Today in Nascar History August

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Today in Nascar History August 21st:

Sort of special day for me-both my brother's birthday and the date of one of the two Cup races I’ve attended in person to this point (MIS 1994).

Winners on this date: Rex White, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Darel Dieringer, Bobby Isaac, Cale Yarborough, Davey Allison, Geoff Bodine, Jeremy Mayfield, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch (2 times).

August 21st, 1994: Geoff Bodine starts on the pole and absolutely dominates in route to victory at Michigan. Ernie Irvan is critically hurt and given a 10% chance of survival after a practice crash on Saturday.

First-a few personal notes-we were going to go to practice but decided against it that Saturday morning due to the dense fog-that’s when Irvan crashed.

Race: Geoff Bodine was SOOO fast-wasn’t even fair-he completely dominated-I do very much remember the first lap crash-although didn’t see a lot of it-it was foggy that day too-I do clearly remember the #18 of Jarrett coming back on the rollback right in front of me-the Earnhardt crash-didn’t see it (we were way up high and everyone was standing-and I was only 6 LOL) but the drunk Earnhardt fans in front of me started cussing and yelling-do remember that-and eating tuna fish sandwiches-and I kept intentionally asking grandpa to take me to the bathroom even though I didn’t have to go-I just wanted to go stand by the fence lol-anyways).

Start and Wreck

Earnhardt/Todd Bodine wreck

Finish

August 21st, 2005: Jeremy Mayfield uses fuel strategy to score an upset win at Michigan.

August 21st, 2007: In a race delayed both Sunday and Monday due to rain-Kurt Busch dominates the rare Tuesday event at Michigan and cruises to victory.

August 21st, 2010: Kyle Busch becomes the first driver to sweep a whole Nascar weekend by winning the Cup race at Bristol. Busch had won the Truck and Nationwide races earlier in the week.

August 21st, 2011: Kyle Busch holds off Jimmie Johnson on a late Green-White-Checkered restart to score his first career Cup Series victory at Michigan.

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Today in Nascar History August 22nd:

Winners on this date: Hershel McGriff, Billy Myers, Lee Petty, Buck Baker, Junior Johnson, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison (2 times), David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip (2 times), Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, Greg Biffle, and Kyle Busch.

August 22nd, 1969: Richard Petty takes his Ford to the win at Bowman Gray Stadium. It is Petty's 100th career Cup Series victory.

August 22nd, 2009: Kyle Busch holds off Mark Martin on a flurry of late race restarts to win the Sharpie 500 at Bristol.

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Today in Nascar History August 23rd:

Winners on this date: Herb Thomas, Ralph Moody, Bob Welborn, Glen Wood, Junior Johnson, Richard Petty, Pete Hamilton, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Kurt Busch, and Carl Edwards.

August 23rd, 2008: Carl Edwards takes his 2nd straight victory in the Bristol night race by using the bump and run late in the race to move the leader and dominate car of the night Kyle Busch up the track. After the race Busch runs into Edwards to show his displeasure, and Edwards retaliates much to the delight of the 160,000 strong at Bristol.

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Today in Nascar History August 24th:

Winners on this date: Tim Flock, Dick Hutcherson, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Alan Kulwicki, Rusty Wallace, and Jeff Gordon.

August 24th, 2002: Jeff Gordon bumps Rusty Wallace out of the way at Bristol with 3 laps to go and goes onto win, breaking a 31 race winless drought. The race is a typical Bristol basher-with 15 cautions. (If I’m not mistaken this was the race where Jimmie Johnson gave Robby Gordon the one finger salute and Ward Burton threw his heel pads at Dale Jr’s car and gave a subsequent awesome post wreck interview) (both probably viewable on youtube)

Finish

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Today in Nascar History August 25th:

Winners on this date: Bob Flock, Fireball Roberts, Ned Jarrett (2 times), Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Ernie Irvan, Tony Stewart, and Carl Edwards.

August 25th, 1984: Terry Labonte recovers from 2 different accidents to win the 500 miler at Bristol. Dale Earnhardt and Neil Bonnett both make contact with Labonte and force him into spins during the race, but Labonte takes the lead late and goes on to win. The victory also put Labonte into the points lead.

August 25th, 2007: Carl Edwards passes Kasey Kahne midway through the Sharpie 500 and dominates the 2nd half of the race, going onto win his first Cup Race at the World's Fastest Half Mile.

August 25th, 2011: Danica Patrick officially announces a full-time move to Nascar in 2012. She will run a full-time Nationwide schedule and 10 Cup Series races before a full-time move to Cup in 2013. Danica will become the first full-time female Nationwide driver since Patty Moise and the first female driver in a Cup Series event since Shawna Robinson.

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Today in Nascar History August 26th:

Winners on this date: Royce Hagerty, Gwyn Staley, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace, and Matt Kenseth.

August 26th, 1995: Terry Labonte crashes across the finish line in first place after Dale Earnhardt taps him coming out of the last corner-Earnhardt charges through the pack late and catches Labonte with a few laps to go-setting up what would be one of the most memorable finishes in Nascar History. (Definitely remember watching this race-it was delayed by rain for a while-Earnhardt got a penalty for rough driving and drove like a crazy man through the field-great race)

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Today in Nascar History August 27th:

Winners on this date: Dick Linder, Junior Johnson, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Matt Kenseth, and Brad Keselowski.

August 27th, 2011: Brad Keselowski continues his amazing summer run of success and wins the Bristol Night Race with a combination of speed both on the racetrack and on pit lane. Brad's 3rd win of the year assures himself a spot in the Chase.

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Today in Nascar History August 28th:

Winners on this date: Junior Johnson, Richard Petty, Tiny Lund, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

August 28th, 1977: Cale Yarborough wins at Bristol to take his 8th win of the season, but his car fails postrace inspection for the 2nd straight race-for that Junior Johnson the team owner is fined 500 dollars (thats it!! LOL). Female driver Janet Guthrie enjoys her best ever Cup series outing in the race, finishing 6th.

August 28th, 1999: In one of the most memorable races in Nascar history, Dale Earnhardt spins Terry Labonte out on the last lap at Bristol and takes the win in controversial fashion. Labonte passes Earnhardt going into turn 1 on the last lap and Earnhardt spins him off of turn two. In victory lane-Earnhardt said he was "just trying to rattle his cage" not spin him out. (LOL very much remember this one-I was so mad Rudd my guy got in that wreck and that Dale spun Terry-and I always remember the call by Bob Jenkins and Ned Jarrett-classic-and they showed the fans in the stands reactions-lots of cheers-lots of one finger salutes-great theatre haha)

After a little music Bristol video intro-the finish to this classic:

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Today in Nascar History August 29th:

Winners on this date: Fonty Flock, Lee Petty (2 times), Richard Petty, and Darrell Waltrip.

August 29th, 1992: Darrell Waltrip takes the win at Bristol. It is the first race at the 1/2 mile since it became a concrete surface.

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Today In Nascar History August 30th:

Winners on this date: Jeff Gordon.

August 30th, 1998: Jeff Gordon takes the win at Loudon in the only Cup race ever held on this date.