"They took this one away from me! They took this one away from me! We
\nhad it won and they took it away from me!"<\/p>\n
Well, Ricky Rudd won’t be saying that about this Sears Point race. He may
\nstill be PO’ed over the 1991 running, but now after the bitter pills of
\nRichmond, Dover, and Pocono losses, the breaks fell his way this time. His road
\nrace record now stands at two Riversides, two Watkins Glens, and now two Sears
\nPoints – and has Larry McReynolds started noting how he was Rudd’s crew chief
\nfor the first Sears point win?<\/p>\n
While Rudd was swigging bubbly, Jerry Nadeau was eating smoke and the steam
\ncoming out of his ears after the rear end snapped with victory two laps away.
\nCoupled with John Andretti’s stellar run and another nickel-&-dime effort by
\nKyle Petty, and we’ve seen the biggest contrast for Petty Enterprises so far
\nthis year – in contrast to 2000 and 2001, the Petty team had not one, but two
\ncars in victory contention.<\/p>\n
Also having a good day was Richard Childress. First Jeff Green, the one least
\nexpected to run that well, finished fifth, then both his other teams (Robby
\nGordon 11th and Kevin Harvick 14th) had solid finishes despite Robby Gordon’s
\noff-course excursions.<\/p>\n
For the points leaders, they can’t get out of that place fast enough –
\nSterling Marlin, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson each broke
\nsomething important, and when it was all done the point margin was shaved, but
\nnot by much.<\/p>\n
Also not having much fun were the two road race interlopers – Le Mans class
\nwinner Ron Fellows could only manage a 25th while Boris "You can call me
\nBadenov" Said had a Rocky-&-Bullwinkle-esque controversy with John
\nAndretti and later broke. So will Boris have the last laugh when he races the
\nnext NASCAR road race? Will he get paid for it? Will he even appear on WEEI
\nRadio when the Cup cars race at NHIS? We’ll find out next time in ROAD WAGE or
\nWATKINS GLEN ORDWAY.<\/p>\n
Slipping back into serious mode, the Sears Point excursion brings to mind a
\nunique aspect of the sport’s history – despite the predominance of ovals in
\ngeneral and super speedways in particular, NASCAR has quite a reputation for
\nroad racing.<\/p>\n
Road races were first run during the 1950s, and the first winner on a road
\ncourse was Tim Flock, at the monstrous 4.1 miler at Elkhart Lake, WI in 1956.<\/p>\n
Then in 1958 Riverside International Raceway ran the Crown America 500 for
\nGrand National cars, an event won by Eddie Gray. Lee Petty was one of a handful
\nof east-coast regulars to make the trip to Riverside and finished fourth. The
\nRiverside road course was not used for Grand National again until 1961, when
\nLloyd Dane won a 100-miler. Two years later the track began a run of Grand
\nNational events that made Riverside a Winston Cup staple for 25 years.<\/p>\n
For eighteen of those years the Western 500 was the season-opening
\n"big" race of the schedule and in 1970 became the literal
\nseason-opener. Dan Gurney, driving the Holman-Moody Ford, won the inaugural
\nWestern 500, then in Wood Brothers machinery Gurney monopolized the event for
\nmost of the ’60s, with Rufus Parnell – aka Parnelli – Jones breaking the string
\nin 1967 in a Woods Mercury.<\/p>\n
The track ran two races in 1963, and Darel Dieringer drove Bill Stroppe’s
\nMercury to victory in the Golden State 400 in November 1963. For the rest of the
\ndecade, however, the January event was the only stop for NASCAR’s big league.
\nThe Golden State 400 returned in June 1970 and Richard Petty drove a Plymouth
\nSuperbird to a dominant win.<\/p>\n
When RJR signed on as sponsor of the Grand National series, they also
\nsponsored two races – Talladega’s May race and the Western 500 at Riverside. The
\n1971 Western 500 thus was the very first Winston Cup race, and was won by
\nprivateer Ray Elder. Elder did the trick again a year later at the Golden State
\n400.<\/p>\n
Racing’s greatest raced at the twisting course. Richard Petty won the Western
\n500 in 1969 for his first win in a Ford. A.J. Foyt had a very checkered career
\nat Riverside, tumbling brutally in the ’65 Western 500, then winning the event
\nin Jack Bowsher’s Ford in 1970. Petty won the 500 again for his first win with
\nSTP sponsorship. Mark Donohue drove Roger Penske’s Matador to the win in 1973.
\nCale Yarborough spun off the track on the opening lap in ’74, then overhauled
\nthe field for the win.<\/p>\n
Bobby Allison had signed on to drive Holman-Moody Mercurys in 1971 and had
\nbagged three straight wins, but the team didn’t have a road racing car handy, so
\nBobby saddled up his old Dodge from his Hueytown shops and at the Golden State
\n400 won his fourth straight Winston Cup event. Bobby won at Riverside again in
\n1973 – again in a self-owned, Hueytown-garaged racecar – and won the Western 500
\nin the Penske Matador in ’75.<\/p>\n
David Pearson had a lousy reputation as a road racer, but that ended in 1976
\nwhen he swept both Riversides, then won the ensuing 1977 Western 500. Richard
\nPetty broke David’s streak that June, for what turned out to be the 63rd and
\nfinal 1-2 finish for both.<\/p>\n
Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison’s bitter point rivalry was reflected at
\nRiverside 1979-81. Waltrip won two straight Western 500s ’79-80, then won two
\nstraight Golden State 400s ’80-1. Bobby Allison then won two straight Western
\n500s, both in 1981 – and thus held a unique record of winning at a track that
\nheld three Winston Cup events in a season (the closing of Ontario Motor Speedway
\nin March of ’81 forced the third Riverside event).<\/p>\n
Then in the 1980s came the surge of new road racers. Tim Richmond, Ricky
\nRudd, and Bill Elliott all bagged their breakthrough wins in Winston Cup at the
\ncourse. Terry Labonte smashed the Turn Nine wall so hard in ’82 there was
\nserious fear he’d never race again, but in ’84 he won the 400, then did it again
\nin ’85. Geoff Bodine won the Western 500 in ’84 for Hendrick Motorsports’ first
\nroad course win, then Tim Richmond added two straight Riversides 1986-7.<\/p>\n
But the curtain fell in 1988, as encroaching housing and poor decision-making
\ndoomed the track’s economic feasibility. Rusty Wallace won the final two events
\nat Riverside, and the place is now a shopping mall parking lot.<\/p>\n
In 1957 the Grand National cars raced on a sprawling road course in upstate
\nNew York. Buck Baker won this Watkins Glen event. Elsewhere in the Empire State,
\nanother road course, Bridgehampton Race Circuit, saw the Grand Nationals arrive
\nin 1963; the race was won by Richard Petty, his first win on a track above a
\nhalf-mile.<\/p>\n
Watkins Glen and Bridgehampton were run within a week of each other in 1964,
\nand Billy Wade drove Bud Moore’s Mercury to victory in both; the two wins would
\nbe his second and fourth (a win at Islip’s short track was sandwiched between
\nthe two road races while victory at Old Bridge, NJ preceded them), and
\ntragically The Glen would be his final win.<\/p>\n
Watkins Glen was raced again in 1965, this time with Marvin Panch taking the
\nwin in a Wood Brothers Ford. Bridgehampton ran one more NASCAR big league event,
\nin 1966, the win going to David Pearson in the Cotton Owens Dodge.<\/p>\n
The Glen became home of F1 and Indycars, but in the mid-80s was purchased by
\nInternational Speedway Corporation, freshened up, and became a NASCAR date. Tim
\nRichmond took the win that August of 1986. A year later Rusty Wallace pitted on
\nthe final lap yet was still not to be denied the win. In 1988 he wasn’t as
\nfortunate, as he got into the grass vainly trying to pass Ricky Rudd at the
\nfinish. Rusty won there again in 1989, then in ’90 Rudd was ahead of a chaotic
\nfinal lap for his only win of the season.<\/p>\n
The course not only ran Winston Cup cars; Grand National cars and Craftsman
\nTrucks also took to the track. Terry Labonte won in 1991 for a much-needed
\nmorale boost for his career. Ernie Irvan won in 1992, then Bill Elliott needed a
\nshot in the arm for his season and got it in ’93.<\/p>\n
Canadian native Ron Fellows then briefly became The Man, winning in Grand
\nNational and Craftsman Trucks with some frequency, usually in Joe Nemechek
\nracing machinery. In 1999 he went for the Glen double, winning in the Truck,
\nthen dominating the GN race, but on the last lap Dale Earnhardt Jr. shot past
\nfor the win.<\/p>\n
In Winston Cup, tragedy struck in 1991, as J.D. McDuffie shot off the
\nbackstretch, slammed the tire barrier, flipped, and landed on Jimmy Means’ car.
\nEarlier that week Alan Kulwicki, Ricky Rudd, Harry Gant, Ken Schrader, Dave
\nMarcis, and Hut Stricklin had crashed in Turn Five, and Michael Waltrip broke
\nhis shoulder after crashing there. For 1992 an inner loop was added, which made
\nfor a great spectator area but did nothing special for ability to pass. Kyle
\nPetty won the event that year.<\/p>\n
Then in 1993 Mark Martin dominated, lost ground on a long stop, then roared
\nthrough the field, escaped Kyle and Dale Earnhardt’s crash, and won the race;
\nsome of the tires used in Mark’s late-race rally were confiscated from teammate
\nWally Dallenbach’s pit by Jack Roush; Dallenbach harangued Roush for it and
\nwound up quitting the team. The next year Martin dominated again, then made it
\nthree straight by gunning down Dallenbach in 1995.<\/p>\n
The streak ended in 1996. Dale Earnhardt, nursing injuries from Talladega,
\nwon the pole and printed T-shirts saying, "It hurt so good." He led
\nthe most laps but faltered at the end and finished sixth, while Geoff Bodine
\ntook what would be his final Winston Cup win.<\/p>\n
A year later Bodine looked ready to grab another win, but Jeff Gordon jumped
\na late restart and took the win. Gordon then dominated in 1998 and again in
\n1999, but in 2000 he tried to pass Tony Stewart, tried to pinch him to the
\nguardrail, got into it himself, and the two argued at Stewart’s trailer
\nafterward. Steve Park then led 55 of 90 laps for his first Winston Cup win. Jeff
\nGordon got back on track by winning in 2001 after Robby Gordon’s car erupted in
\nflame while leading.<\/p>\n
With Riverside’s closure, in 1989 NASCAR found a new road course on which to
\nrace – Sears Point International Raceway. Ricky Rudd took the inaugural win,
\nthen Rusty Wallace did the trick in 1990. Controversy then exploded – Ricky Rudd
\nspun out Davey Allison coming to the white flag, and was immediately black flagged;
\nDavey got the win by crossing the line second, and Rudd threw a typically
\nself-important and boorish fit.<\/p>\n
The next year Ernie Irvan, in the Morgan-McClure Chevrolet, jumped the start
\nand was black flagged, but he passed the entire field for the win the day after
\nthe passing of Big Bill France.<\/p>\n
For 1993 Irvan, Rudd, and Geoff Bodine took a back seat to Dale Earnhardt,
\nbut Earnhardt spun and the three went at it quite hard; at one point all three
\nled in a single lap and tried to race three-wide through the final turn. Bodine
\nultimately won as chaos erupted behind the top three on the final lap.<\/p>\n
Irvan hooked up with Robert Yates for 1994 and dominated Sears Point, then in
\n’95 Dale Earnhardt shot down Mark Martin on the final lap for his only win on a
\nroad course. After Rusty Wallace won in ’96 Mark Martin ended a career slump by
\ntaking the Sears Point win in ’97.<\/p>\n
Jeff Gordon then put lights out in ’98. The track’s Carousel turn was closed
\nand a short chute added; the race became more exciting as a reuslt and Gordon
\nbattled Bobby Hamilton with considerable intensity for the win. Gordon dominated
\nin ’99 as a spectacular melee involving Ricky Rudd and Ward Burton stopped the
\nrace with some five to go. Gordon won again in 2000, but in 2001 Robby Gordon
\nand Tony Stewart gunned ahead of Gordon; Robby was then waylaid by the lapped
\ncar of Kevin Harvick and Stewart pounced to the win.<\/p>\n
So NASCAR’s road racing legacy has been quite involving. While such tracks
\nare realistically not to NASCAR’s nature, they do have a place in Winston Cup.<\/p>\n