Editor’s Note: NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023. SPEED SPORT was founded in 1934 and was already on its way to becoming America’s Motorsports Authority when NASCAR was formed. As a result, we will bring you Part 44 of a 75-part series on the history of NASCAR as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News and SPEED SPORT Magazine.
Dale Earnhardt played a different version of the same song in 1991. The four-time and defending NASCAR Winston Cup champion added a fifth championship trophy to his collection but hit a few sour notes during the performance.
The year began like a melodramatic opera. Earnhardt again came to Daytona Int’l Speedway in February with the hope of hitting one high note which always seemed out of his range.
Earnhardt looked to be the hero with 15 laps remaining in the Daytona 400, but once again fate intervened. Three cautions in the final 15 laps slowed the pace, bringing Ernie Irvan to the bumper of the GM Goodwrench Chevrolet. With six laps remaining, Irvan took the lead.
Earnhardt was preparing to make a last-lap pass for the lead when he was pushed sideways into third-place Davey Allison. Irvan beat Sterling Marlin to the checkered flag and Earnhardt finished fifth.
Earnhardt almost lost a victory the following week at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. He led Ricky Rudd late in the race, but slipped high, giving Rudd an opening. Earnhardt held on for the 49th victory of his career.
Kyle Petty won at North Carolina Motor Speedway after leading 380 of the 492 laps from the pole. Ken Schrader earned his third career victory two weeks later at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Rudd triumphed at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Rusty Wallace earned his first victory for new team owner Roger Penske at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Darrell Waltrip scored at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.
Earnhardt posted three top-10 finishes in the five races and grabbed his second triumph of the season, and 50th of his career, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Allison passed Allison for the lead on lap 364, but a flat right-front tire on lap 456 cost him the race.
“That Earnhardt! I told you at Daytona he’s the luckiest human being out there,” Allison said. “Man, we had him beat today, there’s no question about it, but look at the luck we had.”
Allison beat the field three times in the next five races after Harry Gant won at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on May 5. Only Ken Schrader’s triumph at Dover (Del.) Downs Int’l Speedway and Waltrip’s second career victory as an owner/driver at Pocono Raceway dented Allison’s streak.
Bill Elliott won for the first time in 1991 in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. The victory was particularly meaningful to Elliott, who had endured the deaths of his mother and grandmother in the preceding two weeks.
Wallace teamed with Earnhardt to win at Pocono in a unique manner. During a lap-176 rain delay, Earnhardt, who finished 22nd, pushed Wallace, who was low on fuel through the two yellow-flag laps before the restart. Wallace had enough fuel to drive away from Mark Martin when the green flag appeared on lap 178.
Earnhardt earned his 51st career victory the following Sunday at Talladega. The seventh all-time winningest driver in the Cup Series led 101 of the 188 laps.
However, as Earnhardt led fellow fellow Chevrolet driver Rudd after a lap-185 restart, Allison led a parade of rival Ford drivers, including Sterling Marlin and Elliott to his bumper. As the white flag fluttered over the track, Elliott ducked into second. Four turns later he made his attempt at victory. Earnhardt barely held him off.
“I knew I was the target of every one of these guys,” said Earnhardt. “They all wanted a shot at me and they had their chance.”
Irvan edged Rudd for victory at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) lnt’l on Aug. 11. One week later, Dale Jarrett won for the first time in his Winston Cup career at Michigan. The photo finish over Allison was also the Wood Brothers’ first triumph since 1987.
Owner/driver Alan Kulwicki won a war of attrition at Bristol in a race where cut tires were the story of the day.
The next four races belonged to Harry Gant. The 51-year-old, who bad become the oldest driver to win a Winston Cup race at Pocono in June of 1990, bettered his own record with his fourth Southern 500 victory at Darlington. One week later, Gant beat Allison to the stripe at Richmond.
Number three came on the Monster Mile at Dover Downs and his record-tying fourth victory in a row occurred on Sept. 22 at Martinsville.
The Goody’s 500 trophy tied Gant with Cale Yarborough, Waltrip and Earnhardt as the only drivers since 1972 to win four consecutive races.
Earnhardt’s quest for a second consecutive Winston Cup championship continued as he ended Gant’s streak in the next race at North Wilkesboro. Gant led all but 50 laps, but the point leader passed him on lap 391 after his brakes failed.
“I’m glad we beat him (Gant), but I sort of hate to see his string fall because Harry is such a great competitor,” commented Earnhardt in the Oct. 2 edition of NSSN. “We’re running for points and we’re running for wins, too, but he needs a little bit of a handicap for me to beat him.”
Bodine won at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while Earnhardt finished 25th.
Gant appeared on his way to a sixth victory of the season in Rockingham, N.C., as he held a 10-second lead over Allison as the two drivers stopped for a final time However, a broken air wrench turned Gant’s stop into a disaster and Allison went on to victory.
Allison won his fifth race of the season at Phoenix Raceway, but at 156 tallies behind Earnhardt, it was too little, too late. Earnhardt secured the 1991 Winston Cup championship by merely starting the season finale at Atlanta. Mark Martin won the race and Earnhardt was fifth, while Rudd’s 11th-place finish moved him to second in the standings over Allison, who came home 17th.
“I know we didn’t impress anybody the way we raced this year,” observed Earnhardt in the Nov. 20 NSSN. “We won just four races and no poles, but we’ll take the championship.”
Elliott ousted Waltrip as the Most Popular Driver after a two-year absence from the throne. Bobby Hamilton beat Ted Musgrave to become the Winston Cup Rookie of The Year and Bobby Labonte edged Kenny Wallace for the Busch Grand National title.
Rick Carelli fought off Ron Hornaday Jr. for the Southwest Tour championship, while Johnny Chapman was the Dash Series king.
In Winston West, Bill Sedgwick reigned at the end of the season, as did Mike Stefanik in the Winston Modified Tour. Ricky Craven won the Busch Grand National North title and Jody Ridley was the Winston All-Pro Super Series champion.