r/NASCAR • u/the_colbeast r/NASCAR Historian • Jan 25 '15
28 Days until the Daytona 500!
The Rolex 24 is on now! watch it!
In Sprint Cup Series competition the #28 car has started 1032 races and has 76 wins, 94 pole, 299 top 5s, 437 top 10s, and 284 DNFs.
The number 28 car was fielded consistently by the same team from 1979-2002. The first of these drivers was Buddy Baker who drove for the Rainer-Lundy team from 1979-1980 and again in 1982 with Waddell Wilson as the crew chief. In his 60 career starts in #28 Baker earned 5 wins including the 1980 Daytona 500, the fastest ever run (177 mph).
In 1981 Bobby Allison drove the #28 to 5 wins in 31 starts including the World 600.
Cale Yarborough took over the Rainer-Lundy #28 in 1983 with Hardee’s as the sponsor. Yarborough won 9 races in the car including the last win of his career in 1985. In 1986 Yarborough took the Hardee’s sponsorship to found his own team with #29.
Davey Allison is the son of Bobby, a former driver of the 28, and proved his worth immediately by qualifying on the pole of the Daytona 500, as a rookie. This feat had never been accomplished before. In 1988 the Rainer-Lundy team was sold to the long time engine builder and crew chief in the shop, and the company was renamed Robert Yates Racing. The young superstar Allison would win 19 events in just 6 seasons, and finished a best of 3rd in the standings twice. He pushed his father to the win in the 1988 Daytona 500, earned his own 1992 Daytona 500 win, and headed into 1993 as a championship threat.
On Monday, July 12, 1993, Davey Allison boarded his newly acquired Hughes 369HS helicopter to fly to Talladega Superspeedway to watch family friend Neil Bonnett and his son David test a car for David's Busch Series debut. He picked up another family friend, legendary racer Red Farmer, en route to the track. Allison was attempting to land the helicopter inside a fenced-in area of the track infield when the craft nosed up suddenly, then crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the crash on Allison's inexperience in helicopters, coupled with the decision to attempt a landing. Neil Bonnett was able to free a semi-conscious Farmer from the wreckage, but Allison was unresponsive and could not be freed until paramedics arrived. Farmer would go on to a lengthy but successful recovery, but Allison never regained consciousness after sustaining a critical head injury. He was pronounced dead at 7:00 a.m. the next morning
The week following Allison’s death Robby Gordon drove the #28 at Allison’s home track of Talladega, the site of his accident. It was Robby’s 3rd start in a Winston Cup (Sprint Cup) Car and only start in #28. Lake Speed drove the next 3 races in #28.
When his friend Davey Allison died, former Daytona 500 winnerErnie Irvan wanted to take his place in #28. Mogran-McClure Motorsports did not want to let him leave the #4 car he was currently driving, so Irvan filed a lawsuit. After a month of negotiations Irvan was fired from MMM and finished the 1993 season in the #28 with 2 wins.
In 1994 Irvan was a favorite for the Winston Cup Championship, and after 20 races he had 3 wins and was trailing only Dale Earnhardt for the lead in the point standings. Irvan’s season came to an end after a hard crash during a practice session at Michigan. According to drivers on the track, a right front tire deflated, sending Irvan's car into the turn two wall at over 170 miles per hour. Emergency workers at the track extricated him from the car, and he was immediately airlifted to Saint Joseph's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was diagnosed with critical brain and lung injuries and given only a 10% chance of surviving the night. Irvan clung to life for the first two days. By early September, Irvan was listed in "fair" condition and was removed from ventilator support. A few weeks later he was deemed well enough to be transferred to the Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation in Charlotte. A few weeks following the transfer, Ernie appeared and addressed the fans at the Charlotte Motor Speedway at the start of the UAW-GM 500. Less than two months later, at the gala NASCAR Awards Banquet in New York, Irvan walked on stage at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel's Grand Ballroom to receive the True Value Hard Charger Award. Despite missing the final 11 races at the end of the season, Irvan had still ranked among the top five for the most laps led. In addition, Irvan tied Geoff Bodine for the most poles won during the season. Kenny Wallace would drive the #28 for the rest of 1994.
In 1995 Irvan continued to recover from his accident, so Robert Yates hired Dale Jarrett to take over the #28 car. Jarrett earned 1 win that year at Pocono. On October 1 at North Wilkesboro, Irvan returned to Cup Series racing. Since Dale Jarrett had taken the seat of his No.28 car, Irvan instead ran a car numbered 88 but also sponsored by Texaco Havoline. Irvan would return full time for the 1996 season, retaking his #28. Dale Jarrett performed well as a substitute, so Yates Racing expanded to a two car team with Jarrett in #88. Irvan would win 3 more times between 1996 & 1997. To the shock of many, Irvan was fired from RYR at the end of 1997 and went to drive the #36 for MB2 Motorsports.
Starting in 1998 Kenny Irwin Jr. took over the wheel of the #28. Despite winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1998, Irwin failed to find victory lane in his two seasons. He is also known for one incident where he bumped the car of Tony Stewart, a former rival of his in USAC open-wheel competition, into the wall in the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway. For the 2000 season Irwin left RYR to drive the #42 for Felix Sabates, but would be killed in a crash at New Hampshire International Speedway after his throttle stuck during a practice session.
Following the departure of Irwin Ricky “The Rooster” Rudd took over the #28 car. He would go on to drive 3 seasons in the Havoline Ford, from 2000-2002, and won his first race for the team in 2001 at Pocono after going winless since 1998. Rudd drove the #28 to Victory Lane two additional times, Richmond in 2001 and his final victory at Infineon in 2002, and finished in the top ten in the standings all 3 seasons, including 4th in 2001, his 2nd highest career points finish. Rudd left the team to join Wood Brothers Racing in 2003, while Yates hired the Wood's previous driver, Elliott Sadler and Robert Yates switched from #28 to #38 along with sponsorship from Mars, Inc.
Yates Racing brought back the #28 car in 2008 with Travis Kvapil behind the wheel. Despite being very underfunded the team managed to put together a respectable season with Kvapil earning 4 top 10s and finishing 23rd in points. After only 4 races in 2009 the #28 team shut down due to lack of sponsorship. Yates Racing continued to field the #98 with Paul Menard for the rest of 2009, but in 2010 Yates disbanded the team. The Yates name is still alive in the world of engine building, providing horsepower for Roush Racing and Front Row Motorsports.
Fred Lorenzen drove #28 for 125 of his 158 career starts, and scored 25 of his 26 career wins in the number. Lorenzon won the 1963 & 1965 Grand National most popular driver award (Sprint Cup) and is considered one of the first superstars of the sport. At Darlington in 2008 the unsponsored #28 car of Travis Kvapil paid tribute to Lorenzon by running a car painted to resemble his old Ford.
Eddie Skinner drove the #28 68 times from 1963-1968.
From 1968-1971 Earl Brooks started #28 in 24 races. As one of the earliest professionals of any sport, he played the game simply to feed his family and to be a breadwinner to his family. Brooks never had the money or the time attract corporate sponsors for his racing team. His "second job" was being a mechanic for a garage on Lynchburg's Mayflower Drive; where he worked from Monday to Friday to pay off any bills that NASCAR couldn't help with. In the summertime, Earl would wear sandals while racing; something that would eventually become banned as NASCAR became more safety conscious. Like any other driver who raced during the formative years of NASCAR, Brooks was a humble man who would sometime race for meager "awards" like a block of cheese or a tin of crackers to eat for a snack after the race. While Richard Petty and David Pearson could buy new parts for their vehicles through their corporate sponsors spending money like there was no tomorrow, Earl had to scrounge around for vehicle components. Due to Brooks being unable to win a race in the NASCAR Cup Series, he is ineligible for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Buddy Helms raced this car in the first sanctioned race in 1949, and was (obviously) the first to race the 28. Helms made a total of 4 starts in #28.
Other notable names in #28
Benny Parsons, 14 starts
A.J. Foyt, 14 starts
Charlie Glotzbach, 8 starts
Bobby Isaac, 7 starts
Lake Speed, 3 starts
Chad Little, 3 starts
Junior Johnson, 1 start
Dan Gurney, 1 start
The 28th annual Daytona 500 was held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway. Geoff Bodine won this race on fuel mileage after engaging in a long feud with Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was forced to pit for gas with 3 laps to go, then blew the engine leaving the pits. This allowed Bodine to cruise to victory by a margin of over 11 seconds. It was the first of many hard luck finishes for Earnhardt that would last until the 1998 Daytona 500.
TRIVIA TIME
/u/colegnd has offered a reward of Dogecoins to the first person to correctly answer a daily trivia question related to each number! No Google, Wikipedia, or internet allowed, just your own knowledge! Thanks to /u/colegnd for the idea and dogecoins! If you are declared the winner of the trivia contest and would like to donate you prize money to charity, please let me know in the comments.
Yesterday’s Answer: In 1989, Chad Little missed United Airlines Flight 232. About a third of the passengers aboard the flight perished during its emergency landing in Iowa.
Today’s Question: Golden boy Lorenzon set many records in his tenure of NASCAR, including some for his owners. 1 owner that he won for set a record in the early 1960's as a 1st. Can you guess the owner and why it was so special? Bonus if you could guess who the father of this owner is.
Thanks to /u/CrossFire43 for providing today’s Dogecoin Trivia Question. If you think you can stump your fellow redditors of /r/NASCAR, PM me, /u/the_colbeast, a trivia question related to the daily countdown number.
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u/Magnaflux Jan 25 '15
JJ Yeley drove this JGL Racing #28 Dodge to a 5th place finish at Road America this past year.
Born in 1928: Ralph Earnhardt and Red Farmer (disputed, born sometime between 1928 and 1932).
Age 28: Reed Sorenson, Jody Knowles, Kyle Krisiloff, Tom Hessert III, Little Gator, Michael Annett, Billy Johnson, Mike Skeen, Andrew Ranger, Tommy Joe Martins, Jeff Choquette, and Chris Cockrum.
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u/RedlineFan Jan 26 '15
JJ Yeley drove this JGL Racing #28 Dodge to a 5th place finish at Road America this past year.
Totally not an old Penske Dodge.
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u/chrisonethree Jan 25 '15
From 2008-2010 Kenny Wallace drove a 28 for Jay Robinson Racing in the Nationwide Series...
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u/_ArgoNavis Jan 25 '15
The #28 had some of the most beautiful cars in the history of the sport. I'd really like to see it be successful again... and it wouldn't hurt my feelings to see that Texaco Havoline scheme again.
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u/kestrel_rises Keselowski Jan 25 '15
If Jared Irvan ever ascends to Sprint Cup, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that he should definitely run a T-Star scheme.
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u/CrossFire43 Jan 25 '15
Hate to break it to ya bud...but Golden boy never won the title in 63 or 65. In fact he never ran a full season in his entire nascar career. He was the most popular driver in 1963 and 65. He also was a 2 time USAC stock champ. Good piece on Kenny and swervin though.
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u/the_colbeast r/NASCAR Historian Jan 25 '15 edited Jan 25 '15
Fixed. Sorry. Sometimes my eyes go blurry after reading info for hours. I try to be as accurate as possible!
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u/CrossFire43 Jan 25 '15
Oh its all good...you do so much with these wonderful pieces day in and day out. Thats why I want to help you with the trivia...lol eventually you are going to go mad doing this stuff everyday.
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u/the_colbeast r/NASCAR Historian Jan 25 '15
The decent into madness has already begun, but seeing sports cars going around the Daytona Infield has helped lessen the effects.
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u/CrossFire43 Jan 25 '15
9 hours later and the trivia is still left unanswered... lol good my job is done...
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u/kestrel_rises Keselowski Jan 25 '15 edited Jan 25 '15
Ah yes, the Black and Red Havoline 28. That number is special to me.
Before I was born, my Dad was super into NASCAR. His Dad, (my granddad) was an Earnhardt fan, so it's only natural that'd he be a fan of racing. He chose Davey to be the guy to root for (perhaps it was because of Dale and Davey's friendship?), and after coming back from deployment from the Navy, he had a little teddy bear with a white Havoline firesuit that he gave to a toddler me. I still have that bear, I called him T-Star, and he's sitting comfortably at my house while I'm at college.
My Dad was a Davey Allison fan, of course, but after he passed away, he rooted for anybody in the Havoline car. After getting into NASCAR this past summer and asking him about who he liked, he listed off names like Ernie Irvan, Ricky Rudd, and Dale Jarrett. I distinctly remember there being a #28 1:24 diecast on one of Dad's shelves in his office. Hell, he even named his personal chili seasoning Blend 28!
The 28 Havoline car will always be special to me, and that's because it reminds me of my Dad. Sadly, he's not into NASCAR anymore (he's more of a WRC guy now), but he's the only guy that'll listen to me when I talk about it. What an awesome guy, I'm glad he's my father.
R.I.P. Davey, R.I.P. Kenny.