Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each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 this Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
1985 Busch 500:
The 1985 night race at Bristol was the first time that ESPN presented the race live. The track featured temporary lighting to help illuminate the track and give drivers the best vision possible.
Bill Elliott had taken the Cup Series by storm, winning the Daytona 500 and nine of the first 18 races on the schedule. The race at Bristol was the final contest before Elliott had an opportunity to win a $1,000,000 bonus from the RJ Reynolds company if he could win at Darlington in the Southern 500.
Despite the hype surrounding Elliott (who had won the previous race at Michigan International Speedway), all eyes were on Richard Petty.
Petty, who left his family-owned team for the 1984 and 1985 seasons, announced he would return for the 1986 season. His final season with his team in 1983 saw Petty finish fourth in points.
In his first season driving for Mike Curb, Petty finished 10th in points, and he arrived at Bristol a disappointing 19th.
The race turned out to be another typical Bristol affair as the caution flag waved 14 times for 87 total laps. This followed a delay for rain before the event, which led to the race starting under yellow flag conditions to help assist in drying the track.
Dale Earnhardt dominated the race, leading 343 of the race’s 500 total laps. Tim Richmond and Darrell Waltrip also had strong cars, but Waltrip’s hopes at another Bristol victory were dashed when he was sent to the rear of the field for pitting too early.
Waltrip won at the track nine times, including seven in a row between 1981 and 1984.
Earnhardt took the lead from Richmond with just under 20 laps remaining and held off a handful of battles from Richmond to take the checkered flag. Richmond finished second, followed by Neil Bonnett, Waltrip and Elliott.
Petty came home with an eighth-place finish, which jump-started a strong finish to the season for the driver. He eventually finished the season 14th in points.
1995 Goody’s 500:
The anticipation for the start of the annual night race at Bristol Motor Speedway had to be put on hold for just under two hours as rain kept the covers over the NASCAR Cup Series cars past the scheduled start time.
The crowd was amped up as track dryers worked to get the surface ready for racing as they could be seen doing the wave with team members waiting on the pit wall.
When the green flag did finally drop, it didn’t take long for the excitement to start. Contact between Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace sent Wallace around and into the wall right under the start/finish line. Earnhardt was black-flagged by NASCAR and sent to the end of the longest line for his contact with Wallace.
The move didn’t immediately take Wallace out of contention, but he was later caught up in another incident involving Bill Elliott and Jeff Burton. Wallace had five victories at the track (including being the defending winner of the night race) but ended up with a 21st-place finish, 46 laps behind the race winner.
Earnhardt was on a mission to make his way back up through the field, and nothing stopped him from doing whatever it took to have the checkered flag in his sights. He took advantage of a handful of lapped cars to gain on Terry Labonte, the race leader, on the final lap before catching him as the duo neared the line. Earnhardt made contact with Labonte, sending Labonte around and into the wall while taking the checkered flag as the winner.
Labonte’s car limped into Victory Lane while smoke spewed from his No. 5 Chevrolet.
Earnhardt didn’t face much backlash from Labonte but did from Wallace, who interrupted one of Earnhardt’s post-race interviews by tossing a water bottle in Earnhardt’s direction before the two drivers had to be separated.
Wallace vowed revenge in the next race while saying he wouldn’t forget this move. He also mentioned how he wouldn’t forget how the two drivers made contact at Talladega Superspeedway in 1993.
The first seven finishers of the event were all named as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023: Labonte, Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Sterling Marlin.
1999 Goody’s Headache Powder 500:
Sometimes, things just make sense, and the annual Bristol Night Race being named the Goody’s Headache Powder 500 turned out to be one of them, especially for Terry Labonte.
Rookie driver Tony Stewart put his Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac on the pole for the race and looked to be the most dominant car of the day, leading 225 consecutive laps early on, through the race’s halfway point.
Dale Earnhardt and Labonte then emerged as the front-runners as the two drivers with a history at the track traded the lead back and forth for the final 249 laps of the day. No other driver paced the front of the field besides the two after taking the lead from Stewart.
It looked like it would come down to another classic battle for the win at the track between the two, but Darrell Waltrip turned Labonte with 10 laps remaining. This brought out the caution and allowed Labonte to pit for fresh tires.
The incident set up the restart on Lap 496, with Earnhardt leading Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. Labonte sat fifth right behind Martin, but the question of the moment was if he had enough time to catch Earnhardt with the fresh tires.
It took one lap for Labonte to pass Martin and take third over Gordon on the same lap. Labonte then took second from Stewart before setting his sights on Earnhardt.
The two drivers made contact for the lead as the white flag waved. Labonte sailed into the first turn as the leader before Earnhardt used his bumper to move Labonte and send him around.
His spinning car collected Stewart and Ricky Rudd, while Earnhardt held off a hard-charging Jimmy Spencer to grab the victory.
Earnhardt said in his post-race interview that he didn’t want to turn him around but meant to rattle his cage.
Labonte was upset with Earnhardt, denying that Earnhardt didn’t do it on purpose, saying that nothing he ever does is ever on purpose.
The last-lap crash shook up the finishing order. Spencer came home second, while Rudd recovered from his damage to take third. Gordon was fourth, and Stewart, who was also involved in the incident, was fifth.
Labonte had to settle for an eighth-place finish.