100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": The Intimidator Incident

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.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": Chad's Choice

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:

97. What if Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson never worked together?

Jimmie before Chad

Background: Chad Knuas is unquestionably the most-successful crew chief of Nascar’s modern age.  After a stint working for the famed “Rainbow Warriors” pit crew of Jeff Gordon, he bounced around a number of teams before crew chiefing Stacy Compton’s Melling Racing car in 2001.  In 2002 he returned to Hendrick Motorsports to work with rookie driver Jimmie Johnson.

What Actually Happened: Knaus went to work with Jimmie Johnson in 2002, and he hasn’t left since.  Knaus has helped Johnson to seven Cup Series Championships under a variety of Chase/Playoff formats, surpassing the Jeff Gordon/Ray Evernham pairing as the most-successful in recent memory.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if Chad Knaus was never asked to return to Hendrick Motorsports in 2002?

Chad before Jimmie

What COULD Have Happened: Knaus was a rising star in Nascar’s crew chief ranks, having taken the Melling team to a pair of pole positions in 2001 despite limited resources and a brand-new manufacturer in Dodge.  He likely would have found himself working for a top team (perhaps Evernham Motorsports) before too long.

And if THAT Happened…: Would Jimmie Johnson have been as successful without Chad Knaus?  That is a question we may never know.  While its hard to argue that Johnson isn’t a talented wheelman, its also hard to argue that his success hasn’t been at least a bit due to the help of Knaus’s expertise.  Perhaps their true talent is in staying together all these years, so we may never know the answer.

What Else Could Have Happened: While Johnson may not have been as successful without Chad Knaus as his crew chief, he may have succeeded with much less controversy.  Knaus has been a master at exploiting the “gray areas” of Nascar’s rulebook, occasionally running afoul of the sanctioning body for it.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: The two of them just work well together, and kudos to Rick Hendrick for noticing that prospect.

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100 Stock Car Racing "What Ifs": The Pearson Probability

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:

14. What if David Pearson had run more full-season schedules?

Nascar's two-biggest rivals--who always
brought out the best in each other

Background: In the pre-1972 Grand National era it was hard to find a more-respected driver than David Pearson.  The Silver Fox wound up totaling an amazing 105 premiere series wins from 1960-1980 and three season championships—all despite rarely running the full schedule.

What Actually Happened: After winning championships for Cotton Owens and Holman-Moody, Pearson went to the powerhouse Wood Brothers team, which at the time ran only a partial schedule.

What Could Have Been the Turning Point: What if the Wood Brothers had decided to run a full-season schedule full-time, perhaps spurred on by their rivalry with Petty Enterprises?

What COULD Have Happened: Who knows how many races and championships Pearson could have won with more chances to do so.  Furthermore, while the Wood Brothers typically skipped most of the short-track schedule, Pearson was renowned as a complete racer who could win on any type of track.

The man who made The Wood Brothers
into legends

And if THAT Happened…: Richard Petty would likely still be known as “The King”, but that tidy total of 200 wins would likely be a bit less with Pearson competing on a full-time basis.

What Else Could Have Happened: Would Richard Petty have won all seven of his Cup championships?  His competitive career more or less coincided with Pearson’s (Pearson’s final win was in 1980, one year after Petty’s final championship), so maybe it would be Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jimmie Johnson alone at the top.

Why It Had to Turn Out The Way It Did: At the time there simply wasn’t enough money to make running a full-schedule profitable for most teams, hence why Pearson and the Wood Brothers stayed on a partial run for the 1970s.

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