NASCAR's Greatest Caution Free Race!
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2024
- "A rare caution-free race" - Joe Moore NASCAR Thunder 2004.
Today will go over the 2001 spring Talladega race that had a total of 37 lead changes, extremely close racing, and somehow went caution free.
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Race Footage Credits:
NASCAR
Dave W
Michael McIntyre
Thumbnail Image Credits:
Getty Images
This race is proof that you don’t need cautions, wrecks, or The Big One to have a good Dega race
That's why I loved last years fall Talladega race. Little incidents, just good hard superspeedway racing.
@@nickmangona48 While it's true that the new Gen 7 car has led to less incidents at talladega, I would argue that the lack of incidents doesn't necessarily equate to good racing, especially due to the gridlocked 2 by 2 racing, .
The inability for drivers to make moves and use their skill to move up the pack has resulted in a more stagnant and unexciting racing experience. Last year's fall Talladega race may have had fewer incidents, but that could also be attributed to the fact that drivers were simply unable to make the daring moves that would typically lead to more exciting and unpredictable moments. Many fans, as well as drivers such as one of the best superspeedway races of this generation, Denny Hamlin, has also said his complaints. Everyone boxed in, cant make a 3rd lane work, just stuck in their lane and can't do anything.
While it's understandable that some fans may prefer a cleaner race with fewer crashes, it's important to recognize that the essence of NASCAR has always been about the skill and strategy of drivers to navigate high-speed situations and make daring moves. The current state of superspeedway racing may be less chaotic, but it's also less dynamic and exciting for many fans.
The big one usually ruins races unless it happens with 10 or less laps to go
The most obnoxious question I would get asked is if it was the wrecks why I liked nascar. Such an insulting question. Like you are just a mindless dope that wants to see things go boom. I would always say that if I wanted to see crashes I would watch demolition derbies and that I would trade a lastvlap pass for a caution free race any day.
That's why I laugh at NASCAR fans who think that last year's Talladega race and this year's spring Martinsville race, because they cried that there wasn't enough crashes to make the races great, and bitched about it and called the races shit lmao.
It was so ironic that the best caution free race was at Talladega, a race that is notorious for wrecks, flips and The Big One.
So was the best Crank it UP, in that same race (the 1st one, around the 71-minute mark in most videos)
It's kinda funny that they did this for Dael
I mean it’s kinda ironic too that the fastest NASCAR race ever was at Talladega in 1997. And that one was a caution free race too I think.
@@thetechfromheaven what?
It kinda makes sense though because it being such a good race was a result of the fact it went caution free at a track where cautions happen all the time
This is back when everyone used common sense, respected each other's equipment, and didn't make stupid blocks with no chance of succeeding. We'll never see anything like this again.
Not with these next gen cars for sure!
NASCAR at it's finest. To me, this race is easily more enthralling, compelling and engaging than the wreckfest overtime slogs that have become the norm. Even when those races result in a closer photo finish, it's still no where near as exciting to me.
“When you come off turn 4, the race is just beginning!”
Love that call from DW.
Andy Petree hopping on the hood and pounding the windshield is still awesome, and hilarious.
I was there for both. The main reason this race was great is NASCAR changed a few rules and let the teams increase the angle of the rear spoiler and the strip over the roof of the cars. The cars were glued to the track. And with NASCAR being NASCAR, they didn't race like that ever again.
Underrated race with an underrated finish, may Bobby Hamilton Sr rest in peace.
And with an underrated Crank it UP, it was NASCAR at its finest without anything dragging it down
10 laps to go today in NASCAR really means like 30 laps to go. Like you can go finish mowing the back yard and still catch the finish 40 min later.
That engine package sounds so good. I really miss it.
The 2nd to most recent Caution Free NASCAR race, and likely the best one ever. About time this race gets mentioned in someway shape of fashion.
If only the 1st Crank it UP of that race got some recognition, it was PRISTINE for a TV network at the time
What was the most recent?
I know it's before 2018, stage racing.
@@xxlarrytfvwxx9531 2002 ea sports 500 at talladega
@@bwman1516 Really, that long ago?
SOMEONE DID SAY AND ASK WHAT WAS MOST RECENT CAUTION FREE NASCAR race he mentioned its before stage racing, well didn't you not see the video they mentioned it was 2002 fall Talladega race. That's the one.
Those Andy Petree cars were in an alliance with RCR and DEI called RAD. They did engines for superspeedways, which is why all 3 of those teams were the top teams from around 2000-2004.
2001-2004 was peak nascar imo, the racing was incredible, the aero package was phenomenal, the mixture of veteran drivers and young guys that different generations grew up watching racing together was great. Everything lined up perfectly for the sport back then. Unfortunately they tried to fix something that wasn’t broken and nascar has gone downhill ever since.
agree
@J I'm grouping 1999-2004 ha
Anything before 2007 was great. I think from like 1999 to 2007 was the best time period.
Ok boomer
97-07
Love the nascar rumble music in the background. I was just playing that earlier today lol
I’m sure no fan thought this was going to go caution free coming into the race
You are correct. I remember this race very well. The racing was so intense. I for one was amazed they were able to race like that for that long on that track without a single yellow.
Especially after happy hour, Daytona, and even the Busch race the day before.
RIP Bobby Hamilton Sr.
That finish was unreal, 4 and 5 wide with no crashes
One of the most gentleman-like races ever witnessed...
Many of the drivers today need to learn from this
Some of it was being scared of having another Dale accident or Neil Bonnett incident, but more of it was something that most backmarkers don't have because the development system was eviscerated. Respect.
If NASCAR asks why we don’t need stage breaks, just show them this.
Bobby Hamilton was so underrated man
Imagine we get a race like this again without stages....
Cant stand the stage breaks
I'd be a bit more ok with stages if they were all like COTA this year, just count the stage win and move on with no caution
@@ItsRevival I'd take that
Bobby Hamilton is so underrated man
We were close last year at fall Talladega. But the stages and their cautions ruined it. And if Fox had it, the Crank it Up would be a far cry from what was heard in 2001
The caution free race in 1997 spring Talladega should be in consideration Mark Martin set the race record with like 188.000. He and Dale Sr had a great battle at the end of it to decide the winner
It would get my vote. I was on the back straightaway just off of turn 2 that day. Because it was a rescheduled race from the Original date in April we drove down from TN really early that morning and stopped for breakfast at a McDonalds in Alabama and Mark Martins crew was also there grabbing breakfast as well. At the end of the race we were tickled that we actually ate breakfast with the winning crew that morning. And since it still stands as the fastest race ever that even made it more special. A race I’ll definitely never forget attending in person.
Although we can't get back to caution free races due to stage breaks, it's nice that we've gotten more clean SS races overall. Hope the racing is 3 wide more often, but it's fun to see more green flag pit stops and other strategies that wouldn't be present in previous packages.
Just look at those beautiful liveries.
Today, NASCAR would throw a yellow because some executives shoe was untied
I love seeing content about the golden era of NASCAR. Truly iconic!
I'm going to say this. This was some amazing driving by all of the drivers in that race that afternoon.
What an awesome Talladega finish, I seen the 2001 Talladega Fall race, but I've never seen the 2001 Spring race, WOW what a race!!!
These drivers were disciplined. I remember Sterling marlin & Ward Burton had really fast dodges
Pontiacs were surprisingly strong too, they were FLYING in the Fall race.
@@briantaylor9285 that race package in the fall was amazing
@@gustavosorto1733 👍👍
I'll never forget that Sunday afternoon Boby Hamilton siting on the victory lane floor, next to his car. That was a good race.
This is reason number one why I don’t want stage cautions… the idea of going 500 miles in x amount of time uninterrupted
I'm surprised RAD wasn't mentioned in this video, back then Andy Petree, Richard Childress, and DEI had an alliance for Super Speedway races to improve their restrictor plate track performance.
That got my heart pounding
I love these races, long green flag runs are so fun
Seems rather fitting that Earnhardt was pushed to his final win by the 55 car and the 55 car would win the very next Talladega race gettin Bobby Hamilton sr his final win
Thanks for posting! I didn't become a NASCAR fan until 2004, but this race definitely stands out to me as a classic. It is proof that you don't need cautions, wrecks, or especially the Big One to have an exciting race at Talladega.
Insane to think about how rare this is
How about the 1997 Winston 500 where it not only had a caution free race, it also had the fastest average speed in Nascar history of 188.354 MPH?
Dude this race is soooo underrated.
Maybe it's just that I became a fan in this era, but to me the early 2000's were the golden era of Nascar.
I loved how Kenny Wallace was joking about how Dale Sr. owed him some of that victory check.
Amazing that this race was over 4 mph slower than the 1997 race.
@AndyFromBeaverton it's because Nascar added a few things to change the superspeedway package. Cars utilized a 15/16 inch restriction plate. The rear spoiler became taller and included the 'wicker bill' plus the roof mounted "disturbance strip" were put into effect to enhance safety and improve competition. This was implemented in the fall race of 2000 where the late and great Earnhardt won his last race and the packaged carried over into the following season
Race should be required viewing for any NASCAR driver that hasn’t seen it before. Then any superspeedway rookie.
Its a bummer this can't happen anymore.
This entire race and especially the finish is one of my earliest memories of NASCAR.
I don’t think I was even 5 years old and I remember my mom leaving it on the tv for me to watch while she did stuff around the house and my dad was at work.
I can vividly remember that shot of Bobby Hamilton leading the whole pack out of the trioval and getting so excited by how cool it was even though I had no real idea who Bobby was. I was a fan of Bobby and the 55 from that point on and I definitely became a lifelong fan of NASCAR after that.
I love reading stories like this
I hate saying something like this, cause the people on the racetrack are athletes who have trained their whole lives and workout and are in much better health than I will ever be, and have more talent driving a racecar than I will ever have, but it seems like today's drivers may want to look at this race as something to aspire to.
Rest in peace Bobby Hamilton Sr.
felt weird just hearing them say "dale earnhardt..." with a pause in between Jr and Earnhardt.
Daytona and dega….Superspeedway in general are my favorite races for the unpredictability each race. Plus it’s the fastest we get to see the cars all year….and we get some winners that would normally never win on other types of tracks….I know some people think dega and tona are just wreck fest but I’ve seen bigger wreck fests at some small tracks and road courses….
I was at this race!!! Only 4 years old but I was there 😂
RIP Bobby Hamilton Sr 🙏
I'll never forget watching that race on tv, that was the best Talladega race. They changed alot of things of 2001 after Dale's untimely death at Daytona for this race at Talladega. A caution-free race, everyone minding their P's and Q's, and yes no one's favorite, (safety 1st) the yellow line rule. I liked every bit of it ever since without a doubt.
man the sound of those cars, miss that. miss this kind of racing where we can come to the checker flag clean with no wrecks
Never would’ve expected a TALLADEGA race to be caution free.
You know how Ken Squier would call em 43 of the best drivers in the world. Man after watching this race that day you couldn't convince me otherwise. You don't go caution free at a superspeedway and to do this the first superspeedway race after Dale Sr. passed was amazing. For the way the weekend was and how tense and nervous everybody this was a perfect race all the way around. Even the call of Bobby Hamilton's spotter at the end. Come to poppa baby. Love it.
Sadly I don’t ever think we’ll ever get a caution free race ever again. We came close in 2016 at Atlanta, but the way stage racing, NASCAR at times throwing out the phantom caution, and probably can add too the respect drivers have for each other now on the track, it’ll sadly never happen again.
Stages happened in 2017, not 2016. Also, I'm one of those people who like the stages because of the drivers getting points. But, we could do without the cautions after the stage ends. Good thing that won't happen on road courses anymore
@@kjprodouctions9050 Yeah, no duh. 2016 was the last year for races without stages or stage cautions. Apparently ya don’t remember the 2016 Atlanta race. The race went 210 laps before the first caution came out. My point literally went way over your head.
@@grahamcrackergaming1540 No, I remember it. I just thought u said stage raving was implemented in 2016
I was 8 when me and my grandfather went down for that race. I thought Harvick was a lap down half the race and I didn’t find out he wasn’t until like a year ago lol.
My heart rate was still off its head watching that replay to the line. My grandma used to tape the races off Austar (our satellite provider in Australia) then post them to me. I used to be able to watch the races before the next magazine made it into newsagents here so they were never spoiled.
Nice!
It's hard to believe that the most caution free races have been at Talladega. With the stage breaks now they're will never be a caution free race in Nascar again.
I was at this race. Aside from it being really hot for April,it really was that good of a race.
Going to Talladega again or Barber next week?
Also Stacey Compton with the qualifying 🔝🔝
This was one of the best races at Talladega I witnessed
And they say that nascar isn't a athletic sport, this race proved them wrong, they raced from start to finish without a caution flag
Love it when you use the NASCAR Rumble soundtrack in vids, it's a helluva banger.
I will break my back in half on the hill that if it weren't for the final turn of the 500 and 9/11 that year that 2001 would be talked about as the best year of Cup Series racing. And this Dega race only further proves my argument.
Even then we still got the moment Dale Jr won Dover and flew an American flag out the window.
I guess there were no stupid 'competition' cautions back in the day...
Bobby Labonte going from about 13th or so to 5th on the last lap. He was coming!
It would be great if nascar would get rid of state cautions today on ovals
This is not only the greatest caution free race ever, I think this is the greatest race ever period.
I was at this race.
My first live race was a few races before this at Atlanta. I worked for a Dodge store near Bill Elliott's home and we were the point of pick up for his personal cars that Dodge Chrysler provided him. I was the finance manager that handled Bill's paperwork and jokingly one day in the office with him, mentioned I had never been to a live race. Well, exactly a week from then, FedEx dropped off 10 ticket's for both Atlanta and Talladega races that year....yep.....40 tickets for the dealership!
I was so excited about Talladega! It was freaking HUGE! And I thought Atlanta was....haha! All I read about was the "big one" and the cautions.
Who would have guessed it would go caution free?!?!
Hey, at least it was over faster, LOL!
Bobby Hamilton, RIP. 🙏
Love the background music 🤘🤘
The 2002 EA Sports 500 is a bit more impressive to me. The same year there were was a massive big one in the Busch Series Aarons 312 there, and another big one the next day in the Aarons 499.
Then we get to Talladega in the fall with arguably more stakes in the title fight, no cautions. Only incident was Martin/Johnson wrecking on the pace lap.
Was a great race I was there in person
I remember this race. Was almost 11 years old. Wish it was like that now with a giant pack all race no wrecks. Coming to the checkered there was areas of 5 6 wide. Never seen that since without a big crash
I find it so ironic that NASCAR is STILL, over 20 years later so inconsistent with the "out of bounds" rule.... I'm not going to lie, I would love a race at Talladega this weekend, if it was very similar to last October with a smooth, even flow.... and rest in peace Bobby Hamilton Sr. May God bless your soul
I was there…. It was a good race to watch and the camp grounds were full….one big party and no trouble…. It was a great weekend
Glad you’re covering my favorite track
i remember watching that one. It was so great watchong a caution free race at Dega
I always wondered if that one Vegas race that would've been a caution-free race. If it weren't for the two stage cautions. It was the 2019 spring race.
I was there. Very weird feeling going into it.
To expand on them going to break with 10 to go, i think someone found that Fox has done that since the beginning but everyone ignored it
Yep and I think commercial time was a bit shorter back then though.
Actually, the APR #55 team did run the full 2002 schedule. Hamilton had to miss several races later in the season due to injuries.
Oh yea meant to say the 33 only my bad.
Though 2002 turned out to be Andy's last full cup season as an Cup owner. The team ran 3 times in 2003 but only qualified for 2
races.Including Paul Menard's debut at Watkins Glen, which was the team's last Cup race. Meanwhile Biffle and Hornaday filled in for Bobby Hamilton while he recovered.
man this really puts into perspective how much greater NASCAR could have been post-2001 if Senior hadn't died, especially the 2001 season as a whole
I'm a huge Nascar fan but I do not at all remember the 2002 race being cautioned free as well
I watched this full race last year and it is so much better than the wreckfests in the Xfinity series. The Cup series has been fine, but still nothing like this.
Still one of the top 3 races i have seen the my life
Those cars sound beautiful!!
What's funny is someone ask me the other day what the best Dega race was. He said fall of '01 and I countered and said this race. Funny to see this come out just a couple days later.
DOWN WITH STAGE RACING!!
You know next year there gonna be no more stage caution right
@@Nathan-vd6mm Can't happen soon enough.
@@CommodoreFloopjack78 yeah I feel it can't wait honestly
@@Nathan-vd6mm 👍👍👍
I am tired of stage racing
You can still have stage racing without the TV timeout cautions.
So Am I
Ever notice that the phantom debris cautions went away the moment they introduced stage racing?
@@VikingArelius Exactly. I like it but just get rid of the stage ending caution
That's something you won't see these days, simply because of the driver behavior from win n you're in playoffs and stage racing.
8:44 - Personally I always put an asterisk on that 2002 Talladega race anyways, because while it was indeed caution-free it was not accident-free, since there was that incident on lap 0, the pace laps, where Mark Martin's steering broke and he clipped into polesitter Jimmie Johnson, making them both miss the start & setting them both back considerably.
I remember this race, it was a little further back than I remember but still a good race.
People forget there usually was a quick commercial around 20 to go but they made it short so they didn't miss but a couple of laps.
Even when there’s a wreck with no cautions like this like an evan flow we know what happened in October race of that year.
Sunday I expect to be opposite of last October.
As long as LU scheme if Byron is in that car is swept up.
If he’s in Raptor scheme all is well.
I’ll take a Larson upset but I can’t trust that 5 on my Fantasy lineup.
I believe starting in 2024 NASCAR is going to get rid of stage cautions for all race tracks
2001 was the best restrictor plate package of the Gen 4 era. All the races were incredible. Unfortunately the drivers couldn’t take it so NASCAR made the smaller fuel cells, still had some great races but not quite the same
Back when drivers worked on their own cars!
Man I miss the ticker across the top!