5 MORE things you'll never see in NASCAR again
5 More things you'll never see in NASCAR again
By Brian H Cotnoir
It's been a few weeks since my last NASCAR article, and I apologize for that. I've really been struggling to think up new ideas and putting aside time to write new articles. I even struggled so much to find a 5th (less obvious) thing to talk about in this article, but here are 5 more things you'll never see in NASCAR, be sure to check out my previous list of 5 things you'll never see in NASCAR, I'll leave a link at the bottom of the page.
1.) A driver leads a race Flag-to-Flag
The last time a driver led flag-to-flag leading every single lap of the race happened in 2000 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in during the Dura Lube 300. Burton's dominating performance had little to do with strategy and perfect pit stops, but because of a rule change. Prior to the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 2001, NASCAR's safety protocol was like most racing series: they were reactive instead of proactive. When a driver died at a track the response was typically along the lines of "It's a dangerous sport. Sometimes death happens; nothing we can do about it". In 2000 NASCAR, suffered two tragic incidents weeks apart at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Fourth Generation driver, Adam Petty, and NASCAR up & comer Kenny Irwin Jr. both died of basilar skull fractures at the track after their throttles hung and they impacted the walls between turns 3 & 4. I remember as a child talk of NASCAR skipping or cancelling the next race at New Hampshire over driver safety, but eventually a compromise was reached. All teams would run restrictor plates--which were typically only used at Daytona and Talladega--for the Dura Lube 300.
Jeff Burton started on the outside pole, but quickly took the lead on lap one. He would not relinquish the lead (not even under caution or in a race off of pit road). The 2000 Dura Lube 300 is well-known as one of the most boring & controversial races in NASCAR history, and I guarantee that it is the last time you'll ever see a driver in the Cup Series lead flag-to-flag.
2.) A driver winning a race by Over 1 Lap
Another thing that will never happen in NASCAR again is a driver winning a race by more than one lap. Now in the early days on NASCAR, this was a fairly regular occurrence, due to engine reliability issues. Today, with stage racing, it guarantees that no one driver will ever win a race by over 1 lap. The last time it happened was in 1994 when Geoff Bodine won the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro. It's been nearly 30 years; I think it's safe to say that this will never happen again.
3.) A driver winning 3-of-the-4 Grand Slam Races in the same season
One of the most popular incentives in NASCAR was the Winston Million. If a driver won 3-of-the-4 Biggest Races in the NASCAR season they'd win a 1 million Dollar Bonus from RJ Reynold Tobacco (title sponsor of the sport in NASCAR from 1971-2003). The Winston Million was not introduced until 1985, and beforehnd NASCAR had the Triple Crown (The Daytona 500, the Southern 500, and World 600) in 1970 the Talladega/Alabama 500 was added to that list turning the Triple Crown into the "Grand Slam". And then in 1994 the Brickyard 400 was be added to the list of the Crown-Jewel Races.
LeeRoy Yarbrough one the first (and only) Triple Crown during the 1969 Season. In 1976 David Pearson completed the Grand Slam winning 3-out-of the-four Grand Slam races in the same season and it would be repeated by in 1985 Bill Elliott, and in 1997 Jeff Gordon was the last to win the three of the four Grand Slam races in the same season. The closest anyone's come since then was in 2006 when Jimmie Johnson won the Daytona 500, Talladega 500, and Brickyard 400 in the same season. Since the Gen 5 era it has become increasing difficult to have consistency in the so-called Crown Jewel races. Many drivers struggle to win just two of the races in one season so that is why I feel this is another thing we'll never see in NASCAR again.
4.) Wings on a NASCAR
I have mixed feelings about wings on a NASCAR. I love the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird, but when I first saw the wing on the Gen 5 "Car of Tomorrow" I thought it was absolutely hideous! In the 1960's and 1970's NASCAR felt the winged cars had too much of a competitive advantage, the wings on the Car of Tomorrow were changed in favor of a more traditional spoiler after several airborne flips where attributed to being influenced by spoiler. Safe to say, we will never see a wing on a NASCAR again in hopes of keeping them on the track.
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5.) More than one Tire Manufacturer (aka Tire Wars)
NASCAR YouTubers S1apsh0es and nascarman History have already made detailed videos about NASCAR tire wars before, so I won't go into too much detail, but highly recommend you check out their videos if your more curious. For most of NASCAR's history Goodyear has been the primary tire provider for the sport. Though the briefly did battle on track with Firestone in the 1960's, and Hoosier Tires in the late 1980's and early 1990's, and the same thing happened. One teams tires (typically Goodyear) were more reliable on certain tracks while the other tire manufacturers tires were prone to failure and widespread notice. The two most infamous examples were the Inaugural Alabama 500 at Talladega Super Speedway in 1969, where both Goodyear and Firestone struggled to find a suitable compound for the race on the biggest and fastest track in NASCAR. in the end, Firestone released all teams contracted to them and never entered a NASCAR race again. During Speedweeks in 1994, both beloved veteran Neil Bonnet and Rookie Rodney Orr perished in separate accidents. Although, never directly blamed or cited as the reason for the accident the only noticeable coincidence in both accidents was that both drivers were running Hoosier tires. Hoosier withdrew from NASCAR at the end of the 1994 season, and since then Goodyear has been the sole tire supplier of NASCAR.
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