JUNIOR SAYS: The Winston Of 1985 Proved A Much-Needed Tonic For Waltrip And Team

February 9, 2012 By 1 Comment

While Darrell Waltrip had already won several races and two championships with Junior, he got off to a slow start in 1985. He was winless one-third of the way into the season while teammate Neil Bonnett won twice.

The 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup season was going well enough for Junior Johnson & Associates.

By the 10th race of the season it had already won twice. But, oddly enough, Neil Bonnett, who became the team’s second driver a year earlier, earned both victories.

Darrell Waltrip, who had already won many races and two championships with Junior, was winless.

It was a situation that caused Junior some concern.

He had no doubt Waltrip would win but there was a major obstacle that hadn’t been present in previous seasons.

Bill Elliott was thrashing the competition. The young Georgia driver was dominant on the superspeedways, so much so that every Winston Cup team knew that to win a major event meant taking the measure of Elliott, something that was seemingly impossible to do through the first third of the 1985 season.

It was indeed small, but at Charlotte in May,Waltrip and Junior took one step toward doing just that.

Junior’s contributions to www.motorsportsunplugged.comwill appear every other Friday throughout the season.

After 10 races in 1985 – one-third of the season – I had some mixed feelings about my two-car team.

Don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t doubt the fact that two operations would work. I knew that was entirely possible if for no other reason than Junior Johnson & Associates had done very well in 1984.

It’s just that I was very pleased with one team and a little concerned about the other.

Neil didn’t win with me in 1984 but he quickly made up for that with two victories in 10 races in 1985. I had no worries about his team because it was clear progress was being made.

On the other hand, Darrell had not won a single race through a third of the season. He won seven races a year earlier so I had reason to be a bit puzzled.

Also, Darrell and I had enjoyed so much success in the past I think it was just logical that I was a little concerned about what was going on, so far, in 1985.

Speaking of being concerned, every team in NASCAR, including mine, was concerned about Bill Elliott.

He was wearing us all out. By May he had already won seven races – all on superspeedways.

Additionally, he had already won two of four selected races that made up the inaugural Winston Million program.

If any driver won three of those races, which were the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Southern 500 at Darlington, he would collect a $1 million bonus.

Bill had already won at Daytona and Talladega. The 10th race of the season was at Charlotte. The bonus money was all but in his hands.

The Coca-Cola 600 was scheduled for May 26. The Winston, the new “all star” event open to 1984 race winners only, was set for a day earlier, also at Charlotte.

It was going to be a very special weekend for NASCAR.

And, although I didn’t know it at the time, it was also going to be very special for Junior Johnson & Associates.

Darrell’s team was one of only 12 that could enter

The Winston. It was a 70-lap race that paid $200,000 to the winner.

I made special plans to assure that Darrell was that winner.

And he was.

Although at first it didn’t appear that was going to be the case. With 10 laps to go, Darrell trailed leader Harry Gant by 3.1 seconds.

Bill Elliott was easily the hottest driver of 1985. He won seven times in the first 10 races of the year and was well on his way toward winning a bonus of $1 million in the new Winston Million program.

I got on the radio and said to Darrell, “Boy, do you want that $200,000 or $75,000 for second place?”

I thought that would fire him up and sure enough, Darrell made up the distance and got past Harry in the fourth turn just as the white flag flew. Darrell won by less than a second.

He had barely crossed the finish line when the engine blew. I thought to myself, “Man, we got lucky.”

Here’s why:

Those “special plans” I told you about were basically this: I had told my engine guys to construct a motor that would last a little over 100 miles. It was supposed to be built for horsepower and not endurance.

That’s exactly what my guys did – and they did it almost to the very foot. No question we were extremely lucky because failure could have happened one, two or more laps earlier.

Of course the timing of that failure made the other teams upset. They claimed I had ordered Darrell to mash the clutch and kill what they thought was an illegal engine as soon as he took the checkered flag.

Johnny Hayes, Harry’s team owner, complained loudest, saying I was up to my usual tricks. There was plenty more grousing, too.

OK, I agree it looked suspicious.

But Harry said he had smelled something when Darrell passed him and he thought it was his own engine getting ready to blow.

And, although Darrell’s engine was destroyed, there was enough of it left for NASCAR to inspect, which it did.

NASCAR checked out the bore and stroke and said that the engine was legal.

Case closed, as far as I was concerned.

The Winston eased a lot of my concerns. It might not have been a points race but at least Darrell won – at last – and we made a lot of money.

Oh, and we beat the guy now known as “Awesome Bill.” He finished in seventh place.

So I knew Darrell’s team could get the job done.

The only way to strengthen my belief was to win a points-paying race and, as a bonus, beat red-hot Bill in so doing.

I would never have imagined it at the time, but that would happen just one day after The Winston.

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JUNIOR SAYS: The 1985 Season Was The Coming Of ‘Awesome Bill’

January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Junior Johnson

Junior Johnson

Even though Darrell Waltrip did not approve of a two-car team, he and teammate Neil Bonnett combined to produce a good 1984 season for Junior Johnson & Associates.

At the beginning of 1985 there was no reason to make any changes. Budweiser sponsorship was assured for another season and, from all appearances, Waltrip and Bonnett, and their teams, worked together harmoniously.

But for Junior, 1985 got off to a rocky start. Warner Hodgdon, who had been a financial partner and a man who prolifically spread money around NASCAR, was in serious legal trouble. He had to file for bankruptcy.

Junior faced the daunting task of rescuing his team from financial ruin.

Fortunately that was accomplished.

Both Waltrip and Bonnett started the season competitively and shaped themselves into championship contenders.

But it didn’t take long for them, and everyone else, to learn that to win a title meant to stop an unexpectedly strong, relatively new, driver and team – both poised to make NASCAR history.

 

Junior’s contributions to www.motorsportsunplugged.com will appear every other Friday throughout the season.

 

In1984, my two-car experiment worked out pretty well, I thought.

Darrell won seven races but finished fifth in points behind Terry Labonte, who won the championship driving for Billy Hagan.

In his first year with me, Neil didn’t win, but he wound up eighth in points. I thought, overall, we delivered a pretty good one-two punch for the season.

As far as I was concerned the two-car operation was full-speed ahead for the 1985 season. I was determined that performance would be even better.

But I had to attend to not-so-small problem.

Warner Hodgdon, whom I had taken on as a financial partner, was in serious trouble.

He was a real estate developer and he became embroiled in a bid-rigging scheme that, as I recall, was triggered by an unfaithful employee.

Warner faced lawsuits totaling $53 million. He had to dispose of all his NASCAR interests – track and teams included – and file for bankruptcy.

He owed me a considerable amount of money so I had no choice but to file foreclosure papers.

On a bitter, cold day in January 1985, the Wilkes County clerk of court auctioned off Warner’s portion of Junior Johnson & Associates on the courthouse steps. I was the first one there.

I paid about $200,000 to regain full control of my team.

Warner’s intentions were honest. He played a key role in getting me backed by Anheuser-Busch in a two-car operation. And I think he helped the tracks with which he was involved, too. I was sorry for what happened to him.

That issue aside, we were ready for the 1985 season. Darrell and Neil were back on board, of course, and, as usual, there was confidence that we could win yet another title.

I didn’t know it at the time but the 1985 Winston Cup season was going to be one of the most memorable in NASCAR’s history. And my team would play a role in it.

For the second year in a row, popular Neil Bonnett drove for Junior as a teammate to Darrell Waltrip. Bonnett won his first two races for Junior in the first 10 events of the 1985 season, which helped his team get off to a good season start.

To set the stage, during the offseason, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. announced two new projects.

The first was The Winston, called an “all star” race because only race winners could compete. It offered no points but a heckuva lot of money.

The second was The Winston Million. It offered a $1 million prize to any driver who could win three of four selected races – the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, the Coca-Cola World 600 and the Southern 500.

I was intrigued. Darrell? Well, his mouth was watering. He knew we were in The Winston – scheduled for May in Charlotte – and he also felt he had a solid shot at that $1 million.

Let’s put it this way: I sure didn’t have to motivate him. Not at all.

The season started almost perfectly. Darrell was the runnerup in the Busch Clash and a Daytona 125-mile qualifier. He then finished third in the Daytona 500. Yes, we didn’t win, but we were already near the top of the point standings.

But for me, the real thrill came in the Carolina 500 at Rockingham, the third race of the season.

That’s when Neil got his first victory with me in a wild, exciting finish.

Neil was involved in a metal-swapping battle with Harry Gant and on the last lap, Neil made the pass to win by inches.

I thought the world of Harry, but it sure tickled me to see one of my drivers win like that.

It was great racing, a throwback to NASCAR’s early days.

Neil wasn’t through. In April at North Wilkesboro, he won again. And Darrell finished second by a car length.

It was a “double dip” for Junior Johnson & Associates and one of my proudest moments at my home track.

As good as that was, however, and as quick a start as we had, things could have been a lot better.

When the season’s 10th race came around my team had won only twice – with Neil. Despite a couple of solid runnerup finishes, Darrell had yet to win a race.

And he suffered a great disappointment at one of his favorite tracks, Martinsville, when his engine blew and he finished 23rd.

Nothing gripes me more than engine failure. While I know the occasional bad part can cause it, many more times it can be traced to a lack of preparation – and that I never tolerated.

I was going to get to the root of the problem.

But then, we had another problem. And for that matter, so did every other team on the Winston Cup circuit.

The problem? Bill Elliott.

The kid out of Georgia with his one-car, Harry Melling-owned team, was shredding the competition.

By late May he had won seven races, all on superspeedways. He was on course to break David Pearson’s record of 10 big-track wins in a single season.

He was also well on his way to a cool million bucks. He won the Daytona 500 and the Winston 500 at Talladega, which meant if he won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, the 10th race of the season, the money was his before the year was half completed.

The only way to stall Elliott was to beat him, of course.

But at that time it didn’t look as if anyone could.

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When The July Daytona Race Was A Casual, Laid-Back Affair

June 28, 2011 By 7 Comments

The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, scheduled for this weekend, is one of the glitziest and most-anticipated races of any NASCAR Sprint Cup season. And why shouldn’t it be?

It is run during a major holiday weekend in one of Florida’s most recognized resort cities and on a speedway many consider NASCAR’s most famous.

It is conducted under the lights and night racing has long been vastly popular with NASCAR fans. It comes complete with speed, the intrigue of carburetor plate racing and there are plenty of fireworks – always a good thing for both night events and Independence Day.

Might seem hard to believe, but there was a time when the race, formerly known as the Firecracker 400, was anything but spectacular.

It was one of the most laid-back races in NASCAR. It wasn’t conducted with a lot of fanfare. DIS officials sure didn’t spend a lot of money marketing the event.

Racing under the lights? Hardly. Instead, the Firecracker 400, always held on July 4, got the green flag anywhere from 10 – 11 in the morning and by 3 p.m., fans and competitors alike were gone – back on the beach.

There was really no need for DIS to get overly involved in race promotion. People were already amassed in Daytona Beach for the holidays and it wasn’t difficult for the track to sell tickets to folks who wanted to smell gas and burning rubber along with salty sea air.

For years it was tradition for nearly everyone to take their summer holidays during the week of July 4. In fact, textile mills, factories and other businesses throughout the South deliberately shut down for a week or longer because their employees were off on vacation.

Beaches were extremely popular as family getaways. Myrtle Beach in South Carolina always did a bustling July 4 business (still does) as did other sand-and-sea sites in the Carolinas and Georgia.

It was, and is, the same for Daytona Beach. But along with an established reputation as a family resort, the city also benefitted from its reputation as the heart of stock car racing, along with the sport’s most famous speedway and race, the Daytona 500.

While it was all about racing and its fans every February Speedweeks in Daytona (no one cared about getting a suntan, after all), when it came to the July 4 holiday, folks could spice up their walks on the beach and dips in the pool with a couple of hours of NASCAR.

And they did. DIS didn’t pack ‘em in like it did for the Daytona 500, but that wasn’t necessary. The Firecracker 400 was perhaps more of a diversion than a singular event and thus never cost the track nearly as much money to produce.

That it was so casual made the race fun for fans and media alike.

In fact, it’s likely the media preferred the Firecracker 400 to any other race on the NASCAR schedule. It was so easy to cover.

Every team and competitor showed up at the track early in the morning and went perfunctorily through preparation, practice and qualifying. Unless there was some type of controversy, which did arise from time to time, it was all simply a matter of getting the work done as quickly and satisfactorily as possible – then get the hell away from the speedway.

There were a couple of reasons for all of this. First, it was hot as hell – the main reason why the race started so early in the morning. Second, drivers and team members didn’t want to stay at the track any longer than they had to. They wanted to get back to the beach, motels, pool and the families they had brought on vacation.

It got to the point where any team spotted working in the garage area around 1 p.m. or so was obviously having problems. Otherwise, the place was almost abandoned. Hardly anyone else was around.

Most of the media wasn’t, that’s for sure. We’d file the news as quickly as possible – didn’t have to do much since the space our newspapers allowed us was drastically reduced because of the holiday – and then get back to the beach as quickly as we could.

Oh, we didn’t shirk our responsibilities. We just met them in a different way. For example, if there was a team or two still laboring after 1 p.m. we had to make sure we knew what was up so it could be duly reported.

Therefore, we appointed one writer, usually a rookie, to stick around and give us a full report when he finally made it back to the motel.

As fast as we could get back to the comforts of the beach, drivers and crewmen, who were splashing in the water by the time we arrived, nearly always beat us there.

Perhaps the perfect example of all this was the Firecracker 400 of 1979.

It was a very fast race that took just over two hours to complete and thus allowed everyone – competitors, fans and media – to get back to the beach with plenty of sunlight remaining. As far as everyone was concerned, it couldn’t have been any better.

It had been a tumultuous year for Wood Brothers Racing. That February, with driver David Pearson, it had barely lost the Daytona 500 to Petty Enterprises in one of the most historic finishes in NASCAR history. The Woods fell short of winning the first race ever broadcast flag-to-flag by a national network.

In the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 at Darlington in April, a pit-road miscue, caused when Pearson drove away before a four-tire change had been completed, created a crash at the exit of the pits and ultimately ended the Pearson-Woods relationship.

The Woods hired Neil Bonnett, who had shown promise driving for Hoss Ellington and Kennie Childers, among others.

Bonnett first won for the Woods at Dover in May. Then, on July 4, he was scheduled to compete at the track on which his predecessor had performed so admirably so often.

When the race began, Bonnett drove as if he knew he had big shoes to fill. He powered his way into the lead and kept his foot firmly planted on the throttle. If he knew anything about caution or finesse, he had forgotten it.

It reached the point where the Woods, concerned about the survival of their car, sent Bonnett a message via the pit chalkboard: “EZ.”

On the final laps Bonnett was leading Benny Parsons when the pair came up on a group of 10 cars. The daring Bonnett thought he spotted a hole just big enough to slice through, which he did to win the race by one second over Parsons.

Once his post-race interview was complete, Bonnett disappeared from the speedway. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where he had gone.

The media’s work done a couple hours later, it was time for most of us to get to poolside. It was just mid-afternoon.

When we arrived in our bathing suits, sure enough, there was Bonnett.

He was stretched out on a lounge chair, resplendent in his sunglasses and shorts. He had popped the top on a cold one.

He gave us a puzzled look.

“Where the hell have you guys been?” he asked.

 

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The 600 Of 1988 Was Messy – And For Good Reason

May 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There have been many memorable, exciting Coca-Cola 600s at Charlotte Motor Speedway over the years, some of which have been duly recorded in NASCAR lore.

And there have been others that, uh, haven’t been so exciting. They’ve been dull, messy and in some cases, controversial.

Reckon we could say that about every race at every track.

But as the longest race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, and arguably the most demanding, the Coca-Cola 600 is considered one of stock car racing’s premier events.

Also, races at CMS are so well-hyped by the speedway’s creative, indefatigable public relations and marketing staffs that many fans, and let’s face it, members of the media, are chomping at the bit to see what’s going to happen.

So it will be, again, this year.

Let’s hope the Coca-Cola 600 lives up to its billing. I think all of us would like that.

What we wouldn’t like is a repeat of the 1988 Coca-Cola 600, then known as the World 600.

It’s not likely we will because there was a set of circumstances surrounding the 600 of that year, which, thankfully, do not exist now.

Ten wrecks that helped create 13 caution periods for 89 laps marred the race – and injured four drivers, one of whom had his career cut short.

The cause of the vast majority of the wrecks was tire failure. And there was a good reason for that.

In 1988, Hoosier Tire Co. came into what was then known as the Winston Cup circuit. The small company was going to challenge Goodyear, the long-standing sole supplier of NASCAR tires – which, incidentally, had already held off a couple of challenges from other companies.

But Hoosier meant business.

Always looking for an edge, some teams quickly adopted Hoosier tires. And it looked like that would be a good move.

In February, Morgan Shepherd won the pole at Richmond, on Hoosiers for the lightly regarded Winkle team.

Then came a shocker. Neil Bonnett, driving for the Rahmoc Enterprises team, and racing on Hoosiers, won back-to-back races at Richmond and Rockingham.

What became known as “The Tire Wars” was on.

Hoosier and Goodyear prepared new tires for virtually every race. Some had more grip for speed but suffered in longevity. Others were a bit slower but could be counted on to last much longer.

Goodyear and Hoosier feverishly attempted to create tires that had grip and endurance.

Teams had to decide which tire would serve them better as they prepared for each race.

It appeared the selection for the 600-mile race at Charlotte would be simple.

Although Goodyear was intent on surpassing Hoosier, preliminary events at Charlotte indicated the compound Goodyear had developed would not stand the strain of a hot day and very high speeds.

So it was that every driver’s car in the 600 was mounted with Hoosier tires – all but one.

Dave Marcis, intensely loyal to Goodyear throughout his long career, shunned Hoosier.

Darrell Waltrip, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, went on to win the race by .24-second over Rusty Wallace, driving for Raymond Beadle.

It might have been a close finish, but the race itself was a mess.

The Hoosier tires apparently couldn’t stand the heat and speed any better than Goodyear’s. Blown rubber created wreck after wreck.

“We knew about the tire problems that would happen,” said Waltrip after the race. “I had watched guys pass me and then take off, only to see them in the wall a few laps later.”

A blown tire sent Bonnett into the wall on lap 115 of 400. He spent the night in a hospital but was able to race a week later at Dover.

Harry Gant, known as “The Skoal Bandit,” experienced the same fate. On lap 233, his Chevrolet slammed the wall hard in the second turn. Gant broke two bones in his leg and missed the next five races. Morgan Shepherd replaced him.

Buddy Baker, driving for his own team, was swept up in a multicar accident on lap 244. At first he appeared be unharmed.

But, several weeks later, it was discovered that Baker had a blood clot on his brain. After 1988, he made only 17 starts before his career ended in 1992.

Other drivers taken out by tire-related accidents included Cale Yarborough, Jim Sauter, Derrike Cope, Brad Noffsinger and Rick Wilson, who was also taken to the hospital.

Even with Goodyears, Marcis wasn’t spared. Sterling Marlin experienced yet another blown tire grazed the wall and attempted to make it back to the pits.

But he drifted into Marcis’ path. Marcis hit him, sailed into the fourth-turn wall and out of the race.

Hoosier won eight of the first 16 races of 1988, but only one of the final 13.

“The Tire Wars” continued into 1989, but came to an end after Goodyear had, finally, successfully developed a radial tire for racing.

On May 8, one day after the Winston 500 at Talladega, Hoosier pulled out of Winston Cup racing.

The wars were over.

But, certainly, there had been casualties.

 

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Belatedly, Memories Of Bonnett Return

March 8, 2011 By 7 Comments

Recently, Neil Bonnett’s name came up in a conversation. When that happened all the talk was about him. Don’t even remember the other thing we were discussing.

I suppose I should be ashamed to say that, this year, I forgot about Bonnett’s death on Feb. 11, 1994, more than 17 years ago. He died in a crash during practice for the Daytona 500.

We can’t always remember everything or everyone. With the passage of time it’s inevitable that we lose many who have been so much a part of NASCAR that, frankly, we can’t fathom it all – as it has been with me. I’m not alone.

Seems we tend to recall only those who made an indelible mark that imprinted everyone – fans, media and, in some cases, the nation. So it was with Dale Earnhardt, whom we lost 10 years ago. The anniversary of his passing, this past February, prompted many memorials.

If he were alive today Earnhardt would most certainly remember Bonnett – and demand we do as well.

Earnhardt and Bonnett were the best of friends. Their bond was forged not only as fellow racers, but also through an affinity for the outdoors; hunting and fishing.

As a driver Bonnett was not, by some measures, a superstar – but he was successful. He won 18 races from 1977-1998, driving for such teams as J.D. Stacy, Wood Brothers Racing, Junior Johnson and Associates (as a teammate to Darrell Waltrip) and Rahmoc Enterprises, owned by Butch Mock and Bob Rahilly. He is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame.

I believe his most impressive season had to be in ’88. That year, with Rahmoc, he won early at Richmond and Rockingham. During the interval between those two races, he was victorious at the inaugural NASCAR exhibition event at Thunderdome in Melbourne, Australia – three consecutive victories.

To win in 1988 was very emotional for Bonnett, if for no other reason than he suffered a fractured hip at Charlotte on Oct. 11, 1987, when his Pontiac experienced a blown tire and slammed into the wall. He returned to victory lane after many thought his career might well be over.

Just a couple of years later another incident again threatened his career. But, once more, he came back. Sadly, he never should have done so.

But this is not about Bonnett the racer. It’s about Bonnett the man.

He was one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR. As a competitor, he did what drivers were expected to do, earn their stripes on the bullrings, attract attention from the elite circuit and then prove his worth – all of which Bonnett did.

A native of Alabama, he became one of that state’s NASCAR “gang,” which included Red Farmer, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Bonnett and, later, Bobby’s son Davey.

Bonnett was someone not many drivers have ever been – a unique and appreciated individual. He was personable, candid, witty and, dare I say, charming. He could converse with anyone. He was open and outgoing with fans and the media. He had the type of personality which, if he started racing today, would have instantly made him a huge favorite.

He was his own affable self, always. There was nothing fake. That’s what fans liked. I never read, or heard, a harsh word about him.

Here’s an example of his sense of humor.

He won a race in the ‘70s at Richmond. Back then Richmond was far removed from what it is today. Suffice it to say that writers, what few of us were there, had to go to the office of the director of the Virginia State Fairgrounds to write and file our pieces. That was the only place that had telephones.

Because Richmond was an afternoon race, I was always able to get my stuff back to the Roanoke (Va.) Times in time to make the three-hour journey home and catch the 11 p.m. sports broadcast.

This particular time I tuned in and heard the weekend sports announcer (obviously a guy who didn’t know anything about racing) say the following:

“And today in Richmond, the NASCAR race was won by the famous French race driver, Nyles Bounet.” He pronounced it “Boo-nay.”
When I heard that I laughed so loud I nearly wet my pants – not that I have ever done so, you understand.
I soon called my buddy Tom Higgins and told him what I had seen and heard.
We made it a pact to call Bonnett “Ze famous driver Nyles Bounet” from that moment on. And we did.

Bonnett’s reply was always the same – “Bonjour! What the hell are you guys doin’?” He was always smiling, even laughing, when he said it. He never failed to play along with the gag.

Bonnett’s career was virtually over after a crash in the TransSouth 500 at Darlington Raceway on April 1, 1990. A multicar crash on lap 212 of 367, triggered by Ernie Irvan, 10 laps down at the time, resulted in Bonnett’s transportation to a Florence, S.C., hospital with head injuries and severe amnesia.

Bonnett was out of racing for three years. During that time, among other things, he established himself as a solid TV personality with his own show on The Nashville Network. It was on that broadcast that he absolved Irvan of any blame.

Before all of that, though, I remember his first press conference at Talladega following his recovery. Bonnett said, “I want you guys to know that I’m just fine.”

Then he pointed at Tom and me.
“I’ll prove it to you. There sits Tom and there sits Steve ….”
To this day neither of us has forgotten how he singled out a couple of his media friends above all others.
It was during that same press conference that Bonnett said his funniest and most memorable words.

Bobby Allison had suffered a near-fatal, career-ending crash at Pocono in 1988. Among many other injuries, he, too, sustained a severe loss of memory, from which it took him years to overcome.

As Bonnett recovered from his incident he had the opportunity to chat with his mentor when they, both healing, reunited for the first time.

“You know,” Bonnett said, “between him trying to remember what he was a-saying and me trying to remember what he was a-telling me, we had ourselves a helluva conversation.”

Bonnett ran a couple of races for Richard Childress Racing in 1993, one of which ended in a frightening, violent crash at Talladega, the other with a blown engine at Atlanta.

Everyone, including Earnhardt, suggested he give it all up. There was no need for him to attempt to race again. He had successful businesses and a career in television was virtually guaranteed.

But he ignored that and paid the ultimate sacrifice in Daytona in 1994.
I wonder what Bonnett, today, would mean to NASCAR had he not perished.

He would be nearly 65 years old. Should he have chosen, I believe he would be a strong television presence and, more important, be one of NASCAR’s most respected elder statesmen – and remain immensely popular.

That’s not to be, of course.
But what has to be is that Neil Bonnett should never be forgotten.
I suspect there are many fans, and others, who would heartily agree.

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