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The greatest
events in NASCAR history can usually find their way onto
columns fast. They are moments of greatness, superiority,
luck, and above all talent. They define the sport; they make
up the foundation for the competition that the sport is built
on.
Unfortunately, the other moments never make it onto columns
and lists. No, these aren't the good, the great, or the
awesome moments. Yes, they are the dumbest moments. The total
lack of judgment, and the stupidity that certain situations
have produced. The brainless and above all wacky moments that
most drivers tend to forget fast. And to celebrate NASCAR's
growing success, I've come up with a list entitled: The Ten
Stupidest Moments in Winston Cup History.
Now, before you start reading, keep in mind these are all
driver-only events. NASCAR's decision to start this year's The
Winston in the rain, or their tearing down Rusty Wallace's
engine and placing it piece by piece in a little area for
other competitors to take a look-see after his pole winning
run at Sears Point last year won't make it. What will make it?
Well, just take a look down below.
#10. Mike (Tyson) Waltrip's Punches-
Michael Waltrip, 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 400, Michigan.
Mikey was set battling for the 11th position with Lake Speed
late in the event. While trying to pass Speed, he got blocked,
and run into the wall. Mikey's temper overcame his logical
sense, and following the race, he cut Speed off on pit road,
then blocked him from moving.
Michael Waltrip got out, and undid Speed's window net. Then,
he punched Speed twice in the head. Problem: Speed still had
his helmet on. Not only did Waltrip walk away with very sore
knuckles, but he left with a $10,000 fine. $5k a punch. Next
time Mikey, make sure they take off their helmet before you
throw $5k around.
#9. Senseless Schrader-
Ken Schrader, 1990 Heinz Southern 500, Darlington. After being
spun early in the event by Morgan Shepherd, Schrader spent a
considerable amount of time behind the wall getting repairs
done to his car. After his crew spent countless minutes
working on his car, they sent Schrader back out onto the race
track, only to watch him wreck again. This time however, the
incident was no accident.
After Schrader pulled back onto the race track, he took a
right hand dive into Shepherd's car, at full speed. Schrader
knocked his car hard into the wall also, and probably got more
sense knocked into him then out. Both driver's had their day
cut short, all because Kenny spent too much time watching Days
of Thunder the night before.
8. Days of Daytona-Greg Sacks, Richard Petty, Derrike
Cope-Pepsi 400, Daytona, 1990.
Sacks had started on the pole for the event, but NASCAR
officials discovered an intake manifold that did not meet
their specs, and took it away from Sacks. Following the green
flag, Sacks quickly faded to seventh, where he found himself
in a 3-wide battle with Petty and Cope.
The three all rubbed furiously together for half a lap before
they couldn't go any longer. Sacks and Petty rubbed twice in
the tri-oval, before both lost control and slid into Cope.
With the three-car spin, just about every car behind them was
approaching a roadblock. 24 cars in all wrecked, the 2nd
biggest wreck in Daytona history. Following the wreck, Geoff
Bodine summed up the whole situation; "They saw the damn
movie." He was alluding to the fact that Days of Thunder had
just been released, and we all know what the drivers did on
that movie.
7. Sailing in the Grass-Mike Skinner, Tony Stewart-DieHard
500, Talladega, 1999.
Stewart was in his rookie season, and had all ready proven
himself to be a contender to win week in, week out. The story
was no different at Talladega, as he took the lead early and
held it firmly. However, Stewart lost the lead near lap 50,
and was looking to get it back.
As he moved up alongside Mike Skinner for second, the two
touched. Skinner and Stewart, who were exiting turn two, all
of a sudden found themselves driving straight to the infield.
Skinner kept blocking Stewart's Pontiac, and they went into
the grass at full-speed. The fact that it had rained hard the
morning before the race didn't help matters, and Skinner lost
control of his car in the wet grass. He spun back onto the
track and took out several of the front-runners.
Following the wreck, the stupidity didn't stop. Safety crews
that towed Skinner's car back to the garage found they
couldn't unhook the 31's hood from the tow truck. So a safety
worker jumped on Skinner's hood, bending the aero-efficient
nose badly. Larry McReynolds, Skinner's crew chief, also lost
his sense, when he jerked the safety official off fiercely,
and nearly beat the man senseless. Larry Mac, Skinner, and
Stewart all went to the "big house", the NASCAR trailer, after
the race. But all three etched themselves in NASCAR brainless
history for good.
6. Graveyard Shift-J.T. Putney, Tiny Lund-Fonda Speedway,
1966-
Putney had started second, and quickly jumped to the front,
leading the first 31 laps. However, on lap 32 he spun off of
turn two. The tiny 1/2-mile dirt track didn't have an outside
retaining wall on the turns, so he spun over the banking.
Putney regathered his car into control on a service road that
led from the Erie Canal to the backstretch. Oddly enough, the
road went through a graveyard, which is where Putney drove
through before returning to the track. But by returning to the
track, he drove straight in the path of Tiny Lund, who t-boned
Putney, and also took out Bobby Allison and Lyle Stetler.
Putney not only took out four cars in his bonehead maneuver,
but he was KO'd by a punch from Lund. Lund had approached
Putney following the incident in the garage area, and knocked
Putney unconscious with a right-cut to Putney's jaw. NASCAR
officials fined Lund $100.
5.Bristol Bumpin‘: Dale Earnhardt-Goody’s 500, Bristol, 1995.
Dale had started near the front, and battled Rusty Wallace for
a top ten spot when he nudged Wallace's rear bumper, spinning
Russell into the wall. NASCAR disliked the move, and sent Dale
to the back of the pack. Dale obliged by spinning Lake Speed
into the wall later in the race.
After Derrike Cope missed a shift on a restart, Dale
rear-ended Cope badly, enough to nearly bust Dale's radiator.
But, with all this, Dale somehow found himself in second on
the white-flag lap. Leader Terry Labonte was stuck in lapped
traffic, and instead of passing Terry, he spun him. Labonte
gassed his Chevy, and slid across the finish line doing a 180.
Terry then hit the wall head-on, but took the checkers. After
the race was over, Dale didn't get any fines from NASCAR, but
he did get a water bottle thrown at his nose by Rusty Wallace.
4.Demolition Richmond: Dale Earnhardt-Miller High Life 400,
Richmond, 1986.
Dale again put himself in a high position, this time while
battling Darrell Waltrip for the lead with three to go at the
old Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. As Darrell made a move to
the inside of Dale off turn two, he started to get most of his
car clear of Earnhardt, except the rear bumper.
That was all Dale needed, as he tagged Darrell Waltrip's right
rear quarter panel, sending Darrell Waltrip head on into the
wall. Dale wrecked, also, as did the next three cars in line.
Kyle Petty, who was motoring along in fifth before the brawl,
snaked his way through the wreck, and found himself in first.
It was Petty's first career win, in one of the most bizarre
endings to any Winston Cup race.
3-Tony the Temper: Tony Stewart, Kenny Irwin-NAPA Auto Care
500, Martinsville, 1999.
Stewart was in the top-five for most of the first half of the
race, and showed himself capable of possibly winning. While
racing around the tight confines of Martinsville, he found
himself stuck behind the lapped car of Kenny Irwin. Instead of
waiting several laps to pass, he simply spun Irwin out.
A few laps later after a restart, Irwin returned the favor to
Stewart, spinning him out. It was only beginning. Stewart then
tried a little later to spin Irwin, but failed to accomplish
his goal. As Stewart was ahead of Irwin entering turn one,
Kenny never let off, and spun Stewart hard into the outside
wall. Tony's day was done, but his actions weren't.
He waited for Irwin to pass by his wrecked car, where he
jumped into the open left side window area, and punched Irwin
twice. He also through his foot guards at him. $10,000 was
levied against Stewart, and Tony was just beginning his
temperamental career.
2.Swervin' Irvan: Ernie Irvan, Ken Schrader-TranSouth 500,
Darlington, 1990.
1990 had three stupid moments, this one the highest and most
devastating of them all. Irvan had lost several laps in the
pits while his crew was placing an internal problem on his #4
Chevy. After he got out of the pits, Ernie found himself ten
laps down. His owner Larry McClure instructed Ernie to race as
hard as he could, so his driver did so.
Following a restart, leader Ken Schrader and Irvan raced
side-by-side for several laps. The fun stopped soon
thereafter. Coming out of turn two, Irvan's car broke loose,
and he tagged Schrader's Chevy. Both cars spun, and the
frontstretch became a junkyard.
Several cars wrecked, including Neil Bonnett. Bonnett's Ford
hit hard head-on into the wall, and Bonnett was knocked out.
The effects of being unconscious were bad, he suffered a long
period of amnesia. It all but ended his driving career.
The number one moment has now arrived. This moment was very
controversial in its time, and may still have some effects
lingering still. While the two drivers involved have made up,
the fans may not have.
Now, before you scroll down to see what it was, I do want to
say there were many moments that didn't get put in here that
could have. Such as Cale Yarborough's bonehead move thinking
the race was over in 1984 during the Pepsi Firecracker 400,
and coming down pit road. He lost second place in the process,
but made it back on the track to finish third. Now, I'm sure a
lot of people think I've unfairly biased myself against
everyone by not putting Mark Martin's 1994 BGN Bristol bonker
in this list.
I was going to, if it wasn't BGN. If you look back at the
first column, you'll see "Winston Cup" written out. I hope
that ends the argument. Now, for more bonehead moves, Jimmy
Spencer spinning Ken Schrader under yellow at North
Wilkesboro, Joe Nemechek running full-speed into Steve Park at
Charlotte in turn one, taking out four cars. LeeRoy Yarbrough
pitting with two to go thinking his crew ordered him to pit in
the Daytona 500, giving the win to dumbfounded Cale
Yarborough. Moments like that, however, didn't make the
top-ten.
Now, there's one moment many people may think I am talking
about as #1 that I'm not. No, the 1999 Goody's Headache Powder
500 at Bristol, with Earnhardt's spinning Terry Labonte didn't
make the list. Why did Dale's '95 make it? Because Dale was
even more blatant in his attempts to wreck. Too many people
say Dale didn't mean to wreck Terry for it to be completely
legit in '99, but it was easy to tell his '95 one was. Now for
that moment you've been waiting for...the number one stupidest
move in Winston Cup history...
1. Tide Slide-Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip-The
Winston-Charlotte, 1989.
Darrell Waltrip had dominated the all-star event, and was
getting close to winning the coveted first place prize of
$200,000. But coming out of turn four towards the white flag,
Rusty Wallace sneaked his way up to DW's rear bumper. Russell,
in a move he himself now says was pretty stupid, blatantly and
obviously voluntarily ran into Waltrip hard enough to spin the
three-time champ out.
The caution flew before Rusty made it to the line, so they
restarted the race with one to go. DW and co. argued that
since they restarted from the last full lap, he should be put
up front. NASCAR said no, DW had to start at the rear. He
stormed up to eighth, but had too little time to deal with.
Rusty ran to the checkers, then got a barrage of chicken
bones, beer cans, and extended middle fingers shown his way.
As Wallace drove through the garage area to victory lane, the
two crews scuffled, setting off a wild fight with at least 25
people involved. Waltrip stormed out of his car angrily, and
when the media shoved their mikes in Darrell Waltrip's face,
he uttered the infamous "I hope he chokes on that 200 grand"
line.
Wallace lost several fans that day, while Darrell, once the
most hated driver on the circuit, gained several. It was a
turning point in Darrell Waltrip's career, as he would win
many fans, something Darrell Waltrip has been proud about ever
since. Rusty has had a hard time gaining back all the fans he
lost that May Day in 1989, but he's got a good number of them
anyway.
So the Steve Nash Stupidest Winston Cup Moment goes to Russell
William Wallace. Go ahead Rusty, thank Tide. |
