NASCAR: An Alternative History (Dead)
- Thread starter Chocolate Raines
- Start date
don't worry, just like OTL, it will get simpler in the 2000's.That is a lot of networks so i am glad that can read the this at one scource
Yeah. I had originally butterflied it, but changed my mind when I started my Magic Johnson timeline
Honestly this is well researched but I was hoping for more meat on the bones. But to each their own.
I'm trying. I'm getting more into an era I'm familiar with so it should be easier for me to have more detail.
Personally? From what I saw there isn't much meat on the bones. The races come off as bland things with only a sentence or two saying what happened. I was honestly hoping for a paragraph or two. Maybe more for big ones like the Daytona 500. Maybe details of the big crashes. Using this crash as its one I remember and I was six at the time.
On lap, 119th, Darrell Waltrip's number 17 was tapped in the right front quarter panel by the number 7 of Alan Kulwicki. Which pushes Waltrip into Joe Ruttman. Which got Waltrip sideways and into the infield. It then caught one of the road course tracks and started to roll over. After six or seven rolls the car came to a stop on its side. The crowd held its breath waiting for word if Waltrip survived the crash. He was loaded up into the ambulance and gave no sign to the crowd but moments later NASCAR pass the word along that his injuries were not life threatening.
Stuff like that. And in this clip, you can see he damn near could had lost an arm.
On a different note I think the idea of the playoffs in the 80s is really to far ahead of the curve. The big thing you had people Senior and others saying that NASCAR needed to give more points to those guys who were winning the races in the early to mid 90s. Hell right up till the Chase for the Cup started. It seems too modern for when NASCAR was running by the good old boys in the 80s or early 90s. It wasn't till the golden days started in mid-90s that they really started to play with the idea of playoffs.
Hmm, wait to see what I have written about the clash. Less eventful races there isn't much to talk about. It just all depends on how they go.
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Granted. But at the super speed ways like Daytona and Talladega there are going to be the Big One. Even at the mile tracks or even short tracks you could still see a major wreck.
RACE REPORTS: DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS
BUSCH CLASH: Geoff Bodine holds off Terry Schoonover to win the clash in his first start with Alan Kulwicki's team. In victory lane, Bodine said,
GATORADE DUELS: Dale Earnhardt won the first duel, holding off Mark Martin and Terry Schoonover. Both Earnhardt and Martin caused mayhem in the race. Martin dumped Alan Kulwicki and caused the big one taking Kulwicki out as well as Richard Petty,Sterling Marlin, Bobby Hillin, and Bobby Labonte. Labonte was already using a backup car after wrecking in practice and will now have to use a car from teammate Terry Schoonover. Dale Earnhardt wrecked 500 pole sitter Bobby Hamilton, but this doesn't affect Hamilton and he will still be on pole. Delma Cowart finished thirteenth and qualified for the 500. Cowart, the self proclaimed "Party God" of NASCAR said,
He will start 27th Sunday. Morgan Shepherd was also able to race his way in.
In the second duel, Bill Elliott held off a hard charging Ernie Irvan and Davey Allison to win. Lake Speed, Phil Parsons, Jimmy Means, Jim Sauter, James Hylton, Randy LaJoie in a second Moroso car, and sadly Chad Little, all dnq'd. Ted Musgrave and Butch Miller both didn't finish so well but are already locked in.
GOODY'S 300: Dale Earnhardt holds off Terry Schoonover and Ward Burton to win his third Goody's 300 in a row. Two scary crashes occurred in the race. The first was when Dave Rezendes and Harry Gant got together sending both of them into the wall and Gant's car erupting in flames. Gant was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Fortunately, a little bit later, it was announced be only suffered minor burns. He will have to miss the 500. Lake Speed was announced to fill in for Gant later that day. The second crash was the big one. Joe Nemecheck was sent rear end first into the wall and turned into a fireball as well. Even better for him, he was completely unharmed, but still went to the hospital for a check up.
(Nemecheck's car is in the upper left)
DAVEY ALLISON: 1992 DAYTONA 500 WINNER
RACE REPORTS: AUSTRALIA AND ROCKINGHAM
GOODYEAR 300K: Harry Gant makes a triumphant return and wins. David Green and Australian Bob Jane, who's driving the Wallace Brother's #66 car, put on a great battle for second with Green edging him at the line. In victory lane, Gant says,
GOODYEAR 500K: Bill Elliott wins. He led most of the race and held off Alan Kulwicki at the finish. Ricky Rudd dnf's for the second week in a row continuing a bad start to 92'. Daytona winner Davey Allison finished fourth behind Harry Gant.
GOODWRECH 300: Ward Burton wins his first Busch Series race while Davey Allison narrowly beat Mark Martin for second. The race was another classic WRECKFEST with multiple cars spinning and crashing. Ed Berrier, Tommy Houston, and Richard Lasseter suffered the most as they were involved in multiple wrecks including one where they all crashed together. Here's what Ward had to say in victory lane (keep in mind he has a weird accent that sounds kinda Australian, southern, and New Englander at the same time),
GOODWRENCH 500: Kyle Petty started on pole and looked to win this race for the third year in a row, but faded and eventually dnf'd with a broken camshaft. Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace also had their days go downhill when Earnhardt suffered a brake failure, and Wallace crashed while running in the top five. Ricky Rudd was finally able to have a good race finishing 8th. The race turned into a battle between Davey Allison and Bill Elliott, but Elliott overpowered Allison and won.
RACE REPORT: ATLANTA
ATLANTA 300: In the inaugural Busch Series race at Atlanta, Jeff Gordon dominated from pole to win his first race since May 1990. At one point, Gordon ran out of gas while leading and thought he was gonna lose. Suddenly, while he was pitting, a caution came out for someone losing an engine. Jeff was then able to keep the lead. A huge crash on lap four took out a good quarter of the field. Terry Schoonover was involved and broke his collarbone. He will make one lap in tomorrow's race, and then Jeff Purvis will drive in relief. Gordon will make his first Solo Cup race tomorrow starting 40th out of 42. Here's a quote from Jack Roush on Gordon,
HOOTERS 500: The big story coming into this race was Bobby Hillin getting fired from the SAR #8 car. Hillin had been in this car for a decade back when he was a teenager driving for his family's team before the Stavola Brothers bought them out. Hillin hadn't done much in his time driving the car, only winning one race at Talladega in 1986. He is now a free agent and didn't have a ride for this race. His replacement was kind of a surprise. People thought that SAR's Busch Series driver, Jeff Burton would get the ride but he didn't. Ron Bouchard, who hasn't made a start in four years, was announced to drive the car.
Bouchard didn't waste any time returning to the Solo Cup and qualified second to Mark Martin. Bouchard was able to stay in the top five throughout the race. In the closing laps, he was battling Davey Allison for the win. On the final lap, he was right on Davey's rear bumper. Bouchard forced Allison up high and moved into the lead, but Davey stayed with him to his outside.Coming off of turn four, Bouchard gave it all he had and edged Allison for the win. Up in the Booth, Benny Parsons shouted,
In victory lane, Bouchard said,
Shortly after, Bouchard was announced to run the rest of the season in the car.
In other news from this race, Tim Richmond crashed and when he climbed out, people were cheering that he wrecked. "These fans can mock me all they want, but I'm gonna make them silent soon when I win a race or championship" said Richmond. Jeff Gordon didn't do much in his first cup race and dnf'd. He was 37th.
WRITERS NOTE: Ron Bouchard coming back was not planned ITTL. IOTL, Dick Trickle was in the #8 Snickers Ford. He had replaced a guy named Rick Wilson. Trickle did qualify second and went on to finish fifth. When I saw the starting lineup and put it to this timeline, I was thinking, "There's no way Hillin would've qualified second". I also figured somebody like Jeff Burton couldn't qualify that high in only their first cup start, so that's where I decided it had to be a veteran. This is where I decided to bring a driver back, and that was Bouchard.
RACE REPORTS: MARTINSVILLE (BUSCH) AND DARLINGTON
MILLER GENUINE DRAFT 500K: Kenny Wallace, Joe Nemechek, and Chuck Bown all battled for the lead. Coming to the checkers, Bown and Nemechek both tried to knock out Wallace while battling each other. Coming out of turn four, Bown tried to pass Nemechek but lost control and spun. Nemechek bumped into him, tearing up the right front of his car, and knocking Bown back up the track. Nemechek got second. All other cars were able to avoid them. Wallace won and was the only leech in the field.
MARK III VANS 300: Mark Martin led early, but all of a sudden, blew his engine while leading. After this, it became all Harry Gant for the rest of the race (except for when Jimmy Hensley led for a bit until he pitted). On the final lap, Robert Pressley, who had been in the top five all race, caught up to Gant, squeezed by him, and held him off for a narrow win. Here's how the final lap went down live on ESPN:
TRANSOUTH FINANCIAL 400: Bobby Hamilton started on pole but immediately fell back and eventually hit the wall. He was able to get repairs and finished 22nd. Larry Pearson and Kyle Petty were also having good days until they ran into problems forcing them to retire. The rookies, Bobby Labonte and Kenny Wallace both dnf'd. Their rookie battle really isn't doing much right now as neither have done much in the first five races. Wallace leads the rookie points however with a better average finish then Labonte.
The top four runners for most of the race were Bill Elliott, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, and Davey Allison. Allison led most of the race, but a pit road mishap cost him the win. Rudd looked to get either second or third until he was involved in a spin with Rusty Wallace, and ended up sixth. In the end, Elliott won over Gant and has now won three of five races so far. Despite this, he is second in points behind Allison by 50.
Kenny Schrader, Lake Speed, Dick Trickle ,and Joe Ruttman were notable dnq's. Butch Mock, the owner of Trickle's car, announced they will be reverting to a part time schedule for the rest of the season and will skip short tracks. Schrader's dnq was rather embarrassing for a Hendrick Motorsports car. Schrader has been in this car since 1987 and has won two races, but also underperformes most of the time. He might not be in the #35 much longer.
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RACE REPORTS: BRISTOL AND NORTH WILKESBORO
BUDWEISER 300: Harry Gant won. The race was rain delayed into the evening. ESPN already had other scheduled programming and therefore, the race was never televised.
FOOD CITY 500: Alan Kulwicki started on pole, stayed in the top five most of the race, and in the end won his second consecutive race at Bristol over Dale Jarrett and Tim Richmond. The top three in points all struggled as Bill Elliott crashed and Harry Gant blew an engine. Davey Allison had a oil pump problem while leading and battling Darrell Waltrip. When he started leaking oil, Allison and Waltrip both slid into the wall while Terry Schoonover and Ernie Irvan spun below them. Elliott, Waltrip, and Allison were able to continue after repairs. Schoonover and Irvan had no damage. Bobby Hamilton one again got a great qualifying start only to fall back, blow a tire, and get hit by Richard Petty.
(Pretend that says Solo Cup in the background)
Dale Earnhardt had a very up and down day and finally led a lap in the 92' season. It looked like he was going to finish well until he cut a tire and hit the wall while running second and ended up 18th. "I think it's going to be a long season" said Earnhardt. "We're not where we've been in past years". "Usually we're fast right out of the gate and that hasn't happened so far". "At least I won the championship last year or this would be insulting".
Since Bristol is a short track, tons of drivers dnq'd. Butch Miller, Jimmy Means, Neil Bonnett, Rob Moroso, Kenny Schrader and the rookies Kenny Wallace and Bobby Labonte all didn't make it. Larry Carrier, the head of the track, plans to expand the backstretch pit road by four stalls to bring the field to 36 cars for the night race in August. In addition, the track will be repaved and will increase seating capacity in turns 3 and 4 for more fans and ticket sales.
FIRST UNION 400: Davey Allison battled back from crashing last week to beat Rusty Wallace and extend his points lead. Alan Kulwicki started on pole and had led most of the race, but after a brief rain delay he wasn't able to challenge for the lead anymore and ended up seventh. Two notable incidents occurred in the race. The first one was Michael Waltrip trying to go low only to be clipped by Harry Gant and sent rear first into the wall and the other was when Jimmy Spencer tagged Kyle Petty sending him spinning. Waltrip and Petty finished 28 and 29 respectively. After the race, Petty's team owner, Felix Sabates confronted Spencer and they had to be separated.
Everyone who didn't qualify last week did exactly the same this week with the exception of Butch Miller making it and Eddie Bierschwale not; the first time the Bud Moore team has not made a race (in a very long time). Moore threw Bierschwale under the bus when he said,
Just like Bristol, North Wilkesboro plans to extend it's pit road along turns 3 and 4 with a new entrance before entering turn 3. Work on this will begin next year as the track gets revamped in the coming years. Bruton Smith just bought this track last year and has plans such as lights (mentioned in the Light it Up Nascar story) and building up the grandstands and installing suites for more fans. Work should be finished by the new millennium.
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RACE REPORTS: HICKORY, LANIER, AND MARTINSVILLE
MOUNTAIN DEW 500K: Tommy Houston started dead last, spun out twice, and still managed to win at his home track. In victory lane, he dedicated his win to his father who passed away the day before. This race was an utter shitshow. There were 26 caution flags, a record for the series. Every single car in the race had some sort of damage at the end. Turns 3 and 4 had been paved the previous day and during the race, the pavement started to chip away and the race had to be red flagged twice!
Since it was a BYE week for Cup, Terry Schoonover, Darrell Waltrip, Kenny Wallace, Jimmy Spencer, and Dale Earnhardt, subbing for a sick Kenny Schrader, all leeched. Schoonover dnf'd early and Wallace crashed. Waltrip was fifth, Spencer 11th, and Earnhardt 12th. Earnhardt and Spencer were the only two to lead laps.
David Green runs behind Ricky Craven. Green would go on to finish second.
This race occurred on the final weekend of April which was unofficially called "Georgia Motorsports Weekend". As well as this Busch series race at Lanier, across the street, IMSA was having a sports car race at Road Atlanta and NHRA was having an event down the road at Atlanta Dragway. The races not only attracted local spectators, but local participants as well. NFL Racing co-owner and Atlanta Falcons coach Jerry Glanville attempted this race but sadly dnq'd.
The series moves on to Talladega next weekend for their first event there. When asked about it, Ward Burton said,
HANES 500: Alan Kulwicki led most of this race and looked to dominate until a pit road speeding penalty hurt his chances. Terry Schoonover went on to lead until his rear axle snapped and ended his day. Dale Earnhardt then led and looked to win his first race of 92' when points leader Davey Allison and Kyle Petty clobbered each other into the turn two wall and Petty caught fire. He did not suffer any burns. Dale and the other leaders pitted. To everyone's surprise, Mark Martin won the race off pit road and went on to win; almost wrecking on the final lap due to Rick Mast spinning out right ahead of him in turn four. Bobby Hamilton had a great day to finish second and Sterling Marlin was third. Marlin is now all of a sudden third in points. He hasn't won, but he's been getting top tens in every race so far. Marlin is hoping to capture a third win soon. He hasn't won since Australia 1989.
As usual, all the same folks who dnq'd at the last two short track races didn't make this one. They will all be relieved to be at Talladega next weekend. Martinsville, just like the other tracks, has plans to completely redesign it's pit road to where the entrance is in turn three, and wraps around turns four, one, and two and exits onto the backstretch. This would eliminate the backstretch pits leaving Bristol, Darlington, and Rockingham to be the only tracks to have pit roads on both straightaways. This should be completed by the mid to late 90's.
Next weekend is a big race weekend at Talladega. ARCA, Busch, Cup, and IROC, which is kind of the North American motorsports olympics, will all race. While ARCA won't be a huge part of this timeline, I will include it in the race report which will be one big post for Dega. IROC however will be talked about more in the future and next year's tournament may be the first one I start to cover in it's entirety when I start my Indycar timeline.
...or it may if something big changes in the series in the coming years.
RACE REPORT: TALLADEGA
ARCA POULAN PRO 500K: Veteran racer Charlie Glotzbach dominated from the pole to win the race. Jimmy Horton and former Solo Cup rookie contender Ben Hess were both having top five days until Horton spun out and crashed, and Hess blew his engine. With only a few laps left, rookie Steve Park lost control of his car and crashed, his hood flying off the car. This set up for a one lap shootout for the win. Glotzbach was able to hold off series regular Bobby Bowsher and win.
1992 IROC SERIES ROUND TWO: The opener at Daytona saw Dale Earnhardt edge Geoff Bodine to win. This race would see another exciting finish. On the final lap, Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Harry Gant, Davey Allison, and IMSA sports car driver Davy Hamilton all battled for the win. Both Wallace and Gant looked like they could get it but Davey Allison was able to outrun them and edged Earnhardt to win. Since he won, this means he will have to start dead last in round three at Michigan as the finishing results are inverted and used as the starting lineup for the next round.
,
IROC cars racing at Talladega. The series only uses the Dodge Daytona and all cars are equally prepared for fair competition.
1990 Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk was the only one to crash out. He was fine and will be at Indy in a few weeks. He will be on pole for round three.
The cup leeches dominated the race. Dale Earnhardt, Kenny Schrader, Michael Waltrip, Larry Pearson and Terry Schoonover all led laps in the race. On the final lap, they all battled for the win. Waltrip had the lead with Schoonover and Earnhardt behind. Going down the backstretch, Waltrip went low while Schoonover went high. Schoonover was able to then edge ahead and win the race by .5 seconds over Waltrip. In victory lane Schoonover said,
Todd Bodine was the highest finishing series regular in fourth. When asked about what he thought of racing at Talladega he said,
After spinning out earlier, Joe Nemecheck recovered to finish 13th and keep his points lead over Jeff Gordon who got 11th. He gained the lead last week when Gordon ran into problems. Robert Pressley fell back to third as he finished last in this race with a blown engine.
Terry Schoonover moments after winning.
Terry Schoonover finished fifth after almost dropping out with a stuck throttle. Terry Labonte ran with the leaders for a bit until he spun out and ended up 26th. Sterling Marlin finally didn't get a top ten finish as he blew his engine around halfway. Near the end of the race, Butch Miller nearly flipped after Kyle Petty bumped Brett Bodine,who bumped Miller causing him to spin. Unfortunately, his suspension was destroyed and he couldn't finish. Bobby Labonte gains a slight lead in the rookie battle as he finished 30th and Kenny Wallace finished last after he blew his engine five laps in. Delma Cowart, Lake Speed, Morgan Shepherd,and Dick Trickle all dnq'd.
As always, questions, comments, concerns welcome! Don't forget to like!
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Nascar Stories: Who's replacing Petty?
As mentioned before, Richard Petty is in his final season of racing. Petty has been competing since the late 50's and has amassed 201 Solo Cup wins between 1960 and 1987 (he could get 202 sometime this season; who knows?). The only thing is, who's replacing him? Petty himself has said that he wants "Someone who can restore the former glory of Petty Enterprises". All the best Solo Cup drivers are in competitive rides so Petty will probably get a Solo Cup driver in need of a new team or a Busch Series driver who seems ready for Cup. While we don't know for sure, here are some possible candidates:
KYLE PETTY: There was a rumor that Richard's son would replace him next year. Kyle quickly dismissed this (and threw his Dad's team under the bus) saying,
KENNY SCHRADER: With Schrader's future at Hendrick Motorsports in doubt, he has been linked to drive the #43. Nothing has been confirmed but if Schrader is released from Hendrick, he could end up there, otherwise he'll be a free agent or run for himself in the Busch Series.
JIMMY HENSLEY: Hensley has been wanting to move to Cup for a while now. He has run part time in Cup competition, but that was years ago in the 70's/early 80's. He's been in the Busch Series full time since 1985 and would love a full time ride that he would be competing for Rookie of the year with.
CHUCK BOWN: Bown last raced in cup in late 1990. He is another Busch Series driver looking to move up. However, he is still under contract by the Hensley Team for another year, so he may or may not get released from his contract to drive for Petty.
ROBERT PRESSLEY: Pressley has even been rumored to this ride. He is having his best Busch Series season to date. He can contend for the championship and possibly land this ride for 93'.
Petty won't make an announcement til later in the season. It will be interesting to find out who replaces the King!
KYLE PETTY: There was a rumor that Richard's son would replace him next year. Kyle quickly dismissed this (and threw his Dad's team under the bus) saying,
KENNY SCHRADER: With Schrader's future at Hendrick Motorsports in doubt, he has been linked to drive the #43. Nothing has been confirmed but if Schrader is released from Hendrick, he could end up there, otherwise he'll be a free agent or run for himself in the Busch Series.
JIMMY HENSLEY: Hensley has been wanting to move to Cup for a while now. He has run part time in Cup competition, but that was years ago in the 70's/early 80's. He's been in the Busch Series full time since 1985 and would love a full time ride that he would be competing for Rookie of the year with.
CHUCK BOWN: Bown last raced in cup in late 1990. He is another Busch Series driver looking to move up. However, he is still under contract by the Hensley Team for another year, so he may or may not get released from his contract to drive for Petty.
ROBERT PRESSLEY: Pressley has even been rumored to this ride. He is having his best Busch Series season to date. He can contend for the championship and possibly land this ride for 93'.
Petty won't make an announcement til later in the season. It will be interesting to find out who replaces the King!