|| *Comments on the 1996 First Union 400:* View the most recent comment <#34> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Christian posted: 12.06.2003 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (4) What a sad thing to know that this would be the last Winston Cup race at North Wilkesboro. North Wilkesboro was a fine speedway. A win by Terry Labonte to prove that he deserved the championship in 1996. And the championship he got. 2. Jack Lewis posted: 08.17.2004 - 4:54 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Actually, North Wilkesboro's last race came later in the year, with another Hendrick car, this time Jeff Gordon, taking the final checkered flag at North Wilkesboro. 3. jay posted: 04.14.2005 - 12:21 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) A special weekend for Terry. He won the pole Friday, while Sunday he led the most laps and won the race while tying Richard Petty's streak of 613 consecutive starts. 4. Steve posted: 07.21.2006 - 6:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It was also Jeff's 100th career Winston Cup start, Robert Pressley's first Top 5, and Sterling Marlin's 50th Top 5. 5. myself posted: 02.19.2007 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Terry Labonte's car for this race was painted a silverish color to commerorate his record streak was races ran. 6. Wallace2FanForLife posted: 02.22.2007 - 6:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace was leading this one when John Andretti and another car wrecked right in front of him. He was collected and had no chance at victory. I remember he was running low on gas and might not have won anyway. 7. NWS fan posted: 04.11.2007 - 2:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, it was Terry Labonte's 513th consecutive start, tying him with Petty at 513. Rusty had plenty of fuel to make it to the finish. The last caution came out on lap 320 everyone pitted. The restart was on lap 327--73 laps remaining. The cars could go upwards of 140 laps on fuel, but tires would let them go only 60-70 laps before wearing out completely. Fuel runs were never an issue at the track. Tires would wear out long before the fuel tanks emptied. 8. Darrell posted: 10.20.2007 - 7:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Career best start for Elton Sawyer in Cup. 9. RaceFanX posted: 03.26.2009 - 8:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is this race the one where they had two radio personalities gave the command as "Gentlemen...and Jimmy Spencer, Start Your Engines!" 10. JW posted: 04.02.2009 - 8:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes it was, RaceFanX. And I believe the car that tangled with Andretti was Geoff Bodine. The got into it again the next race at Martinsville, and NASCAR told them to cool it. 11. David posted: 08.08.2009 - 2:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As much as I like Terry, I believe he would not have won this race if Rusty Wallace hadn't crashed with John Andretti into the pit barriers late in the going. 12. Rick Hendrick posted: 12.07.2009 - 5:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am so proud of Terry Labonte, making a record, getting the pole, and dominating and leading the most laps (167). Also I am so happy that Rusty Wallace crashed, and finished 33rd, because he led some of the late stages. Rusty wrecked! 13. joe gibbs posted: 03.23.2010 - 9:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) hi!!! 14. Steve posted: 01.06.2012 - 12:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've been compiling a list of the youngest drivers to reach their 100th start. Both are a few years too old to top the list, but in this race Jeff Gordon, by starting his 100th Winston Cup race, tied Ricky Rudd's mark when he started HIS 100th NWC race in the 1981 World 600. Both were 24 years and 254 days old. BTW, so far Joey Logano tops that list (one of the obvious drivers to start with) at 21 years, 105 days at Atlanta in September 2011. He'll probably keep that record for a while, as few drivers graduate to Cup at 18 or 19. 15. jp posted: 02.29.2012 - 9:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Everybody thought that this would be the last race, because they thought Bruton Smoith and Bob Bahre would get the second NWS date and send it to New Hampshire. 16. jp posted: 06.08.2012 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wasn't it John Boy and Billy that gave the command??? 17. Schroeder51 posted: 11.09.2012 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, it was John Boy and Billy that gave the command; or at least John Boy. The Andretti crash that caught up Rusty Wallace actually brought out the red flag. Geoff Bodine turned Andretti head on into the backstretch wall. As Andretti's car came back down the track, he clipped Joe Nemechek's car and Rusty Wallace had nowhere to go and plowed into him. Wally Dallenbach also clipped the water barrels trying to avoid the accident and the race was red flagged to clean up the water at the pit road entrance. 18. Schroeder51 posted: 11.09.2012 - 9:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, Andretti's car actually caught fire while it was being towed away by the tow truck. The tow truck actually had to stop so the fire could be extinguished. 19. Terry Maynard posted: 03.12.2013 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry Labonte also collected the Unocal 76 Challenge Award for the race by winning from the pole. That got him an extra $129,200. 20. Matt L posted: 08.01.2013 - 12:39 am Rate this comment: (11) (0) Just finished watching the first 140 laps of this race on YouTube. Wow, things have changed! Cars experienced tire wear, a good pit stop was approximately 19 seconds, and the line of lapped traffic caused havoc. One of the more obvious differences I noted was the focus of the broadcast. The race coverage seemed much more simple and easy going in 1996 compared to 2013. The camera simply found the best racing on the track regardless if it was for 1st or 35th, resulting in solid coverage for most of the field. Jenkins described the scene & Parsons and Jarrett commented on what they saw on track. The pit reporters would chime in on pit road and occasionally report during the race as needed. Compared to today, there was much less analysis of each spot gained or lost or the breakdown of where teams lost time on a pit stop. There was no talk of points, no forced drama, storylines, or pressure, no cheerleading, no driver psychology - just a focus on what was happening at the moment. As long as cars were driving around the track passing each other, it didn't matter how many wrecks or lead changes there were, it was still enjoyable and relaxing. Maybe the reason why things aren't working out so great on the tv side of the sport is total over analysis of a simple sport. 21. Dave posted: 11.16.2013 - 5:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Matt L Perfectly said 22. 18fan posted: 03.20.2014 - 4:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) After 2 top 5s and 4 top 10s in the first 7 races of the season, Ricky Craven would score only one more top 10 (5th in the fall race at Charlotte) as what looked like it would be his breakout season went downhill fast starting with his scary crash at Talladega. 23. Evan posted: 01.29.2015 - 11:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor WINNER:Terry Labonte #5 Kellogg's Corn Flakes/Ironman Source:I have a diecast of the car. Signified Terry Labonte tying Richard Petty's 513 consecutive starts and thus making him the NASCAR Ironman since Petty retired. 24. Ben posted: 07.25.2015 - 8:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Matt L. nailed it. The sport is still exciting, but the TV coverage leaves a lot to be desired. 25. Bramblegrunt posted: 02.28.2017 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ward Burton's frustrating 1996 continued. After getting caught up in very unfortunate crashes the prior 2 weeks, he complained after the Bristol crash "I just cant get the friggin monkey off my back". He didnt this week either as he would suffer a DNQ and follow up with the same in Martinsville. It was the reverse situation for John Andretti who was also having a very bad-luck-ridden season. After DNQing at Bristol he would suffer an accident in this race and have problems in Martinsville the next week with Bodine as mentioned. Andretti's frustration was clear in his interview after the crash saying "The same guy that got into us at Darlington did it again" and he professed he really did not want to race that way. It would continue a streak of races where Bodine was seeming to be in the center of accidents with Darlington and Wilkesboro getting into Andretti and at Bristol the prior week he drilled Darrell Waltrip causing the 2nd of the 3 red flags in that race 26. RaceFanX posted: 05.23.2017 - 10:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The ESPN broadcast of this race featured an inadvertently funny moment when Bob Jenkins plugged NASCAR's website as "www.com.nascar" before immediately correcting himself to "www.nascar.com." Given how new the Internet, and NASCAR's website, was to the mainstream at the time it was an understandable mistake. It was indeed still standard practice at the time to say the "www." part and need it in the address bar as well. For the interested even back in 1996 NASCAR.com had live timing and scoring for Winston Cup races. The site also had a feature then where fans could ask questions to an actual NASCAR official about the series' rules. 27. Amanda K posted: 02.15.2018 - 12:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) Never much more of a truthful sentiment than the whole 'Gentlemen...and Jimmy Spencer, start your engines' statement at the start. Waste of a ride and space period. Echoed 17 years later with Danica, who is in many ways, the Spencer of our time. No talent, bad attitude, and never willing to take responsibility for the havoc she caused. 28. FrontRowFan3438 posted: 02.15.2018 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spencer at least had some talent. 15 wins across the top 3 series doesn't happen by accident. 29. Scott B posted: 02.15.2018 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) ...aaaaand, now I have an image of Jimmy Spencer doing yoga stuck in my brain. Namaste. 30. TeamDCR fan posted: 02.15.2018 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^^^^ Why would you think of something like that? 31. Scott B posted: 02.15.2018 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The comparison of Mr. Excitement to Danica in comment #27. Danica being the spokesperson for all things relating to fitness and healthy eating, and Jimmy being... well, kind of the opposite, Big Macs and Camels. :) 32. RaceFanX posted: 08.22.2018 - 8:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spencer was a colorful character and everyone knew it at the time, thus that command. I've read that on the pace lap Mr. Excitement thanked John Boy for the shout out by sticking his hand out the window of his #23 Ford and flipping him the bird. 33. RaceFanX posted: 01.12.2019 - 4:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The special silver Kellogg's Corn Flakes #5 Chevrolet Texas Terry drove to victory in this race has been preserved and is now on display inside the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America at the Daytona International Speedway. 34. Chase9Fan posted: 06.19.2020 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Typical Rusty Wallace luck. Won a lot but always had crap happen, thus the one title. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: