Nascar has a long and storied history, but it also has a past littered with “What If?” questions. Join author Mike Mackler as he takes a look back at stock car racing’s 100 most-intriguing hypotheticals in “100 Stock Car Racing ‘What Ifs’”, the book available on Amazon in both Paperback and Kindle formats. Here’s a preview of one of the one hundred “What If” questions asked throughout the book:
16. What if Dale Earnhardt Sr. had won the 1990 Daytona 500?
 |
| The two favorites in the 1990 Daytona 500 |
Background: Dale Earnhardt Sr. seemed to be able to win anything at Daytona International Speedway except for the Daytona 500. 1990 appeared to be his year, as The Intimidator led almost three-quarters of the race.
What Actually Happened: On the final lap Earnhardt ran over a piece of Rick Wilson’s blown engine, cutting a tire and allowing Derrike Cope to go by and win arguably the biggest upset in Cup Series history.
What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if Dale Earnhardt had never ran over that debris on the white flag lap?
 |
| Oh, will I ever look this happy |
What COULD Have Happened: The long-running storyline of “Will Dale win Daytona?” would never have happened. Furthermore, we would have had two straight feel-good 500’s, with Earnhardt’s win coming a year after Darrell Waltrip finally won the race in 1989.
And if THAT Happened…: Its hard to figure out the details that motivate a champion, but the RCR 3 team used the race as a motivator to win the 1990 Winston Cup Championship, hanging the shredded tire from the race in their shop as a reminder. While a team and driver as great as that combination was probably didn’t need any additional motivation, one can wonder if Dale would have won that year’s championship without it.
What Else Could Have Happened: Derrike Cope’s later win in that year’s spring Dover race has often been used to disprove him as a “fluke winner”. However, without such a prestigious win as the Daytona 500, one has to figure that he may have simply faded away from race fans’ memories.
Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: Beyond superstition, Earnhardt simply ran over a piece of debris, and sometimes even the best drivers are in the wrong place at the wrong time.