Jeff Burton burst onto the scene in 1997 when he finished fourth in the points. He finished 1998 and 1999 fifth in those respective points races. That's enough right there to rank him as the 10th best driver in the 90's.
On April 7, 1997 Jeff burton racked up his first race win in the Interstate Batteries 500 which was the inaugural Winston Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
On March 21, 1999 Burton won one of the zaniest races in Winston Cup history. His crumpled Ford lay in a smoking heap at Darlington raceway as rain fell. Burton had been involved in an accident on lap 163 but managed to keep the car moving and in the lead until the caution could be thrown and the rain drops began to fall. The race never restarted and Burton was awarded the win.
Waltrip started slow that year but he whittled away at Bobby Allison's early lead. With six races to go Waltrip took over the lead in one of the best championship races ever. Waltrip would eventually defeat Allison by 53 points. Darrell won 12 races that year. Count them 12. The man can say boogity boogity boogity if he wants. He earned the right.
Although Buick had previously only won two NASCAR races (both in 1955), 1981 began a period of complete dominance. Twelve models were eligible for 1981, but aerodynamics and rules favored the Regal. Darrell and just about everyone were driving the newly designed Buick. Buick's roster also included Richard and Kyle Petty, Harry Gant, Bobby Allison, Terry Labonte, Tim Richmond and many others.
DW's 1981 Championship season is now recognized as one of the most impressive runs in NASCAR history, as he fought back from a 341-point deficit in the final 17 races to capture the Cup.
"The Darrell Waltrip years were some of the finest in Mountain Dew's racing history," said Ralph Santana, vice president of sports, media and interactive, Pepsi-Cola North America."
Andy Petree visited Team Rensi Motorsports garage this week to see the paint scheme on the No. 35 Mc Donalds Ford Fusion. Petree was the owner of the No. 55 Chevrolet 2001 Monte Carlo that won the 2001 Talladega 500. The driver of that car was Bobby Hamilton who passed away on January 7, 2007. Hamilton's son, Bobby Hamilton Jr., will be driving the same paint scheme his father drove in what would become his last Winston Cup win in honor and memory of the Sr. Hamilton in the Orbitz 300 Busch Series race at Daytona on Saturday.
Petree sent the paint code and everything from his shop from the way it used to be to the Team Rensi shop so they could surprise Bobby Jr. by honoring his father in this way. Petree was all for it, and he even promised that if team Rensi does get lucky enough to win that he will come over and jump on the hood like he did after that win at Talladega.
Bobby Jr. says there are up and down sides to the paint scheme. Sometimes he doesn't want to be reminded of his dad when he is ready to go to work. But then he says there are good memories of that Talladega win that go with the scheme too. Bobby says when he is inside the car it doesn't matter, because he can't see the color anyway from there.
Come along if you dare. Sterling Marlin fans are cut from a different cloth. We are "racers."
It's easy to be a fan of Dale Earnhardt Junior, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmy Johnson or Kasey Kahne. These are probably the top five most popular Nextel Cup Drivers. I'm not here to argue that. But how hard is it to follow these guys knowing they will run up front?
No, "racers" follow their guy even if he struggles. When they win, it is so much sweeter.
Sterling Marlin fans waited for over 200 Winston Cup starts for Sterling's first win. We are not about to give up on him now. Not yet. But this year will be tough. No doubt about it.
So, if you want to learn more about Nextel Cup racing, what it's really about for many teams, join me on this journey. I guarantee I will be reporting from a different angle from all of the main Nextel Cup sources. If you follow someone who wasn't even close to making The Chase last year, then you especially might enjoy the ride. Come along if you dare.
Do We Have Sponsorship?
Sterling Marlin fan rhendryx has been in Daytona. He is helping Marlin fans with the do we have sponsorship issue. Marlin fans know, that Sterling has full sponsorship even if it winds up being Ginn Clubs, owned by Ginn Racing owner Bobby Ginn.
We also know that sponsorship means more money. We know it takes lot's of money. We know our odds are better if we have lot's of money. We are hoping to start with that Waste Management will be a primary sponsor this year.
Clue 1: Waste Management is the same size as Ginn Clubs on Sterling's trailer.
Question 1: Will the sponsorship be 50 - 50?
Clue 2: This car was used for testing in Daytona.
Clue 3: From sterlingmarlinfans.com Sharon in Columbia TN, Crew Chief, Joined: 24 Feb 2005, Posts: 3841, Location: STERLIN MARLIN COUNTRY, Tue Jan 09, 2007, 11:01 pm
I'm guessing that the "14" is the backup from Talladega. Notice the unscathed '06 paint scheme.
Clue 4:rhendryx, Fabricator,
Age: 52, Joined: 26 Feb 2005, Posts: 493, Location: Cigar City,
I think your guess is right on, Miss Sharon. The 14 used the name plate "Monte Carlo". This year Chevy's will be "Impala's". I think you are 100% correct that the 14 is last years superspeedway car.
Question 2: Does this indicate that WM is not a primary sponsor?
Clue 5: This car shows no indication of sponsors.
Clue 6: Sharon in Columbia TN, The "14x" is probably the primary car from Talladega that has been re-skinned and straightened or a new car they have built.
Clue 7: rhendryx, Hard to say for sure what the 14x is.
Clue 8: Sterling is wearing a Ginn Clubs uniform.
Question 3? Does this indicate Waste management is not a Primary sponsor?
Conclusions: The truck makes me think 50 - 50 Waste Management and Ginn. But just like last year, there is plenty of room on the truck to add other sponsors or enlarge the logo's of existing ones. So it likely indicates maybe 33% of the sponsorship is committed here between the two sponsors giving each of them 17%.
I am saying that we can expect to see WM on for at least 6 races. Last year they committed to 12 earlier on. It looks like to me they have committed to less than that this year. Can't say I blame them. Our production last year for their dollar was next to nil.
The WM paint scheme is likely last year's Talladega back up body, not necessarily "car." It's likely that we are testing one of the restrictor plate chassis that we used at Daytona and/or Talladega last year. To me it does not indicate sponsorship since it is last year's scheme. However, it is definitely a tease to WM hoping they will get good feedback from it and offer us more sponsorship.
The 14x is probably a new car. It looks to be ready to put any logo on it that anyone that wants their name on our Daytona car can buy from us. We tested well. Anyone out there want to help us?
Sterling is probably just wearing the Ginn suit because it is last year's suit and we know Ginn will sponsor us if needed. You can't give WM too much for free. Or they will not pay more for more pub.
So if you are a Marlin fan or any other interested party and care to comment, what do you think?
If your not an interested party, see what we have to put up with? It's not what most Nextel cup fans are talking about is it? Nope? Jr. will be in the red 8, Tony in the orange 20, Jeff in the Blue 24, Kasey in the red 9 and Jimmy in the blue 48. You know their sponsors as well as I do.
Starting 28th, Hamilton clawed his way forward and gunned down Dale Jarrett and Ricky Craven in the final 22 laps for the win. He dashed across the line 0.941 seconds ahead of Jarrett.
Bobby Hamilton pulled into victory lane at the end of the AC Delco 400. Hamilton liked racing on October 27. The victory was the second of his career. His first Winston Cup win came exactly one year beffore at Phoenix, AZ., which was also the last win for Pontiac at the time.
Bobby Hamilton, said "It was real important for me to win a race. Not only for Richard but for the people that work on the cars. You have to know these people I'm talking about. They never give up. There's nobody that has any better looking equipment than they do. They're really proud of the stuff they do.
Everybody in this garage area is underpaid, except maybe a couple of crew chiefs and drivers. The only bonus they get out of racing is to see their car run up front and win races. Knowing I was going to leave Richard at the end of the year, when things go bad, everything falls apart. We worked real hard not to let that happen. I didn't want to be labeled as a driver that said, 'Heck I'm leaving. I don't care if if I win a race or not.' It was just real important to me to win a race for them people that work on the race cars."
That was Bobby he never lost his heart for the working man.
It must have been the date - October 27th - that sat well with Bobby Hamilton.
The race that day ran a day later than scheduled due to rain. It started with Bobby Labonte on the pole. Labonte looked like he had the field covered as he just drove away, building leads in the six-second range.
It was also a day where flaws in setups showed up quickly as in a short 50 laps the first of the weak went down a lap. This included Rusty Wallace, whose performance at that time was described as lackluster.
Bobby Hamilton, who started 28th on the field, just started picking his way to the front slowly using a combination of handling and pit strategy known as 'short pitting' - a process that brings a driver in a few laps earlier than the leaders. The strategy, more often used in road racing than oval racing, is that a few faster laps on fresh tires and less gas combined with killer pit stops because less fuel is added, gains you track position and therefore an edge on the competition. The move worked well for the Petty Enterprises team as they had worked themselves to the third spot by lap 100.
On lap 114 the caution came out when Jimmy Spencer blew a left front tire and popped the wall. Ricky Rudd got tangled up in Spencer's mess as his No. 23 shot back across the track and got the left front of Rudd's No. 10 Tide Ford. "I can't catch a break these days," was about all Rudd had to say of the incident.
Rusty Wallace, who was a lap down, started racing the leader when the green flew on lap 122. It was some awful exciting racing as Rusty Wallace and then leader Ricky Craven beat off each other for position. Wallace got his lap back for a short while but was unable to hold on as the leaders sailed on past him again.
It was during this time that Rick Mast, who had run well in Rockingham in the past and finished second to Dale Earnhardt in 1995, had worked his way up to third and was dicing with #### Trickle for the second spot. The excitement would come to an abrupt halt when the cam shaft in Trickle's Remington Ford broke. The team was credited with a disappointing 42nd place finish.
The No. 25 of Craven looked untouchable while it was in the lead from lap123 to 192. He, like Labonte before, checked out on the field with a solid six-second lead at the time. Craven handed the lead off to Jarrett when he brought the Budweiser Chevy to pit road for service.
The No. 25 of Ricky Craven looked untouchable.
Bobby Hamilton, who had made a short stop, would be shown in the lead after the cycle of pit stops and was awarded the Gatorade Front runner award for leading at the halfway point in the event.
It was the No. 99 of Jeff Burton that came and took the lead from Hamilton on lap 214. Burton looked tough, but Jarrett just kept nibbling away at the No. 99 and took the lead away from Burton on lap 235. Jarrett would hold the lead until the caution flew on lap 250 when Gary Bradberry spun up in turn four. The field dove for pit road.
It was a battle of the pit crews during the stop and the Rainbow Warriors pit crew for Jeff Gordon got the job done fastest and he rolled off the pit road inches ahead of Dale Jarrett. It was also during this pit stop that Jeff Burton got caught speeding on pit road and sent to the end of the longest line for the lap 259 restart.
Gordon was able to get some pad over Jarrett on the restart with the help of the lapped traffic. Gordon looked like he'd be okay - that was until lap 272 when the caution flew for - Jeff Burton. Burton, who was fighting his back to the front after the penalty just drove in too deep and it got away from him.
"It's hard," said Burton. "But when you wreck it's your fault no matter what. It's my fault. But the only reason I was back there was because of that penalty. I don't understand that. I looked at my tach, and my tach was where it was supposed to be. That's all I know." It's been almost ten more years, and we still don't have speedometers in NASCAR.
This time it was the Budweiser Chevrolet that took the field to green - followed by Hamilton, Dale Earnhardt and Martin. Gordon, who had to stop on pit road a second time for a loose end cap on the left rear axle, joined the field on the end of the lead lap in 17th place.
Craven took off and built a sizable lead over the field. The real racing was for the top-five as Martin and Jarrett started working their way towards the front of the pack. Their moving up cost Dale Earnhardt as he was shoved back and out of the top-five.
The racing continued on and the leaders started to make green flag stops around lap 332 in preparation for a run to the checkered flag.
They wouldn't need to make that long green run, which would have played into Jarrett's hands as he had a distance setup under him, as Greg Sacks stalled on the track bringing out the final of four cautions of the day on lap 367.
The leaders dove to the pits. Dale Jarrett led the field to the pits also led them off pit road when the Todd Parrott inspired crew pulled off a 18-second pit stop.
It looked like Dale Jarrett was on his way to his seventh win of the season. When the green flew on lap 371, Jarrett tried to check out but Craven would have none of that. Jarrett was the leader with 22 laps remaining. Ricky Craven was in second and Hamilton in third. Craven went around Jarrett. Hamilton passed Jarrett a lap later for second.
The advantage Craven had lasted an entire two laps - that's when Hamilton went sailing on by for the lead. Once there he never had to battle for the top spot again as all the racing that was happening for position was happening in his rearview mirror. Hamilton led the rest of the way.
Jarrett said, "Bobby and Ricky were a little better than us on the short runs. We were better on the long runs. When that yellow came out, I knew we were in trouble. Those guys were better on new tires."
The race saw a revived Hendrick Motorsports Team. Ricky Craven led the most laps in the race and finished third. Jeff Gordon was right behind him in fourth. The final member of the Hendrick Team, Terry Labonte, finished in seventh place.
#### Trickle, who had finished second on Saturday in the Busch Grand National race, celebrated his 56th birthday with a fifth place finish.
Jeff Gordon escaped disaster. He was forced to make a double pit stop on one of the yellow flags. An end cap came loose on his left rear hub, causing the second stop. Gordon fell to 14th (the last car on the lead lap). He fought his way back to a fourth place finish.
In the championship points race, Gordon increased his lead over second place Mark Martin. Entering the event, Gordon led Martin by 110 points. Gordon left leading Martin by 125. Gordon picked up five bonus points for leading the race. Martin was unable to lead. Dale Jarrett, who was third in the points was only able to gain ten points on Gordon. Gordon left needing to place 15th or better in each of his next two races to win his second Winston Cup Championship.
Before winning at Rockingham, Hamilton had signed with Morgan McClure Racing to replace Sterling Marlin in the No. 4 Kodak ride. The victory cost car owner Richard Petty more than he made. In a side bet, Petty bet Hamilton he would not win another race before he left the team. Hamilton won $89,150 for his victory. Petty's bet with Hamilton was $100,000.
Race results with finishing position, (starting position), driver:
1. (28) Bobby Hamilton 2. (2) Dale Jarrett 3. (9) Ricky Craven 4. (6) Jeff Gordon 5. (12) #### Trickle 6. (3) Mark Martin 7. (33) Terry Labonte 8. (26) Dale Earnhardt 9. (35) Sterling Marlin 10. (19) Joe Nemechek
NASCAR headed west the next weekend to run in Phoenix, AZ. The final race of the season was November 16th in Atlanta. At the end of 1997 Hamilton left Petty Racing Enterprises finishing 16th in points.
Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 (unofficially ) and six other occasions (probably if they still did this). Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
![[ Bobby Hamilton ]](http://www.theautochannel.com/callahan/nascar/images/hamilton.jpg)
![[ Ricky
Craven ]](http://www.theautochannel.com/callahan/nascar/images/craven02.jpg)
![[ Jeff Gordon ]](http://www.theautochannel.com/callahan/nascar/images/gord97.jpg)
