Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, the sanctioning body’s director of historic content, will offer his suggestions on which historic races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in anticipation of each upcoming race weekend.
Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008, but has been involved in the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with various tasks. This includes calculating “points as they go” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch ahead of this Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
It took a long time for Dale Earnhardt.
The 1980 NASCAR Cup Series champion seemed poised to continue his dominance after establishing his name as a championship threat, but that wasn’t immediately the case. Earnhardt rebounded after leaving the Rod Osterlund-owned team with which he won the title before finding a permanent home with Richard Childress in 1984.
His new home at Richard Childress Racing proved to be the right decision, as Earnhardt finished fourth overall in 1984 and won two races. Both numbers were his best since his championship season in 1980.
Unfortunately, the 1985 season was marred by mechanical problems for the still-fast Childress team. Earnhardt failed to finish nine of the first 20 races, but still finished the season with four wins. The rest of the Cup Series knew that if the budding superstar and his team could get things right, 1986 could be dominated by Earnhardt.
The season-opening Daytona 500 was more of a story for Earnhardt. His No. 3 Chevrolet led 34 laps but ran out of gas at the end, leaving him with a 14th-place finish. What followed was a torrid stretch that saw him finish outside the top 10 just once through early July, cementing his place at the top of the series standings.
He continued to dominate the standings as the season progressed, arriving in Atlanta with the chance of winning against Riverside still on the schedule.
Everything seemed to be going well for Earnhardt in Atlanta and he officially clinched his second series title when Darrell Waltrip blew an engine less than 100 laps into the race.
That didn’t slow Earnhardt down, who led 162 of the race’s 328 laps en route to his fifth victory of the season. Richard Petty finished second, a full lap behind Earnhardt.
1992 Hooters 500:
Everything seemed set for the 1992 NASCAR Cup Series season finale in Atlanta to be one of the most memorable races of all time. And that was before the green flag was even waved.
The number of stories was impeccable, some of them not even being known for a few years after the event itself.
Richard Petty was about to conclude his legendary career, with the Atlanta race the final stop on his Fan Appreciation Tour. All eyes were on Petty all weekend, including Alabama, which hosted a concert in his honor the night before the race at the Georgia Dome.
Beyond Petty’s impending retirement, the championship race was tighter than ever. Six drivers were mathematically eligible to win the championship, with Davey Allison leading the way after winning the previous week at Phoenix.
Allison was having a tough season, both on and off the track, and his resilience to be in contention for the title was impressive. He was injured at Bristol in April. He won the Winston at Charlotte, but crashed at the finish line and spent the night in the hospital. In July, Allison’s car went airborne at Pocono, leaving Allison with multiple injuries, including a concussion and a broken arm. To top it all off, his brother Clifford tragically died in a practice accident at Michigan. Allison put his emotions aside and brought his car home with a fifth-place finish. It seemed almost inevitable that nothing would end Allison’s quest to win the Cup.
Alan Kulwicki, the owner of the No. 7 car he drove, was 30 points behind Allison. Bill Elliott was 40 points back in third, while Harry Gant, Kyle Petty and Mark Martin were all still in the running for the title, depending on what happened to the other contenders.
On top of all that, the race marked the Cup Series debut of a promising Xfinity Series driver, Jeff Gordon. The impact of Gordon’s debut won’t be felt for years to come, but it will be noticed on the broadcast.
When the green flag waved, things couldn’t have gone worse for either Petty or Allison. Petty was involved in a multi-car crash on lap 95, which resulted in his car catching fire. He was uninjured in the crash, but it looked like it might be the end of his career, as his car appeared to be nearly destroyed.
As the laps went by, Allison seemed to have control of his destiny. Until a crash involving Ernie Irvan ended Allison’s title hopes when he collided with Irvan’s No. 4 car.
The title race came down to Elliott and Kulwicki, with the title decided in the final round of green-flag pit stops. Kulwicki used those stops to put himself in position to win the title. Elliott took the checkered flag, but Kulwicki led 103 laps to Elliott’s 102, giving Kulwicki a 10-point lead.
Little did the Labonte family know, the 1996 season finale would likely be the most important day in the family’s already successful racing history.
Terry Labonte, the 1984 NASCAR Cup Series champion, found some rejuvenation in his career when he signed to drive Rick Hendrick’s No. 5 car beginning in the 1994 season. He visited Victory Lane three times that year, his first victories since 1989.
The following season, Labonte won three more races in 1995, which was an incredible feat since Labonte had never exceeded two wins in his first 15 seasons. He finished sixth in the standings, while teammate Jeff Gordon won the series title.
Labonte’s 1996 season began uneventfully, despite a pole win at North Wilkesboro in the spring. As the races progressed, Labonte and the No. 5 team grew stronger, posting eight consecutive top-seven finishes through the mid-season. This allowed Labonte to take the lead in the season standings.
He continued to show consistency throughout the season, preparing to compete for the championship in Atlanta. He entered the race with a 47-point lead over teammate Gordon and a 99-point lead over third-place driver Dale Jarrett.
His brother Bobby Labonte, the 1991 Xfinity Series champion, was in his second season driving the No. 18 car for Joe Gibbs Racing. He won the first four races of his career in that car, which apparently found its speed late in the 1996 season. Labonte didn’t have the finishes to prove it, but he won the pole at Dover, Charlotte, Phoenix and Atlanta, giving him four poles in the final seven races of the season. It was a much-needed boost for the No. 18 team.
The title contenders were hoping to cap their fine season by lifting the Cup and confirmed their lead in qualifying. Gordon qualified behind Bobby in second, while Terry followed in third and Jarrett was fifth.
All four drivers were the cars to beat on the final Sunday of the season, as they held the lead throughout the race. Like a fairy tale, it was the two Labontes who won the race. Bobby led a race-high 147 laps to earn his fifth career victory, while Terry’s fifth-place finish was enough to give him a 37-point lead over Gordon for his second title. The two drivers celebrated together on the track with a victory lap and then took pictures together in Victory Lane.
