By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
February 5, 2005
07:54 AM EST (12:54 GMT)
Ernie Irvan was able to avoid the accident that took out the remainder of the opposition, allowing him to win the 33rd Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, 1991. At least three late-race incidents damaged the cars of Dale Earnhardt, Kyle Petty, Davey Allison, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip -- as Irvan coasted under caution to the finish line.  |  | NASCAR ACCELERATION | |
| ALSO IN 1991 ... |
| • | Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first black woman to lead a city of that size and importance (Jan. 2) |
| • | A Michigan court bars Dr Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides (Feb. 5) |
| • | The U.S. Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska (March 13) |
| • | Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wis., apartment (July 22) |
| • | Following a bitter confirmation hearing that involved allegations of sexual misconduct, the U.S. Senate votes 52 to 48 to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court (Oct. 15) |
Courtesy: Wikipedia
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Motor Trend's Car of the Year for 1991 was the Chevrolet Caprice Classic LTZ. A 1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic four-door sedan sold for $18,470, so Irvan could have purchased 12 new Caprices with his first-place check for $233,000. On May 19, Willy T. Ribbs became the first black driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He started 29th and finished 32nd, retiring with an engine failure after five laps. Ribbs would go on to become the first black driver in the Craftsman Truck Series, running 23 events in 2001. If Irvan had driven from his hometown of Modesto, Calif., to Indianapolis to watch Ribb's qualifying effort, the 2,283-mile trip would have taken about 38 hours at freeway speeds -- or 15 hours and 25 minutes at Irvin's race-winning speed of 148.148 mph. On Nov. 7, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced that he had HIV, effectively ending his career in the NBA. In 2004, Johnson was named co-chairman to NASCAR's Executive Steering Committee for Diversity. Operation Desert Storm started on Jan. 16 with aerial bombing of Baghdad, four days after Congress passed a resolution authorizing the use of military force to liberate Kuwait. On Feb. 23, ground troops crossed the Saudi Arabian border into Kuwait, starting the ground phase of the war. Three days later, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announced the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait and a cease-fire was declared on Feb. 27. The former Soviet Union was liberating its own republics in 1991. On March 3, Latvia and Estonia voted to become independent states. Albania held multi-party elections on March 31. Georgia's Supreme Council announced independence on April 9, with Ukraine and Uzbekistan following during the summer. Leningrad, Russia's second-largest city, was renamed St. Petersburg in September. With a population of 248,232, St. Petersburg is the fourth-largest city in Florida. In June, Boris Yeltsin was elected president of Russia. On Dec. 25, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. One day later, the Supreme Soviet met and formally dissolved the Soviet Union, as of Dec. 31. Lead was banned as a component of solders used in plumbing systems in 1991 because corrosive water can dissolve it. In January, Eastern Airlines went out of business. In December, Pan American Airlines followed suit. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a hit in July. Nintendo released the Super NES console for $249.95 in 1991. Also that year, SEGA introduced Sonic the Hedgehog and Capcom released Street Fighter II. On Feb. 4, baseball's hit king, Pete Rose, was banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. On March 15, four Los Angeles police officers were indicted after a videotape showed them hitting motorist Rodney King during an arrest. → Click here for more Daytona Countdown. | 
