There are two kinds of NASCAR fans: those who were there back in the day, and those who wish they were. Either way, you’re gonna love today’s breaking news—NASCAR has just posted many of its classic races online at nascar.com. What will you see? Most races are complete flag-to-flag coverage, while others are newsreel-style recaps with their original voice-overs. Still other races, like the 2001 Daytona 500 where Dale Earnhardt lost his life on the final lap, are missing for obvious reasons. A 1986 Rockingham race I attended is also gone (it was broadcast locally by SETN) but I can’t imagine why. The 1986 Daytona 500, won by my favorite driver and neighbor, Geoff Bodine, isn’t there, but his 1996 Bud at the Glen win did get included. (Somewhere in my junk is one of his spark plugs from the winning QVC Ford Thunderbird.)
Among my personal favorites that are included in the NASCAR Classics collection are the 1985 Southern 500, where Bill Elliot became the first to win the Winston Million (a cash prize won by winning three of the four big ones—Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, and Darlington). Also included is the race that put NASCAR in the national spotlight forever: the 1979 Daytona 500. This was the first-ever live, flag-to-flag NASCAR broadcast on a national network (CBS). With a written-for-TV ending, Cale Yarborough punted leader Donnie Allison into the turn-four wall, allowing Richard Petty, running a distant third in a two-year-old Oldsmobile body, to pass for the win. On the cool-down lap, Donnie’s brother Bobby pulled over at turn four to join the scrum between Cale and Donnie—all with the cameras running. That’s the moment when America at large realized there might be something to what the good ol’ boys were doing down South.
How do you watch the oldies? Just sign up at nascar.com for free with your name and email! Also, don’t forget to check out the three-part series MotorTrend 500: NASCAR Heads West on MotorTrend+.
Source: Read Full Article