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| | Monday, December 27 | |||||
| 1979 Daytona 500 Richard Petty wins last-lap brawl The first live flag-to-flag television coverage of the Daytona 500 provided plenty of action. On the final lap, Cale Yarborough took a run at leader Donnie Allison, who runs Yarborough into the grass on the backstretch. The pair tangled and crashed in turn 3, with Richard Petty passing the wreck and holding off Darrell Waltrip and A.J. Foyt for his sixth Daytona win. The TV cameras then switched back to the third turn where Bobby Allison had stopped to check on his younger brother. A "discussion" with Yarborough turned into a fist-swinging spat that was the perfect culmination of a successful NASCAR broadcast debut. 1984 Firecracker 400 Petty edges Yarborough for 200th victory More than 80,000 spectators rose to their feet as Petty and Yarborough came down to the wire in the 157th lap of the 160-lap race as starter Harold Kinder had the yellow flag in hand. Doug Heveron's semi-flip in the first turn brought out the caution, and both veterans were well aware that the race would never be restarted. With Petty leading, Yarborough used his patented sling-shot maneuver down the backstretch. But Petty swung back and nosed out his rival by less than a foot to snare the memorable slice of history. 1985 Indianapolis 500 Danny Sullivan spins -- and wins It was one of the most amazing escapes in auto racing history, as Danny Sullivan came out of a 360-degree spin at over 200 mph to eventually win the Indianapolis 500. The spin came in front of Mario Andretti on lap 120. Sullivan kept his car out of the wall, somehow managed to keep the car from stalling, regained control of his machine and continued along his way. A quick pit stop gave him four fresh tires and he proceeded to work his way back through the field for the victory.
Aryton Senna begins his run Before his death in 1994, mentioning Monaco without mentioning Aryton Senna was impossible. The 1987 race could be considered Senna's coming-out party. Senna won what would be his first of six Monaco Grand Prix's in a Lotus. And after crashing in the '88 edition of the premier Formula One event, Senna would reel off five straight wins in Monaco (1989-93). But it was his first victory on Formula One's most glamorous circuit that brought Senna into prominence. Senna died in a fatal crash at Imola, Italy, two weeks before the '94 Monaco Grand Prix. During his run of excellence, Senna won three world titles in 1988, '90 and '91. 1987 Indianapolis 500 Al Unser Sr. stuns the field Using a year-old car he had to beg to drive, Unser replaced the injured Danny Ongias to win his fourth Indianapolis 500 -- joining A.J. Foyt and later Rick Mears as the only four-time winners. In the 1980s, Big Al had consecutive finishes of 5-2-3-4 at Indy, but it appeared his career with Roger Penske was over by the 1987 Indy 500. To provide Unser, 47, a car on the second weekend of qualifying, Penske had to pull a show car from one of his shops. Unser qualified it 20th, then drove his usual steady pace to pull off the shocking upset. 1988 Daytona 500 Father beats son on last lap Davey Allison went head-to-head against his father, Bobby, in NASCAR's biggest race. Davey and dad battled at 195 mph until the final lap, with Bobby holding the lead. Davey pulled to the inside but couldn't get around his father, who held off his 26-year-old son by 2½ car lengths to gain his third Daytona 500 triumph. At 50, Bobby is the oldest to win NASCAR's most prestigious race. 1992 Hooters 500 Kulwicki and Elliott fight for Winston Cup title The battle for the Winston Cup points title came down to the final race. Davey Allison entered Atlanta with the series points lead and needed to finish sixth or better. But six drivers were still mathematically alive for the crown. On lap 253, Allison's fate was sealed when he got tangled up with Ernie Irvan's spinning car. With Allison out, Bill Ellliott and Alan Kulwicki were left to battle for the title. The pair ran 1-2 the entire second half of the race, trading the lead several times. Elliott won the race, but Kulwicki led the most laps, grabbed the five bonus points, and his second-place finish was enough to win the title by just 10 points -- the narrowest margin in Winston Cup history. 1998 Daytona 500 Dale Earnhardt finally wins the big one The winner of seven Winston Cup championships, Earnhardt had gone 0-for-19 at the Daytona 500. Before 185,000 screaming fans, Earnhardt led five times for 107 of the 200 laps, but the victory isn't assured until John Andretti and Lake Speed tangle on lap 199. Earnhardt then takes a slow drive to Victory Lane, shaking hands and slapping high fives with dozens of crewmen from competing teams who line pit road. |  ALSO SEE Greatest Games  | |||||
