Editor’s Note: NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023. SPEED SPORT was founded in 1934 and was already on its way to becoming America’s Motorsports Authority when NASCAR was formed. As a result, we will bring you Part 43 of a 75-part series on the history of NASCAR as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News and SPEED SPORT Magazine.
Dale Earnhardt clearly had the superior car. After 192 laps of the 1990 Daytona 500 he held a 28-second lead over the field which got close to him only because of a lap-193 caution flag.
On the restart, he sped away, apparently untouchable. Then the unthinkable happened.
Entering turn three of the final lap, the No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Lumina ran over a piece of bell housing, cutting the right-rear tire and forcing the car high on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Earnhardt’s misfortune gave Derrike Cope the chance to take the lead en route to his first Winston Cup victory. Earnhardt limped home in fifth.
“I gave it to Derrike. He didn’t beat me. We beat him all day,” said Earnhardt, who led 155 of the 200 laps. “The best car doesn’t always win.
“This is the biggest buildup and the biggest letdown I’ve ever had in racing,” he added in the Feb. 21 issue of National Speed Sport News. “We just ran a quarter of a lap short on luck, that’s all.”
Luck had nothing to do with Mark Martin’s ascension to NASCAR Winston Cup’s ranks. The three-time American Speed Ass’n late model champion entered Winston Cup competition in 1981 and won two pole positions in his five starts before losing his sponsorship. He returned to Winston Cup the following season with his own team, but started only 16 races in 1982.
“When I left Winston Cup racing in 1982, I was a broken man I was broke emotionally, physically and financially,” Martin said. “It broke me in half to have lost like that, but it ‘was a character-builder.'”
The same toughness allowed Martin to rebuild his career.
First, he returned to ASA from 1984-’86, winning the title again in ’86. Then, his successful run in the NASCAR Busch Grand National series in 1987 got him noticed by team owner Jack Roush, who entered Winston Cup in 1988. Martin was Roush’s first choice as a driver.
“I’m glad it was hard,” Martin said in the Feb. 14 edition of NSSN. “If I had been a success the first time around in Winston Cup racing, I wouldn’t be the Roush driver now and I truly believe this is the car every driver is going to want to race in the 1990s.”
Martin’s Folgers/Valvoline Ford Thunderbird visited victory lane in the second event of the season. Martin took the lead following a two-tire stop on lap 384 and led Earnhardt to the checkered flag at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. However, the victory celebration was dampened after Martin was stripped of 46 points because of an illegal carburetor.
Kyle Petty had a big day of his own on March 4 when he won from the pole at North Carolina Motor Speedway. He led 432 of 492 laps en route to the cumulative Unocal $220,400 bonus awarded to drivers who win a Cup Series race from the pole.
Earnhardt visited victory lane for the 40th time in his career at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won again two weeks later at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Martin was second to Earnhardt in Darlington and second by inches to Davey Allison the following week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Both men finished in the top 10 as brothers Brett and Geoff Bodine won the next two races at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, respectively. Earnhardt became stock car racing’s biggest money winner after triumphing at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
The $98,975 top prize pushed Earnhardt’s career earnings to $10,213,178, just ahead of three-time champion Darrell Waltrip.
Earnhardt won the non-point The Winston and defending Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace captured the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Cope won for the second time in his career at Dover Downs Int’l Speedway and Wallace won again at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
At the same time, Martin’s consistent top-10 finishing and three consecutive poor finishes for Earnhardt, moved Martin into the point lead.
Never down for long, the pilot of the No. 3 car reeled off three victories in four races after Harry Gant became the oldest driver in Winston Cup history to win a race. Gant was 50 years, 158 days old when he won at Pocono Raceway.
Earnhardt led 172 of the 200 laps around the 2.5-mile track, but a flat tire relegated him to 13th at the finish.
Earnhardt’s three victories pulled him to within a single point of Martin.
Martin led the Budweiser at the Glen on the 2.428-mile Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l road course until he was stricken with tire problems. One week later, he won at Michigan Int’l Speedway for the first time, giving him a 48-point lead over Earnhardt with 10 races remaining.
“We didn’t really gain that much (in points),” Martin said. “But with this win everybody is going to stand up and say those guys are serious.”
After leading 350 laps, Earnhardt had tire problems and finished eighth at Bristol, while Ernie Irvan earned his first career victory for Morgan-McClure Racing. Earnhardt won the Southern 500 at Darlington and the September race at Richmond Raceway.
In the Richmond race, Martin was leading with 25 laps remaining, but was forced to pit for a splash of fuel, ceding the point and the victory to his championship rival. Bill Elliott won at Dover with Martin second and Earnhardt third, while Geoff Bodine doubled up at Martinsville, with Earnhardt second and Martin third.
Martin dove under Earnhardt for the lead entering turn three and led the final 38 laps at North Wilkesboro.
“With Dale, you have to strike like a snake. You have to get it done in a hurry and move on,” Martin said. “I didn’t want any of this dueling-for-the-lead stuff. I wanted to get on around him and get gone.”
Allison won again at Charlotte, while both the point leader and his chief foe struggled to 14th and 25th-place finishes, respectively. Kulwicki won at North Carolina Motor Speedway as Earnhardt and Martin each ran out of fuel. Martin led Earnhardt by 45 points with two races remaining.
Earnhardt regained the point lead with a victory at Phoenix Raceway, while Martin finished 10th. Still, Martin could win the championship by earning six points more than Earnhardt in the finale at Atlanta.
It was not to be, as Earnhardt secured his fourth title with a third-place finish behind winner Morgan Shepherd and Geoff Bodine. Martin finished sixth and ended up 26 points behind Earnhardt.
“It’s been a tough year,” said Earnhardt in the Nov. 21 NSSN. “We won nine races, but got behind in points and it’s hard to fight back. There isn’t enough I can say about this team. Those guys just kept coming back.”
Darrell Waltrip made it back-to-hack Most Popular Driver awards in 1990. Rob Moroso won rookie-of-the-year honors, but was killed in an auto accident in October. Bill Schmitt secured his fourth Winston West title and Chuck Bown won the Busch Grand National series.
The Winston All American Challenge series fell to Mike Garvey and Jamie Tomaino won the Winston Modified Tour title. Jamie Aube was the Busch Grand National North champion. Rookie Robert Huffman won the NASCAR Dash Series while John Dillon was the Winston Northwest Tour titlist.