Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.
Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch before Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The weekend at Martinsville belonged to Darrell Waltrip, who dominated en route to his third victory of the season. Waltrip, who had won at the track in 1976 and 1978, won the pole position for the event. He beat out a contingent of stars for the top spot, as Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt were scattered through the first few rows.
Drivers and their teams were faced with a unique aspect for the event, as NASCAR had banned tire changes under yellow flag conditions to save money for race teams. Waltrip led a race-high 303 of 500 laps, as he was only one of four drivers to finish the event on the lead lap. Parsons, Petty and Yarborough were the only other drivers to do so.
Buddy Arrington came home in 10th position, 10 laps behind the race-winning Waltrip.
Waltrip’s dominance moved him from fourth to second in the season standings. He entered the event 122 points behind Earnhardt but left just 61 back as he chased his first series championship.
The Bud Moore Ford of Ricky Rudd was on cruise control at Martinsville in April 1986 Rudd led a race-high 163 laps but officially finished the race one lap and six seconds ahead of second-place finisher Joe Ruttman. The field wasn’t just far apart at the front of the field either.
Ruttman finished three laps in front of Terry Labonte and Alan Kulwicki, the latter picking up his first career top-five finish in the process. They had one lap on Bobby Hillin Jr., who had two on Ken Schrader, three on Bobby Allison and six on Derrike Cope. The 15th-place finisher, Buddy Arrington, finished 36 laps behind Rudd.
The race saw the No. 9 car of Bill Elliott have its first engine failure in over three seasons, as well as the NASCAR Cup Series debut of Mike Skinner.
The NASCAR Cup Series arrived at Martinsville in September 1991 on a legendary hot streak. Harry Gant won the Southern 500 at Darlington and backed that up with a win at Richmond. The following week at Dover, Gant led 326 laps on his way to his third straight victory.
He qualified 12th for the race but made his way up to the front of the field, taking the lead for the first time well before the halfway point. Once again, Gant looked to be the car to beat, but his chance at history disappeared on Lap 377 when he was involved in an accident that damaged the right front of his No. 33 Chevrolet.
His team worked on his car and sent him back out on the track. Less than 80 laps after sustaining the damage, Gant was back out front. He passed Brett Bodine for the lead and eventually took the checkered flag for the fourth straight race.
Dale Earnhardt finished third, five spots ahead of Ricky Rudd, as the two battled for the coveted NASCAR Cup Series championship as the season slowly came to a close. Earnhardt’s finish added to his advantage in the standings as he left Martinsville up 59 points with just five races remaining on the schedule.
You can watch these three races and hundreds more by visiting NASCAR Classics.