The 1991 Daytona 500, the 33rd running of the
event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
, was held on February 17, 1991 at
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...
in
Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the
1991 NASCAR Winston Cup season.
Davey Allison
David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
won the pole. In the first
Gatorade 125 on Thursday,
Richard Petty edged
Hut Stricklin
Waymond Lane "Hut" Stricklin Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver.
Racing career
Stricklin grew up in Calera, Alabama. He married Pam Allison, the daughter of NASCAR legend Donnie Allison after the ...
for second place, placing Petty third on the grid.
A notable absentee was
1972 Daytona 500 winner
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...
. Foyt was badly injured in the
Texaco-Havoline 200 IndyCar race at
Road America in the fall of
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
. He suffered severe injuries to his feet and legs, and spent several months out of a racecar before returning to action at
Indianapolis in May 1991. Foyt missed his first Daytona 500 since
1965. The race also marked
Rod Osterlund’s final race as an owner.
Pit rules
This race began a series of changes to pit road procedure after the death of a
Melling Racing
Melling Racing was a Championship-winning NASCAR Winston Cup Series race team owned by Harry Melling and his son Mark Melling. Harry Melling ran the team from its inception in 1982, to mid-1999. When Harry died after a heart attack in mid-1999, ...
rear tire changer in a pit road accident at
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
the previous November.
*Changing tires under caution was banned, under any circumstances. Any tire changed under caution (even if it was flat) resulted in a one-lap penalty.
*The signboard man was banned from standing in the pit lane. Instead, teams would utilize signboards on a long pole (i.e. the "lollipop") held by a crew member behind the wall.
*Each car was given a sticker based on their starting position. The sticker was placed on the steering wheel for easy reference. The pit stall selection was staggered to prevent drivers in neighboring stalls from pitting at the same time:
**Cars starting in odd-numbered positions were given a blue sticker with a white 1 on it; their pit stalls were selected from the odd-numbered stalls.
**Cars starting in even-numbered positions were given an orange sticker with a white 2 on it; their pit stalls were selected from the even-numbered stalls.
*After a restart from a caution, the pits would be closed. On the second green lap, a blue flag was waved at the entrance of pit road, allowing only the cars with the blue stickers (odd) to pit for tires. On the next time around, an orange flag would be waved, allowing the cars with orange stickers (even) to pit for tires.
*A new pit road speed limit was implemented at all times. During cautions, a second pace car was added, which would lead the cars entering the pits, and set the speed down the pit lane.
*Penalties were severe: a 1-lap penalty for changing tires during a caution or pitting with the wrong group (blue/orange). A 15-second penalty for overshooting the pit stall, or for crew members jumping over the wall too soon.
The new pit procedures changed the complexity of the race. Teams considered it too time-consuming to change four tires since it had to be done under green (at the time, a four-tire pit stop would take roughly 20–25 seconds). For an example of how the rules adversely affected the racing,
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash d ...
ran the entire 500 miles on the same left side tires.
Bill Elliott suffered a flat tire early on, and was forced to limp around the track at a reduced pace for two laps before he was allowed to pit, effectively eliminating him from the competition.
By April, the rules were changed. At Bristol, the blue/orange procedure was used only for cautions. The pits were closed at the onset of caution, then opened after the pace car had picked up the leader and the field was sufficiently "packed-up" (that usually took one lap). Once the pits were opened, blue sticker cars would pit the first lap by, with orange sticker cars pitting the next time around. On the restarts, blue sticker cars started on the inside and orange sticker cars on the outside. Lapped cars went to the rear. The blue/orange rule was eliminated during green flag stops. By the next week at North Wilkesboro, the blue/orange rule was scrapped. In its place, once the pits were opened during a yellow, lead lap cars only were allowed to pit on the first lap under caution, while lapped cars had to wait until the second lap.
After a few weeks, the rules were relaxed further. The pit road speed limit and use of the "lollipop" style signboard were the significant changes made permanent (and remain to this day). The second pace car for the pit lane was eliminated. Drivers would be required to gauge their own pit lane speed (by monitoring their RPMs) and officials enforced the infractions with a system similar to
VASCAR. The rule closing pit road when the caution comes out also remained in place, as well as only permitting lead lap cars to pit on the first caution lap (lapped cars on the second).
Race
The start
Davey Allison
David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
led the first lap from
Dale Earnhardt, who took the lead entering Turn 1. On the backstretch, Earnhardt obliterated a
seagull. This adversely affected his car's water temperature, raising it at one point to . It forced Earnhardt's team to make emergency repairs under one of the many early cautions in the race.
Early yellows
Sprint car
Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...
champion
Sammy Swindell
Samuel Alan "Slammin Sammy" Swindell (born October 26, 1955) is an American sprint car driver. He is a three-time champion and four-time runner-up in the World of Outlaws series; he has also competed in NASCAR and Champ Car competition and attem ...
spun on the backstretch to bring out the first
yellow flag. Five laps after the restart,
Rick Wilson and
Greg Sacks
Greg Sacks (born November 3, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka.
Sacks has spent most of his career as ...
collided in Turn 1, ending Sacks' day. Just after the restart,
Bill Elliott cut a tire, but had to wait for the proper lap for a pit stop. On lap 31,
Jimmy Spencer's engine blew, filling
the car
''The Car'' is a 1977 American horror film directed by Elliot Silverstein and written by Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack and Lane Slate. The film stars James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley and Ronny Cox, along with real-life sisters Kim ...
with smoke. A
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...
also erupted just after
Spencer climbed out to catch his breath. Meanwhile, turn 4 was coated with
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
, gathering
Jeff Purvis
Jeffery Purvis (born February 19, 1959) is a former race car driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He is a 15-year veteran with four wins and 25 top-five finishes. He suffered a massive brain injury after a 2002 crash and has not run a NASCAR-sanc ...
,
Jimmy Means
James Means (born May 29, 1950) is a retired American racing driver and owner, who competed in the Winston Cup Series as an owner-driver. He is currently an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Jimmy Means Racing.
He compe ...
,
Phil Barkdoll, and again
Sammy Swindell
Samuel Alan "Slammin Sammy" Swindell (born October 26, 1955) is an American sprint car driver. He is a three-time champion and four-time runner-up in the World of Outlaws series; he has also competed in NASCAR and Champ Car competition and attem ...
.
Barkdoll would soon spin again in Turn 4, blowing out his
windshield
The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. ...
in the spin and nearly flipping. The windshield slid across the track and into
Ken Schrader
Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...
's bumper and air dam, puncturing the radiator and causing a lengthy repair that eliminated the three-time Daytona 500 polesitter from contention. 1990 Winston Cup runner-up
Mark Martin
Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...
moved through the field quickly in the early going, but was also eliminated from contention as the center section of the car's rear gearing sheared completely off of the driveshaft, causing him to spend many laps behind the wall.
Long green flag run
On Lap 75,
Geoff Bodine
Geoffrey Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florid ...
,
Eddie Bierschwale
Eddie Bierschwale (born June 29, 1959) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver from San Antonio, Texas. He made his Cup debut in 1983 in a car owned by his father Don. In 1985 he got a full-season ride with D.K. Ulrich and stayed with the team unti ...
and
Phil Barkdoll ran three-wide coming out of turn 4. Bierschwale slid up the track and into Bodine's left-rear quarter panel, sending Bodine into a spin and into
Jim Sauter
Jim Sauter (June 1, 1943 – October 31, 2014) was an American stock car racing driver from Necedah, Wisconsin. He formerly raced in all three of NASCAR's national series, and is best known for having been a test driver for the International Ra ...
, who was slowing to enter the pits. The caution flag came out and all four cars continued in the race. However, Bodine spent several laps in the pits because the rim of his left-rear wheel had been so badly warped in the collision that the crew could not remove the lug nuts to change the now flat left-rear tire. This incident effectively eliminated Bodine from contention and he later retired with an oil leak.
This would be the last caution flag for over 100 laps, and the new pit rules confused the running order during the long
green flag
Green Flag or Green Flag Rescue, is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider, which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971, as the National Breakdown Recovery Club, as an alternative to the AA and RAC, it used ...
run. The lead changed hands many times, as
Dale Earnhardt,
Joe Ruttman
Joe Ruttman (born October 28, 1944) is a retired American stock car racing driver who competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series. With 13 career wins in the Truck Series he is currently tied for 13t ...
,
Davey Allison
David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
,
Sterling Marlin
Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...
,
Rick Mast
Richard K. Mast (born March 4, 1957) is a former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series before retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College.
Early and Busch career
M ...
,
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash d ...
,
Ernie Irvan
Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A retired NASCAR competitor, he is best remembered for his comeback after a serious head ...
, and
Darrell Waltrip had all pitted on varying laps.
Late-race drama
With 16 laps to go,
Richard Petty and
off-road racer
Robby Gordon
Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...
tangled on the backstretch.
Polesitter and leader
Davey Allison
David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
pitted with the leaders, allowing
Rusty Wallace
Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...
to take the lead. He was quickly shuffled off of the lead on the restart, and was touched by
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash d ...
in Turn 4, which broke the car loose and sent him into a spin.
Rick Mast
Richard K. Mast (born March 4, 1957) is a former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series before retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College.
Early and Busch career
M ...
narrowly avoided Wallace, but
Darrell Waltrip, unsighted, collided with Wallace's left rear quarter panel, before Wallace slammed into the inside retaining wall, eliminating both cars. Seconds later,
Derrike Cope
Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He is known for his win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 f ...
lost control entering the tri-oval while trying to avoid Waltrip's damaged car. Cope spun across the infield and back across the track almost at the start/finish line and into the path of
Hut Stricklin
Waymond Lane "Hut" Stricklin Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver.
Racing career
Stricklin grew up in Calera, Alabama. He married Pam Allison, the daughter of NASCAR legend Donnie Allison after the ...
. With nowhere to go, Stricklin slammed nearly head-on into the rear of Cope's car, sending him bouncing off
Harry Gant's car and down the straightaway with no brakes and virtually no steering. At the final restart on lap 193, the order was Earnhardt, Irvan, Petty, Ruttman, Marlin, Mast, and Allison, the only cars remaining on the lead lap. Leader
Dale Earnhardt was passed by
Ernie Irvan
Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A retired NASCAR competitor, he is best remembered for his comeback after a serious head ...
a lap after the
green flag
Green Flag or Green Flag Rescue, is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider, which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971, as the National Breakdown Recovery Club, as an alternative to the AA and RAC, it used ...
returned, and
Davey Allison
David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
made up four positions in one lap to run third. Irvan began to pull away while Earnhardt spent several laps battling
Davey Allison
David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
for 2nd. With 2 laps to go, Earnhardt got
loose
Loose may refer to:
Places
* Loose, Germany
* Loose, Kent, a parish and village in southeast England
People
* Loose (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Loose'' (B'z album), a 1995 album by B'z
* ''Loose'' (Crazy Horse album ...
while running side by side under Allison exiting turn 2. The two cars tapped each other, pushing Allison into the outside wall briefly before the car spun into the infield towards Lake Lloyd, slamming into the earthen embankment as Allison had done early in the 1989 race. Earnhardt spun down the backstretch and into the path of
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash d ...
, who slammed into Earnhardt's right front fender, launching the car into the air briefly before it landed back on its wheels.
Ernie Irvan
Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A retired NASCAR competitor, he is best remembered for his comeback after a serious head ...
coasted to the
checkers
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
to become the first
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
n since
Marvin Panch
Marvin Panch (May 28, 1926December 31, 2015) was an American stock car racing driver. Winner of the 1961 Daytona 500 and 1966 World 600, he won seventeen NASCAR Grand National Series events during a 17-year career.
Early career
Born in Menom ...
in
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
to win the
Daytona 500.
Results
References
{{NASCAR on CBS
Daytona 500
Daytona 500
NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway