1988 Pontiac Excitement 400 (RAW SATELLITE FEED)

[@kharnthebetrayer1575]

Boy it’s amazing how different Richmond is today compared to the old layout.

[@gothard5]

Completely different tracks. This was the last race at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. The first race at Richmond International Raceway was later that same year. RFR is long gone. RIR is still very much in use today as you already know.

[@Leahi84]

Kinda wish they had kept this old layout.

[@anthonyrausch5708]

3:29:25 = You could tell Richard was hurting those last 20 laps. For him to run down Lake Speed and Pass him? Especially after that horror crash at Daytona breaking his leg? You proved this day, with out a shout of a doubt. That you will be THE ONE AND ONLY KING of Stock Car Racing.. you one tough S.O.B.

[@Fetterkuss1983]

The man literally broke his neck in the 70s and didn’t tell anybody and kept racing. If he had any kind of wreck it would have killed him.

[@headbrown5629]

Johnny "Gabby" Hayes was a damn good commentator. I love hearing him. "TAR WARS" .....the good ole days. When Men were men & racing was racing!

[@joeyjohnson4826]

So awesome...watched it growing up.... brings back cool memories, even rhe ads, lol..

[@ixlr8677]

and k. busch was a glint in daddys eye.

[@muncieZ310]

I never got into "roundy round" racin til the mid 90's, & these satellite feeds are fantastic!...thank you!!

[@dougfredricks2017]

I love these 🎥 videos. Did this,come from DISH Network??

[@hayden4597]

2:58:52 greatest thing I’ve seen since I started watching old NASCAR races!!!! Richard Petty have his final good effort race in this one.

[@thelegendchrisb]

Richard Petty finished 3rd in this race after a terrible wreck the previous race at Daytona. It would the last top 5 finish of his career

[@JackKeithley]

Wow, seriously? raced a further 4 full seasons after this one, and this race was his very last top 5??

[@thelegendchrisb]

@@JackKeithley He got a few more top 10s, but this was his last top 5

[@Rehmer94]

Awesome coverage. Love Dave Despain

[@farhanatashiga3721]

Interesting to see Bob Varsha here obviously early in his career a career that would take him to 2 decades of being ever present in motor racing commentary.

[@nascarvintage17]

One thing I really loved from that time was the opening sequences; they were really catchy and fun compared to today, although NASCAR recently brought back a pretty cool one.

[@BSNFabricating]

Until they went to the modern day electronic scoring, it seemed like they had scoring issues in about every other race, trying to figure out who was running in what position, laps down, etc. I loved (and still love) this era of stock car racing, but that scoring thing was a mess.

[@joeyjohnson4826]

Always lol 😆

[@dalejr183]

My first race I attended was Richmond 3 days before 9-11 from Texas stationed in the Navy 21 years old I found out how awesome Nascar was in 2001 but regret not going earlier and wish I could have seen the old Guardrail track. Richard Petty was riding around on a scooter outside the track mixing it up with the fans and the Dale Earnhardt Sr trailer was there with million fan signatures. I pulled for junior I knew all his wins came at my home track and Richmond the year before in 2000 and I knew he raced to make his Dad proud

[@alwaysopen7970]

I signed that trailer. No more of those kind of trailers.

[@ixlr8677]

seen elliott sittin on top of that armco.

[@alwaysopen7970]

I was cold as hell that day and my feet were freezing after the sun went went behind the stands. I always hated how far the stands were away from the track. Petty tore up the track at the end with a front end loader. We were all drunk as hell and cheering him on. Came back a few month later to a new track. I miss those big billboards and sponsor props they use to have on the back straights at tracks.

[@WubWubLuv]

alwaysopen helps scale the speed for tv viewers. Big tracks these days feel slow... like a wide open freeway.

[@ShyteKreek46]

59:56 Ken's blowing his nose!! I died!! XD

[@MrChristopherHaas]

He does that EVERY RACE. Youll hear it with every raw feed.

[@cfoster81]

I would like to see Buick come back into NASCAR

[@jcearnhardt393]

Unfortunately Buick is struggling to make it, you will see Nissan in 2020 in Nascar though lol

[@jeremythompson9122]

I'd like for Toyota to be out of NASCAR and Dodge back in. I'd like to see Buick back in it too

[@alwaysopen7970]

@@jcearnhardt393 Eventually Honda.

[@bloqk16]

@@jeremythompson9122 One would think the Dodge Challenger would be a good fit for NASCAR in 2020, given the other teams use of Mustangs and Camaros. But, given the recessed grill on the Challenger that would catch the air, maybe it would suffer the same fate as the Dodge Charger did of 1968 in NASCAR.

[@jasonharper3334]

Miss Pontiac and Dodge and Buick - wish we could go back to this day and age of racing with different looking bodies and real investment from the manufacturers and maybe even tire wars too

[@M1_Engineering]

The way Varsha's microphone kept cutting out, it sounded like he was cursing every other word 😅

[@bassrob88]

Absolutely awesome

[@cool3865]

man 1988 season raced at alot of tracks that had their last race during that season, the old Richmond and Riverside are the two main ones

[@crouchb15]

Johnny Hayes is some combination of Bill Jr and Darrell Waltrip

[@Fetterkuss1983]

I liked ol Hayes. He makes me laugh.

[@theflagstand]

Hard to choose between this version of the track and the new version. Kinda would be nice if they had kept the track like this but I also like the current configuration very much.

[@MrChristopherHaas]

Nah. This was better. This was raw, tight.

[@alwaysopen7970]

IMO, miss the short track but the new one is better. I saw Indy cars there.

[@josephscott6388]

Both are/were great. This configuration gave you bullring root-em-out racing. Current layout gives you more side by side racing. Woulda never had that race where Wallace and Waltrip were side by side for 20 laps on this track. The 86 earnhardt Waltrip race woulda never happened on the new track. The real shame is that there was no way to have both.

[@theflagstand]

@@josephscott6388 that's so well said, I completely agree

[@ixlr8677]

first was true bull ring. thats short track.

[@TonyWud]

If you ever want to know what a producer's job is, listen to Ken Squire for a couple of minutes @ 33:00

[@Brian.Senecal]

Oh Dang! For an old surface, this was a rip snortin' race. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@hayden4597]

The Richmond fairgrounds was way better than the Richmond we have now. However, I wish they would’ve built the modern day Richmond in a different area, so we could’ve raced at both.

[@JJA1987]

Both Versions of Richmond are good so I disagree

[@Nixonfam]

Awesome, my second race attended. I was 12

[@jacasoasheland6815]

So cool how Hoosier/Goodyear difference created a strategy dynamic to the race.

[@bigcheeezzz7135]

Damm 4 out of the first 6 drivers in the running order are gone from racing crashes!. It's great to go back and watch them run!. Thanks 🙏 rip all!

[@tuowl0564]

Not sure I follow? Only two drivers in the field died in racing related accidents, Bonnett and Earnhardt. Kulwicki and Davey Allison both perished in aviation accidents. Benny Parsons, Buddy Baker and Lennie Pond died of cancer years later. Bobby Alllison's career ended in a wreck at Pocono in '88 but he's still alive as are the rest of the starters.

[@anthonyrausch5708]

13:30 = I though that North Wilkesborro was tough. Does not hold a candle to Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway.. What a tough little egg shaped track...

[@anthonyrausch5708]

also another thing, I believe that the track was telling everyone this day.. YOU ARE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE, fine, you are not going to listen? I am going to make sure that you rue getting rid of me. Considering all the crazy things that happened on this day, including giving the win to the wrong driver. I would have to say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED RICHMOND FAIRGROUND'S RACEWAY you are gone but you WILL NEVER be forgotten, that is for sure...

[@leeduke9518]

Reminder to self was at 1:06:46

[@anthonyrausch5708]

41:10 = and I thought DOVER DOWNS was a Monster. This place LITERALLY ate your automobile...

[@hollywood3190]

Derrick Cope was driving car sponsored by Dale senior....another good deed for an up and coming driver that Dale senior helped out.

[@Barry_Mmm]

Late Models @ 1:02:15

[@aaronsweet8032]

Great race, wish they still raced on tracks like this... Fans on their feet for the final 80 laps, cold, and cars set up piss your pants loose. Loved how smooth Petty raced, that car wasn't the fastest but it handled the best.

[@alwaysopen7970]

Wilkesboro and the Rock are missed.

[@MrChristopherHaas]

“From the cradle of the confederacy”. God i love that opening. It had meaning to this yankee rooting for midwestern asa breakthrough

[@ixlr8677]

blm woulda filed 3 injuctions 6 lawsuits and a ham of meat.

[@malikdigger4544]

The last early spring race and n 1988 @ Richmond fairground with old slick alpshalt track but September got reconfigured whole track.

[@KevinBailey-rm1qv]

When I was a teenager I thought the old Richmond track was a dirt track the way it on tv 📺 after racing at Daytona

[@hollywood3190]

I was at this race....remember Pops Petty took a D9 to turn 1 after the end of the race. Yes it was cold as shit too!

[@tuowl0564]

Because of the ongoing/impending renovation the seats on the front stretch were terrible...lol.

[@MrChristopherHaas]

Looks like bleachers were too far back

[@tuowl0564]

@@MrChristopherHaas They had already begun to reconfigure the seating for the current D shape configuration. At the 7 minute mark Bob Varsha talks about the new grandstand that was built in turn 3/4. That grandstand still exists.

[@MrChristopherHaas]

I meant the bleachers at the previous track

[@PYLrulz1984]

@@tuowl0564 in turns 3 and 4, as those were already built with the 3/4 mile in mind. The other grandstands (front straight and turn 1) would be wiped out, since the new front straight would go through the area of what was most of the old grandstands. If you go on historicaerials.com, even the old grandstands were well away from the race surface, and like had been mentioned, Paul Sawyer wanted a big speedway, but in 1987 ended up convincing the fairgrounds on the renovation of the track that we know of today.

[@alwaysopen7970]

Always were until that next fall race. The view sucked. Best seats were in turns 3-4.

[@sidx45]

Is this the last race before its configuration was changed into a 0.75 mile track? thanks for uploading these!!

[@SMIFFTV]

Yes, this was the final race for the 1/2 mile Fairgrounds layout. In fact, after the race was over, Richard Petty ceremoniously hopped on a bulldozer and dug up the first piece of the old track

[@sidx45]

Thanks for info. I googled around a bit and found some pictures of Petty on the bulldozer, which of course had an STP logo on it lol

[@Holden308]

I have a bit of a soft spot for half mile tracks mainly because my local paved oval (in Australia) is a half mile and I went to a number of the Aussie NASCAR meetings there in the 1990s. Though the Adelaide International Raceway track differs from tracks like Richmond was in that it wasn't a stand alone oval. The AIR oval (more commonly known as "The Bowl") is actually the first and last part of a 1.5 mile long road course and has 7° banking in turns 1, 2 and 3. Amazingly for an oval, turn 4 is actually flat because AIR's front straight is also a drag strip and the area where turn 4 is is actually the pit exit for the road course and pit entry for the oval (if you do a KZbin search for NASCAR in Adelaide you'll see what I mean).

[@stephenthevhsdvdblu-raymed9346]

@@SMIFFTV Is that true?

[@dtmjax5612]

StephenTheVHSDVDBlu-RayMediaCorner 2000 Yes it is. I remember watching this race live. It was a week after we all thought Richard was getting killed flipping down the front stretch at Daytona, he came back with a wrapped ankle and finished 3rd here. Then got on the dozer to do the initial demo work on the track. As much as we all wanted change...I miss this old bull ring.

[@deereyez8903]

Is the current pitlane the original racing front stretch?

[@hollywood3190]

Yup sure is....all the dirt you see is now the current track layout. It was a great little race track....more like a demolition derby track.

[@jamesgentry13]

I wonder if fans complained about putting in the new track back then as much as fans complain today

[@ixlr8677]

no.i rember everybody liked it.this was before rule changes every other wk . track changes for money new tracks the young cry babys that rich moma and daddy bank rolled them into cup. just about every driver you see here started out at there home track in 100 dollar cars. ah when it was worth watchin.

[@jamesgentry13]

@@ixlr8677 the only ones crying are you boomers. Get with the times

[@fuckcensorship69]

@@jamesgentry13 im 40. Grew up during the golden age before nascar tried to cater to hollywood. Nascar has been retarded since the chase started.

[@nelsonhorsley1976]

Cold final race. Shame for Neil. GREAT RACE!

[@suedemays9046]

Awesome coat

[@Patmanx1]

man, that track looks so dirty and the weather is so cold. They might as well have been driving on street tires

[@gtrdriver27]

17:57 they misspelt neil bonnets name

[@E180TEKNO]

personally I find that the cars were much better at this period in nascar and were much more beautiful and pretty even in terms of the painted scheme (but that's just my personal opinion) security level it is clear that today it is better

[@ryansheehan9462]

This was back before the paint schemes changed every damn week. That counts for a lot in my opinion

[@rancan44able]

I much rather have them kept this track the this way !!! The racing was sooo much better!! I get the bigger is better but man these old races were amazing

[@bruisedbananas9616]

Back when men drove the cars. They had dirt on their faces when they got out of the car. There was a lot of risk, but they took the risk knowing.

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Richard Petty's final career Top 5 finish

[@michaellavin6417]

Glad you mentioned that! His run here made me wonder what his closest run to a win after Daytona 1984.

[@CR7659]

About 1:50:00 when they run the side feature on independent drivers, the video becomes out of sync with the sound by at least 180 seconds. It stays that way the whole rest of the broadcast. Race itself is good, nobody really dominates, some good battles for position. Nascar bungled the scoring though.

[@jasoncolegrove5032]

I noticed that Ken Squire call Waltrip Earnhardt a couple of times

[@MrChristopherHaas]

It drives me nuts whenever they show bits and pieces of race from mid sixties. The entire filmed race is out there somewhere. Fuzzy or not i wanna see the footage, all of it

[@MrChristopherHaas]

Smiff you are making me very happy!

[@josephscott6388]

Was this richard petty's last legit shot at a win? I dont recall him ever being this close to the lead at the checkered flag ever again.

[@cnking27]

it's his last top 5.

[@gunnypat29]

great race! man the drivers in the 70"- 80"s were real drivers and they raced on some great tracks, like this one. nascar needs to go back to real cars like these.

[@jasonharper3334]

So in Love with the Miller paint scheme - I want that on a Monte Carlo SS 😁

[@joeyjohnson4826]

Would be sweet.... don't forget the mullet 🤣😂

[@jasonharper3334]

@@joeyjohnson4826 well I may not be able to sport a mullet but my son has one right now 😂

[@joeyjohnson4826]

@@jasonharper3334 😁

[@OdniindO]

I love these old races because it is way more organic. I watched a Bristol night race from a year or so ago and I literally heard five different pit reporters say "four tires and Sunoco fuel" within 30 seconds, it's just so cheese nowadays.

[@fuckcensorship69]

Theyve always mentioned a ton of sponsors. Been an ongoing joke since AT LEAST the 80s

[@wiltonmaxey9589]

do you sell these on DVD?

[@sethlouden2529]

They still run Richmond is this a different track?

[@timmypilkerton2835]

The current track is in the same place the old track was just wider and longer

[@gothard5]

@@timmypilkerton2835longer? the old track was half mile and the new track is 3/4 mile.

[@timmypilkerton2835]

Don’t it take longer to run 3/4 than1/2?

[@veggieoilerfan2940]

@@gothard53/4 mile is longer than 1/2 mile. 3/4 is the same as .75 mile, while 1/2 mile is the same as .5 mile.

[@chrisbatten5746]

who is doing the color commentary ?

[@SMIFFTV]

Ken Squier and Johnny Hayes

[@elkinsinboxinc]

1:05:54

[@NotSteveCook]

Failed to Qualify: 2-Ernie Irvan-R 03-Dave Pletcher-R 4-Rick Wilson 07-Larry Moyer-R 25-Ken Schrader 46-Glenn Moffat-R 98-Ed Pimm.

[@clintbuchanan8044]

was ken that slow r something

[@hughcarr6535]

Happy how they do the wave around and lapped cars to the back if I raced back then it would been awful tempting to crash those lapped cars out of my way 😆

[@billdncn]

Never understood why they insisted on running Richmond n Feb back in the day. Ridiculous

[@ixlr8677]

watch dale wrestle that babe at around 219.09. this was nascar. why it was so good then.

[@Jdoom13]

What a scoring mess. They should have never started until it was sorted out. What a mess nascar made!

[@SigmaNuHE481]

They raced in Australia?

[@PYLrulz1984]

Exhibition race. A few of the NASCAR teams went to Calder to race in an exhibition race with Australian teams to promote and expand on Australia's version of NASCAR.

[@mrnascar9129]

Earnhardt n Childress needed to but out of the controversy between Bonnet and rudd

[@JohnReid99]

Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton, Wayne Newton

[@anthonyrausch5708]

2:38:53 = This place is EGG - CELLENT!!

[@MVboys2]

1:05:43 that wouldn't last long LOL

[@MrChristopherHaas]

So....NASCAR drivers can read record labels as they spin. This is an amazing FACT. Caviat....have they tested any FEMALE “race car drivers”? Ill bet my LIFE they havent. And, if women CANT read the spinning labels...that might explain why we havd yet to see a woman at least TRY

[@aaronsweet8032]

What? haha... I don't mind women racing if they're talented enough, just hate how fans get force fed diversity over talent.

[@Jdoom13]

NASCAR FUCKED THIS RACE BAD!

[@shanewhitefeather6298]

Wish they'd go back to this track instead of that POS Richmond International. This was real NASCAR

[@hitakirider4172]

Agreed. Modern Richmond is Hella overrated

[@JJA1987]

SMFH Modern Richmond doesn't deserve any negativity

[@JJA1987]

Rider and Whitefeather are hella dumb dumb

[@NotSteveCook]

The Richmond ¾ mile is fine. The current cars are too aero-dependent. Same story for most of the ovals that today's fan base think are "boring". The CARS are the problem.

[@cnking27]

I love getting to watch this upload, but this track was terrible lol. Nostalgia is the only reason y'all like it at all. It was usually a one lane track until like 200 laps in. Guys ran through the dirt and kicked rocks up on the track the whole race and cut tires. The 3/4 mile track is unique and has good racing...this track was like a worse Martinsville. Every short track was better than this one, even Nashville and it's awful pit road. I'm surprised the terrible guardrails didn't kill Bonnett when he went through the thing in '85 I think. I'm glad they kept dates in Richmond but fixed the track, I can't believe anyone would want this back. And those grandstands...

[@lancehurley9743]

When they changed this track,they fucked up bigtime...typical shit decision on nascars part

[@JJA1987]

FUCKING Wrong Richmond got better

[@TOMCAT5.5149]

The real racing.. we will never see racing as it should be again. NASCAR today.. sucks!!!!!!!

[@gothard5]

disagree completely.

[@mangupgaming7811]

Look Dave Despain in Leather Coat and glove he's gay or something

[@michaellavin6417]

That is the conclusion you draw from coverage of this race? 🙄