Blast From The Past: This section of Girls Garage will feature stories from the times when Winston was the sponsor and pit crew guys wore those loud, obnoxious Coca-Cola pants. Go back in time with Maryann Toomey's Blast from the Past!
By. Maryann Toomey
July 25, 2008
I know this race took place just a year ago, but I wanted to talk about the day Tony Stewart won his second NASCAR Sprint Cup event at the Brickyard. Only three drivers have won multiple races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway; Jeff Gordon has 4 wins while Dale Jarrett and Tony Stewart have two wins.
Tony Stewart and his JGR team have developed a habit of mid-summer rallies over the years. The 2007 season was no different. Greg Zipadelli and Stewart have been asked about this pattern and neither can identify how and why it occurs.
This particular NASCAR event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was named the Allstate 400 and was run on July 29, 2007. The starting line up was; Reed Sorenson on the pole, Juan Pablo Montoya in second, Hoosier Ryan Newman in third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. started fourth, Kasey Kahne fifth and Kurt Busch was in sixth. Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, Casey Mears, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top ten.
Tony Stewart started from the fourteenth position and headed directly to the front; he was aided by a series of early race cautions. Six yellow flags were flown in the first 62 laps, all for various accidents that involved 16 cars.
Tony led seven different times for a total of 65 laps. But his lead was threatened by more cautions. Seven of nine more cautions flew before the halfway point of the race. Stewart sat back and kept his Chevrolet out in clean air. The final restart came with 20 laps to go, which allowed Kevin Harvick to dart right past Stewart. But Tony battled right back at Harvick until Tony found the right time to make his move.With Stewart back out in the clean air he went on to win his second race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Harvick finished seventh because of some of the fender damage that he suffered racing against Stewart.
Juan Pablo Montoya made history that day as he became the first driver to participate in the Indianapolis 500, a Formula one event, and a NASCAR race all held at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Montoya finished second for the day.
Jeff Gordon finished third ahead of his teammate Kyle Busch. When Jeff was asked about the event, he said he did not think anyone had anything for Tony Stewart that day.
Reed Sorenson finished fifth, this was his second top five of the season. He also won his first career Budweiser Pole Award.
So now here comes the Brickyard again this weekend. If you are like me, I can not wait for the race this weekend. Some food for thought.... are we going to see Tony Stewart climb the fence again this weekend? Or are we going to see Kyle Busch win his eigth race of the season? Or are we going to have someone completely out of the blue win?
Tune in to ESPN at 2:00 Sunday July 28th, 2008. I know I will be watching.
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Blast from the Past:
Mason-Dixon 300-July 6, 1989
May 21, 2008
By. Maryann Toomey
I was sitting here reading the new Monster Mile newsletter that just came out and was wondering what Miles the Monster would have thought of his track back in the day in 1969. A lot of changes have occurred since 1969 and there are many more on the way.
Let’s go back to that first race at Dover.
July 6, 1969 brought the very first engine roar to the new track called Dover Downs International Speedway. Thirty two drivers were set to participate in the dawning of a new era for Dover. David Pearson had pole in his #17 Ford with a lap speed of 130.430 mph. In 1969 that qualifying speed was the fastest ever run for a NASCAR Cup series at a one mile track. This would not be Mr. Pearson's only pole at Dover, he would have six career poles at that track.
Pearson led the field down to the green flag and did manage to lead the race for five laps. LeeRoy Yarbrough would take over the lead at lap six, until the # 43 Ford of Petty would take over the lead. It is a little like today.. it doesn’t matter how many laps you lead it is always the last lap that counts as Richard Petty found out that day. Pearson had led a total of 25 laps before he blew a tire on lap 66 and hit the wall. He did return to the race and finished 23rd.
Petty in the mean time was having a great day. He pulled his No.43 Ford in to Victory lane about six laps ahead of his competitor, Sonny Hutchins. Richard Petty found a way to tame the Monster at Dover and he would win seven more times at Dover.
Hutchins came in second that day and James Hylton came in third. Rounding out the top 5 was John Sears in 4th and Elmo Langley in 5th.
An interesting fact........there was only 14 cars running at the finish. Was this to be a sign of what was to come for the future of the track?
Some note table race notes about the first race held at Dover:
· Richard petty won $4,725 and 100 championship points for the win.
· The Mason-Dixon 300 was the fifth win for Richard Petty that season. He would finish the season with 10 wins that year, third most in NASCAR behind Bobby Isaac’s 17 and NASCAR Cup series champion David Pearson’s 11.
· Another little known fact….Only three drivers Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Cale Yarborough led laps in that first race at Dover. This is still a record that stands today.
· Some race fans grumble that the NASCAR Sprint Series Season is too long. Well imagine this…. In 1969, Dover’s race was the 29th race of 54 races. Imagine the Chase format back then….
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Dover Downs in 1971 Turns 1 and 2 in 1971
Visitors are invited and encouraged to submit their own "Blasts from the Past". If you have a vivid memory of an event long ago, in any racing series, please email your story to us by clicking on the names in the above box. We look forward to hearing from you! You just might see your story on Girls Garage.
