ernie irvan Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been plenty of weird and quirky moments in NASCAR history — then there’s the 1999 Transouth Financial 400 at Darlington Raceway. Having been delayed once already due to rain, Mother Nature had one more trick up her sleeve with 130 laps remaining in the race, leading to one of the most bizarre finishes in recent memory. As Jeff Burton led the way over Jeremy Mayfield, the skies darkened and rain started falling again as the leaders made their way off Turn 4 and ontoRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor September 1991. The second stop of the month saw the NASCAR Winston Cup Series heading to Richmond Raceway for the Miller Genuine Draft 400, the first night race held on Richmond’s  0.75-mile oval. By the time all was said and done, the legend of “Mr. September” would have another chapter written. Harry Gant had won the Southern 500 at Darlington the week prior and came to Richmond looking to make it back to back wins for the first time in his career. Ahead of theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Just days after the heart wrenching loss of Davey Allison to a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series returned to the 2.66-mile track for the 1993 running of the DieHard 500. Following a stirring pre-race tribute to Allison involving his family, the 43 drivers that made up the field that day strapped in for what was going to a barnburner of a race under the scorching July sun. Bill Elliott won the pole, with Ernie Irvan starting alongside for the 188-lap affair.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor INDIANAPOLIS – 25 years in, the Brickyard 400 may be a shell of its former self, but back in 1994, NASCAR hitting the track at the prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway had the sports world buzzing. In their first foray around the 2.5-mile speedway that had been reserved for open wheel cars since 1909, the drivers and teams put their stock cars through the paces over a jam-packed weekend of action, leading to a hell of a show when the green flag flew on Sunday for theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With an aggressive on-track persona, Jimmy Spencer was given the nickname of “Mr. Excitement” early in his racing career, but it wasn’t until the 1994 Pepsi 400 at Daytona that he really lived up to it. Entering the Independence Day classic, four drivers had been the class of the field all season long, with Ernie Irvan leading the way ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin, but by the time the checkered flag flew, it was Spencer who stole the show. Earnhardt and LoyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the running of the Overton’s 301, but before we look forward to Sunday’s race, we’ll take a step back in the past to the 1996 Jiffy Lube 300, a race that marked Ernie Irvan’s emotional return to victory lane. After the loss of Davey Allison in 1993, Robert Yates Racing tapped Irvan to take over the No. 28 Ford, with the team scoring five wins between the end of 1993Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As the calendar continues to roll through the month of July, this coming weekend is always a special one for the drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. For the 23rd year, the series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of the Brickyard 400. With that in mind, we take a step back in time 20 years ago to the 1996 edition of the Brickyard 400 in this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater.” With the first two races at Indianapolis going toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heading to the Lone Star State this weekend, it is time for another edition of Throwback Thursday Theater, and in this week’s edition we’ll take a look back at the race that started it all at Texas Motor Speedway, the 1997 Interstate Batteries 500 that took place on April 6, 1997. Before the race even started, there were issues with the opening of the track. For the track to find its way onto the NASCAR Cup schedule, another trackRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor 15 years. Today marks 15 years since the darkest day in NASCAR’s 68-year history. The day I’m of course referring to is the tragic moment when the world lost seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was at the forefront of NASCAR’s popularity boom from the late 1980s to the 1990s. He was raw, real, and was never afraid to lay the bumper to anyone if it took doing so to take home the trophy. Earnhardt was the blue-collar guy, who wasn’t there to make friends. Earnhardt was a driver thatRead More