Congrats to 12th place Martinsville Rookie Danica, but I Remember 2 Rookies in Top-10 in 1986

Much has been made about Danica Patrick's 12th place finish as a rookie in the spring 2013 Martinsville Cup race. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Danica mix it up in the late stages enroute to her good finish in her first Martinsville race.

Taking nothing away from Danica, but I happened to be at Martinsville in April 1986 - 27 years ago - as part of a Winston Cup rookie operation when not just one, but TWO Winston Cup rookies posted top-10 finishes on the demanding 1/2-mile Virginia oval. Believe me, neither of those two racers had ever seen the Martinsville oval either, but they didn't get nearly the hype, credit and respect for their top-10 rookie finishes as Danica did for 12th with many more resources behind her.

I arrived at Martinsville in April 1986 as Vice President/General Manager of Rabanco Racing, a rookie effort out of Campobello, SC, making its very first Winston Cup start with young Derrike Cope at the wheel. I had "discovered" Cope in Washington state in 1984 and sponsored him for 7-Eleven for two years in Winston West racing.

Also getting his first look at Martinsville that beautiful April weekend of 1986 was a fellow from Wisconsin named Alan Kulwicki, a fellow who'd made a name for himself in ASA racing.

When qualifying was complete, rookie Alan had put his #35 Bill Terry owned Quincy's Steak House Thunderbird in 16th place on the starting grid.

Rookie Derrike put his #79 Warren Razore owned Western Peterbilt Thunderbird in the 17th starting spot, right behind Alan and to the inside of Neil Bonnett.

Both young rookies charged through the field, cracking the top-5 during the race - a stupendous feat for one rookie, let alone two.

We were pitted with Derrike's car on the old backstretch Martinsville pit road beside the #12 Junior Johnson Budweiser Chevy entry of Neil Bonnett, crewed by Tim Brewer.

While running 5th, we pitted and had a brand new Ingersoll-Rand air gun break as our rear tire changer (who'd flown in from California) attempted to take off the lug nuts.

Seeing our predicament, Bonnet crew chief, Tim Brewer grabbed an air gun from the Junior Johnson pit box and leaped toward our driver's side rear wheel, sliding on his knee pads. He took off the wheel and put on the new one handed to him.

It was a heck of a display of sportsmanship by a big name crew chief on a high dollar team to help an underdog. To this day I have never forgotten Tim's action.

Derrike went back out on the track and salvaged what he could of his rookie Martinsville start. By the time the checkers flew he'd worked his way back up to 9th place.

Young rookie Alan Kulwicki finished 4th that day.

So, please let's praise Danica for her accomplishment running 12th, but's let's also remember two rookies who both had top-10 Martinsville finishes in the same race without benefit of Lucky Dogs, wave arounds . or a multi-million dollar effort and team.

A couple of things I remember from that race. We were driving back from Daytona Beach from a mini-vacation that Sunday. I was about to turn 10. That race was the first engine failure for Bill Elliott in over 3 years- at that time, no small feat. I can remember being in my dad's Dodge van with MRN on the radio that day listening, and ultimately disappointed VERY early in the race- 42 laps to be exact. The other thing I remember is reading the recap in Greg Fielden's '40 Years Of Stock Car Racing' that the field was SO depleted, that outside of the eventual winner, Ricky Rudd, that NONE of the drivers that finished from 2nd through 16th even led a lap in the race. The final thing was that Buddy Arrington had cracked the top 5 in that race- but lost an engine in the final 50 miles.

Jay, thanks for sharing.

Derrike learned one huge lesson in that first Martinsville race.

By the time we got to Charlotte the following Wednesday for an open test for the Coke World 600, Derrike was so hoarse and his throat so sore he could hardly talk. Dale Earnhardt, who'd given Derrike a lot of tips, told him it was because he'd been breathing through his mouth at Martinsville and you absolutely had to breathe through your nose to keep from burning up your throat.

First time, in fact, I ever saw one of those "Breathe Right" strips was at Martinsville. It was being used by Geoff Bodine. First full face helmet I ever saw was also at Martinsville, being used again by Bodine.

Dale used to make fun of Bodine's full faced helmet and DW's sport goggles. Little did we know.

Only 7 cautions that day at Martinsville, but with today's rules that would still have been 7 Lucky Dogs and 7 Wave Arounds. Back then you raced every lap for what you got. And you didn't do it with millions of dollars.

1986 Sovran Bank 500

NASCAR Winston Cup race number 8 of 29
April 27, 1986 at Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, VA
500 laps on a .526 mile paved track (263.0 miles)

Time of race: 3:25:15
Average Speed: 76.882 mph
Pole Speed: 90.716 mph Cautions: 7 for 33 laps
Margin of Victory: 1 lp 6 sec
Attendance: 38,000
Lead changes: 15

Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led Points
1 4 15 Ricky Rudd Motorcraft (Bud Moore) Ford 500 40,850 running 163 185
2 10 26 Joe Ruttman Quaker State (Kenny Bernstein) Buick 499 17,325 running 0 170
3 7 44 Terry Labonte Piedmont Airlines (Billy Hagan) Oldsmobile 496 17,125 running 0 165
4 16 35 Alan Kulwicki Quincy's Steak House (Bill Terry) Ford 496 8,350 running 0 160
5 12 7 Kyle Petty 7-Eleven (Wood Brothers) Ford 496 11,050 running 0 155
6 23 8 Bobby Hillin, Jr. Miller American (Stavola Brothers) Buick 495 7,680 running 0 150
7 20 90 Ken Schrader Red Baron Frozen Pizza (Junie Donlavey) Ford 493 7,830 running 0 146
8 11 22 Bobby Allison Miller American (Stavola Brothers) Buick 492 6,710 running 0 142
9 17 79 Derrike Cope Western Peterbilt (Warren Razore) Ford 489 2,350 running 0 138
10 13 75 Jody Ridley Nationwise Auto Parts (RahMoc Enterprises) Pontiac 487 6,620 running 0 134
11 25 23 Michael Waltrip Hawaiian Punch (Chuck Rider) Pontiac 484 2,070 running 0 130
12 31 52 Jimmy Means Means Racing (Jimmy Means) Pontiac 479 5,000 running 0 127
13 30 48 Jerry Cranmer Fleet Service (James Hylton) Chevrolet 465 4,790 running 0 124
14 28 6 Trevor Boys U.S. Racing (D.K. Ulrich) Chevrolet 465 4,580 running 0 121
15 24 67 Buddy Arrington Pannill Knitting (Buddy Arrington) Ford 464 6,120 engine 0 118
16 19 71 Dave Marcis Helen Rae Special (Dave Marcis) Chevrolet 463 4,245 running 0 115
17 6 5 Geoffrey Bodine Levi Garrett (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 455 7,280 engine 1 117
18 29 70 J.D. McDuffie Rumple Furniture (J.D. McDuffie) Pontiac 429 4,035 running 0 109
19 21 94 Morgan Shepherd Kodak Film (C & M Motorsports) Pontiac 381 1,525 running 0 106
20 1 25 Tim Richmond Folger's Coffee (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 372 7,440 running 13 108
21 3 3 Dale Earnhardt Wrangler Jeans (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 347 9,915 engine 102 105
22 27 19 Mike Skinner Zanworth Racing Team Pontiac 344 1,205 running 0 97
23 22 64 Jimmy Hensley Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley) Ford 326 3,375 oil pressure 0 94
24 14 18 Tommy Ellis Eric Freedlander Chevrolet 301 1,185 engine 36 96
25 15 33 Harry Gant Skoal Bandit (Hal Needham) Chevrolet 292 9,075 engine 83 93
26 18 12 Neil Bonnett Budweiser (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 267 8,265 engine 5 90
27 2 11 Darrell Waltrip Budweiser (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 241 12,155 engine 97 87
28 8 43 Richard Petty STP (Petty Enterprises) Pontiac 202 3,315 axle 0 79
29 26 17 Doug Heveron Hesco Exhaust Systems (Roger Hamby) Chevrolet 78 3,295 fan belt 0 76
30 5 27 Rusty Wallace Alugard (Raymond Beadle) Pontiac 56 7,125 engine 0 73
31 9 9 Bill Elliott Coors (Harry Melling) Ford 42 9,025 engine 0 70

Jay, I had forgotten how hot it was that day - 90+ degree April day in Martinsville with scorching track temps and lots of drivers getting sick.

According to Ben White's newspaper writeup, all 7 Martinsville cautions that day were for blown engines. Imagine no Martinsville cautions for spins!

Here's a link to Ben's writeup:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pVUcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q1IEAAAA...

Dave and Jay, thank you both for this contribution. Memories like yours, Jay, are very special as I well know. Dave, your experiences and memories always take me back down that road to yesteryear. I look for The Lone Ranger to ride through the dust swirls at any moment. I really appreciate what you guys have contributed.

How about 1974 a rookie Earl Ross won at Martinsville.

That race was also Mike Skinner's debut Cup race.

And a Canadian to boot with his Canadian Carling beer sponsorship for Junior.

I used to love to hear him introduced on the track P.A. back in the day when there was a lengthy buildup before each driver was named.

I can hear the late Ray Melton now, as well as the late Lewis Compton at Martinsville saying...... "And now race fans.... from Ailsa Craig, Ontario, Canada....."

Thanks again, Jay. I didn't realize that. It was a big weekend for rookies making the Martinsville field.