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Will We Have a Second Annual Saturday Night Special in 2010?

An Opinion



March 22, 2009

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

There are many things I have been told I have missed by becoming a fan of NASCAR only in the last five years. The “old days” of Junior Johnson and Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty -- the Allison brothers beating and banging on each other around the “old” tracks on the NASCAR circuit are high on the list of stories I am often told by my friends who have been fans since around the time I was born. Going to Bristol and Rockingham and North Wilkesboro to see the guys’ rough each other up as they made their way around the track, man handling their cars as they smoked cigarettes and chewed sticks of gum.

Well, last weekend I was able to cross at least part of that list off MY list of accomplishments as I not only saw a great race at Bristol…but enjoyed the treat of watching the Saturday Night Special race.

First off, let me say that I felt that watching a race at Bristol was something along the lines of watching a tennis match. I was positioned right above the start/finish line for the Nationwide race, and it was a simple turn of the head to see what was happening on either end of the track at any given time. I found myself looking back and forth, trying to take in all the action as it was unfolding in front of me. After the last pit stop debacle for the 18 team and Kyle Busch, I looked back and forth from where Kyle was quickly cutting his way through the field, after the final restart, and to where Kevin Harvick was holding off Carl Edwards for his first ever win in his own Kevin Harvick Incorporated car. I will admit to being impressed by the way that Shrubbie moved from the tail end of the field up through those in front of him...he didn’t appear to touch any of them, just bobbed and weaved his way through until he was 6th. However, his parking the car on the track and storming off after the race counteracted my reaction to his driving ability in the closing laps. Yes, he was hot and yes, he probably was better off not venting any more than he already had to his team…however he could have at least parked the car somewhere near the team hauler instead of someplace the team had to go hunt for the car.

However, I digress. From what I could tell, there is not a bad seat in the house at Bristol, and the fact you can pretty much take in the entire track in one quick glance is something that the TV just doesn’t provide for fans at home. Another thing I noted was that it seems like the cars are constantly turning on TV, however in reality, there is a short flat stretch between the turns. It isn’t much of a break, but isn’t quite the soup bowl that many people compare it to.

As soon as Kevin drove the #33 car into Victory Lane, the cars for the next two races made their way on to the track and around to the front stretch.

For me, this was almost as exciting as the seeing the track for the first time 24 hours earlier.

The first thing I noted was the throw-back paint schemes on some of the cars…the Busch Beer blue and white on Cale Yarboroughs car, the green Skoal colors on Harry Gants car, the famous red, white and gold of the Wood Brothers 21 car. It was fun to see Cale in his throw-back drivers’ uniform and Rusty Wallace in what appeared to be a brand new version of the uniform he drove just three years ago.

There were allegedly pairings between the old pro’s and some seriously novice…and not so novice…drivers. University of North Alabama football coach Terry Bowden and L.D. Ottinger, former crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham and Rusty Wallace, Realtree Outdoors owner Bill Jordan and Terry Labonte, Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer and Cale Yarborough, former NBA player and current JTG racing co-owner and ESPN analyst Brad Daugherty and Junior Johnson, NHRA funny car champion Ron Capps and Jack Ingram, former NHRA top fuel driver Doug Herbert and Larry Pearson (subbing for his dad David), Speed channel TV and sports radio host Riki Rachtman and Jimmy Spencer, Philadelphia Eagles kicker David Akers and Harry Gant, former Dale Earnhardt Sr., crew chief and current ESPN analyst Andy Petree and Sterling Marlin, NHRA pro stock driver Greg Anderson and David Green, and former NFL player Mike Compton teamed up with Phil Parsons. I say allegedly because in some cases, the teams shared the same car…in others, like Ray and Rusty, they had their own, custom build cars.

There were two “heat races”...the first with the ‘novice’ drivers (ie: those from the non-racing backgrounds)…and the second with the ‘not so novice’ drivers.

It was the second race that was almost better than the big show.

As soon as the green flag flew, you could tell that the only real battle on the track was going to be between the two former crew chiefs.

Petree and Evernham were racing each other hard almost from the drop of the flag, and I had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before one of them wiped out the other…if they didn’t take each other out. In the end, it was debatable whether Andy actually caused Ray to crash, or if Ray did it on his own. All I know is, Ray’s car circled three times in front of me before coming to rest in a damaged heap to my right, and Andy went on to win the heat under the yellow flag.

The crowd loved it.

During practice for the legends, Junior Johnson didn’t make it one lap before hitting the wall. His car was damaged, but his crew worked furiously on the car and got it repaired just as the legends drivers were being introduced.

As I stood there and watched the introductions, I thought that I was witnessing just a little bit of history. All of these names I had heard discussed by long time race fans were standing there in front of me. So many races won…so many championships between them. Bobby Allison in the pace car, Junior Johnson, Harry Gant, Cale Yarborough, Jack Ingram, L.D. Ottinger and Rusty Wallace…whom I had seen race before he retired.

I don’t know that I would have considered Jimmy Spencer and Phil Parsons legends…and Sterling Marlin was on the track the next day running the Cup race. Nothing against those last three, but I would have preferred to see Ned Jarrett, Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty instead.

I apparently wasn’t the only one awed by the men about to take the track. Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and several other drivers didn’t even take the time to change out of their race uniforms before finding a place where they could stand and watch the race between the drivers they had grown up idolizing.

I knew that it would likely be a race between Rusty and Sterling. I don’t think there was anyone at the track that didn’t know that those two cars would never have passed a pre or post race inspection had they been required…rumors were that Rusty had spent somewhere around $100-$200,000 on his car alone, and Sterling allegedly had a questionable engine and spoiler on his car.

It just goes to show you that the competitive blood never cools in an old race car driver, regardless of how old he is.

No, it wasn’t the hot shoe race of old that I had heard so much about. However, it was great fun to see those drivers out on the track with each other…and to watch L.D. Ottinger actually give Rusty and Sterling a run for their money in his not so souped up hot rod. In the end, Marlin led all 35 laps of the race, beating Wallace and the 70-year-old Ottinger to the finish line. Terry Labonte was fourth and Jimmy Spencer fifth.

After the race, as Sterling and his yellow #4 car celebrated in victory lane, you could see that Junior was a little worse for wear, and after Cale parked his car and climbed out, he took a seat in a director’s chair and signed autographs for everyone who came by as he recovered. The remaining drivers mingled and laughed and appeared to share stories about their adventure on the track. Spencer had so much fun he discussed trying to get back into shape and looking for a ride to go back racing next season.

“I just had a good time. It meant a lot to me.” Rusty commented as he mingled. Junior, who hadn’t been in a race car since Rusty was 7 years old, was happy with his day's work. “I hadn’t been in a car in about 45 years, so I thought I did pretty well.” Ottinger added ““This was a lot of fun.”

So, will we have a second annual Saturday Night Special in 2010? I sure hope so. And if they do, I’ll be there again…and I’d suggest anyone who has the chance to come out and see it as well. These guys are a breed of racer that is sadly vanishing with each passing year. They are the men who helped build the sport that we enjoy 36 weekends of the year.

Not to mention, it is the chance to go see a race at Bristol. Now that I have been there, I understand just what that means.





You can contact Kim at.. Insider Racing News
You Can Read Other Articles By Kim


The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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