It was the first big plate-race wreck following the untimely passing of Dale Earnhardt. Sterling Marlin was an unwitting participant in that event, and was in this one as well. Bobby Labonte blew over on the backstretch, while Johnny Benson Jr. got hooked head on into the wall. Sterling, as eloquent as always, explains what was needed to make the plate racing safer. The cars now go 200 mph, still wreck, and still go flying through the air — but they’re safer, at least.

by Vito Pugliese
 

OK, so this wasn’t in the plate era, but who could forget the guy who stole the pace car and took it for a hot lap prior to the 1986 Winston 500? And why in the hell wouldn’t we post it regardless of when it happened? Folks, gaze upon the glory of what an all-nighter in the Talladega infield will drive a man to do. Wonder if they got him for grand theft auto and DUI?

by Matt Taliaferro

The one that started the Restrictor Plate Era: Bobby Allison about parked it in the front row at Talladega in 1987 after losing the starter off his car, running over it and puncturing the tire in the process. That blew the quarter panel off the car and allowed gobs of air to pile under it at 210, sending it skyward. Had the catchfence and arrestor cables not done their job, it very well would have been the end of NASCAR. How’s this for irony: Bobby about takes out the flagstand while son Davey wins his first Cup race just a few hours later.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Matt Kenseth about pulled a Tony Stewart here, swerving towards Dale Earnhardt Jr., causing him to go below the yellow line in what was a pretty blatant non-call in advancing your position. The yellow line rule was supposed to stop guys from trying to pull off a pass before the transition from the flat backstretch to the banking in Turn 3 … which is pretty much where Junior pulls off the pass. Replacement valences, duct tape, bent sheet metal … and they still were able to actually race on a plate track. This was plate racing at its best.

by Vito Pugliese
 

As slick and calculating of a move as you’ll ever see at Talladega. In the “pod racing” period at Daytona and ’Dega, the Earnhardt-Childress engines were all but unstoppable. In this classic, Kevin Harvick executes a masterful tri-oval bump ‘n’ run of Jamie McMurray (both equipped with ECR powerplants, of course) to earn the engine shop a sweep of the plate races in 2010. A finer move may never be seen — well, except by the guy that once piloted Harvick's car.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

One of the scariest Talladega crashes, and one that looked fatal at first glance, was this grinding mess in 1996. Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin get together, sending Dale Earnhardt head-on into the non-SAFER Barrier frontstretch wall at nearly 200 mph. Earnhardt then suffers a T-bone hit to the roof by Derrike Cope, as an engine goes tumbling down the frontstretch. The toughest SOB in the garage emerged with a broken collarbone, holding true to his “One Tough Customer” persona and, two weeks later, put it on the pole at Watkins Glen. Naturally.

by Vito Pugliese
 

A near-replay of the 1996 crash was this one between Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott, the two drivers who pretty much defined both eras of plate and non-plate racing at Talladega. Elliott got banged up pretty good in the crash, while Earnhardt singed his moustache. He ended up shaving it for a little while, which just looked downright awkward. Thankfully, the cookie duster returned a few weeks later. Right, like he’s going to up in a tree stand without it …

by Vito Pugliese
 

I will go on record as saying this is easily the best single race of the restrictor plate era. This was the race that started the advent of running three-wide, 15-rows deep in the field. This race had everything, from Mark Martin’s team having to hot wire his car to get it started, a constant threat of rain, and a ridiculous finish that didn’t need a green-white-checker gimmick to make it happen. Watch as Martin peels the paint off the wall coming to the white, and then as Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, Jimmy Spencer and Rusty Wallace dice for the win. Earnhardt launches his buddy Rusty skyward, which ushered in the roof flaps we still see today. Rusty ended up with a broken wrist, which the team would Velcro to the shifter for the next week’s race at Sonoma. The early-mid 1990s was the Golden Era of modern NASCAR. If only they could catch lightning in a bottle once again …

by Vito Pugliese
 

Talladega, Darlington ... close enough.

by Matt Taliaferro

The Car of Tomorrow is a pretty hearty beast, but the old car was no slouch either — as Elliott Sadler proves by bouncing it off the pavement several times at Talladega. Sadler executed a similar test at Michigan in 2000. The camera angle used at the 4:08 mark really shows the speed and violence of the wreck, and how much ground they’re actually covering. Wish the networks would use this angle more often. Worst part of this clip? The longing it stirs to hear Benny Parsons in the booth once again.

by Vito Pugliese
 

This one brought to you by Depends. Ricky Craven is likely relishing his new role as an analyst with ESPN after this four-story horror in May 1996. Huntsville Rocket City, USA? It seems Craven went Saturn V in Eastaboga, as five cars pass underneath him as he careens down the banking. Again, the old car held up rather well even in wrecks such as these that look absolutely lethal. Interesting to see how much faster and unstable these cars are going at 195 mph versus 205 mph today. They’re barely turning 7,000 rpm and making less horsepower than the GT500 Mustang pace car was at the race this Sunday.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Sorry, couldn't help ourselves.

by Matt Taliaferro

You knew this one was going to top the charts. This race was significant for a number of reasons. Many didn’t think the original CoT could get airborne, ungainly sled that it was. Turns out that wings create a lot of lift (who knew?), and that, as Tony Stewart found out the hard way on Sunday, blocking on the last lap when leading usually turns out bad. Brad Keselowski got his first career win in James Finch’s ride, which would propel him to his current position of leading the points leaving Talladega just three and a half years later. Ryan Newman gets a windshield full of Cousin Carl, which could have ended much worse. And not everybody escaped unscathed; a fan sitting in the grandstands had her jaw shattered when a PA speaker mounted on the fence was jettisoned free as 3,500 pounds of Ford Fusion clobbered it at 190 mph. Edwards, ever the classy guy he is, visited with the young fan before the fall race.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Dale Earnhardt had quite a reputation for doing whatever it took to win a race. And although he didn’t make it to Victory Lane in the 1993 Fram Filters 500K Busch Series race at Talladega, he called a spade a spade. “Intensive” research (read: a trip to racing-reference.info) shows that Tracy Leslie was “that boy in the 72.” I’d hate to have been Tracy Leslie that day.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

2:10 mark
“I guess we’ll do what we dun again at Daytona 'n wreck ‘em all again.” Sterling Marlin was never one to mince words, so I won’t either: Sterling was mad about restrictor plate racing and opened up a can on NASCAR in this post-race interview from 2001. For all the things Sterling brought to NASCAR—Tennessee drawl, chest hair, rugs—he is missed.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

6:00 mark
For Ryan Newman, racing with restrictor plates is about as enjoyable as taking out the garbage. Maybe that’s because, more often than not, his racecar becomes garbage. But perhaps the scariest of all his incidents occurred in 2009, when the Car of Tomorrow came oh-too-close to losing its perfect safety record. That caused this classic tirade—one of the stronger criticisms from a package that draws constant negativity from drivers inside the garage. A lack of control over his own outcome? That’s the perfect inspiration for a driver to spout off about lack of respect. And, for NASCAR, the perfect opportunity to hit him in the wallet for 50 large.

by Tom Bowles
 

:50 mark
With Talladega’s big, windy packs that keep all 43 cars superglued together, a “Big One” involving multiple drivers is almost inevitable. And the other scary sidelight that seems to come with those crashes? One car, if not more, flipping faster than flapjacks at a Sunday morning diner. In this race in 2005, it was Michael Waltrip that was the innocent victim, getting dizzy in a wreck that didn’t sap the fun out of his day–but it certainly injected some fear into competitors wary of high speeds and high impact that could cause a serious injury at any time.

by Tom Bowles
 

8:20 mark
For Mark Martin, his Charlie Brown-esque championship history (five runner-up finishes) also applies to many of his results at Talladega. It hasn’t always been pretty, with the driver flipping as recently as 2009, but perhaps the worst hit of all came in 1994. Back then, the focus on brake failure wasn’t quite so severe, so Martin was more relieved—even jovial—to come out of this incident feeling OK … except for one specific body part we fellas feel pretty sensitive about.

by Tom Bowles
 

With his win in the 2004 EA Sports 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drafted into the points lead and looked like a title favorite as the calendar turned from September to October. However, a 25-point penalty levied against him for using a certain four-letter word on national television in Victory Lane dropped him 12 points behind Kurt Busch in NASCAR’s inaugural Chase. Although Junior won again five weeks later, he never fully recovered in the championship standings. Sidenote: A fun game has spawned from this. Instead of using your preferred four-letter word, substitute the words “25 points” in its place. You’ll be amazed at how funny it remains and how many people will instantly know what you’re referring to.

by Matt Taliaferro
 

In this clip from May, Tony Stewart looked to be a mental disaster just moments after his No. 14 car wound up in the garage area. After years of drivers complaining about the plate package, Stewart decided to make his point by switching gears and doing the opposite: embracing its pitfalls. One of the more fascinating moments throughout this clip is the way in which the media seems baffled by Stewart’s responses, continuing to ask serious questions when the driver was anything but. Give him this: Dude can stay in character.

by Tom Bowles
 

Perhaps the most frightening incident seen at any NASCAR track in the recent past (naturally) spawned some of the most epic reactions. The Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski battle royale of 2009 launched the former into the fence and the latter onto everyone’s radar. From the first-time winners' exuberance to Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s James Finch-chuckle to Edwards’ genius sponsor plug—and bone-chilling description of his in-wreck concerns—this post-race summary has it all.

by Tom Bowles
 

To those in the ranks of the Paul Menard Empire, they are known as “‘Nard Burns.” How awesome are they? Legend has it they’re easily worth two-tenths at a road course and 10 horsepower at a plate track. Wolverine wishes he could grow chops so grand. With the flavor savor to boot, it’s a wonder he has but one Sprint Cup Series victory — the 2011 Brickyard 400 — but at least it’s one on par with the load-bearing chops.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Not many fans today know who LeeRoy Yarbrough is. Had it not been for what may have been post-concussive injuries that were later explained away as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Yarbrough would have undoubtedly won a championship or two. In 1969, he won the Daytona 500 by making up 11 seconds in 10 laps. He then won at Charlotte, lapping the field in the process, and passed David Pearson on the last lap to win the Southern 500, making him the first winner of NASCAR’s triple crown. In the process, he grew a pair of era-appropriate sideburns to match his Elvis-esque hair.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Seven Daytona 500 victories? Check. Seven Cup championships? Check. 200 wins? Check. Ray Bans and a Fu Manchu? Check and Check. “The King” now sports a more demure lip appendage, but back in the early ’70s, his facial hair was as cutting edge as the wing on the back of his Plymouth Superbird.

by Vito Pugliese
 

People typically recognize Mark Martin for his commitment to physical fitness, nutrition and a buzz cut. However, there was a time back in the early 1980s when Martin sported some facial flash as well. He was running his own team at just 23 years of age and needed to look a little older as he was trying to find sponsorship. (Just what the hell was an Apache Stove anyway?) This photo is from his ASA days, although he went full-on ’stache from 1981-87 when he when made his way back to NASCAR.

by Vito Pugliese
 

I am still amazed that this was ever allowed to pass any sort of check and balance within any marketing department of any company, anywhere. This look came about when NASCAR was still kind of an underground sport, just beginning to pique the public’s interest. With all of the PR preparation and attention to detail for driver, car and crew you could imagine, Jeff Gordon was pre-packaged for primetime. Those in charge took a look at that beautiful flowing mullet and fuzzy muzzy and said, “Oh yeah, good to go … that’s the prototypical image for the racecar driver of the next millennium.” Gordon flirted with bringing it back for about a week when the 2012 Chase started, but then had to do a shoot with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so away it went. That, or he was scaring the children.

by Vito Pugliese
 

It’s kind of hard not to like Ernie Irvan. The survivor of two near-death accidents within a five-year period, he remains true to what got him paid in the first place: that big cookie duster. Irvan wore an eye patch after nearly losing his sight – and life – in a crash during practice at Michigan in 1994. Couple the patch with the ’stache that he’s sported since he was welding up grandstands at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he’s even that much more of a certifiable badass. There should be little question why Dale Earnhardt Sr. tapped him to drive his Busch car, which helped jumpstart Irvan’s career.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Carl Edwards’ motor coach driver, Tom Giacchi, thought it would be fun to help motivate Edwards to win a race by refusing to shave until he won. That was all well and good, but the joke was on Tom, as he had to wait through an agonizing streak of 52 races from November 2005 to June 2007. Edwards is currently in the midst of another winless drought, having last gone to Victory Lane in March 2011. This year had to be a trying one for Giacchi if the bet still stands. The way the 99 team has been running, he might be waiting until Vegas 2013. At least it’s almost winter, Tom.

by Vito Pugliese
 

When a man makes the conscious decision to grow a beard, it says a couple of things about him. Namely, “I am a liberal college professor,” or “I have given up.” It is the hygienic equivalent of wearing sweatpants on your face – all day long – in public. Whether he was channeling his inner Grizzly Adams, Joaquin Phoenix or Billy Gibbons, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s appearance matched his demeanor as his beard sprouted forth. How you can drive with that thing suffocating you in the middle of a sticky August evening in Bristol, Tenn., is beyond me. Junior shaved off the scruff this year, threw his lid on backwards and finished the regular season second in points. As the Chase has started, he let his hunting beard grow in, and the performance has fallen off a bit. Time to once again spin that hat around — and pour out a few Budweisers for good measure.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Tim Richmond was a microcosm of the 1980s. “Sophisticatedly Trashy” – a hint of mullet, acres of taco meat sprouting forth from his fire suit topped with a totally legitimate mustache. Not one of these new hipster-style ones, either; a straight up, I-am-growing-a-mustache-and-peeling-out-in-an-IROC-and-picking-up-a-ton-of-chicks mustache. Tim loved women and they loved him. I mean what’s not like — the guy lived on a boat and got trophies made of Miller High Life cans. If only our sport had more like him … long since gone but not soon forgotten.

by Vito Pugliese
 

You know why he was called “The Intimidator”? That’s right: Because you’d be crazy to piss off a guy with a mustache straight out of the OK Corral. Mix in the Gargoyles and the Man-In-Black persona, and you have a seven-time-championship-worthy marketing machine that was about five years ahead of the souvenir curve. Earnhardt had a rather nasty wreck at Talladega in 1997 that singed his mustache and then had to go scuba diving or something, so he shaved it (clue us in on that again, Mikey). Of course, he looked downright weird without it. So back it came with a vengeance just in time for his Daytona 500 win in 1998. The next collectible idea for Teresa: “Earnhardt Chia Pet: Mustache Edition.”

by Vito Pugliese
 

Johnny Benson Jr. and I have a lot in common. We’re both from Grand Rapids, Mich., both graduated from Forest Hills Northern High School and both had my second cousin as our Tech Drawing teacher in 11th grade. What I haven’t done though (yet) is barrel roll a yellow Lumina down the Michigan backstretch. Johnny’s first outing in Ernie Irvan’s Busch car in 1993 didn’t go so hot, as he went airborne on the first lap. No big deal though; Benson would win Rookie of the Year honors a year later, the Busch Grand National championship in 1995 and Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in ’96. But has he ever written for Athlon Sports…

by Vito Pugliese

Forget Brad Keselowski’s Atlanta accident in 2010 or Michael McDowell’s Texas tumble in ’08. Elliott Sadler went for one wild ride at MIS during practice in June 2000. Sadler blew a tire going down the frontstretch at the fastest part of the track, rolled over nine times and smashed the car against the pavement. Between this, the highest G-load hit ever recorded at Pocono in 2010 and his two Talladega flips in ’03 and 2’04, Sadler might lead the league in YouTube-able hard hits and airborne antics.

by Vito Pugliese

In 1993, tragedy struck the No. 28 Robert Yates Racing team, when driver Davey Allison was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega. Just over a year later, the new driver of the No. 28 Ford, Ernie Irvan, nearly lost his life at Michigan International Speedway. Given a 10 percent chance of survival after a practice crash caused by a cut tire that sent him head-on into the backstretch wall, Irvan clung to life for days in a nearby hospital. He would sit out the 1995 season and return to racing in ’96 wearing a patch over his eye. Scoring two wins his first year back prompted his friend and fellow competitor Mark Martin to quip, “Ernie with one eye is still better than most of these guys with two.” Irvan came full-circle at MIS in 1997, dominating the event and closing the chapter on what was one of the most miraculous recoveries in motorsports — at the track that nearly claimed his life. Sadly, Irvan would suffer another head injury at Michigan in 1999, enduring a crash in practice for a Busch race, effectively ending his career.

by Vito Pugliese

We’ve covered Johnny Benson Jr.’s trouble in his debut in 1993, but surely he’d be able to triumph at the track that is but 90 minutes from his hometown of Grand Rapids, right? In the 2008 Cool City Customs 200 Truck Series event, it was Benson and Erik Darnell battling in the closing laps for the win. As Ned Jarrett would say, it was a “pho-to finish” to say the least — and I’m still not convinced that Benson didn’t win. Pause the video at 2:58. Did Benson beat Darnell to the line? You be the judge.

by Vito Pugliese

Carl Edwards is genuinely regarded as a pretty nice guy — for the most part. Sometimes however, he gets mad. And the he gets even. In the 2006 Carfax 250 Busch Series race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got into the back of Edwards on the final lap, spinning him across the nose of Robby Gordon. After the race, Edwards went all Russ Wheeler on Junior, coming out of the pits and running into the side of Earnhardt on the cool-down lap. It might be the only time in recorded history that Earnhardt was greeted with boos after winning a race. Later, Edwards would walk into Victory Lane to, ah, “discuss” the issue with Junior — making for a tense encounter to say the least.

by Vito Pugliese

It was the first time the Earnhardts were actually door-to-door in competition, and what better way than with 12 identically prepared Pontiac Trans Ams in an IROC race at MIS? The old man schooled the young’un this day, in an event that Earnhardt Jr. still laments as he recalled after winning here in the Sprint Cup Series in 2008.

by Vito Pugliese

In 2007, Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped (or abandoned) ship at DEI to join Hendrick Motorsports. The ’08 season started off strong for Junior and crew chief/cousin/BFF Tony Eury Jr., culminating in a win for the duo in August at Michigan. What followed, however, was nearly four years of pain, agony, frustration and misery (and that was just Junior Nations) of 143 winless starts. All of that ended this June, when the No. 88 returned to Victory Lane in a dominating performance at the 2-mile oval.

by Vito Pugliese

The 1998 season saw a seesaw battle between Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin for the Winston Cup title. Gordon won 13 races, while Martin tallied seven victories. Tragedy struck Martin midway through the year, though, as his father, stepmother and sister were killed in a plane crash. Ever the racer, Martin did not take the weekend off, soldiering through a difficult weekend in Michigan. He was in the middle of one of the most heart-warming stories in sports — leading handily following the final pit stop — until a caution came out with 21 laps to go. Martin took on four tires and got out first while Gordon, running seventh, took on just two. Gordon somehow got by Martin with nine laps to, and claimed his fourth consecutive Cup win, tying the modern era record. However, his reception upon exiting the car was less than cordial.

by Vito Pugliese

In 2009, Mark Martin made his return to full-time competition after running a partial schedule the previous two seasons to regroup, recharge and reconnect with family and friends who came second after nearly 17 years of full-time commitment to NASCAR. He had already won two races that season and was charging hard to crack the top 10 to make the Chase in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. Martin started 32nd in the LifeLock 400 but battled balky steering the entire afternoon. He started saving fuel on the final restart with 43 laps to go, never running wide open until coming to take the white flag. Turns out, the crafty ol’ vet saved slightly more than the dominant cars of Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson. Martin’s final-lap upset earned him his third win of the season and fifth career triumph at MIS.

by Vito Pugliese

MIS gets a bad rap from fans for producing long, drawn out green flag runs and, dare we say it, boring fuel-mileage races. Honestly, it’s probably no more or less than Pocono, Charlotte or either road course, but there are also those races that everybody remembers — and this one is no exception. It was his first career win, and he did it in style with one of the most revered and honored organizations of Ford racing lore: The Wood Brothers. And just outside of Detroit, to boot. Dale Jarrett going door-to-door with Davey Allison (with Bob Jenkins providing the classic call) was the ultimate ending to the 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400. The margin of victory — in a time before electronic scoring and timing — is officially listed as 10-inches.

by Vito Pugliese

It isn’t NASCAR — it’s ARCA — and these are old Cup cars anyway, so close enough. Ever see a stockcar Ollie a wall like Tony Hawk on a skateboard? Buster Graham might want to go X-Games if the racecar thing doesn’t work out, that is, if he can reliably and repeatedly execute this move, as seen in last August’s Pennsylvania 125.

by Vito Pugliese

Before he became a color commentator, Kyle Petty was one of the top contenders in NASCAR in the early 1990s (arguably the best era in the series’ history). He won the 1993 Champion Spark Plug 500 over Davey Allison, with an “AK” embroidered on his uniform in memory of Alan Kulwicki, who perished in an air plane crash in April of that year. Petty video taped his 1,700-mile journey from Charlotte, up the Eastern Seaboard, and had the camera in his car during the race – even capturing a fan who ran across the track on lap 106. Petty and Allison narrowly missed the man who dove over the wall once he realized there were cars bearing down on him at over 160 mph. 

by Vito Pugliese

Ever wonder why Kurt Busch had so much animosity towards Jimmie (“Five-Time Chump”) Johnson at Richmond last year? Find out here, as Johnson triggers a massive double-impact (sans Jean-Claude Van Dame) with Busch’s Miller Lite Dodge and Elliott Sadler — in what may be the most devastating impact in NASCAR history. It isn’t often that you go from 190 mph to dead stop in three feet and live to tell about it – or eject your Roush Yates powerplant, depositing it onto the Long Pond straight. Sadler’s impact into the earthen embankment is the highest G-reading measured since NASCAR began installing black box data recorders in the cars.

by Vito Pugliese

A testament to improved car construction, safety devices, and perhaps most importantly, the SAFER barrier, saved Jeff Gordon’s life in this severe impact at the June 2006 event. Gordon experienced brake failure going into Turn 1 at over 190 mph. He was able to scrub off some speed (but not much) by angling the car into the grass. Had he hit the wall without the current protections in place, things may have ended much worse for Gordon, who is ranked third on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.

by Vito Pugliese

Bobby Allison’s career and nearly life-ending crash on the opening lap in the June race was the first of many sad chapters in the life and times of the 84-race winner. Allison suffered brain damage, a bruised heart and a broken leg in this incident. A cut tire sent him head on into the wall and was then T-boned by driver Jocko Maggiacomo. It would take more than two years for Allison to get back on his feet – literally. He would continue further trials and tribulations, including a divorce from wife Judy and the death of his sons Clifford and Davey. Clifford lost his life on August 13, 1992, in an ARCA crash and Davey at Talladega on July 13, 1993, while landing his helicopter.  The story does have a happy ending of sorts: Bobby and Judy remarried in July 2000, reuniting and reconciling following the death of Adam Petty.

by Vito Pugliese

Many bemoan the absence of rivalries in NASCAR today. However, this video might serve as a fitting reason that may not be such a bad idea. Darrell Waltrip and Davey Allison had a lot of back and forth in the 1991 and ’92 seasons, with Davey coming out on the short end of the stick, first suffering broken ribs at Bristol, and this ridiculous wreck at Pocono in June 1992. Larry McReynolds, Davey’s crew chief, remembers hearing the radio traffic of drivers passing the scene, catching Mark Martin saying, “They better just go get a body bag for Davey …” Waltrip went on to win the race that day, and this wreck essentially cost Allison the 1992 championship. A bit reminiscent of the retaliatory strike by Carl Edwards on Brad Keselowski in Atlanta in 2010, Keselowski is often heard to say, “Man up and drive the damn racecar.” And Allison did just that a week later, with two black eyes (literally … like Beetlejuice) and a shattered wrist. The Robert Yates team had to velcro it to the shifter, as he gutted out a third-place finish, essentially driving one handed.

by Vito Pugliese
 

Steve Park’s 2002 return to Cup competition following an incident at a Busch Series race at Darlington in September 2001 did not go so well for his 16th start of the season. On the opening lap, Park was blocked by Rusty Wallace, which turned him across the track and into the path of DEI teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. Park’s Pennzoil Chevrolet began a series of tumbles and flips after going head-on into the backstretch guardrail. Earnhardt sprinting to his stricken comrade’s crumpled car is one of the most indelible images in Pocono’s history. For a team and organization that had been through so much the previous year and a half, it was a welcome site to see Park exiting the car and walking arm in arm with Junior to the ambulance. 

by Vito Pugliese

Perhaps one of the reasons “The Intimidator” also received the nickname “Iron Head” – this lap 134 crash with Tim Richmond at the 4:35 mark. Earnhardt ended up with a broken knee in the crash, and was helped across the track by Richmond. Pocono seems to be the track where if you wreck, the other guy feels sorry for you and helps out. Lots of great things in this video: Richard Petty with a massive lead, Earnhardt driving a Ford and mustachioed Mark Martin in his rookie season, with foppish hair getting a relief driver after the shifter boot melted and started sucking 800-degree exhaust heat into the cockpit. Marin later would have to relieve relief driver Ronnie Thomas. Bobby Allison would go on to win both events at Pocono last year, ironic considering it would also end up being his final race just six years later.

by Vito Pugliese

Before he started testing positive for meth and getting caught with $100,000 in stolen property in his now-foreclosed upon home, Jeremy Mayfield was a pretty fair racecar driver. Clearly second in the pecking order at Penske, Mayfield was one of the Ford contingent’s up-and-coming drivers in the late 1990s and early 2000s before he defected to Dodge. This rain delayed race, run on a Monday afternoon, was a bit of a snoozer, with Dale Earnhardt poised to notch his second win of the season – that is until Mayfield decided to “rattle his cage.” While some Earnhardt fans cried foul, it was actually pretty clean and quite representative of what is considered fair in NASCAR these days. Perhaps more memorable than the win, was The Intimidator Mayfield know he was “No. 1” during the cool down lap.

by Vito Pugliese

August 13, 2012, will mark 23 years since Tim Richmond passed away, yet he lives on in the hearts and minds of fans who were around long before “Five Time,” “Green-White-Checkers,” “Lucky Dogs,” and even restrictor plates. As quickly as he burst onto the scene, Richmond was gone, a victim of his own rambunctious lifestyle, the ignorance and excess of the 1980s – and NASCAR. The first driver who failed a NASCAR sanctioned drug test for what was legitimate medication, Richmond was suffering the effects of HIV and AIDS, which would eventually claim his life in 1989. He was hospitalized from December 1986 through January 1987, missing the first half of the ’87 season. After winning seven races in ’86, the following year should have been the one when Richmond contended for a title. Instead, he was in a fight for his life. Making his season debut — looking drawn, gaunt and with a persistent cough — Richmond held on for the final 47 laps, hounded by Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and Kyle Petty, despite a damaged transmission which was highlighted (as much of his life was) in the film Days of Thunder. Richmond also would win the following week at Riverside, the last of his career. He made one final start at Michigan the week after, coming home fourth.

by Vito Pugliese