|| *Comments on the 1996 Goodwrench Service 400:* View the most recent comment <#47> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. STP43 posted: 02.26.2005 - 8:55 pm Rate this comment: (8) (3) Hamilton shoulda won this one. Earnhardt took a cheap shot. 2. jay posted: 04.14.2005 - 12:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For the second race in a row, Terry has the best car but engine trouble takes him out. 3. binno posted: 07.29.2005 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (4) (5) no cheap shot, just racing 4. Djrfan posted: 09.08.2005 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt picks up career win number 69. 5. Darrell posted: 11.04.2005 - 8:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And probably the highest Steve Grissom has been in points in his Cup career. 6. je24go posted: 12.12.2005 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Check 1995. He was in the top 10 in points for most of the first 10 races. 7. Steve posted: 05.25.2006 - 8:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Positive surprises after 2 races in the 1996 season: Driver 1996 1995 Ricky Craven 4th 24th Jeff Burton 5th 32nd Kenny Wallace 7th 42nd Wally Dallenbach Jr 9th 50th Kyle Petty 10th 30th Steve Grissom 11th 27th Dave Marcis 14th 35th Jeremy Mayfield 15th 31st And some negative surprises... Bobby Labonte 28th 10th Terry Labonte 30th 6th Ward Burton 36th 22nd Morgan Shepherd 37th 11th Geoffrey Bodine 40th 16th John Andretti 41st 18th Jeff Gordon 43rd 1st 8. Steve posted: 05.25.2006 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm sorry the spacing looks weird. It looked good when I typed it out! 9. Anonymous posted: 08.08.2006 - 2:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1st race for the 77 Jasper 10. Matt posted: 12.07.2006 - 3:46 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Little known fact, but the first race for a car #77 with the Jasper Engines people was the 1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan. Ken Ragan and his #77 team ran with Jasper sponsorship for 7 races in 1989-1990. 11. Anonymous posted: 01.29.2007 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Loy Allen was injured pretty bad when he lost the right front tire coming off of turn 2. It's one of the hardest crashes I've ever seen, easily one of the most underrated. 12. Thomas posted: 02.26.2007 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Earnhardt did take another cheap shot in this one. I do remember the Loy Allen crash from a highlight reel on RPM 2Night. It was pretty bad. 13. Anonymous posted: 08.19.2007 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Any video of the Loy Allen crash? 14. Darrell posted: 10.20.2007 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allen had to miss most of the season because of a neck injury he suffered. 15. Matt posted: 11.17.2007 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was also Mike Skinner's first Cup race in an RCR car. 16. most posted: 03.17.2008 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (6) (4) Yeah, I think anyone without their Earnhardt glasses on could see it was a cheap shot... 17. Clayton posted: 05.12.2008 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (7) The dirtest driver in NASCAR History (Earnhardt of course!) did what he did best in this one and Bobby Hamilton was on the other end of it! Man I hated Earnhardt! 18. Ryan posted: 08.02.2008 - 2:16 am Rate this comment: (3) (3) just Rockingham racing, Earnhardt barely touched him and just because he is Earnhardt he was put under a microscope... It's called racing people 19. Ryan posted: 01.08.2009 - 7:55 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) I was glad to see Earnhardt come back and show Jarrett who was the better racer after Daytona. 20. Mike posted: 05.05.2009 - 9:03 am Rate this comment: (4) (4) Barely touched him?You need to take off the Earnhardt glasses Ryan.Big E knocked the stew out of Bobby. 21. 18fan posted: 11.30.2010 - 7:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Craven's first career top 5 comes at probably his best track. 22. jwdog posted: 10.01.2011 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (4) (4) Disgraceful Earnhardt couldn't stand Hamilton winning, so he punted him into the wall. 23. 10andJoe posted: 09.19.2012 - 9:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To the rear: Geoff Bodine (#7) driver change (Todd Bodine qualified the #7 as Geoff had broken ribs.) 24. RaceFanX posted: 10.04.2012 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ward Burton came into this race having won at Rockingham during the Cup series previous visit in October but was in for the exact opposite outcome here. He qualified well but another win wasn't in the cars as he made contact with Ernie Irvan as leader Terry Labonte was coming up to lap both of them and the black #22 MBNA Pontiac ended up with going backward into the outside wall in Turn 1. Ward was done for the day and finished last. Afterward Burton had somewhat harsh words for Swervin' Irvan about the crash and when asked if they could repair the car said "Hell, I don't think so." Ironcially when Ward Burton crashed the TNN broadcast team was, after being faxed a question by a fan, talking about the scoring when two cars crash out on the same lap who would be ruled as finishing higher if neither comes back around. It took about 40 more laps but eventually they answered the question that it (at least at the time) the scoring in that case reverted to the previous completed lap. Just after the restart from Burton's crash there was a six-car pileup in turn 4, albeit one without much damage (except a bit to Ted Musgrave's #16 Ford) and everyone continued. One of those involved was Steve Grissom in the new 'Wacky Racing' #29 Cartoon Network Chevrolet, Grissom didn't hit anything and came back to finish fifth in the bright yellow Monte Carlo adorned with Fred Flintstone on the hood for his best finish of the year. Bobby Hamiliton barely dodged the spinning car of Hut Stricklin in that incident on his way to the front. Jeff Gordon blew his engine on the frontstretch while running fifth. Geoff Bodine started this race but very shortly thereafter turned his #7 Ford over to his brother Todd Bodine, who as mentioned before qualified it, so Geoff could continue to focus on healing his broken ribs. Todd had a minor collision on pit road with Wally Dallenbach but it didn't matter much as the black QVC Ford was sidelined by an engine failure just before halfway. When Elton Sawyer and the #27 David Blair Ford team had troubles getting up to speed before qualifying they turned to veteran Dick Trickle for some help. Despite Trickle's efforts the black-and-white #27 still missed the field, it was unfortunately a sign of things to come for the new Blair team in 1996. 25. Ryan W posted: 07.25.2013 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (2) (11) Put your Earnhardt Haterade away Mike and accept it that he touched him a little bit and he got into the wall harder. A better driver would have saved it. 26. 83andJoe posted: 09.17.2013 - 2:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #77 crew chief: Paul Wise (same for all races this year) 27. StenhouseFan17 posted: 02.19.2016 - 1:59 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) Petulant child Dale Earnhardt couldn't tolerate being challenged for the lead by Bobby Hamilton, so he fenced him. What a surprise. Hamilton should have retaliated, but some competitors actually raced with respect. 28. StenhouseFan17 posted: 02.19.2016 - 2:00 am Rate this comment: (1) (3) Jimmy Spencer had the best car; better than even Terry Labonte. Engine problems ended the day for both. 29. Braindead Zombie posted: 02.19.2016 - 8:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (7) Let me do a quick win tally here: Earnhardt: 76 Wrecky: 0 30. LKH1924 posted: 02.19.2016 - 8:43 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Who his favorite driver is has nothing to do with the fact that Earnhardt just about ran him over to take the lead. 31. Maverick11 posted: 02.19.2016 - 9:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) So punting drivers is okay as long as you have a super successful career? 32. I Lost My Name posted: 02.19.2016 - 12:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) ^If wrecy is supposed to be spencer. The win total would be 2? Not 0. 33. StenhouseFan17 posted: 02.19.2016 - 2:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) If you want to bring my current driver into it, that's ok, but my previous favorite won 40 Cup races by respecting his competitors and earning their respect. I'd rather have 40 wins that way than 76 by wrecking people and having no regard for their equipment or well-being. Like #31 said, winning races doesn't excuse petulant behavior. 34. Braindead Zombie posted: 02.19.2016 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Even if you take away Earnhardts wins that he got by wrecking people I guarantee he still has way more than 40. 35. LKH1924 posted: 02.19.2016 - 6:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) That doesn't matter in the point he was making. He stated that Earnhardt drove over Hamilton to win and you brought up that Stenhouse has never won. Nice logic. 36. Josh posted: 07.26.2016 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Ryan, watch the video. After a shot like that to the left rear, Hamilton DID save it. 37. Anthony posted: 09.20.2016 - 7:22 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jeff Gordon's first two races: 40th, 42nd - it took him the whole season to make up the lost points and it wasn't enough With the Chase, it would mean nothing 38. Bramblegrunt posted: 02.21.2017 - 4:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Controversial race for the reasons stated in this thread. At 12 years old, I was devastated watching this race and turned the tv off in frustration. Now I can appreciate how much this race is remembered, good or bad, and for a 2nd straight race at Rockingham, it was very entertaining with a number of different leaders. Terry Labonte had the most dominant car early with Earnhardt in his mirror but a cracked header ended his day. Jimmy Spencer then stepped up and almost exactly like Rick Mast had happen to him in the fall, after dominating, he loses a cylinder and the engine eventually sputters and knocks him out. Hamilton became the next big runner at the front and it seemed like we would have another first time winner after Ward did it in the fall. Hamilton certainly had the car for it, and they were great in the fall too. But in the closing stages Earnhardt taps him in the left rear quarter panel, sending him into a slide. Hamilton nearly saves it but runs out of room and pancakes the wall with his right rear tire, embedding concrete into the tire hub, causing his car to be massively loose until he crashes for real a few laps later. The closing laps were mildly hectic in the back, on the restart Bill Elliott slips up the track in turn 2 taking out Wally Dallenbach looking for great back to back finishes. Bobby Hillin then spins in the same spot the following lap with 3 laps to go but cant get his car going after its suffered left rear tire damage and the race ends under caution with Earnhardt taking it well in hand at the caution. The race featured 3 big crashes already mentioned - Ward Burton was hit by Irvan, Stricklin crashed in turn 4 collecting 4 others, and Loy Allen suffering yet another incredibly painful hit in the wall. Oddly in the Allen crash, Bobby Labonte was tagged at the same time in a different turn by Jeff Burton, what could have caused this was not stated in the race but perhaps Labonte had slowed for the caution and Burton tagged him, basically ending his day. Earnhardt was pretty nonchalant about the incident in victory lane, he did say he hated getting into him but it was a racing incident. I do not believe he knew Hamilton got into the wall from the contact because he would later say in the victory lane interview that he (Hamilton) must have gotten tangled up with traffic which is what caused his 2nd incident. 39. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.17.2019 - 2:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I notice that if Earnhardt is involved in it, it had to have been on purpose and the pure venom coming out of people when they post about it is so palpable. Earlier in the race when Bobby Labonte got hit from behind by Jeff Burton why aren't the same posters saying Jeff Burton just couldn't stand that Bobby Labonte had just passed him so he ran over him, punted him into the wall? Because it was an accident by one or the other, or a combo of both. But all common sense goes out the window when the black #3 is in it because he won 7 championships, you were brainwashed by his nickname of the intimidator, and think because he was one of the best ever he should never be capable of making a mistake. Earnhardt kept checking out on the field while he was up front at the end because he had the best car after the couple that blew up that were faster. You think it might be possible he went under to pass and the car didn't stick like he thought it would? He was human. 40. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.17.2019 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The very next race the big media story they were covering pre-race was the Bobby Hamilton-Dale Earnhardt incident, the media was making it the big story including them hammering home the intimidator name and actually starting to talk about it with a pit reporter down on his knee on pit road pre race at Hamiltons car (not joking) pointing at the left rear quarter calling it "the infamous quarter panel in question where the small dent was". (Hence the constant brainwashing and making a big deal to get you guys rowdy) And then they interviewed both guys before the Richmond race and this is where my post gets really eerie with me not even watching Nascar back then how accurate my previous post was without even knowing this. What Dale Earnhardt said: He talked about the exact incident I mentioned above with Labonte and Burton and said Burton nailed the back of Labonte and put him into the wall ending his day and nobody is saying anything about it. Then he said it was an accident and it wasn't like he wrecked him. What Bobby Hamilton said: He said Dale Earnhardt is one of the greatest of all time and he admires him for what he can do on the track. He said you see how he can avoid so many wrecks and that's why when something like this happens it's hard to get your mind to think that it was an accident. 41. Brett posted: 03.29.2020 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Eli Gold's first race as lead announcer for TNN. 42. Anonymous posted: 04.11.2020 - 9:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here's a question? Did Earnhardt wreck Hamilton? No? End of conversation. 43. RaceFanX posted: 04.29.2020 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) RCR kept the car Dale Earnhardt drove to victory in this race for more than 24 years as part of Richard Childress' personal collection. Childress is now putting the Intimidator's #3 Goodwrench Monte Carlo up for auction through Barrett-Jackson online auctions starting Friday, May 8, to raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts amid the ongoing pandemic. The car is the highlight of a collection including more than 1,000 items of RCR memorabilia going up for sale as part of this fundraiser. 44. GregSacksIsYourGod posted: 06.12.2020 - 10:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hut Stricklin pulled a bonehead move to cause the 3rd caution of the race, just turned right in on Dave Marcis and wrecked himself, and as he slid down the track Johnny Benson spun out trying to avoid him and that caused the rest of the field to stack up. Not really sure how anyone can defend Earnhardt getting into the back of Bobby Hamilton late in the going, either. He had plenty of room to his inside if he wanted to get alongside the 43 cleanly - I don't want to say he did it intentionally but I can't come up with any other explanation. Regardless, it was some brilliant driving by Bobby Hamilton to only come away with some damage to the right rear. The moment he got sideways I was certain he was in for a big crash. 45. Ryan posted: 06.12.2020 - 11:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @44 It was a good battle for a few laps and Earnhardt actually got Hamilton loose just for a bit before the smallest of contact was made. People exaggerate like it was a major bump or "punt". It wasn't even a tap, more like a little nick. It was unfortunate that Hamilton's rear end slapped the wall but it did. To say it was intentional is just flabbergasting. They were racing hard and Hamilton got loose, plain and simple. @39 has it down. Earnhardt is put under a microscope for the smallest of things, Burton does it to B. Labonte and nothing is mentioned. btw, Rockingham was such a great race track. Sucks that it's not on the schedule anymore. 46. GregSacksIsYourGod posted: 06.15.2020 - 7:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @45 That's fair - it did strike me as weird watching it that Earnhardt would suddenly just tap Hamilton intentionally when they had been racing each other really well for the few laps prior to that. As for the Burton/Labonte incident, I certainly didn't see that in the same light, mostly because Burton had just tucked in behind Labonte right as Labonte lifted because of a wreck in front of them. There wasn't anything of the sort in the Earnhardt/Hamilton incident so - reputations aside - that's probably why it's a little harder to see that one as a racing incident. And yeah, will absolutely agree that Rockingham is fantastic track for racing. I've been watching a bunch of the early 90s races while in lockdown, and it's always put on a fantastic show. 47. SweetRich posted: 07.06.2020 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Eli Gold, Buddy Baker and Dr. Dick Berggren. The pit road reporters were Glenn Jarrett and Randy Pemberton. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: