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Originally posted by drano
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Truth be known they could use someone like him now. -
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Really Kid? Do you really think it would make a difference?Originally posted by kidrock View Post
Everyone who was a fan of NASCAR with half a brain could clearly see what was going on during the time that arnhead had Billy Jr. and NASCAR in his pocket. About half of them were arnhead fans and didn't care and wouldn't admit to what was happening even though they could see it and the other half didn't like arnhead because of what was going on.
Personally I didn't hold it against arnhead, he and Childress were only doing what Billy Jr. and NASCAR would let them get away with. I never really had much good to say about Billy Jr. for that reason.
As far as the dirty drivin' was concerned, that didn't bother me much, either. I figured if the guy who arnhead wrecked didn't have the stones to do anything about it then why should I care. Either way it didn't cost me a dime if he wrecked half the field. Some days he dammed near did! LOL!
There were a few guys he never, ever messed with cause he knew better. Ricky Rudd was one of them and I was a big fan of Ricky's for that very reason!Comment
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CIRF, I am a JJ fan... he doesn't get near the credit for what he has accomplished, I wouldn't ever diminish that... The quotes I get a kick out of are the ones comparing Kyle B to ole Earnhardt.... always gets the dander up on the haters.... and, they do drive a lot a like... Dale was far smarter in the comment department in his younger years then Kyle...and that's really the only difference... driving wise, pretty equal....Comment
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I think they're a whole lot alike, as well. However, ol' arnhead was a whole lot more successful than pee wee jr. I think that is due to the very cozy relationship arnhead had with Billy Jr. and NASCAR. They both are/were world class whiners when things weren't going as they thought they should.
At this point pee wee jr. is a slightly above average driver that keeps his name in the forefront of NASCAR news by whining and periodically acting and talking as if he'd been raised by mildly trained orangutan's. Not altogether sure he wasn't!! LOL!!Comment
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It certainly seems plausible about the favors allowed to old Arnhade. It was brought to my attention that in his twilight years that that old Bump n Run was mainly winning on the restrictor plate tracks anyway. And the old time fans easily remember those races where it seemed the other teams were basically bringing a knife to a gunfight when they tried to out run the seemingly unreal superior power the #3 would muster when it needed it. It was like a local Saturday night track that might have had 1 late model running in with a field of hooligans !Comment
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Does anyone remember the year they started with restriction plate racing?Comment
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NASCAR first mandated restrictor plates back in the 1970's (1970-1974) but only on selected engines. If you ran a small enough engine displacement restrictor plates weren't required in those days so I'm not sure we can lump that in with what we know as restrictor plate racing today.
Restrictor plate racing as we know it today came about due to Bobby Allison blowing a right rear tire in the tri-oval at Talladega back in May of 1987. The vibration damper pully on the front of the crankshaft came apart and got onto the track causing his RR to blow without warning. He went airborne and got into the catch fence resulting in about 120 feet of fence being destroyed. Bobby's car didn't get into the grandstands but about a dozen people in the grandstands were injured to some degree. NASCAR was very lucky the cables held and Bobby's car didn't get into the crowd. A situation where a car gets into the grandstands would end auto racing as we know it in the U.S.
The July race at Talladega was run without restrictor plates and it marked the last race of the four that were run at Daytona & Talladega in 1987. But, due to insurance and other concerns starting in February of 1988 for the Daytona 500 the restrictor plate era was born and it continues to this day at those two tracks.
The pole for the May 1987 race at Talladega was won by Bill Elliott at over 212 MPH.
I was at Talladega back in July of 1986 for the Cup race and all but a handful of cars qualified at over 200 MPH. They were flat gettin' it!!Last edited by CIRF; 03-01-2016, 12:01 PM.Comment
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Ok thanks CIRF, so for those to think that NASCAR gave Dale sr. I bigger restrictor plate why did it take him until 1998 to win the Daytona 500.Comment
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Bad luck, Karma, Payback from the racing Gods, what have you ! Remember him hitting the seagull,blowing a tire on the last lap,caught up in other peoples accidents, creating accidents. The list goes on.Originally posted by kidrock View PostComment
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I understand that things did happen to prevent him from winning but, did it happen 10 years in a row until he finally won on the 10 year. I'm not buying it. Do you know how many people would have had to be in on it to cover it up. You would have thought by now especially since he has passed that someone would have come forward by now.Originally posted by Raceready View PostComment
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This has been explained many times here, and other places.
No one in their right mind thinks NASCAR was giving arnhead a bigger restrictor plate. It was more in the form of subtle, opportunistic benefits with plausible deniability.
The one and only Daytona 500 ol' arnhead won contained some shenanigans during the final pit stop. 2 teams on pit road had arnhead dead to rights speeding on pit road on the final stop. The pit stop in question got arnhead out in the lead, a lead he never relinquished. At that time pit road speeding violations were a judgement call by NASCAR, similar to balls and strikes in baseball and holding and pass interference in football. Pit road speeding was an arbitrary decision made by NASCAR and ol' arnhead got away with one on that last pit stop of the '98 500. Don't believe me, get your hands on Ed Hinton's 2001 book about Daytona, he explains it fairly clearly there.
Plausible deniability was built into the call and it gave arnhead his only 500 victory and we got to see the "touching" moment with all the crew members lined up. Without that arbitrary judgement call on that last pit stop all that feel good stuff might never have happened.Comment
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Very little people ever had to know about the hijinks that went on. There were a certain few of the plates that were bigger and the techs delivered them to the teams and they were installed with the techs there in a hurry under a cloak of darkness before anyone could be none the wiser.Originally posted by kidrock View PostComment
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