Do You Know..who was the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions: Busch Grand National , Craftsman Truck and Winston Cup.????
updated by @johnny-mallonee: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Do You Know..who was the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's top divisions: Busch Grand National , Craftsman Truck and Winston Cup.????
Yes Mam, that old feller from Georgia is correct on this one.
And just like Walter Cronkite, I WAS THERE for the Ice Man's only career truck truck win of his three starts. It came at Richmond where I was handling Media Relations in September 1995, first year of the Truck Series.
It was the opening race of a gorgeous three night RIR weekend and we had a tremendous crowd and tremendous field of trucks and a tremendous race. It's a shame Racing Reference doesn't list how many trucks went home... there were many. I think we had about 62 entries the next night (Friday) for our Busch race. Everybody wanted to drive at Richmond in September. Even ole coach Jerry Glanville was in the truck field.
Look at the field that made the inaugural Richmond truck trace and eat you heart out that you weren't there, too!! You could have put those trucks under a blanket at the end of the race. 15 finished on the lead lap with Terry beating Geoff Bodine by .006 seconds!!!
1995 Fas Mart Supertruck Shootout (stats from Racing Reference)
NASCAR SuperTruck Series by Craftsman race number 15 of 20
September 7, 1995 at Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, VA
150 laps on a .750 mile paved track (112.5 miles)
Time of race: 1:25:53
Average Speed: 78.595 mph
Pole Speed: 116.797 mph Cautions: 10 for 48 laps
Margin of Victory: .006 sec
Lead changes: 8
Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Truck Laps Money Status Led Points
1 1 5 Terry Labonte DuPont Refinishes (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 150 27,750 running 45 180
2 3 7 Geoffrey Bodine Exide Batteries (Geoffrey Bodine) Ford 150 16,150 running 97 170
3 7 3 Mike Skinner GM Goodwrench Service (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 150 7,200 running 0 165
4 2 84 Joe Ruttman 1-800-COLLECT (Mark Simo) Ford 150 5,250 running 0 160
5 15 52 Ken Schrader AC Delco (Ken Schrader) Chevrolet 150 3,780 running 0 155
6 13 61 Todd Bodine Roush Performance Products (Jack Roush) Ford 150 3,100 running 0 150
7 14 32 Derrike Cope Straight Arrow / Mane 'n Tail (Bobby Allison) Ford 150 3,085 running 0 146
8 10 17 Darrell Waltrip Western Auto (Darrell Waltrip) Chevrolet 150 3,050 running 0 142
9 19 2 Mike Bliss Ultra Custom Wheels (Jim Smith) Ford 150 3,600 running 0 138
10 22 25 Jack Sprague Budweiser (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 150 3,650 running 0 134
11 5 18 Johnny Benson, Jr. Precision Gear (Kurt Roehrig) Chevrolet 150 2,900 running 0 130
12 20 6 Rick Carelli Total Petroleum (Marshall Chesrown) Chevrolet 150 3,350 running 0 127
13 12 00 Hermie Sadler DeWalt Tools (Bell Sadler) Chevrolet 150 2,800 running 0 124
14 11 83 Steve Portenga Coffee Critic (Linda Mountanos) Chevrolet 150 3,250 running 0 121
15 4 16 Ron Hornaday, Jr. Papa John's Pizza (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet 150 3,375 running 8 118
16 8 43 Rodney Combs Snapper Power Equipment (Petty Enterprises) Chevrolet 149 2,625 running 0 115
17 18 38 Sammy Swindell Channellock Tools (Brad Akins / Bob Sutton) Ford 149 3,100 running 0 112
18 6 05 Rodney Combs, Jr. Comfrey Corners Store (Susan Combs) Chevrolet 149 2,525 running 0 109
19 21 87 John Nemechek Delco Remy America (Joe Nemechek) Chevrolet 149 3,000 running 0 106
20 28 21 Tobey Butler Ortho Lawn & Garden Care (Jim Venable) Ford 149 3,000 running 0 103
21 33 37 Bob Strait Target Expediting (Jim Spicuzza) Ford 149 2,800 running 0 100
22 32 81 Jerry Glanville Fox Sports (Jerry Glanville) Ford 149 2,700 running 0 97
23 38 34 Bob Brevak Scaffidi Mack (Bob Brevak) Ford 149 2,100 running 0 94
24 27 89 Bugs Hairfield Wise Potato Chips (John Redding) Chevrolet 149 2,500 running 0 91
25 29 22 Todd Massey BC Racing (Walter Lane) Chevrolet 148 1,900 running 0 88
26 30 65 Kenny Allen ONSAT / TV Plus (Kenny Allen) Chevrolet 148 1,800 running 0 85
27 31 03 Tommy Archer All American Race Car Museum (Tommy Archer) Ford 147 1,700 running 0 82
28 25 1 Mike Chase Sears DieHard (Scoop Vessels) Chevrolet 145 1,600 running 0 79
29 34 29 Bob Keselowski Winnebago (Ron Keselowski) Dodge 142 2,000 rear end 0 76
30 37 23 T.J. Clark ASE / American Racing Wheels (T.J. Clark) Ford 126 1,900 running 0 73
31 16 77 Gary St. Amant MOMO Wheels (Kevin Doran) Chevrolet 125 1,400 brakes 0 70
32 26 11 Chad Little Itco Tires (Mike Hurlbert) Ford 125 1,400 transmission 0 67
33 9 75 Bill Sedgwick Spears Manufacturing (Wayne Spears) Chevrolet 111 1,900 radiator 0 64
34 17 30 Dennis Setzer Taylor Togs (Grier Lackey) Dodge 111 1,400 engine 0 61
35 23 98 Butch Miller Raybestos (Jim Herrick) Ford 84 1,900 crash 0 58
36 24 24 Scott Lagasse DuPont Refinishes (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 83 1,900 crash 0 55
37 35 20 Walker Evans Barbary Coast (Walker Evans) Dodge 83 1,900 crash 0 52
38 36 14 John Kinder Kinder Motorsports (Bill Stroppe) Ford 35 1,900 engine 0 49
Here is the .006-second finish of that magnificent inaugural Richmond truck race in 1995 won by Texas Terry Labonte - The Ice Man - over Geoff Bodine.
It would be Terry's only truck win of 3 starts - all in 1995.
Note that Terry was entered in all 3 Richmond weekend races - BEFORE anybody ever heard of Kyle Busch!!!
Ron Hornaday, Jr. was not appreciative of Geoff Bodine's on-track bump and chased him down pit road after the race, crashing into the end of the wall at a pit road opening when he tried to follow Bodine through! Then they had a little additional "conversation" when they got out of their trucks, requiring separation by NASCAR officials.
It was only a Thursday night and look at the size of the crowd!!! If I do say so myself, I outdid myself with promotions and media for that first SuperTruck Series race at Richmond. Wouldn't the trucks like to draw a crowd like that today?
And listen to the announcers... yes, that is Benny Parsons teamed with Dave Despain! Two Waltrips will never top that combo.
And you know it was an important event because Bill Broderick of UNOCAL had his face stuck in the camera in victory lane, but couldn't unhook Terry's window net!!!
This was a very pleasant memory of one of the best nights of racing I have ever been associated with. Thanks for the memories, Johnny.
Wouldnt have it any other way M'Lady
PK, of course I knew you really had Johnny when he used the term "Super Tex." That has always been AJ, as you asserted.
Our man from Corpus Christi, who first came to prominence with his top-5 showing as a Rookie for Billy Hagan in the Southern 500 after Skip Manning's departure, has always been known as "Texas Terry" and "The Ice Man."
But what the heck, I figure it never hurts to let an old guy think he won!
As far as mud wrestling, y'all can wrestle with the pigs... here's my pick:
Pet names and handles awarded are cool but that name of Terry Labonte is the winner-- AJ was never in a big win column in Nascar like Terry was ..!
Been told that a time or two --but decisions are sometimes best made on the fly- like whether to go high or go low,decisions are quick in some types of activity--kinda like burning your hand on the stove, boy you move quick huh!!!!
But then again Dave,if I let all the secrets out then I would be a known person
Well, if I have to choose between Johnny's Secret and Victoria's Secret, I will take the low road!
Dave--last time I heard Victoria didnt have to many secrets left so be careful of the road you travel--
