Today in Nascar History October

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 1st:

Winners on this date: Dick Linder, Rex White, Richard Petty (2 times), Cale Yarborough, Mark Martin, and Tony Stewart (2 times).

October 1st, 1967: Richard Petty continues on his complete domination of 1967 by winning at North Wilkesboro. It is his 10th consecutive race victory in a row.



October 1st, 1972: Richard Petty beats Bobby Allison in another bumper smashing and crashing duel, this time at North Wilkesboro. Both cars are completely mangled after the late race aggressiveness.



October 1st, 1995: Mark Martin beats Rusty Wallace to win at North Wilkesboro. Ernie Irvan returns to Cup competition for the first time since his nearly fatal accident at Michigan in 1994. He leads 31 laps and finishes a strong 7th in the race.



October 1st, 2006: Tony Stewart plays the fuel mileage game brilliantly at Kansas, running out in turn 3 on the last lap and coasting across the finish line with no power to take the checkers.

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 2nd:

Winners on this date: Lee Petty, Rex White, Dick Hutcherson, Darrell Waltrip (2 times), Geoff Bodine, Dale Jarrett, and Kurt Busch.

October 2nd, 1949: Lee Petty takes his first career Nascar Strictly Stock (Cup) Series victory by winning at Heidelberg Speedway in Pennsylvania. Sara Christian finishes 5th, to this point the best ever finish for a female driver in Nascar's top division.



October 2nd, 2005: On a wild and wacky day at Talladega which sees 2 cars get upside down and multiple wrecks, veteran Dale Jarrett avoids the carnage and is out front when it counts to score an upset win. It would be Jarrett's last win of his Cup Series career.

1st Big One-MW upside down



Big One number 2-Riggs upside down



Finish





October 2nd, 2011: Kurt Busch scoots away on a late race restart and holds off Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards to win at Dover. Many of the frontrunners in the Chase have subpar finishes which tightens up the points.

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 3rd:

Winners on this date: Buddy Shuman, Curtis Turner, Billy Carden, Red Byron, Herb Thomas, Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Greg Biffle.

October 3rd, 2004: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins at Talladega in a wild race but makes a costly four letter word slip in victory lane. For his inappropriate language Jr. is fined 25 points-a big deal in the Chase format as the points were close.

October 3^rd, 2010: Greg Biffle takes his 2^nd win of the year by cruising to the win at Kansas. Points leader Denny Hamlin finishes 12^th, which bunches up the chase field dramatically.

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 4th:

Winners on this date: Herb Thomas, Bobby Isaac, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, and Tony Stewart.

October 4th, 1970: Nascar Legend Curtis Turner dies in a private plane crash in Pennsylvania. Bobby Isaac takes the win on the same day in the race at North Wilkesboro.



October 4th, 2009: Tony Stewart gets back into Chase contention by winning at Kansas. Stewart and crew chief Darian Grubb use a 2 tire strategy late in the race to gain the lead, and Smoke holds off a charging Jeff Gordon for the victory.

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 5th:

Winners on this date: Lee Petty (2 times), Richard Petty (2 times), David Pearson (2 times), Dale Earnhardt (2 times), Geoff Bodine, Dale Jarrett, Ryan Newman, and Tony Stewart.

October 5th, 2008: Tony Stewart wins at Talladega in a bizarre finish as rookie Regan Smith crosses the checkers first but is penalized for passing below the yellow line coming to the checkered flag due to Stewart blocking. The race is a wreckfest and proves difficult for almost every chase contender. Carl Edwards triggers the biggest wreck of the day, taking out himself and others while points leader Jimmie Johnson luckily slithers by all the carnage around him.

(note-the whole race is on YouTube in 27 different sections if you want to watch an epic race and are bored).

Start

Big One#1

Big One #2



Finish

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 6th:

Winners on this date: Tim Flock, Bob Welborn, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

October 6th, 1957: Bob Welborn gets some relief driving help from Possum Jones to win the 500 lap race at Martinsville. It is Welborn's frist career Grand National (Cup) win.



October 6th, 2002: Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin collide on the front row during the pace laps in a bizarre turn of events before the green flag even flies at Talladega. The race runs caution free and Dale Earnhardt Jr. holds off the snarling pack of cars late to win the race.

Martin/Johnson collision



Finish

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 7th:

Winners on this date: Herb Thomas, Fireball Roberts, Cale Yarborough (2 times), Bill Elliott, Davey Allison, Sterling Marlin, Jeff Gordon, and Matt Kenseth.

October 7th, 2007: Jeff Gordon passes teammate Jimmie Johnson on the final lap to win what was an epic race at Talladega. It is the first restrictor plate race for Nascar's new COT car, and the big air punched by the car's body proves to make great restrictor plate racing.

Start



Big One



Finish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z86guTppl8

October 7^th, 2012: Matt Kenseth is out front when complete chaos ensues behind him in turn 4 on the final lap at Talladega giving him the win and sending Tony Stewart upside down. The massive accident is the biggest in Chase history.

Finish

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 8th:

Winners on this date: Bobby Allison (2 times), Ken Schrader, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, and Brian Vickers.

October 8th, 1972: Bobby Allison wins at Rockingham by over 2 full laps to take his 10th win of the year. It is also Allison's 39th consecutive Cup race in a row that he has led, an all-time record.



October 8th, 1989: Ken Schrader passes Mark Martin late in the going to win at Charlotte. Rusty Wallace takes the points lead as points leader Dale Earnhardt breaks a crankshaft and finishes last in the event.



October 8th, 2006: Brian Vickers scores his first career Cup Series win in the 500 miler at Talladega in controversial fashion. Vickers tries to go with teammate Jimmie Johnson on the backstretch to bump-draft him past leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., but misjudges and takes both of them out, scooting past for the win. The Earnhardt nation in Alabama is none too happy with Vickers after the checkers.

Finish

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 9th:

Winners on this date: Speedy Thompson, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, and Jimmie Johnson.

October 9th, 1973: Bobby Allison announces he is quitting Nascar as a result of a controversial call against his team at Charlotte. Allison would return to Nascar 5 days later.



October 9th, 1983: Richard Petty takes the win at Charlotte, the 198th of his career. The win is very controversial as after the race Nascar finds that the tires are illegal on Petty's car and the engine is oversized (yet they let him keep the win-in today’s Nascar that’s a ban for the season probably)



October 9th, 2005: Mark Martin dominates at Kansas and takes a convincing win.



October 9th, 2011: Jimmie Johnson dominates and leads 197 laps in route to a convincing win at Kansas. It is Johnson's 55th career win which ties him for 8th on the all-time win list with Rusty Wallace. Co-points leaders going into the event Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards both rally late to finish 5th and 6th respectively with subpar cars to keep the points race tight.

[race crazy]

Today in Nascar History October 10th:

Winners on this date: Fonty Flock, Buck Baker, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Harry Gant, Ernie Irvan, Jeff Gordon, Joe Nemechek, and Tony Stewart.

October 10th, 1954: The new Arkansas Speedway-a huge 1 and a half mile high banked dirt oval opens to a 12000 spectator crowd. Buck Baker wins the event.



October 10th, 1982: Harry Gant passes Bill Elliott with 5 laps to go and goes on to the win at Charlotte.



October 10th, 2004: On a cool, cloudy day filled with cautions at Kansas Speedway, a pair of veteran underdogs battle it out for the win. Joe Nemechek beats Ricky Rudd to the finish line to win the event.



October 10th, 2010: Tony Stewart holds off Clint Bowyer and championship leader Jimmie Johnson on a Green-White-Checkered restart to take his first ever win at Auto Club Speedway, leaving only two tracks on the circuit that he has yet to win at. Many chasers including both Busch brothers and all 3 Roush Fenway cars encounter problems during the event that essentially kills their chase chances.