|| *Comments on the 1996 Miller 400:* View the most recent comment <#39> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. MGD2Wallace posted: 02.22.2007 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace get the "Gasmeister" award for stretching his fuel to the very end. I remember pacing around my living room, sweating because I thought he was going to run out! 2. kenneywallace posted: 06.12.2007 - 11:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) bad race 3. kenneywallace posted: 06.12.2007 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (4) That wasn't me posting. I didn't even see this race. 4. Anonymous posted: 08.07.2007 - 9:12 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) So you just happened to be here looking at the comments at the same time that that guy posted? Right... 5. Anonymous posted: 08.19.2007 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) No,someone else posted under my name. 6. SK posted: 12.08.2007 - 3:13 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The last time Morgan Shepherd led a substantial chunk of laps in a Winston Cup race. 7. RaceFanX posted: 12.27.2007 - 1:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Melling team pulled a retro move in this race, painting Lake Speed's #9 Ford red instead of the usual blue. They even gave the car a set of white numbers and sponsor decals. 8. Steve posted: 01.17.2009 - 1:37 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Hamilton, Cope, and Shepherd the top 3 qualifiers. That must have surprised some people! Though Hamilton won the Busch Pole, he would not compete in the Busch Clash in February 1997, because King Richard was very adamant about not having a beer decal on his car. He said something like, "My mother would KILL me if she saw a beer sticker on my car", thus a Petty car has never been in the Clash/Shootout. All three Bodines finish back-to-back-to-back. (20th-22nd). 9. RaceFanX posted: 02.20.2012 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The car Bobby Hamilton won the pole for this race wasn't used by the Pettys again in 1996 and was unused again in 1997. The team finally brought it out again in 1998 for their new driver John Andretti to use in the Winston All-Star race where it was almost immediately destroyed in a crash with Dale Earnhardt during the opening stages of the first segment. 10. 10andJoe posted: 09.19.2012 - 11:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To the back: Todd Bodine (#94) driver change. (Ron Barfield, Jr. qualified the #94 due to Bodine having a Busch race at Myrtle Beach the day before.) 11. RaceFanX posted: 09.26.2013 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the first of five Winston Cup pole for the late Bobby Hamilton. 12. Unser1 posted: 09.26.2013 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #9 Lake Speed- Spam / Melling 50th Anniversary The normally blue Spam ride of Lake Speed reverted to Bill Elliott's old red, white and gold colors for this race as Melling's way of celebrating their company's 50th anniversary. Melling is based in Michigan with a big plant not too far from the track in Jackson. 13. 18fan posted: 05.08.2014 - 3:29 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Gordon and Marlin were the class of the field most of the day. Gordon dominated until his pit stop under the final caution when he had to come back down pit road for a missing lugnut on the left rear and fell all the way back to 32nd. Marlin took the lead from there and easily built a huge lead, but could not make the finish on fuel and had to stop with 13 laps to go. While Gordon had to fight through the field, Wallace, Irvan, Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Earnhardt, and Mark Martin fought for position behind the dominant Marlin until Jarrett fell out of that group when he ran out of fuel before his last pit stop and lost a bunch of time trying to get the car restarted. Gordon rallied all the way back to 2nd and took the lead for a few laps after Marlin made his stop before Gordon had to stop for fuel himself. Wallace and Labonte, along with Spencer and Musgrave, were able to stretch the fuel 52 laps and make it to the finish. Dick Trickle had a good run in his 2nd race in the Junie Donlavey car, running around the top 10 for most of the first half of the race before losing an engine. This race set a record for average speed in a race at Michigan that has since only been eclipsed by the caution free 1999 race and still is the fastest MIS race that had a caution. This race was part of a stretch where 7 out of 8 Michigan races feature 3 or fewer cautions, culminating in the 1999 caution free race. Since the caution free race, only the rain shortened 2001 August race and the June 2009 race have featured 3 or fewer cautions. 14. ericthenau posted: 06.30.2014 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was the last time a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race didn't have a properly full field of cars for the race until the 2014 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky. 15. Newt posted: 11.28.2015 - 3:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @14 what about the New Hampshire race that got pushed to the end of the 2001 season because of 9/11? 16. joey2448 posted: 11.28.2015 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The 2001 New Hampshire race originally had a full 43-car field, but because it was pushed from September to November, one of the teams had gone out of business when they returned on Thanksgiving weekend. 17. Premium Doesn't Suck 62 66 94 98 posted: 11.28.2015 - 6:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) ^Actually there were two teams that were on the initial entry list that dropped out by November (the #27 and #96 teams) 18. HD11 posted: 02.07.2017 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Steve Grissom's final race for Diamond Ridge as he was released after this race. 19. RaceFanX posted: 04.15.2017 - 9:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmy Spencer claims his first top-5 finish since his win at Talladega nearly two years earlier. Spencer won the Winston Open this year but this was his best finish of the season in a points-paying race. It was also the best finish overall for the Camel Cigarettes' #23, the tobacco company was a NASCAR sponsor with Travis Carter's team from 1994 to 1997. 20. RaceFanX posted: 10.05.2017 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #94 Todd Bodine- McDonald's Monopoly This was the last of the four races where Todd Bodine filled in for the injured Bill Elliott in the McDonald's car. "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville," and the team's normal McDonald's paint scheme, returned to the car for the next race at the Pepsi 400. Bodine's last outing in the McDonald's Monopoly entry saw his car have trouble starting on pit road before the race began but he came back to have a solid run with a top-20 finish. 21. 48johnsonfan posted: 01.15.2018 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) Fun Fact: This race was ran two days after I was born. 22. Gray Gaulding's Distant Cousin posted: 06.25.2018 - 10:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver Change #94 Ron Barfield Jr McDOnald's Monopoly Ford (Bill Elliot) 23. Greg1&9Fan posted: 08.17.2018 - 9:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember this race, Rusty had a to 5 car but was no match power wise of Gordon and Marlin. Had just enough fuel to make it. I think after the race one of his crewman said they wouldn't be afraid to drink the amount of fuel left in the car after the race. 24. Karl Weinmeister posted: 08.26.2018 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wasn't this the race where Ward Burton said "I hit the goddamn thing!"? 25. Dave posted: 08.26.2018 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Whoops! 26. Tarheel posted: 08.26.2018 - 9:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember Marlin was leading by over twenty seconds at one point, but fuel mileage bit him. 27. Josh Drake posted: 08.26.2018 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @24 That was actually the next Michigan race. 28. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.22.2019 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @8 It's weird that Petty felt that way when his driver just won the Busch Pole for the Miller 400, one of several beer sponsored races the #43 STP drove in over the years. I'll bet ya he didn't turn down any of the bonus money that was paid to him by Busch. 29. RaceFanX posted: 03.22.2019 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @29 With the exception of late 1979, when the King ran a Busch decal after his pole at Bristol to get eligible for the 1980 Busch Clash and its easy payday, Richard Petty almost always DID turn down the Busch beer bonus money for poles. 30. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.22.2019 - 11:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did he turn down the money paid out in beer sponsored races, or how about the money paid out when he was a car owner in the Busch Series from 94-96? They are the ones who pay the money out that gets paid to owners and drivers. I'm sorry but I just think this is something Petty did as part of his "hero" persona and not something he truly believed in. 31. GoPM21 posted: 03.23.2019 - 7:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @30 Running contingency decals is an option. Skipping races is not. Go find some more psychobabble to post about. 32. TooSmartForThis posted: 03.23.2019 - 7:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well as we all know, Jim, not everyone can be as perfect as the One True King Dale Earnhardt (Praise Be Upon Him). 33. Evan posted: 03.23.2019 - 11:08 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Richard Petty did that as a promise to his mother, that if he raced or fielded a car he wouldn't put a decal of an alcoholic beverage on his car or be sponsored by one. Ned Jarrett explained this reasoning at the 1997 Busch Clash broadcast and since he doesn't run those decals, Hamilton didn't start in the Clash. It still doesn't take away Bobby's pole, it's just he couldn't run the Clash for Petty Enterprises. 34. Jimnsimforever posted: 03.23.2019 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @32 Just like Petty put on a "hero" persona, Earnhardt put on a "villain" persona. I wasn't an Earnhardt fan. By the time I started watching it was nearly halfway through the 98 season and his career was nearly over. I didn't dislike Earnhardt. Going back and watching old races has just given me a better appreciation of his abilities as a driver than just watching a highlight of an old race, because I only saw him in his last couple of seasons as far as seeing entire races. I did pick a "favorite" driver after a couple of months in as a fan and stuck with it through thick and thin and really thin for years, Elliott Sadler. @33 Thanks for the story, I haven't seen the 97 Busch Clash. @31 My first thought when I saw that post was Petty playing the good guy all of the time. I recalled his final race when his car caught fire. He pulled up near a track rescue vehicle and despite the men coming to his car to put out the fire right away Richard was heard in the in car camera cussing them out. I then saw a special all about that final race of 92. Petty was one of many interviewed and he brought up how his car caught fire, "I pulled up to a fire truck and the firefighters came up to my car and started asking me for autographs. I told them sure guys but could you put the fire out first." I thought, why in the world would he just tell a flat out lie like that? He just flat out made that story up all the while with his patented smile on. Sorry if I offend anyone. I try to stick to posting info but weird things set me off so I probably shouldn't post anymore. 35. Chase9Fan posted: 08.10.2019 - 11:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was this race the Michigan 400 or Miller 400? Rewatched it and they were talking saying Michigan 400, but the infield grass was decorated Miller 400. Weird. 36. David posted: 08.10.2019 - 11:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was the Miller 400. I guess even as long ago as 1996 sponsors had to pay extra if they wanted the broadcast to acknowledge the correct name of the race. For tomorrow's "Consumer Energy 400" as an example, I'd wager the graphics on the screen will simply say something like "MENCS Racing From Michigan" unless appropriate tribute $$$$$ has been paid to NBC by the Consumer Energy folks. It's that way for every race, and has been for a while. 37. possum posted: 08.10.2019 - 12:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @36 - correct, it was the Miller 400. Back then the broadcast networks avoided mentioning the race sponsor name if a competitor was paying for ad time on the broadcast (in this case I'd assume Bud or Coors had an ad-buy for the broadcast). Back then the networks were very open about it - FOX even experimented with putting graphics over the cars to hide sponsors who didn't pay (the press immediately labeled them idiots, an accurate assessment, and NASCAR told them they contract they signed required them to show the race "live and unaltered"). It's less common play games now, because NASCAR is trying to keep everyone who gives them money happy, so they're looking out a little for the race sponsors. 38. JeremyIsley posted: 08.10.2019 - 3:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Consumer Energy is a gas and electric company, not an energy drink company. Lol 39. Rich posted: 12.28.2020 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker were the commentators. David Hobbs, Mike Joy and Dr. Dick Berggren were the pit road reporters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. 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