Crazy how much Charlotte has changed over the years. It's my home track. First race I ever went to was a Busch series race in 1998 or 99. Sat in between turn 1 and 2. Those seats aren't even there anymore.
While not quite as memorable small-picture as the previous 600s (Jeff Gordon/Bobby Labonte maiden wins), this was significant in a big-picture way- this was the year open-wheel racing had the infamous CART/IRL split and the Indianapolis 500 would plummet in terms of spectacle. This was the beginning of the Coca-Cola 600 being THE Memorial Day Weekend race. Not many people remember Buddy Lazier winning the 500, but most of us remember Jarrett’s 88 going the distance.
Failed to Qualify: 78 Randy MacDonald*, 63 Ed Berrier*, 26 Hermie Sadler*, 59 Mark Gibson*, 02 Robbie Faggart*, 0 Delma Cowart, & 57 Steve Seligman*. Car Count: 25 Fords, 12 Chevys, & 6 Pontiacs. Regional Representation: 23 drivers from the Southeast, 6 from the Northeast, 8 MidWesterners, and 6 West Coast drivers. Driver Ages: 3 drivers over 50, 7 between 40-50, 30 in their 30s, and 3 under 30. Oldest: Dave Marcis (55); Youngest: Jeff Gordon (24).
Man, what a bonehead move by Kyle petty. What was the best case scenario there? Make it three wide in the tri-oval. man, Rusty Wallace, drove over Lake Speed, he was out of control in that wreck. Lake Speed, and Rusty both had good cars too. That Mark martin in car camera is amazing.
I remember the Kyle Petty wreck, I hated Petty for causing that wreck since Rusty Wallace got involved in it. Supposedly, the story behind it was that the 42 team thought they were supposed to be in front of the 16 car on the restart. Kyle over the radio said that he would "take care of the situation". NASCAR interpreted that as "I'm going to wreck the 16", and parked him for 5 laps. Then Sabates went apeshit, and NASCAR tacked on another 2 laps.
+Jonathan Walker, Yes about an hour. This was my first Coke 600. It rained before they ever got started but then it cleared off. Funny story, I kept worrying about it raining again that night during the race and whenever I would look up at the sky, everyone around me would look up as well. LOL!
+Jonathan Walker 6 pm. It ended up starting around 7:00 or a little after which put us 11:00pm getting out of there. We got a pretty good shower before they had started driver intros or anything.
He was good at Talladega. He finished second to Earnhardt in Senior's final win, and he would have finished fifth a couple of years later if the yellow-line rule didn't happen.
He was a decent racer, the problem was the teams he was on were mid-pack at best (Fil-Mar, Petree, the second Sabates car, the second Bill Davis car), though you could also argue (though in sub duties), he was ok, and not head turning good in a DEI and Yates car.
Crazy how much Charlotte has changed over the years. It's my home track. First race I ever went to was a Busch series race in 1998 or 99. Sat in between turn 1 and 2. Those seats aren't even there anymore.
RIP EARNHARDT, ANDRETTI, TRICKLE, And HAMILTON.
Anybody miss that QC paint scheme
While not quite as memorable small-picture as the previous 600s (Jeff Gordon/Bobby Labonte maiden wins), this was significant in a big-picture way- this was the year open-wheel racing had the infamous CART/IRL split and the Indianapolis 500 would plummet in terms of spectacle.
This was the beginning of the Coca-Cola 600 being THE Memorial Day Weekend race. Not many people remember Buddy Lazier winning the 500, but most of us remember Jarrett’s 88 going the distance.
00:46 RIP Steve Byrnes
Fun Fact: Erik Jones was born 4 days after the 1996 Coca Cola 600 occurred and Normani was born 5 days after the 1996 Coca Cola 600 occurred
Failed to Qualify: 78 Randy MacDonald*, 63 Ed Berrier*, 26 Hermie Sadler*, 59 Mark Gibson*, 02 Robbie Faggart*, 0 Delma Cowart, & 57 Steve Seligman*.
Car Count: 25 Fords, 12 Chevys, & 6 Pontiacs.
Regional Representation: 23 drivers from the Southeast, 6 from the Northeast, 8 MidWesterners, and 6 West Coast drivers.
Driver Ages: 3 drivers over 50, 7 between 40-50, 30 in their 30s, and 3 under 30. Oldest: Dave Marcis (55); Youngest: Jeff Gordon (24).
Thank you for posting this race! I have been looking for this a long time.
Man, what a bonehead move by Kyle petty. What was the best case scenario there? Make it three wide in the tri-oval. man, Rusty Wallace, drove over Lake Speed, he was out of control in that wreck. Lake Speed, and Rusty both had good cars too. That Mark martin in car camera is amazing.
First race I watched flag to flag...wonderful memories! Thanks for posting
At 1:30:20, Ken Schrader in the #25 did an excellent job avoiding that crash!
1:38:53 plum amazing... And kudos to Gordon for moderation in the heat of the moment.
The provided timestamp above is the "setup", 1:39:20 is when Dale "pulls the trigger" 😁
Dale Jarratt's 6th Career NASCAR Winston Cup win
I got this artist rendition of the race car Sam bass autograph it for me rest in peace Sam
I remember the Kyle Petty wreck, I hated Petty for causing that wreck since Rusty Wallace got involved in it.
Supposedly, the story behind it was that the 42 team thought they were supposed to be in front of the 16 car on the restart. Kyle over the radio said that he would "take care of the situation". NASCAR interpreted that as "I'm going to wreck the 16", and parked him for 5 laps. Then Sabates went apeshit, and NASCAR tacked on another 2 laps.
PYLrulz1984 I think then the next week at Dover the 42 showed up painted black and silver like the 3 car as a protest.
Did Felix Sabates not even show up at Dover the next week in protest?
Felix for you.
@@Mrtinkyloothought the story was he just never went back to the track again. Ever. Just stayed home after that every week
Nah NASCAR was right to penalize him. KP is dumb like that
Nice satellite feed! :D
the internet existed in 1996?!?!
yes. But not as complex and technical as it was. The second half of the 90's the internet obviously changed everything in a big way.
Yes but a slowwww one
Was this race delayed by rain?
I can see it rained....
+Jonathan Walker, Yes about an hour. This was my first Coke 600. It rained before they ever got started but then it cleared off. Funny story, I kept worrying about it raining again that night during the race and whenever I would look up at the sky, everyone around me would look up as well. LOL!
Thanks. I am going to this year's race!!!
+Scott K. What time was the race supposed to have started?
+Jonathan Walker 6 pm. It ended up starting around 7:00 or a little after which put us 11:00pm getting out of there. We got a pretty good shower before they had started driver intros or anything.
1:50:57 That was one Scary Crash.
y did they even run the race in rain
No way they would wreck
Was there ever a cup race when Kenny Wallace didn't wreck?
He was good at Talladega. He finished second to Earnhardt in Senior's final win, and he would have finished fifth a couple of years later if the yellow-line rule didn't happen.
@@tommynesbitt4837 He was decent at plate racing, but then again so was Michael Waltrip !
He was a decent racer, the problem was the teams he was on were mid-pack at best (Fil-Mar, Petree, the second Sabates car, the second Bill Davis car), though you could also argue (though in sub duties), he was ok, and not head turning good in a DEI and Yates car.
1:28:38 for the Kyle Petty wreck
Richard petty helmet cam