On Feb. 17, 1989, Darrell Waltrip closed a painfully long chapter of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
After finishing second in the Daytona 500 10 years prior, and enduring a streak of three consecutive third-place finishes from 1984 through 1986, Waltrip finally collected the checkered flag in the Great American Race and ended a 17-year chase for the most coveted trophy in NASCAR.
Though not widely remembered for its racing action, which looks irreconcilable with the modern superspeedway product, the 1989 season opener was nonetheless one of the most heart-wrenching and anxiety-inducing in the event’s history.
Waltrip began the race in second place alongside his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Ken Schrader but quickly pulled ahead of Schrader’s No. 25 Chevrolet by the end of the first lap. The very next lap, Neil Bonnett‘s No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing entry came to a halt at the entry of turn 3 with flames under the hood. A full lap later, the yellow flag finally flew to bring out the first caution of the race.
During the ensuing caution, Bill Elliott climbed out of his No. 9 Ford to hand over driving duties to Jody Ridley. Elliott had broken his left wrist during a Friday practice session and had planned to start the race and contest just one lap in order to collect points for starting the event.
That chaos aside, the dynamics that would define the ongoing battle for control of the race made themselves perfectly apparent when racing resumed. Waltrip and Schrader immediately locked bumpers and began trading blows for the lead.
Interrupting the otherwise blistering pace of the race was Davey Allison, who was sent spinning down the backstretch on lap 24. At this point in time there was no proper barrier separating the backstretch grass from Daytona International Speedway’s iconic Lake Lloyd. Instead, Allison’s spinning car was greeted by a large soil and grass embankment, which sent the No. 28 machine into a hard, slow, awkward barrel roll. After one full rotation, the car came to a stop right side up, with no major damage immediately apparent.
Somehow, Allison was able to bring the car back to the pits for quick repairs and drove…
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