May 4, 1986 — Fan Steals The Pace Car
An intoxicated Alabama resident decided to take the Pontiac Trans-Am pace car for a spin at Talladega Superspeedway prior to the start of the 1986 Winston 500.
A high-speed chase ensued with the 20-year-old driver reaching speeds topping 100 mph before he was stopped after safety and maintenance trucks formed a blockade across the track’s fourth turn.
After being stopped, the car was swarmed by track personnel and law enforcement deputies. Some 125,000 cheering fans saw the perpetrator handcuffed and placed in the back of an Alabama Highway Patrol vehicle.
Steve Waid, longtime executive editor of NASCAR Scene newspaper, remembers that day well.
“We were in the press box and upon first glance couldn’t figure out what was going on because the parade laps had already been completed,” Waid said. “We were just minutes away from firing the cars and taking the green flag. All the sudden the highway patrol cars with blue lights flashing took off after the pace car and we knew something was up. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. They finally got him stopped after he took a lap around the place. They got this shirtless guy out of the car and got him on the ground and gave him a free ride in a state-owned squad car.”
Feb. 23, 1986 — A Clear View
Dale Earnhardt usually didn’t take no for an answer. So when his team owner, Richard Childress, told him he couldn’t pit to clean his windshield during the Miller High Life 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, Earnhardt took matters into his own hands.
“We’re early in the race at the old Richmond track and there’s mud everywhere after a weekend of rain,” said longtime RCR crew member Danny “Chocolate” Myers. “There’s a caution after a bunch of cars spun and they kicked mud all over Dale’s car and up on his windshield. Earnhardt comes on the radio and says, ‘I need to pit.’ Richard says, ‘I just don’t think we can because we’ll lose all that track position.’ Then Earnhardt says, ‘OK, I’ll be off the radio for a few minutes.’
“So then we see him come by our pit and he’s sitting on the door outside the car cleaning off the windshield and he’s driving with his knees. That was pretty amazing to watch.”
June 6, 1993 — Too Close for Comfort
Possibly the most bizarre scenario in NASCAR history came at Pocono Raceway when a fan crossed the short chute during the 108th lap of the Budweiser 500 Cup Series race.
As eventual race winner Kyle Petty and sixth-place finisher Davey Allison approached at a high rate of speed while battling for the lead, a drunken fan sprinted toward the track with the goal of crossing the racing surface in front of them.
Petty spotted the man and waved frantically to Allison behind him. In a matter of seconds, the man went from the inside edge of the track to vaulting over the outside wall.
From there, the man got lost in the woods and couldn’t find his way out. He started a fire so a Pennsylvania state police helicopter could find him. The computer programmer with no prior criminal record was charged with arson, risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief, trespassing, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
At that time, NASCAR didn’t require spotters and Petty and Allison were on their own.
“Not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a fan would be standing on the race track in the middle of a race,” Petty said. “We were coming straight at him and didn’t know what he was going to do. But fortunately, he made it over the outside wall. Was I expecting to see a fan out on the race track? Absolutely not. They got him and hauled him off to jail.”
Feb. 28, 2012 — Montoya Hits a Jet Dryer
With 40 laps remaining in the season-opening Daytona 500, which had been delayed by rain, Juan Pablo Montoya lost control of his car during the seventh of 10 caution periods and struck a jet dryer that was on the race track, causing an instant explosion.
Nearly 200 gallons of kerosene poured onto the track in the third turn. Neither Montoya nor the safety workers in the vehicle were injured. After a two-hour delay, the race resumed with Matt Kenseth being crowned the winner.
“Well, you know, things do cross your mind, but you would think after 65 years and running all the races that NASCAR has run over the past six-and-a-half decades that you’ve seen about everything, and a lot of what you’ve seen gives us the experience that causes us to have the safety summit and the training programs and everything,” said NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton. “But you do think about, ‘Oh, my gosh, if that can happen, what-else-can-happen-type thing.’ That gives you pause to sit and try to figure out what else could happen so that you can be as ready for it as you can.”