THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 1994 TAG: 9412270176
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
The 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup season ended placidly, as if to signify that more than enough excitement and tragedy already had been wrung out of the sport for one year.
Three weeks before the final race at Atlanta on Nov. 13, Dale Earnhardt clinched his record-tying seventh series championship, eliminating the usual down-to-the-wire battle for the title.
But how do you explain a season like '94, particularly in light of the previous two?
1992 and '93 were two of the most tumultuous years in NASCAR history. And '94 certainly was their equal.
If 1968 was the most chaotic year in recent American history, then the past three NASCAR seasons were like having three 1968s in a row - a three-year roller-coaster ride of the highest of highs and the lowests of lows.
In 1992, the book closed on NASCAR's first golden era with Richard Petty's retirement as a driver. But the year was marred by the deaths of NASCAR founder Bill France and driver Clifford Allison.
Meanwhile, a corps of modern drivers, led by Dale Earnhardt and Davey Allison, were busy scripting their own golden era. And it all came to a climax with a six-way battle for the championship, and the closest title race ever, with underdog Alan Kulwicki prevailing.
1993 had a very promising start, with an old-fashioned race-winning pass by Dale Jarrett at the finish of the Daytona 500. But it became the sport's most tragic year with the aviation accidents that killed Kulwicki and Allison, and a rash of horrific crashes on the superspeedways, including one that nearly killed Stanley Smith.
And as the '94 season started, just about everyone, competitors and fans alike, wished only for a clean, quiet Speedweeks at Daytona. But in the space of four days, Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr died in accidents during Daytona practice runs.
Twenty-six drivers had died in Winston Cup racing accidents since NASCAR was founded in 1948, but never had two drivers perished in such a short span. And most of the deaths had occurred in the '50s and '60s, before the advent of a multitude of safety measures that spawned a false sense of security.
Ironically, the deaths of Bonnett and Orr came at the very event in which NASCAR first mandated, after a rushed effort, one of its most innovative safety devices ever - the roof flaps.
The roof flaps have all but eliminated the terrifying barrel-roll crashes that had plagued the sport in the '80s and '90s. But they did not prevent the deaths of Bonnett and Orr.
``We didn't even get into the season when it started,'' said car owner Robert Yates. ``All of these years we had worked in the sport and it was so safe. That was one thing I could always say.
``I never really wanted to race Indy cars because I didn't think they were safe. But after Daytona, I felt like I had the responsibility to tell my sponsors that if they didn't want to be involved, they could leave.''
No one, of course, has experienced more of the lows of the past three years than Yates and his No. 28 Havoline Ford Thunderbird team.
After enduring Allison's star-crossed '92 season - he overcame serious injury to win five races and come within a whisker of the title - they lost him in '93. And after they had settled into another championship run with their new driver, Ernie Irvan, catastrophe struck again at Michigan in August when Irvan was nearly killed in a crash during practice. Irvan's future as a racer is still uncertain.
``Our tear ducts have been worked out hard,'' Yates said. ``It could have happened to anybody out there, but it picked us again this time. And of course we're still really mourning Davey. But with the tire war (between Hoosier and Goodyear), I just sort of felt this thing inevitably was going to happen to someone.''
But if '94 was one of NASCAR's worst, it was clearly one of NASCAR's best, as well.
The popularity of the sport continued to soar, and the best evidence of that was the stunning success of the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All 300,000 seats at the world's oldest and biggest racetrack could have been sold three times. And the popular victory by Indiana-bred Jeff Gordon in that historic race all but ensures another sellout in '95.
If events really do happen in threes, then the Winston Cup series has reached the end of its string of stormy seasons. And with Hoosier's withdrawal, the tire war, to be sure, is over.
No one doubts that NASCAR's finest drivers will provide plenty of excitement again in '95. But we hope it comes without the heartache and turmoil. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS COLOR PHOTOS
While Bobby Labonte was unhurt after a fiery crash in October at
Charlotte, in 1994 NASCAR's tragedies came on the track.
A crash in August ended Ernie Irvan's season, but he was still No. 1
in miles led.
Dale Earnhardt claimed his seventh Winston Cup championship.
Photos
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dale Earnhardt broke into the bubbly early in 1994, clinching the
series championship at Rockingham - with two races left.
Graphic
1994 BY THE NUMBERS
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB