Even though he didn’t win a Cup Series race, Dick May often found himself behind the wheel as a relief driver. In 1975, May wheeled five cars in one race at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway.
Two years later at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Donnie Allison became ill in his car after making a pit stop on lap 138. Allison radioed to team owner Hoss Ellington that he needed a relief driver. Darrell Waltrip hopped aboard Allison’s Chevrolet and held off Skip Manning to win the race.
“It still feels good to see the checkers drop,” Waltrip said. “Even if it’s in someone else’s car.”
Today, Waltrip adds a few details when he tells the story of being the last driver to win in relief.
“I was driving for Gatorade and DiGard Racing at the time and something happened to my car,” Waltrip said. “I had gone to the garage and changed clothes and was headed home. One of Donnie’s crew guys came over and said, ‘Donnie’s sick. We need your help.’ I said, ‘Buddy, I’m going home.’ But I ended up saying yes, so I got back in my driver’s suit, went to pit road and got in the car. That’s when I discovered Donnie had thrown up in his incredibly hot race car. So needless to say, that wasn’t very pleasant.
“I’m in a car I hadn’t ever driven before,” Waltrip continued. “I got to thinking, ‘What the heck am I’m doing this for?’ I got a victory for them. I pull into victory lane and I’m thinking they’re going to be so excited that I won this race for them and what a great deal it is. Everyone is high-fiving each other and having a grand old time and it’s like I’m not even there.
“No one helped me out of the car or thanked me or anything. I finally left victory lane and went to change. Someone from the media asked Hoss Ellington, Donnie’s team owner, if he was going to pay me for winning the race for them? Hoss said, ‘Well, I think I’ll buy him a bottle of Gatorade.’ At least I can say I was the last driver in NASCAR history to win for another driver.”
During a bizarre scenario some 30 years later in 2007, Denny Hamlin found himself becoming a relief driver for his own NASCAR Xfinity Series car at The Milwaukee Mile.
Hamlin was also racing in the NASCAR Cup Series event at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and was commuting between the two tracks.
When Hamlin’s helicopter couldn’t land near the Wisconsin track, he was forced to ride from the nearest airport to the track in a car. He arrived too late and fellow Joe Gibbs Racing driver Aric Almirola started the race.
Hamlin replaced Almirola, who won the pole and was running third, during a caution flag and drove to victory, though, Almirola was credited with the win.
Another pre-race driver change came in November 1953 when Marshall Teague gave up his Hudson Hornet to teammate Herb Thomas at Jacksonville (Fla.) Speedway when Thomas’ Hudson had a mechanical issue. Thomas won the race.
In 1979, Pearson filled in for an injured Dale Earnhardt and collected his 105th and final Cup Series victory driving for Rod Osterlund at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
In 2003, Jamie McMurray drove Sterling Marlin’s Ganassi Racing Dodge to victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while Marlin recuperated after suffering a cracked vertebra. McMurray remained in the car for the final seven races of the season.
Bobby Allison believes relief drivers have been an essential part of the sport.
“We haven’t seen it happen in a long time, but drivers have stepped in when others needed them and pulled off a win, just as Dave Marcis did for me,” Allison said. “All of us were incredibly competitive when we raced each other but also helped one another when heat, burned feet or sickness put us in a tough spot. It was really more about safety than anything else and looking out for one another.
“Sometimes as part of all that, wins would come.”