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| Category | Stock cars |
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| Country | United States |
| Inaugural season | 1989 |
| Folded | 1996 |
The NASCAR Sportsman Division is a discontinued NASCAR division. It was created by Humpy Wheeler in 1989 to give short track drivers superspeedway experience.
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| Category | Stock cars |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Inaugural season | 1989 |
| Folded | 1996 |
The NASCAR Sportsman Division is a discontinued NASCAR division. It was created by Humpy Wheeler in 1989 to give short track drivers superspeedway experience.
In 1989, Humpy Wheeler, the president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, announced the creation of the Sportsman Division, a series in which drivers from short tracks could gain experience on superspeedways. The first Sportsman race was held after qualifying for the 1989 Coca-Cola 600, and was mostly clean. The race was won by Tim Bender.
In 1990, the series' first fatality occurred. During practice, David Gaines and two other drivers were involved in an accident coming off of turn 4. As Steve McEachern came through the turn, he was unable to avoid David Gaines, and struck his car, killing him. McEachern flipped into the grass and came to rest on the grass next to pit road. That race was won by Robbie Faggart.
During a Sportsman race at Charlotte in May of that year, Ed Gartner Jr. was t-boned by Tom D'Eath. Gartner cracked his sternum and fractured his leg, and D'Eath, a nationally renowned hydroplane racing champion who won the APBA national championship and Gold Cup events, best known for piloting Bernie Little's Miss Budweiser , broke his neck. Another severe crash that month took place at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when Philip Ross' car spun coming out of turn 4 and backed into the wall, bursting into flames. Ross got out of the car, but suffered second-degree burns over 30% of his body.
The Sportsman Division replace New Hampshire with Pocono at the end of the year. The first race there was aired on ESPN, and was won by Kirk Shelmerdine.
In 1992, the series was renamed the Igloo Sportsman Challenge and began awarding a championship. In the qualifying race for the Winston 100, however, the series' second fatality occurred. Red Everette and a few other drivers spun coming out of Turn 4, and Neil Connell, who had driven high to avoid the accident, came into contact with Gary Batson, who was forced onto his driver's side door and dragged along the wall. The two cars caught fire when they came to a stop. Connell managed to escape his car, but Batson was trapped due to being on his driver's side. He suffered burns to 80% of his body, including third-degree burns. He died the next morning. Meanwhile, the Winston 100 aired on TV just before The Winston. That race was won by Robbie Faggart, who went on to win the championship.
After 1992, the series lost sponsorship from Igloo. The opening race almost went green the whole way until a heavy late race crash between Shari Minter, Kirk Shelmerdine, and a few others ended the race under caution. There were no major injuries in 1993, but the second race of the season, the Goody’s 100, saw a large second lap pileup caused by Peter Gibbons and another hard multi car crash later in the race when Russell Phillips got loose. After that race, the series began doing single file starts and restarts because the drivers didn't have enough experience for two wide restarts on big tracks, and the next 2 races went caution free.
In one race, Red Everette was t-boned by Ronnie Sewell. Everette's car burst into flames and Everette suffered mild burns to his face. Later in that same race, an axle from a wrecked car flew into the pits, injuring two pit crew members. Driver Wally Fowler was very competitive that season, winning two races but being stripped of his wins after failing qualifying.
By 1995, there were less competitors, and until October, it wasn’t a very violent year for the series, much like 1993. On October 4, 1995, the Sportsman 100 was supposed to be run, but due to weather, the race was postponed to October 6. The race was then run, with 26-year old Russell Phillips on the pole. On lap 17 of the 67 laps scheduled, Phillips was killed in one of the most gruesome crashes in motor sports history. The crash took safety officials approximately 40 minutes to clean up, and the race continued. The race was won by Gary Laton. The race was filmed and was supposed to be broadcast, but out of respect for Phillips, it was never aired. The crash caused Humpy Wheeler to cancel the Sportsman Division at Charlotte. The other tracks, like Pocono and Richmond, followed suit.
While Humpy and Charlotte were done with the series, it wasn't completely over yet. It ran less than five races on short tracks that year. The point of the series was to get short track drivers on superspeedways, so the series was rendered pointless, because all the big tracks stopped hosting Sportsman races after Phillips' fatal crash. By the end of 1996, the Sportsman Division was gone for good.
The Sportsman Division became the roots of the current CARS Tour, a short track series, as they used steel bodied old Cup and second tier cars initially as the Hooters ProCup.
The series used former Cup/Busch series cars that were mainly run from the mid-1980s to early 1990s, and the year range for eligible cars grew each year. The wheelbase and tires were the same as the cars from the mid-1980s to 1990, using a single two venturi (metering) carburetor instead of the four venturi variant used in the major series, reducing the horsepower from 700 to 350, similar to what is used in NASCAR-sanctioned short track racing. [1] [2]
(h) denotes a NASCAR Hall of Fame member, primarily for his work as a crew chief. (m) denotes a driver who won a NASCAR Cup Series major. (n) denotes a NASCAR national series champion. (w) denoted a NASCAR national series race winner.
David Carl Allison was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was the oldest of four children born to Bobby and Judy Allison. The family moved to Hueytown, Alabama, and along with Bobby Allison's brother, Donnie, Red Farmer and Neil Bonnett, became known as the Alabama Gang.
Robert Arthur Allison was an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks with high purses. Allison raced competitively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1961 to 1988, while regularly competing in short track events throughout his career. He also raced in IndyCar, Trans-Am, and Can-Am. Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers and a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, he was the 1983 Winston Cup champion and won the Daytona 500 in 1978, 1982, and 1988.
Lake Chambers Speed is an American retired stock car racing driver. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, scoring one career win in 402 starts.
Charles "Red" Farmer is an American professional stock car racing and dirt track racing driver. He currently competes part-time in 602 Crate Dirt Late Models in the No. F97 Ford Mustang for his own team. He is a member of the Alabama Gang.
Edward Kirk Shelmerdine V is an American stock car racing driver and former championship-winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt.
Jack Eugene Sprague is an American former stock car racing driver who has competed in all of NASCAR's three top divisions, most notably in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he won series championships in 1997, 1999 and 2001.
Peter Goodwill Hamilton was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR for six years, where he won four times in his career, three times driving for Petty Enterprises.
Howard Augustine Wheeler Jr., nicknamed Humpy Wheeler, is an American motorsports executive and businessman. He is best known as the former general manager of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) banked racetrack in Concord, North Carolina. Wheeler held the positions of publicity directors for numerous companies and later became the president and general manager of the Charlotte Motor Speedway. He is a major auto racing promoter and businessman, particularly in stock car racing and IndyCar racing.
Russell Lee Phillips was a NASCAR Sportsman Division driver. He was killed in a crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1995.
The 1987 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 29th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 15, 1987, before an audience of 130,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.
James "Jimmy" Horton III is a businessman who owns a radiator and chassis shop after a Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame career racing dirt modifieds. He raced in 48 NASCAR Winston Cup races in eight seasons. He was a regular on the ARCA circuit in the 1980s and 1990s. Horton has won many of the most noted races for dirt track modifieds in the Northeastern United States.
The 1986 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 16, 1986, before an audience of 125,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway.
The 1988 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 30th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 14, 1988, before an audience of 135,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Stavola Brothers Racing's Bobby Allison managed to fend off his son, Ranier-Lundy Racing's Davey Allison to the finish to take his 85th and final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his only victory of the season, and his third Daytona 500 victory. Jackson Bros. Motorsports' Phil Parsons rounded out the top three.
Benny Richard Knotts was an American ASA and NASCAR Winston Cup driver. The Paw Paw, Michigan driver began his career in 1966 on Michigan short tracks and raced in various stock car series for 6 years before he died in a crash at Daytona in 1980.
Robbie Faggart is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Sportsman Division in the early 1990s, winning the series' 1992 championship; he saw less success in NASCAR's top divisions, failing to qualify for seven Winston Cup Series races before running a limited schedule in the NASCAR Busch Series in the early 2000s.
The 1987 Winston 500 was the ninth stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 18th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 3, 1987, before an audience of 135,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Alabama International Motor Speedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race was shortened from its scheduled 188 laps to 178 due to impending darkness that was caused by a lengthy red flag for debris cleanup and catch fence repairs for an earlier accident.
The 1984 Talladega 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway on July 29, 1984.
The 1978 NAPA National 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on October 8, 1978, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
The 1996 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 3, 1996, in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. On the final restart with five to go, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to pull away from the field to secure his 10th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first of the season. To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett and Roush Racing driver Ted Musgrave would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1996 UAW-GM Quality 500 was the 28th stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 6, 1996, in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. In the late stages of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would manage to make a late-race charge to the front, managing to close and come within one point of teammate Jeff Gordon in the point standings after a late season slump by Gordon. The win was Labonte's 18th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would finish second and third, respectively.
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