Stock Car Racing Time Machine

It's the 25th Anniversary of one of most memorable Bristol Night races. Two former Cup Series Champions pulled no punches in the closing lap. The final lap would prove to be one of the most controversial in NASCAR history. I discuss why my opinion of the last lap incident changed after reviewing the race footage 25 years later.

Dale Jarrett was coming off a Brickyard 400 win the previous week and had a commanding points leads as the NASCAR Winston Cup series headed to Watkins Glen for the second road race of the season. Jeff Gordon was looking for a record breaking 5th consecutive road course win. Pole sitter Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, and a few road course ringers like Ron Fellows were hoping to stop the streak. Althou...

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series visited Martinsville Speedway for the 8th race of 1999 season. You can always expect some good old fashioned short track racing at the half mile paperclip. Find which driver took home the grandfather clock in a surprising late race surge.

After a long break break, we're finally back with a new episode. We're taking an in-depth look back at the 1999 Daytona 500 on it's 25th Anniversary. This race had a bit of everything-- a long green flag run to start the race, a huge multi-car crash, a daring late race pass, and two all-time greats slugging it out in the closing laps. Take a listen and find which driver was winner in t...

We close out season 1 of the podcast with Part 3 of the 1997 Winston Cup Year-in-Review. In this episode, the drivers who placed 5th through 1st in the points standings are discussed. These drivers won 24 of the 32 races run in '97 Cup Season. Jeff Gordon continued an amazing run of success winning his 2nd Cup title in 3 years and winning 10 races. Dale Jarrett picked up a career high 7 wins and n...

It's Part Two of the '97 Winston Cup Year in Review. In today's episode, we take a look back at the drivers who finished 6th-10th in the season point standings. Three drivers who failed to capture a top 10 points position in '96 got the job done in '97. There were three pleasant surprises among the drivers who finished in back half of the top 10 in points. Two drivers had more disappointing season...

It's time to take a look back at the '97 Winston Cup Season. This episode will review the drivers who finished outside the top 10 in points. We'll discuss the drivers who finished outside the top 10 in points and went to victory lane. Who were the surprises and disappointments in 1997? How do the rookie drivers perform? We'll review the best moments for each driver. 

The Winston Cup Series brings down the curtain on the '97 season with season finale at the re-configured Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon leads Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin by 77 and 87 points respectively. Gordon's task to win the championship became much more difficult after a bizarre pit road accident during practice and a poor qualifying effort. Jarrett and Martin need a strong run and hope...

Two races remain in the '97 Winston Cup season as the series visits Phoenix. Jeff Gordon has a comfortable points lead over Mark Martin and Dale Jarrett, but it is still within the margin that Gordon could lose the points lead with a very poor finish and strong runs by Martin and Jarrett. Bobby Hamilton won the pole and is defending champion of the event and has momentum after a winning last week...

Just three races remain in the '97 Winston Cup Season. The Cup series makes its fall visit to Rockingham. lJeff Gordon won the spring race at "The Rock" and is hoping to extend his points lead. Mark Martin picked up his first career win at Rockingham and is looking to gain ground on points leader Jeff Gordon. Dale Jarrett has three consecutive 2nd place finishes at "The Rock", but has never won at...

The 1997 Winston Cup season is winding down. 28 races have been completed and three drivers-- Gordon, Martin, and Dale Jarrett still have a legitimate chance at the championship. The latest restrictor plate race on the schedule has all of the points leaders on edge. 2 of the last 3 races the "Big One" that large multi-car accident shook up the points race.  Mark Martin was victorious in the c...

Just five races remain to determine the 1997 Winston Cup Champion. This week it’s UAW-GM Quality 500 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mark Martin and Dale Jarrett are both hoping to gain ground on points leader Jeff Gordon. The Fall race at Charlotte has not been kind to Gordon in the past. Last season a 31st place finish in this event coupled with a win by teammate Terry Labonte resulted in a b...

It's the final short track race of the 1997 Winston Cup Season. Just six races remained before the Winston Cup Champion would be crowned. Mark Martin won at Dover from the pole last week and was hoping to cut into 105 point deficit to Jeff Gordon. That could prove difficult as Gordon has won back-to-back races at Martinsville and took home the victory in the Spring race leading 431 laps. 3rd in po...

The '97 Winston Cup Tour makes it second visit to Dover.  This was a wild caution filled race in the Spring in which three different drivers leaders experienced problems in the final 75 laps of the race. Ricky Rudd edged out Mark Martin for a narrow victory. Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, and Ernie Irvan all looked contenders for the win until accidents or mechanical problems ended their chance of the...

The Cup series makes a second visit to the Granite State for the running of CMT 300. This is the 25th race of Winston Cup Season. In it’s short history the track has produced five different winners in the first five races (Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Jeff Gordon, Ernie Irvan, and Jeff Burton). Points leader Jeff Gordon struggled mightily with his handling in the July race and finished two laps down...

It’s time for more short track racing as the Cup Series makes it second visit to Richmond International Raceway for a night race. Would Richmond produce the same short track Saturday night fireworks that Bristol produced a few weeks back? How would Dale Earnhardt perform after that scary medical event at the Southern 500 last week? Will Dale Jarrett pick up another short track win? He had the car...

It's time for the annual Labor Day Weekend visit to Darlington. The drivers will try to tame the Lady in Black and earn victory at NASCAR's oldest superspeedway event. Jeff Gordon looks to become the 2nd driver to win The Winston Million and the first to win 3 Southern 500s in a row. He will need to defeat an impressive cast of favorites to cash the big checkfv. Dale Jarrett won the spring race at...

The Cup Series finally gets back to a short track after many weeks of racing on road courses, intermediate tracks, and superspeedways. Race #22 on the season is the Bristol night race. In my opinion, this was one of the best races of season. It had everything you could ask for close quarter racing, tons of beating and banging, shocking moments, underdog stories, and a Saturday night dash for the c...

The 21st race of the Winston Cup season would be run at Michigan. This was the 2nd visit to the track in the Irish Hills. Ernie Irvan won the race in June and Bill Elliott finished second. Both were among the favorites for victory at the wide D-shaped oval. Roush Racing was in the midst of an excellent season. All three drivers were in the top 10 in points. Mark Martin and Jeff Burton had two wins...

The Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen for the 20th race of the season and final road course race of the season. One of the favorites is Mark Martin who won 3 times in a row at Watkins Glen ('93-'95) and was victorious at Sonoma in May. Geoff Bodine is the hometown favorite and defending champion but is looking for some good fortune after missing the most recent Cup race at Indianapolis. Jeff Gordon...

The Cup Series heads to Indy for the 4th running of the Brickyard 400. In it's brief history the Brickyard 400 has become one of NASCAR's biggest races. Three big names have won the first three stock car races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway-- Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, and Dale Jarrett. Gordon and Jarrett both have to be considered among the favorites. Jarrett was the defending champion of t...

The '97 Winston Cup Series had an off week between the Pocono race and the Brickyard 400. I discuss the history behind some of the Cup Series biggest races- Daytona 500, Southern 500, World 600, and the Winston 500. In addition, the rise and fall of the Brickyard 400. The history of the Winston Million and No Bull Programs are reviewed.  I rank the biggest races through the years to the prese...

It's the second visit to Pocono for the 1997 Winston Cup Tour. Can Jeff Gordon win and be the first driver to get the season sweep at Pocono since Tim Richmond in 1986? Will a Roush Racing driver get to victory lane? Martin and Jeff Burton are both looking for their third win of the season. Will Ted Musgrave pick up his first career win? Can Dale Jarrett bounce back with a good run after engine pr...

The Winston Cup series makes it's seventeenth stop of the season in the Granite State. This season the Cup series will race twice at New Hampshire International Speedway. The last several races have resulted in some up down performances for the top 4 in points. Loudon is like a super sized Martinsville with long straightaways and flat corners. Irvan, Gordon, Rudd, and Wallace have each won since t...

The 1997 Winston Cup Season has reached the halfway point in the season. The Pepsi 400 is the final scheduled late morning race at Daytona. The heat and humidity always make the track very slick and handling is crucial. Will the restrictor plate aces-- Dale Earnhardt and Sterling Marlin finally break their long losing streaks? Can Mark Martin win back-to-back plate races? Will Jeff Gordon and Hend...