Today in Nascar History July

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Today in Nascar History July 26th:

Winners on this date: Dick Rathmann, Jim Reed, Jack Smith, Fred Lorenzen, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Ernie Irvan, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson.

July 26th, 2009: Jimmie Johnson takes advantage of a late pit road speeding penalty by the dominant car of the day, Juan Pablo Montoya, then holds off his teammate Mark Martin to win for the 3rd time in 4 years at Indianapolis.

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Today in Nascar History July 27th:

Winners on this date: Speedy Thompson, Dick Hutcherson, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Neil Bonnett, Bobby Hillin Jr., Ryan Newman, and Jimmie Johnson.

July 27th, 1980: Neil Bonnett takes the Wood Brothers #21 to the win at Pocono. Richard Petty crashes on the 57th lap and sustains a broken neck in the accident. Tim Richmond also made his Cup Series debut in this event, finishing 12th.



July 27th, 1986: Bobby Hillin Jr., a relatively unknown driver, scores his first and what would be his only career Cup Series Victory in a shocking upset at Talladega.



July 27th, 2008: The Brickyard 400 is marred by an embarrassing tire debacle in one of the most dreadful days in Nascar History for the sanctioning body and the competitors. Jimmie Johnson outruns Carl Edwards over the final 10 lap sprint (the race was run in 10 lap segments with cautions every 10 laps to keep tires from exploding) to win his 2nd Brickyard 400.

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Today in Nascar History July 28th:

Winners on this date: Fred Lorenzen, Paul Lewis, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Bill Elliott.

July 28th, 1940: Bill France drives Andy Beardon's Ford to the win in a 200 mile event in Fort Wayne, IN. France is the sub driver for Roy Hall-who can’t drive the race because he is in a Georgia jail on moonshine charges.



July 28th, 1996: Jeff Gordon is out front when Nascar is forced to call the DieHard 500 short due to darkness giving him the win. The race got started late because of rain and had two huge crashes, the 2nd in which Dale Earnhardt flipped over in the tri oval and suffered a broken sternum and a broken collarbone. (boy o boy do I remember this raceday-golf was on!!! I didn’t get to see any of this race!! I think that was the maddest I’ve ever been-I got to watch the replay of the race on Monday-dang-I was steamed-very memorable raceday for me)

The First Big One



The 2nd Big One (VERY BIG-what was Irvan doing?)



Finish

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Today in Nascar History July 29th:

Winners on this date: Fonty Flock, Junior Johnson, Marvin Panch, Jim Paschal, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt (2 times), Bobby Labonte, and Tony Stewart.

July 29th, 1959: Groundbreaking ceremonies take place for the new Charlotte Motor Speedway being built in Concord, NC. The first race is scheduled for May 1960.



July 29th, 1984: Dale Earnhardt holds off a 10 car pack to take the win at Talladega. Earnhardt passes Terry Labonte on the last lap to win, the 68th and final lead change of the competitive event.



July 29th, 2007: Tony Stewart runs down leader Kevin Harvick and makes the pass late in the going en route to his 2nd win in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.

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Today in Nascar History July 30th:

Winners on this date: Buck Baker, Tim Flock, Speedy Thompson, Jack Smith, Richard Petty (2 times), Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, and Terry Labonte.

July 30th, 1961: Jack Smith and Johnny Allen team up and win the Volunteer 500 at Bristol. Smith drives the first 292 laps and Allen runs the remainder of the race, scoring the victory for the pair. It is the first ever Cup Series Event run at Bristol.



July 30th, 1979: Cale Yarborough wins a wild and wreck filled event at Pocono. The race features 56 lead changes and multiple accidents-rookie driver Dale Earnhardt breaks both of his collarbones in a crash on lap 99.



July 30th, 1989: By finishing 2nd at Talladega, Darrell Waltrip becomes the first driver in Nascar history to make over 10 million dollars in career earnings.

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Today in Nascar History July 31st:

Winners on this date: Lee Petty, Tim Flock, Fireball Roberts, Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, Dale Earnhardt, Ken Schrader, and Paul Menard.

July 31st, 1955: Tim Flock takes his 13th win of the season in a race at Point Mateo, CA. Flocks win is his 2nd in 24 hrs, having raced the previous day and won in a race in Syracuse, NY.

July 31st, 1960: Fireball Roberts takes the victory in the Dixie 300 at the brand new Atlanta Motor Speedway.

July 31st, 1988: Ken Schrader comes from 4th to 1st in a wild last lap dash to take the win at Talladega. Schrader passes leader Dale Earnhardt on the outside on the final lap to earn his first career Cup Series victory. The race is also the last for Buddy Baker, as he is forced to retire after a blood clot is discovered in his brain. Baker would go on to recover and have a great broadcasting career.

Last 3 Laps-Talladega racing at its best

July 31st, 2011: Paul Menard scores a huge upset victory in the Brickyard 400 by conserving fuel and holding off a hard charging Jeff Gordon over the final few laps. Menard becomes the first driver to score his first career Cup Series victory at the Brickyard.