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 46 of a 75-part series on the history of NASCAR as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News and SPEED SPORT Magazine.
Without the valleys, we would not enjoy the peaks. This is true in life and in racing.
The 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season offered sometimes-unwanted proof of this premise.
The year began on a very high note for second-year car owner and former Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs and driver Dale Jarrett. Dale Earnhardt led Jarrett and rookie Jeff Gordon under the green flag on the final restart of the Daytona 500 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
On lap 198, Earnhardt pulled Gordon past Jarrett, who now held the point. Then, Jarrett went outside for second. The winning move came in tum four of lap 199 when Jarrett past Earnhardt to give Gibbs his first victory as a car owner.
Earnhardt, winless in 15 starts in the 500, was second while Gordon, who won a 125-mile qualifying race, was fifth.
Rusty Wallace recovered from a horrifying end-over-end crash at Daytona to best Earnhardt at North Carolina Motor Speedway the following Sunday. Davey Allison won at Richmond (Va.) Raceway with a record average speed of 107.709 mph.
Morgan Shepherd got better fuel mileage than Ernie Irvan or Wallace and claimed victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, while Earnhardt averaged a record 139.947 mph in winning the 400-mile event at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Tragedy befell the Cup Series prior to the spring event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. While flying to Bristol after an autograph session at a Hooters Restaurant in Knoxville, Tenn., the twin-engine propeller plane carrying Alan Kulwicki and three other persons crashed near Blountville, Tenn., killing all aboard. The defending Cup Series champion was 38 years old.
“We grew up together, me and Mark Martin and Alan racing the short tracks together,” said Wallace in the April 7 National Speed Sport News. “I can’t get my head right. I never cry, but the guy’s got me in tears. We raced hard and beat each other and did everything in those ASA days.”
Wallace honored the champion after winning the Bristol race with a Polish victory lap.
Kulwicki’s trademark wrong-way victory lap would follow each of Wallace’s victories this season.
Wallace’s Wreck At Talladega
Wallace won again at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway in and took the point lead. His third consecutive victory came at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. At Talladega Superspeedway, Wallace was involved in one of the greatest finishes in Winston Cup history and, unfortunately, one of the most horrific accidents.
Earnhardt led Wallace, Martin and lrvan into the final lap. Lrvan ducked low to grab second next to Earnhardt. The two drivers banged, but lrvan broke free and towed Jimmy Spencer along with him for the 1-2 finish.
Meanwhile, coming off tum four, Earnhardt and Wallace were dueling for position when Earnhardt tapped Wallace, causing the No. 2 car to spin before flying into the air and rolling 15 times down the track apron in front of the grandstand. Wallace’s car crossed the finish line sixth while airborne. Wallace suffered a concussion and a broken left wrist.
Geoff Bodine won at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Earnhardt’s sixth-place finish pushed him back into the point lead as Wallace began a mid-season slide with a 38th-place finish.
The Winston also fell to Earnhardt, who added the Coca-Cola 600 to his victory total despite a 15-second penalty for speeding on pit road and a one-lap penalty for rough driving. At Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway one week later, Earnhardt won for the 56th time in his career.
Kyle Petty triumphed at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway, while Ricky Rudd won at Michigan Int’l Speedway. Earnhardt capped the first half of the season with a victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.
Davey Allison, 32
Another one of NASCAR’s young stars perished on July 13 in a helicopter crash at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Thirty-two-year-old Davey Allison was attempting to land his Hughes 500 helicopter near the infield garage when it crashed. The 1987 Cup Series rookie-of-the-year died of massive head injuries.
Fortunately, Red Farmer, who was a passenger, survived.
Allison was survived by his wife, Liz, and their children, Krista Marie and Robert. The tragedy robbed Bobby and Judy Allison of another one of their four children. Less than a year earlier, Clifford Allison was killed while practicing his Busch Series car at Michigan Int’l Speedway.
Allison was honored at Pocono the following week. While the Robert Yates team withdrew the Texaco No. 28 car from the race, each car carried a No. 28 sticker next to the No. 7 sticker honoring Kulwicki. After his victory, Earnhardt ran a Polish victory lap while holding a No. 28 flag aloft.
“You’re happy to win, but with the death of Davey hanging over it, it’s tough: said the winner in the July 21 NSSN. “We stopped after the finish and our jack man, David Smith, said a prayer for Bobby, Liz, Judy and the whole family. Then we took a victory lap for Davey and for Alan.”
The following Sunday, Earnhardt won again at Talladega.
Martin Picks Up Speed
Mark Martin earned his first victory of the season at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l. It was his first road course victory. Martin won again at Michigan Int’l Speedway.
“Things are going our way. Before we won at Watkins Glen last week, I would have given anything for just one win,” said the No. 6 Ford driver in the Aug. 18 NSSN. “But as crazy hard as I was running out there today, I guess you get greedy for more.”
Martin won again at Bristol despite falling two laps behind early in the race. His Southern 500 victory at Darlington tied him for the modern-era record with four consecutive victories. Still, he was third in points, 349 behind Earnhardt and 33 behind second-place Wallace.
Wallace reduced the margin between the five-time champion and himself with a Dover victory and closed to within 181 of Earnhardt, who was a disappointing 27th.
“I’m going to be relentless,” said Wallace, whose string of five finishes lower than 20th in six races allowed Earnhardt to pull away in the championship race. “I’m just going to drive my guts out.”
Wallace gained 99 points at Martinsville as he finished second to Irvan and Earnhardt dropped out after 440 turns due to rear-end problems.
“It’s hard to explain things like this,” said the owner of the No. 3 car, Richard Childress. “Nobody is beating us, and we’re not beating ourselves. Things are happening that are not going in our favor.”
Earnhardt finished second at North Wilkesboro, but Wallace claimed the victory and beat Earnhardt on the track for the seventh consecutive race. Earnhardt led Wallace by 72 points.
Neither Earnhardt, nor Wallace had anything for Irvan at Charlotte. He won for the second time since replacing Allison aboard Yates’ No. 28 machine. Wallace finished third and Earnhardt left Charlotte with an 82-point advantage.
Wallace returned the favor at North Carolina Motor Speedway, edging Earnhardt for the triumph. However, his strong late-season run looked to be too little, too late after a 19th-place finish at Phoenix combined with Earnhardt’s fourth-place run, put Earnhardt 126 points to the good entering the finale at Atlanta.
All Earnhardt needed to do was finish 34th or better to secure his sixth championship. Wallace could not control Earnhardt’s performance, but he did all he could, winning his Cup Series best 10th race of the season.
However, Earnhardt’s 21st top-10 finish of the year, gave him his sixth title, one short of tying Richard Petty’s record.
“I have always looked up to Richard Petty,” said Earnhardt in the Nov. 17 NSSN. “He set that record as well as others, and now we have the opportunity to tie this one. This is what sports is all about.”
Jeff Gordon used 11 top-10 finishes to become rookie of the year, while Elliott was again the Most Popular Driver.
In Winston West competition, Rick Carelli emerged while Steve Grissom won the Busch Grand National championship. Dick McCabe won his second straight BGN North title and Rodney Orr took the Goody’s Dash Series season honors. The Featherlite Modified Tour season winner was Rick Fuller, while Jody Ridley won the Winston All Pro Series for the third consecutive season.
Kirk Rogers was the Winston Northwest Towing titlist and Ron Hornaday Jr. reigned over the Southwest Tour.