ESPN2 will once again air the NASCAR legends race live

HoneyBadger

HoneyBadger

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ESPN said:
Some of the great NASCAR drivers of the past will slip behind the wheel again for a special 35-lap race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and ESPN2 will have a live telecast on Saturday, March 20, at 5:30 p.m.

Some of the drivers competing in the Saturday Night Showdown are David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Harry Gant, Jack Ingram, Jimmy Hensley, Dave Marcis and L.D. Ottinger. All will be in late model stock cars painted to resemble cars they drove during their careers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

Marty Reid will call the action with analysis from former NASCAR champions Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace. Hosting the telecast will be Allen Bestwick with pit reporters Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch.
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Did this actually air last year? I remeber there being a touring (very light schedule) legends series announced around this time, but don't remember it ever taking off. In fact, they even had Langley on the schdule, but nothing ever came to pass.
 
Stewart Fan said:
Sterling Marlin will win again if he's in it.
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I don't think he's allowed to compete this year since he's run a NASCAR race in the past five years. Rule they came up with for the race because there were a lot of complaints about Rusty and Sterling being in the race.
 
Guess I'll have to record it. I'll be nearby at Volunteer Speedway for the World of Outlaws sprint car show.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Oh, thank you, Doc, for the good news about Larry.
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Who do we blame- just racing, or ignorance to have lengends racing in cars that are, safe to say by todays standards, entirely unsafe, in unsafe equipment? Hans (+-?), open face helmet, bubble goggles, no driver side padding, sheet-metal-on-cage skinning, ect. Might be okay for the weekend warrior, but these guys' bodies can't handle the beating and banging.
 
This was NOT a NASCAR sanctioned race. The cars belong to guys who most likely couldn't afford to build a car to NASCAR standards/requirements.

I'm sure the participants understood the risks involved.

Don't get me wrong, I totally agree that it needs to be safer for these old guys. But at the same time, I understand their desire to race.
 
They were USAR Hooters Pro Cup Cars or what ever they call that series now. I think they require hans devices and stuff like that, but i dont know if the track required these guys to wear it. Obviously not cause i know i saw one with an open face helmet and bubble goggles.
 
Very scary wreck. They were coming out of 2 and starting down the back streatch toward us. I knew it was bad and then when they tarped the car it was really scary.
 
Update from AP and YahooSports

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP)—Rick Wilson passed Phil Parsons with two laps to go to outlast 11 other retired NASCAR drivers Saturday in a non-sanctioned exhibition race organized by Bristol Motor Speedway.

Wilson, best known as the driver who took over the No. 43 following Richard Petty’s 1992 retirement, dominated the race but lost the lead late to Parsons. Wilson passed Parsons shortly after a restart following a lengthy red-flag for a frightening accident between Charlie Glotzbach and Larry Pearson.

A track spokesman said Pearson, the son of three-time NASCAR champion David Pearson, was awake and alert at Bristol Regional Medical Center and that his family confirmed he broke his lower left ankle, pelvis and right hand. He was set to have surgery Saturday night on his ankle.

Glotzbach was listed in good condition.

Pearson spun into the outside wall with five laps remaining. As his car slid down the banking, Glotzbach rounded Turn 2 and ran directly into Pearson’s driver-side door.

Glotzbach gingerly walked from his car, but the roof had to be cut off Pearson’s car. He was placed onto a stretcher, and was moving his arms as he was loaded into an ambulance.

Pearson, the winner of consecutive titles in what’s now called the Nationwide Series in 1986 and 1987, was immediately transported to the hospital. Glotzbach, who won a caution-free Cup race at Bristol in 1971, was seen first in the infield care center before leaving for the hospital.

David Pearson did not continue the race after he’s son’s accident. He drove his car off the track and stopped racing after the ambulance left so that he could travel to the hospital.
 
I like these kind of events, but I'm starting to think that it would be better to put the veterans in Legends or similar cars on a smaller track like the oval on the charlotte frontstretch. Some of hese guys just don't have the reflexes at their age to be driving cars that fast on a track like Bristol.
 
PettyBlue said:
I like these kind of events, but I'm starting to think that it would be better to put the veterans in Legends or similar cars on a smaller track like the oval on the charlotte frontstretch. Some of hese guys just don't have the reflexes at their age to be driving cars that fast on a track like Bristol.
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ditto
 
+1. it was a fun race to watch until the wreck. safety needs to be the primary focus on any future events like this. i can't believe how harry gant still looks almost as young (old) as he did the last time he raced professionally.
 
You guys wouldn't have liked what made this sport special. I know the sport is dangerous and I've seen many men die doing what they wanted to do. These cars were the safest at the time they raced and if this accident had happened then, the talk I'm hearing here would not have happened. Twenty years from now, if there is a legend race using the COT and someone gets hurt, they will compare the COT to what is being raced at the time and no doubt, it will be many times more safe.
 
buckaroo said:
You guys wouldn't have liked what made this sport special. I know the sport is dangerous and I've seen many men die doing what they wanted to do. These cars were the safest at the time they raced and if this accident had happened then, the talk I'm hearing here would not have happened. Twenty years from now, if there is a legend race using the COT and someone gets hurt, they will compare the COT to what is being raced at the time and no doubt, it will be many times more safe.
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I agree. This is a dangerous sport....Drivers KNOW what they are getting into when they strap in. I agree with safety to an extent. Sometimes safety get in the way of good racing.
Mabey we can take the drivers to a carnival and let them on the bumper cars.
 
That was a vicious hit. Broken hands and ankles hurt but a broken pelvis is extremely painful and takes quite a while to heal from what I understand. One of the girls my daughter rode with had a horse roll on her and she was laid up for months.

I hope this incident doesn't cause them to cancel this event. The look on those "old timers" faces as they got in the cars and strapped in was priceless.
 
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Judging by this picture, I must say Larry Pearson is extremely lucky to be alive.
 
I thought he was gone for sure. No way drivers that age and that have been out of the cars that long should be turning Nationwide lap times....

I wonder if they will cancel this even from now on because of this?
 
Stewart Fan said:
I thought he was gone for sure. No way drivers that age and that have been out of the cars that long should be turning faster than Nationwide lap times....

I wonder if they will cancel this even from now on because of this?
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Is the race going to be re-broadcast anywhere? I didn't get to see it.
 
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