AND THERE’S A FIGHT
The 21st annual Daytona 500, run on Feb. 18, 1979, at Daytona Int’l Speedway, launched a multi-year journey that saw NASCAR racing transition from a regional phenomenon into a mainstream sport.
With CBS televising the 500-mile race flag-to-flag for the first time, NASCAR got its first “water-cooler moment” as viewers gathered at work the next day to talk about the race’s dramatic final lap – and the fight that followed.
Donnie Allison led the way as the white flag waved with Cale Yarborough drafting closely behind. Going down the back straightaway, Yarborough attempted to pass Allison on the inside, but Allison drove low to block. Yarbrough eventually ran out of asphalt and the two cars tangled and crashed.
As Allison and Yarborough’s wrecked race cars slid to a stop inside turn three, Richard Petty swept by the carnage and held off Darrell Waltrip for his sixth Daytona 500 victory.
CBS announcers Ken Squier and David Hobbs were recapping the final moments when Squier suddenly said, “And there’s a fight between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison.”
The cameras immediately zoomed in as Allison and Yarborough, along with Bobby Allison who had stopped to check on his brother, vented their frustrations.
WINSTON SPONSORSHIP
One of the most significant events in NASCAR history occurred on April 1, 1970, but went virtually unnoticed by the racing community and wasn’t reported in the pages of National Speed Sport News.
The event took place in Washington, D.C., where President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act. Included in the bill was a provision that took effect of Jan. 2, 1971, banning cigarette advertising from television.
Even though no one realized it at the time, the ban would forever change the motorsports industry as tobacco companies redirected large portions of their advertising budgets to racing sponsorships.
At a December meeting of NASCAR track operators and publicists, officials of NASCAR and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. revealed that NASCAR Grand National competitors would race for the Winston Cup and a $100,000 prize in 1971.
NASCAR President “Big Bill” France said, “The $100,000 posted by Reynolds for the Winston Cup will assure the Grand National division of one of the largest point funds in automobile racing and one of the largest in NASCAR’s 23-year history.”
Over the next three decades, Winston pumped millions of dollars into NASCAR. The sponsorship ended following the 2003 season amid an onslaught of lawsuits and anti-tobacco legislation.
BRICKYARD BOUND
Another milestone moment took place on June 22-23, 1992, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, more than two years before NASCAR’s official debut at the 2.5-mile track.
Nine top teams were invited to participate in what was billed as a two-day “tire test” at open-wheel racing’s marquee track. And while officials were tight-lipped about the possibility of a future NASCAR event, most knew the test was a preview of things to come.
“I know we’re testing tires, and the only reason I’ve ever tested tires is because they’re going to race somewhere,” said Dale Earnhardt. “You don’t test a tire for here to run at Charlotte, so I imagine we’re testing tires here to run here in the future.”
The event drew large, enthusiastic crowds with an estimated 30,000 fans in the stands on Monday and another 40,000 viewing the simulated race that ended Tuesday’s session.
“To my knowledge we haven’t seen any negatives,” said NASCAR President Bill France Jr. “From NASCAR’s standpoint, it would be a neat deal to run here someday. It would be one of our great events.”
Officials eventually worked out the details and Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 on Aug. 6, 1994.