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Classic NASCAR Memories From Bristol! · Kenny Wallace Media

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  Let's go back to 1992. Let's talk about what are your
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  remembrances or reflections on on that first race on concrete
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  in 92. Kyle, we'll start with you.
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  I think you were in that race and had a good run.
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  I never had a good run at Bristol, so yeah, here's what
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  so, so the two things I remember was how rough it was, Honestly,
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  when we first got here. If everybody remembers, when we
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  first went out you just talked about how this place just
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  chattered your teeth and and that car and they did a lot of
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  work on this racetrack. They ground, they they put down.
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  I mean they did everything they could to make it happen and and
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  we've never seen anything like this really.
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  You know what I mean? I mean if you come in here you
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  didn't think they were going to be able to put up concrete and
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  and they did. But it was just it was the
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  roughness and the abrasiveness of what the racetrack was.
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  The other thing was I is this is just a a a stupid cow, petty
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  thing. Watching the race, I can't, I
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  think the Saturday race and listening on TV or radio, I
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  can't remember which one it was. So I don't want to call anybody
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  out in particular, but somebody spun for like the first time on
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  TV and the smoke had a like a greenish hue to it as A and they
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  were like, look at that. When you spin on concrete, the
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  concrete makes a green smoke first.
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  When you spin, rubber makes the smoke, not the concrete.
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  You know what I mean? It's the rubber.
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  That's where the smoke comes from.
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  But it was so funny because everything that happened on
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  concrete appeared to be different than what it did on on
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  the asphalt. But once the race started, it
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  wasn't. It wasn't.
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  It was just a race track. Yeah, thank you, Kyle King.
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  Richard, what about your thoughts and you you retired at
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  the end of 1992, so this would this would have been August?
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  I was so busy just doing everything except a racetrack, I
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  guess. I I don't remember.
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  I know the old 92 season was just a fog.
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  I was busy doing all the retirement part and all that and
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  my racing deal was just a sideline.
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  And you know, I guess we're so busy up here.
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  I I really don't remember the race.
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  I know I didn't finish very good, but I never finished very
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  good in 92 anyway. But if it was a wreck out there,
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  I probably got into it. So, you know, by the time they
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  first started this track, it was one way kind of a pretty nice
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  race track. And then they banked it a little
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  bit and then they changed it again.
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  And I was I'd never won a lot of.
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  I'd won three races, I think in 75 or 76 somewhere longer and
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  other than that my finish is at Bristol.
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  I never look forward to going to Bristol because I never finished
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  good. Well it was certainly certainly
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  a a different animal, although you had so much success
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  everywhere else, you went and did win here I think three times
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  as you said. Well how about a nine time win
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  Richard Childress Racing and won here 9 times and RC your
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  thoughts about 92 if you remember back then?
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  Or are basically them changing this track to concrete?
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  You know, it's kind of go along with Kyle there.
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  I can remember that tire wear was one of our same as we have
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  today. Tire wear was one thing we're
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  all worried about and Dale was driving the car and he wasn't a
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  big fan of concrete. I can tell you 92 wasn't a good
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  year for us either. You know, we'd won championships
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  in 19919394, but you had those off years.
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  But it was different. You know, even just like
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  Martin's, where we have concrete today in Bristol, I mean Dover.
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  It's a different animal that takes a little different
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  thinking and set up, but I got to sit here and think about as a
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  driver. My favorite, most memorable trip
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  up here was when I drove the King's car back in the 70s.
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  Gave out or something heavy was sick.
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  I can't remember what happened, but I never will forget them
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  cramming cushions in behind me. Odell Inman Cramming Hill was
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  behind me where I could reach the pedals, but we did OK that
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  we came. That's one of my favorite
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  memories as a driver. That's great RC Joe, your
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  thoughts about 92 concrete or distract sense?
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  Yeah, I actually, I think that was our first year if I got this
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  right, and Dale Jarrett's driving the car and it was our
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  best finish that we had for the entire year.
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  We didn't win a race. We were getting kicked all over
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  the place and I remember Dale though said he loved this place
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  and we finished second and so that was my first memory of
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  being here. The second thing that happened,
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  we started our drag racing team and we were back here.
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  You know, this thing is awesome when you hear those Top Fuel
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  cars and stuff go through there and the sound and everything
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  from that is unreal. We finished our NHRA deal after
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  four years. We set a record.
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  We blew up more stuff than anybody's ever seen.
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  So that was second. So let me give you my personal
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  favorite memory of Bristol. We came here, Norm Miller came
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  with me, our founding sponsor, with his wife.
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  And so we had a helicopter in. And so after the race it got
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  foggy and they said the helicopters are done.
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  And I said, Oh my gosh, now what are we going to do?
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  And we started walking and we went all the way down the hill
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  and we went down to the service station at the bottom of the
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  hill down there. So I look and there's this kid
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  with a pickup truck. And so I walked over to him and
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  I said, hey, you want to make 100 bucks?
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  And he went, yeah, I said, do you know where the airport is?
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  And he goes, yeah, we got in back of the pickup and we're
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  driving. Let let me say this.
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  It was a memory I'll never forget because it was kind of
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  foggy and the and the and the we were in to those valleys going
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  into complete fog, coming out the other side.
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  A beautiful moon there. I think it was one of the
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  prettiest rides that we ever had.
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  And we went for 45 minutes and next thing you know, poop.
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  We popped up right at the racetrack.
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  So that's my most favorite memory.
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  I think we almost got rid of our sponsor, but other than that
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  we're OK. I I got to say, so favorite
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  memory. I'm going to throw one in here.
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  So I'm out. I'm typical.
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  I think we'd switched to Dodge and I blew up or wrecked or
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  something and Danny Lawrence come out.
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  I was, I was changing clothes out in the van out in the bus
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  and Danny Lawrence said Kevins sick.
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  Harvick is sick. Can you come, come get in Kevins
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  car? And I'm like, my left butt cheek
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  wouldn't fit in the seat of Kevin Harvin.
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  You know what I mean? I mean, that's how simple it
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  was. I mean, I want you to think
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  about Kevin. When he started, I came down
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  here and then y'all crammed me in that car and I I was, I drove
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  the whole. But whatever part, I love it.
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  I drove. I drove the last part of the
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  race on my left side. I sat on my left cheek with my
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  right foot facing this way, and I'd gas and brake with the same
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  because I couldn't use my left leg at all in the car.
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  And we went out and I I didn't wreck.
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  That was all you were supposed to do when?
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  You were really a dwell. When you because y'all were in
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  the points y'all were trying to you had to get some points but
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  it was that was the coolest thing was to was to be able to
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  get in in your car and the children's car up here.
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  I I relieved drove for him one time and once for Bonnet up here
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  for Neil's. Got to drive one of Junior's
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  cars up here. So that was.
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  Those are two good memories for me up here.
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  Hey King, do you have a memory? Do you have a favorite memory
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  overall of of? He never listen.
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  He never relief drove for anybody.
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  He just mailed and run out and think people got into his car.
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  He didn't get into somebody. Else's car.
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  I got in Pearson's car. Oh yeah.
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  Did you really? Yeah, I don't know what happened
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  in here. And I got in some boys from
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  Virginia somewhere in here. I got in his car and I'm like
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  you. I I couldn't get I couldn't get
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  down in the in the seat so I was just sitting up on top of it.
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  I think I drove about maybe 150 laps and stuff told guys I got
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  to get out of this thing. I'm I'm suffering more than a
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  car. So you know, other than that I I
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  I just remember how many times I wrecked up here and probably
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  half the time it was my fault. But it was a very at that
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  particular time the drivers didn't have the seats.
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  They didn't have the stuff around their neck, all that
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  stuff. And I know the first, first time
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  we run up or one of the times we run up here my neck gave out
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  with me and I was going around the track like this.
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  And so I don't even think we had, we didn't have radios at
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  that time And any somehow or another me and Dale communicated
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  and so I said OK, we've got to do something to prop my neck up.
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  And at that time the tires came in with an extra deal in and had
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  a a rubber around the the wheel just just a rubber band.
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  And Dale said I came down PIT Rd. with my arm out the window
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  because what they done, they pulled that thing up, put it
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  around my arm here and then wrapped it around my head so
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  that I can overthink it up. Wow, that was the.
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  That was the first neck neck restriction I guess for.
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  The handmade, the homemade Hon device.
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  We got to wrap this up and I want to ask one more question
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  because I've asked this to RC. We've asked it when we're
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  sitting there relaxing with a beverage or two in the past.
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  But two of the big memories here at Bristol were the three Car
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  and Terry, Labonte, Dale and Terry and Richard.
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  Your take in those 95 and again in 99, did Dale do anything
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  wrong? Never in my eyes, you know, I'll
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  tell you a quick story. I know we all got to go to work
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  here, but after one of those wrecks that I don't forget which
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  one it Dale and Terry got into it.
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  I think we won the race and Mike Skinner was driving for me and I
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  did an autograph session at Lowe's and I left there and I
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  come back and I stopped at a Hardee's there to get me a
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  sandwich to go down the road and I walked in this I can't mature
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  lady, they're mature now at my age.
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  So this mature lady come up to me and she said.
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  I hate you and I. Hate that driver, I thought.
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  She's going to whip me right there.
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  But that's my remembering. Yeah, we had some fun up here.
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  Yeah, I need to be. I need to be Richard's PR person
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  for a minute. He meant to say.
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  Incident. He didn't mean to say Rex.
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  He meant to say after the second incident, not after that's.
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  Right. Yeah.
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  Never admit any guilt when when all you're really doing is
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  rattling someone's case. That's true.
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  That's an incident. Guys, thanks so much for taking
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  the time to come out and talk about the great memories of
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  Ristol and the Concrete. Because folks, the Concrete is
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  back and we're turning back the clock to 92.
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  And hopefully we're going to have a race that's even better
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  than what we've seen in the past here today for the Food City
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  500. Thanks so much guys.
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  Thank you guys. Thank you guys.
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  Thank you.