Today, the 1988 Daytona 500 is best known for the war for victory between Bobby Allison and his son Davey. Without a doubt, a classic moment in NASCAR history, a feel-good moment, to say the least.
However, there were a lot of stories surrounding the Daytona 500 on Valentine’s Day 1988. It was very much the beginning of a new era in the NASCAR Cup Series, especially in superspeedway races.
The years leading up to 1988 felt like an arms race in NASCAR at superspeedways. Technological improvements, more power, and more aerodynamic bodywork (partly due to tweaks to the trams, such as the switch to sealed headlights on the all-in-one oblongs). drives) drove at higher speeds.
Cale Yarborough finished the first lap of Daytona International Speedway at over 200 mph on his first qualifying lap in 1983. He couldn’t start because he flipped the car on his second lap. From there, the speed only increased, reaching 205 mph in 1986.
1987 saw a rule change that actually increased speeds even more. At the behest of Goodyear, NASCAR dropped the minimum weight for Cup cars from 3,700 lbs. to 3,500 to relieve some of the stress on the tires. As a result, Bill Elliott won the pole with a lap at 210.364 mph, still a record to this day.
At those speeds, the concern about the twist of fate in the air is very real. The 1987 Twin 125s witnessed a terrifying twist of fate in which Phil Barkdoll turned into the trioval, turned around and nearly hit the fence backwards. after exiting your Oldsmobile Delta 88 on the passenger side.
No adjustments were made after Daytona, except to reduce qualifying from two laps to one at the superspeedways. Elliott won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway with an all-time record of 212. 809 mph.
It wasn’t long before trouble broke out. After 21 laps of racing, Bobby Allison’s Miller American Buick LeSabre suffered engine failure on the tri-oval. A part broke from the engine and burst the right rear tire, causing the No. 22 to spin and take off.
It was one of the scariest moments in NASCAR history. The barrier did a smart job of keeping the LesSabres out of the stands, but the enthusiasts were injured afterwards.
It was this crash that convinced NASCAR that the ever-increasing speeds at Daytona and Talladega were no longer tenable. For the July superspeedway races, NASCAR used 390 cfm carburetors, the type used at the time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. These slowed speeds a little. The pole speed for the Pepsi 400 that year was a little over 198 mph, while it was nearly 204 mph at Talladega.
By 1988, NASCAR invented a new transience solution: the Restriction Plate, a steel plate with 1-inch holes placed over the intake manifold, designed to force and slow cars.
The concept is nothing new in NASCAR. This solution was used in the 1970s as a component of an engine equalization formula at a time when big-block and small-block engines were racing at the same time in the Cup Series. These regulations were in position to all tracks, not just superspeedways.
Regardless of the newness of the package, the results were clear. Ken Schrader’s pole speed of 193.823 mph was 16.541 mph slower than Elliott’s pole speed from 1987. What was also apparent was that the field was much closer together. Sound familiar?
The Gatorade Twin 125s have noted a number of examples of what happens when many drivers approach in ultra-loose race cars (settings are more flexible to maintain top speeds). There are drivers fading into each other and incidents involving multiple cars. .
J. D. McDuffie suffered severe burns in an accident when starting the Twin 125 after colliding with Ralph Jones and Delma Cowart. His injuries were compounded when a jerk stole his driving gloves, forcing McDuffie to run without gloves.
Richard Petty spun while racing with Ernie Irvan. Jimmy Horton crashed trying to avoid the STP Pontiac and DNQ’d as a result. Yarborough wiped out underneath Darrell Waltrip while racing for the lead and backed into the wall. Farther back, a multi-car wreck broke out in reaction to Yarborough’s crash that took out eight more drivers, three of whom failed to make the race.
Today, these types of antics at Daytona and Talladega are common. Racing is also experiencing an exponentially more competitive habit than was evident in 1988. At the time, these types of injuries at Daytona were considered peculiar. Of course, there were injuries before that, but accidents involving multiple cars were rare in the era of superspeedway racing.
The genuine goal of slowing down cars to prevent backturns and prevent cars from entering the fence. Worked? You are welcome.
Outside of the Allison family’s war for victory, the race is more productive, known for a horrific crash involving Petty on lap 106. Coming out of Turn 4, Petty spun on Barkdoll. The Pontiac STP crashed into AJ Foyt’s Oldsmobile. Then the car exploded and went out of there, adding the game to the fence.
The twist of Petty’s fate left everyone stunned. It more or less rejected everything NASCAR sought to do by slowing down cars. Petty escaped the rubble without being seriously injured. He fractured his ankle in the accident and spent time at Halifax Medical Center before. Returning home to Carolina del Norte. No lost a moment and scored what turned out to be his final top-five finish a week later at Richmond Raceway.
To be honest, even with much of the existing generation in play to avoid the side effects, it’s unclear whether Petty’s reversal simply could have been avoided with the facts we know. Barkdoll almost ran over Petty from behind, giving him more oomph compared to similar incidents. Contact with Foyt, however, brought about the reversal. If that hadn’t happened, things would have been different. It is not one of several shipwrecks since then; Schrader’s turn of fate in Talladega in 1995 is just one example.
One component of the big accident, the competitive race. Many drivers were able to take part in the race. The Allisons were part of this group, as were Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, and Harry Gant. Surprisingly, some little-known drivers such as Lake Speed (before his engine blew out) and Phil Parsons were also present.
Bobby Allison entered the race as something of a prohibitive favorite based on his form (he won his Twin 125, then won the Goody’s 300 the day before). He appeared to have the most outright speed. Meanwhile, Waltrip had the best fuel mileage and likely had the best handling car. He dominated parts of the race prior to Petty’s crash.
Gant crashed out of the race with 23 laps to go, which brought most of the leaders in for the final stop. Parsons didn’t pit and stayed out to take the lead over Davey Allison, Waltrip and Bobby Allison.
On the restart, Waltrip controlled to pass Davey Allison and Parsons with the help of Bobby Allison. Bobby Allison then swept Waltrip and took the lead with an assist from Davey. Bobby then held off his son to win his third Daytona 500.
Parsons third, followed by Neil Bonnett and Terry Labonte. Waltrip fainted late in the 11th. Victory Lane is a jovial affair with the Allisons celebrating together.
The 1988 Daytona 500 proved to be something of a dividing line between old and new. It was Bobby Allison’s last win in NASCAR. Four months later, he was seriously injured in a first-lap crash that ended his career at Pocono Raceway.
Petty’s career waned after Richmond. A year later, he had to run errands. Yarborough crashed and Benny Parsons was uncompetitive after finishing second last year with Hfinishrick Motorsports. Both retired at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, drivers like Wallace and Davey Allison were on the rise to sign up for Earnhardt, Elliott, Labonte and Waltrip. The result was two competitive seasons with hard-fought championship battles.
Petty’s crash showed that NASCAR has a lot of work to do to prevent rollovers. It’s true that he’s continued to research to expand new tactics for controlling speed and keeping cars on the ground, with varying degrees of success. The plates used in this Daytona 500 lasted only five superspeedway races before being replaced by plates with smaller holes. This was the beginning of the plate adjustments that were made until they were removed from the Cup Series in 2019.
Aerodynamically, additional changes were made. First were the vertical strips added to the roof that run parallel to the door, which quickly became permanent at all tracks. These were later extended down the rear window and onto the trunk by 1991. There were also small flaps added between the hood and windshield.
After six rollovers between Cup and Xfinity in 1993 (including 3 blowouts) and several more accidents where cars took off, NASCAR made roof fins mandatory for 1994. Shutters have been around for several generations since then, but are still used today.
Even with all the time and money spent trying to keep cars in the ground, outbursts are still prevalent in NASCAR today. Ryan Preece’s turn of fate at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona last August is just the latest example. Work to save them The twist of fate is still ongoing.
Phil Allaway has 3 main roles in Frontstretch. Es the administrator of the site’s FREE email newsletter, which runs Monday through Friday and on weekends. He ensures the honesty of TV stations with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and is the site’s sports car racing host. editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
When the danger in NASCAR is negligible or non-existent, I will stop being a fan. The skill it takes for cars is why I’m watching. . . as opposed to the mindless chase of a football. . . Racing has meaning.
And why the Xfinity race is now only 250 miles is stupid NASCAR has done. Cars are more sustainable than ever. . . They require drivers to be physically compatible in order to be professionals.