted: 05.25.2018 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And you just answered your own question. They aren't teammates." I was leaning more towards the Chevrolet cars of Dale and Schrader trying to get around the Ford of Jarrett. Didn't happen. The 25 didn't want to help or was told not to. If you watched during the 80's and 90's, you would understand more about the Chevrolet/Ford rivalry. Most of the time regardless if you were driving for someone else's team if you were in the same car manufacturer you would try to help the other guy try to get around the other car make at Daytona and Talladega. It wasn't always the case as in this race showed, but more times than not it was at those tracks. 60. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.02.2018 - 11:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) First Daytona 500 start for Johnny Benson. Only Daytona 500 start for Elton Sawyer. Nobody made their last 500 start in this race, a first as far as I can tell. 61. RaceFanX posted: 09.28.2018 - 9:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Purvis' career-best Cup finish in this race capped off a spectacular Speedweeks for the Tennessee racer and the James Finch team he drove for across all the major races. Purvis started out 1996 by winning the ARCA season opener at Daytona and qualifying on the pole for the NASCAR Busch Series race, the first for he and Finch as they launched a full-time campaign in that series. He was running second in the Busch race itself before getting wrecked early on. On the Cup side of things the #44 Chevrolet didn't race in through the 125s but was fast enough to sneak in on its qualifying speed then Purvis proceeded to post his best career Cup finish despite being caught up in the Big One with 40 laps left. 62. Anthony posted: 02.01.2019 - 7:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Delma Cowart's failed qualifying attempt started with not turning a single lap in any practice session until qualifying when he made it with seconds to spare. Then in the duel race he dropped back hoping for a wreck that never came. 63. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.16.2019 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The manufacturers title meant a lot back then when it came to Chevy vs Ford. Ford over the years before this with the Thunderbird coming out had started to win a few and was even with Chevy and it was talked about all of the time by announcers, drivers, everyone at plate tracks that the Chevys would gang up on the Ford or the Fords would gang up on the Chevy. Whatever the case may have been near the end of the race. For Schrader not to have gone with Earnhardt and to go with a Ford instead would be strange to say the least. For perspective though, Ken Schrader should've won one of the 125 qualifiers over Ernie Irvan the Thursday before this and his own Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon cost him the race by not helping him in a similar situation. So Ken may have not been feeling very team oriented at this time. But to show how much manufacturer loyalty meant at this time in Nascar history, Jimmy Spencer drove a Ford full time in Cup at this time. In the Busch Series however he was going to be driving a partial schedule with a Chevy. The day before this in the Busch race he helped fellow Chevy driver Steve Grissom win over the Ford of Dale Jarrett because in that divisions manufacturers title race he was on team Chevy, even if it was only part time and he was a full time Ford guy in Cup. 64. Joshua posted: 08.08.2019 - 10:36 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I think the decline in manufacturer loyalty and pride is *part* of what has caused NASCAR's dip over the past 12 years or so. People would root for or against Fords, Chevys, Pontiacs, Buicks, Olds, sometimes even regardless of who was driving the car. 65. Scott25 posted: 08.08.2019 - 12:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Loyalty has nothing to do with it, it's the fact manufacturers have become irrevelevant in modern NASCAR, and that was already happening in 1996. They all use the same outdated engines with no relation to anything they produce, with identical bodies with stickers being the only way to tell the brands apart. Manufacturer loyalties will come back if we start seeing unique manufacturer specific bodies/chassis and unique manufacturer motors that have some relation to what's on sale at the dealership. Until then they are pretty much meaningless in NASCAR. You still see people root for their manufacturer in sports car, touring car, and rally, because the cars are still unique and representative of the brands there. 66. Scott25 posted: 08.08.2019 - 12:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've said it here before but if 550hp is the target, why are we sticking with basically spec V8 engines? Why not let GM use a small block V8 like you can get in the Corvette, Ford use one of their Ecoboost V6s like in the GT or you can buy in your truck, and see what Toyota can do with their Hybrid expertise. 67. Sebastian posted: 08.08.2019 - 12:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @65 That and the loss of the sponsor battles (Home Depot vs Lowe's, Miller vs bud vs coors etc.) Plus the loss of alcohol sponsors Obviously there is a lot more to it but manufacturer/sponsor changes have hurt the sport a lot 68. Unser1 posted: 08.08.2019 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Because hybrid vs. non-hybrid is basically handicapping everyone who doesn't have the hybrid, has anyone watched a WEC LMP1 race lately where the Toyotas are the only hybrids and win easily every time out. Hybrids also drive the price up so if you are comfortable with an ARCA sized field that will be the result. 69. GregSacksIsYourGod posted: 06.12.2020 - 8:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dunno why anyone thinks Schrader helping Earnhardt would've changed anything at the end of the race - you could see that once they got strung out all single file, Jarrett's car was just strong enough to keep Earnhardt from getting any kind of run on him. Can't exactly blame Schrader for not wanting to stick his neck out, when he was more than likely only going to get freight-trained to the back of the pack. Hell, even when Martin and Jeff Burton were working together right at the end, they had a really hard time getting past Michael Waltrip's damaged car. All Jarrett had to do on those final laps was block, and he was more than good enough to do that. 70. Ryan posted: 06.12.2020 - 10:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @70 Earnhardt (Chevrolet) made several moves towards the end of the race and Schrader (Chevrolet) would never go in the the direction with him. He could have bumped drafted with him and he wouldn't do it. With about ten to go the pit reporter Mike Joy came over the broadcast and stated that he spoke with Childress and Childress told him that Schrader had no plans to help Earnhardt get by Jarrett (Ford). Wally Dallenbach (Ford) helped Jarrett get the lead passing Earnhardt with about 25 laps to go on the high side. It was what you did then, unless it was to help Earnhardt. The best place to normally pass then was coming off turn 2. You could get a good push going into turn 1 out of the tri-oval and loosen a car up coming out of turn 2 (Jeff Gordon got by Earnhardt in '97 and '99 in the late stages of those races by doing that). Earnhardt looked low on Jarrett with two to go and then on the final lap and Schrader just stayed pat, kind of like Greg Biffle did in 2012 and 2013. You can even see Childress mumble in disgust... "Schrader"... when he didn't go with Dale coming off turn 2 with two laps to go. Even coming to three to go in the tri-oval Earnhardt had a nice run on Jarrett looking high and then low and Schrader stayed where he was at. Although Earnhardt had bad luck and had chances to win the race in the past Earnhardt and RCR was racing in a new world where they were a single car team at the time and had to face more powerful multi-car teams than they ever had in the past (Hendrick, Roush, Yates). And his financial and equipment status were declining compared to some of the other big teams. I will always believe this was the moment when Richard Childress thought to himself, "If Dale is ever going to win this race I'm going to have to get him some of our own help (teammate)." The next year he moved Mike Skinner from trucks to Cup with sponsorship from Lowe's. Skinner won the pole for the 1997 Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 at Daytona and had to learn how to race at plate tracks. Skinner was pivotal three quarters into the race and after the last pit stop in helping Dale win the 1998 Daytona 500 as we saw unforeseen power and a charge from the Penske cars that year (Wallace and Mayfield) at plate tracks. I believe without Skinner as a teammate Rusty or Mayfield may have won in 1998. I never liked Skinner but he did help Dale keeping him in front of the pack off the last two restarts. The next year Penske had an even better chance winning the Daytona 500 in 1999 and you mainly had the same players as you did in the 1998 race at the end. Had Dale and Skinner helped each other in 1999 one of them may had won that race as well. We'll never really know for sure if Schrader had helped Earnhardt more at the end of the 1996 Daytona 500 if he would have got by Jarrett, but it sure would have been nice to have found out had the Chevys worked together. 71. Joshua posted: 06.12.2020 - 11:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Perhaps Schrader was thinking Jarrett may have been easier to pass from 2nd instead of Earnhardt? If Earnhardt had gotten too far out of line, Schrader could simply move up to 2nd by just staying in line, and then all he'd have to do to win the 500 is pass Jarrett, instead of going with Earnhardt and then having to pass Earnhardt. Also, how about Mike Skinner winning two plate poles in 1997 with that inferior RCR equipment? 72. wisconsinracefan posted: 06.12.2020 - 7:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joshua, You ignored the fact Mike Skinner's 2 poles were at Daytona. The cars used at Daytona and Talladega can not be used anywhere else. You are dealing with restrictor plate race cars. You may have great cars at plate tracks, but it gives no indications at non restrictor plate tracks. Teams usually don't bring plate track cars at any other track on the circuit unless the team is very underfunded. RCR in 1997 was on the decline on tracks that were not Daytona and Talladega. Earnhardt somehow managed 5th in points despite having no wins and only 16 top 10's. 73. Ryan posted: 06.12.2020 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @71 "Also, how about Mike Skinner winning two plate poles in 1997 with that inferior RCR equipment?" It's obvious you didn't watch back in the late 90's. RCR was still strong at plate tracks (four races per year) even though their intermediate, short track, and road course equipment (28-30 races per year) was no where near up to par with other teams. Mike Skinner's avg. start at plate tracks in 1997 was 5.75 with two poles as mentioned ALONG with a DNQ at the Charlotte Fall race. Everywhere else it was about 24.5. Dale Earnhardt's avg. start at plate tracks in 1997 was 5.25, while it every other track it was almost 22 as well as using two Past Champion's Provisionals (PCP). Skinner's avg. start/finish from 1997-2000 was 22.1/26.2, 18.8/20.2, 13.8/16.6, 14.5/17.2. Earnhardt's was 20/12.1, 26.5/16.2, 24.8/12, 21.1/9.4. I would say that Earnhardt's net gain for avg. start/finish for each of those years were probably the highest or at least near the top in NASCAR. The fact that Earnhardt finished 5th in the final standings in 1997 in absolute garbage equipment is probably one of the most underrated achievements in NASCAR history and was Hall of Fame worthy in itself. In 2000, his starting avg. starting position was outside the top 20 and he averaged an top 10 finish for the year! Amazing! Skinner's net gain was in the negative while Earnhardt's for those four years was +10.7. Joshua, you're a lot like today's mainstream media... You exaggerate the headlines (2 poles by rookie skinner in inferior equipment), but when you get in the trenches of things you have to run and hide or eat a lot of crow. Loy Allen, Jr. won three poles in 1994 while having an avg. starting position of 2 at plate tracks that year. Big deal. Usually it's Mannoroth that gets dominated by fact checking, but today it was you. It would have been better to keep quiet. I had fun. Thanks. 74. Ryan posted: 06.12.2020 - 7:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @72 Send him to mommy! Thumbs up! Way up! 75. Rich posted: 08.10.2020 - 12:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker were the commentators. Dr. Dick Berggren, David Hobbs and Mike Joy were the pit road reporters. 76. dennyfan11 posted: 12.15.2020 - 7:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to a newspaper report, Darrell Waltrip's DNF reason was actually a blown engine. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/113502346/ 77. Rich posted: 01.10.2021 - 11:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Along with being the play by play announcer, Ken Squier was the host. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: