1991 Budweiser at The Glen

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The 1991 Budweiser at The Glen was the 18th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the sixth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 11, 1991, before an audience of 125,000 on the 2.428-mile (3.907 km) short course at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, USA.

1991 Budweiser at The Glen
Race details
Race 18 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1991 Budweiser at The Glen program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine.
The 1991 Budweiser at The Glen program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine.
Date August 11, 1991
Official name 6th Annual Budweiser at The Glen
Location Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen International
Course Permanent racing facility
2.428 mi (3.907 km)
Distance 51 laps, 125.154 mi (88.980 km)
Scheduled Distance 90 laps, 220.5 mi (354.86 km)
Average speed 84.771 miles per hour (136.426 km/h)
Attendance 125,000
Pole position
Driver Hagan Racing
Time 1:11.851
Most laps led
Driver Ernie Irvan Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Laps 39
Winner
No. 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

The race was won by Ernie Irvan in the #4 Kodak Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. Ricky Rudd finished second in the #5 Tide Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, and Mark Martin finished third in the #6 Valvoline Ford for Roush Racing.[1][2][3]

The race was marred by a crash involving Jimmy Means and J. D. McDuffie in the circuit's fifth turn, The Loop, during lap five. A mechanical failure on McDuffie's #70 Pontiac led to him crashing at nearly full race speed into a tire barrier, where he was killed on impact.[4][5][6][7][8]

Background

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The layout of Watkins Glen International NASCAR used at the time.

Media coverage

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The race was covered on television by ESPN as part of their contract to air NASCAR Winston Cup Series events. Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, and Ned Jarrett were the broadcast team with Jerry Punch and John Kernan as pit reporters. Jenkins called the race from the broadcast tower on the front stretch while Parsons and Jarrett were stationed on the track; Parsons was stationed at turn 1 while Jarrett was positioned at the exit of The Loop in turn 5.

Radio coverage was provided by Motor Racing Network.

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile Skoal
2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac Miller Genuine Draft
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Kodak
5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Tide
6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Folgers
7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford Hooters
8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick Snickers
9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford Coors Light
10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet Purolator Filters
11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Budweiser
12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick Raybestos
13 Oma Kimbrough Linro Motorsports Buick Linro Motorsports
15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford Motorcraft
17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet Western Auto
19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford Tyson Foods
20 Kim Campbell Moroso Racing Oldsmobile NAPA Auto Parts
21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford Citgo
22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Maxwell House
24 Dorsey Schroeder Team III Racing Pontiac Team III Racing
25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kodiak
26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick Quaker State
28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford Texaco, Havoline
30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac Pennzoil
33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile Skoal Bandit
42 Bobby Hillin Jr. SABCO Racing Pontiac Mello Yello
43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
44 Irv Hoerr Labonte Motorsports Oldsmobile Olivetti
52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac Alka-Seltzer
53 John Paul Jr. Team Ireland Chevrolet Longhorn Steaks
54 Jim Derhaag Hakes Racing Oldsmobile Hakes Equipment
55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac Tops Friendly Markets
66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac Phillips 66 TropArtic
68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile Country Time
70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac L. C. Whitford Company
71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet Big Apple Market
75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile Dinner Bell Foods
90 Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R) Donlavey Racing Ford Donlavey Racing
94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile Sunoco
98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet Banquet Foods

Qualifying

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Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 9, at 1:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, August 10, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[9] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified on time but were high enough in owner's points; up to two provisionals were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.

Terry Labonte, driving the #94 Sunoco Oldsmobile for Hagan Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 1:11.851 and an average speed of 121.652 miles per hour (195.780 km/h) in the first round. The lap was a new track record.[10][11] Thirty-nine drivers qualified on time. Michael Waltrip crashed his #30 Pennzoil Pontiac during his qualifying run and did not record a time, starting fortieth with a provisional. Jim Sauter, Jerry O’Neil, and Bob Ferree all were entered but withdrew from the event.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 1:11.851 121.652
2 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 1:12.002 121.397
3 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 1:12.179 121.099
4 11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 1:12.186 121.087
5 90 Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R) Donlavey Racing Ford 1:12.427 120.684
6 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:12.680 120.264
7 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 1:12.776 120.106
8 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1:13.140 119.508
9 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 1:13.328 119.201
10 66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 1:13.363 119.145
11 24 Dorsey Schroeder Team III Racing Pontiac 1:13.512 118.903
12 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 1:13.563 118.821
13 44 Irv Hoerr Labonte Motorsports Oldsmobile 1:13.608 118.748
14 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1:13.623 118.724
15 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 1:13.626 118.719
16 42 Bobby Hillin Jr. SABCO Racing Pontiac 1:13.633 118.708
17 8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 1:13.656 118.671
18 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 1:13.682 118.629
19 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 1:13.729 118.553
20 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 1:13.782 118.468
Failed to lock in Round 1
21 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 1:12.028 121.353
22 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1:12.843 119.995
23 19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford 1:13.411 119.067
24 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 1:13.504 118.916
25 15 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1:13.940 118.215
26 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 1:13.961 118.181
27 53 John Paul Jr. Team Ireland Chevrolet 1:14.041 118.054
28 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 1:14.106 117.950
29 75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 1:14.174 117.842
30 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 1:14.381 117.514
31 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 1:14.403 117.479
32 68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile 1:14.789 116.873
33 98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 1:14.962 116.603
34 55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac 1:15.698 115.469
35 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac 1:16.290 114.573
36 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 1:16.870 113.709
37 20 Kim Campbell Moroso Racing Oldsmobile 1:17.209 113.210
38 54 Jim Derhaag Hakes Racing Oldsmobile 1:18.302 111.629
39 13 Oma Kimbrough Linro Motorsports Buick 1:18.772 110.963
Provisional
40 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac - -
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Allison and Marcis were forced to start from the rear of the field. Allison pitted while on the pace laps, while Marcis started the race in a backup car.

Lap 5 crash

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As the field entered the Loop on lap 5, the left front wheel spindle broke on J.D. McDuffie's #70 L.C. Whitford Pontiac, causing his brakes to fail and a wheel to come off of the car. He made contact with Jimmy Means, like McDuffie an owner-driver, and both the #70 and Means' #52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac left the racing surface and headed into the runoff area exiting the turn, which consisted of grass and a tire barrier placed in front of an Armco guardrail attached to a fence. McDuffie, with no way to slow his damaged car, hit the tires at 160 MPH. The force generated by the impact caused his car to become airborne, rotate 180 degrees, and land on the grass upside down. McDuffie suffered a basilar skull fracture in the accident and died instantly.[4]

McDuffie's basilar skull fracture was presumed to have been caused by rapid head movement to his right rather than an impact.[12] McDuffie's family and crew members have long believed that his injuries were caused by a foreign object entering the vehicle.[13] McDuffie's sponsor, Medford Speed, hired accident investigators, Phil Moser and Terry Shaw, to perform to determine the cause of the fatal injuries. The investigation concluded that upon impact with the tire barrier, a tire from the barrier entered the cockpit through the passenger side window and struck McDuffie on the right side of his head near the jaw, causing his fatal head injuries. The report cited a "black tar-like substance" on the window and damage to McDuffie's helmet foam and microphone tab that was consistent with a tire from the barrier entering the car upon impact.[14]

Means, meanwhile, was able to slow his car down before he hit the tire barrier; the #52 actually went underneath the #70 while it was in the air. Getting out of his own wrecked car, Means went over to McDuffie to check on his fellow driver. A few seconds later, having seen McDuffie's condition, Means began frantically waving for track safety officials to come to the scene. Means then spoke to Ned Jarrett, who as mentioned before was stationed on the track just behind where the accident occurred, on the ESPN broadcast moments later that he hoped his fellow driver was okay but conceded the situation did not look good. Means later said he had to "close his eyes" after seeing McDuffie in his car.[15]

Just as the drivers completed the fifth lap, NASCAR threw the red flag and stopped the drivers on the front stretch. The race was red-flagged for one hour and 48 minutes, both to extract McDuffie from his car and repair the guardrail in turn 5, which was bent inward following the impact of Means' car on the tire barrier.[7] Later, as the race was restarting, Jerry Punch of ESPN and Bill Bowser of MRN were both present for the official statement from Winston Cup Media Director Chip Williams that McDuffie had died from his injuries sustained in the crash. On ESPN, Bob Jenkins then eulogized McDuffie before Benny Parsons spoke directly to McDuffie's widow, Ima Jean.[16]

"Jean, I know exactly what you're going through, sweetheart. And you fans out there – you wonder – how these guys can get in these cars and go back out and restart this race. Hey, it's their job. It's what they do – there's a hundred thousand people here this afternoon to watch them do that job. There's not a one of these drivers that wants to be in that race car right now, they want to be in the garage area hugging their wife, their girlfriend, their mom, their crew members, whoever. I don't want to be here now. I want to be over there looking at Ned, and looking at Bob and just not saying anything. But we've got a job to do, and that's report to you who wins, who loses, and what happens during the day. Jean, we all love you and we're sorry."

Benny Parsons, addressing J.D. McDuffie's death on ESPN.[16]

As he had mentioned, Parsons had his own experience in having to deal with a spousal death. Earlier that season, during the Winston Cup’s June race weekend at Pocono, he had stayed behind at his North Carolina home to be with his wife Connie as she battled a terminal illness. On the day of the race, which Jenkins and Jarrett called without him, Connie Parsons died.[17]

McDuffie was credited with a last-place finish of 40th, while Means was credited with a 39th place finish.

Response by Watkins Glen International

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McDuffie's fatal accident was the most recent in a string of accidents involving cars losing brakes or wheels entering The Loop. When NASCAR visited Watkins Glen in 1989, Geoff Bodine blew a tire entering the turn on the penultimate lap of the event, losing his brakes and hitting the tire barrier head on; he did not suffer any injuries in the crash. On June 30, 1991, during the running of the IMSA Camel Continental sports car event, Tommy Kendall suffered a wheel failure in his Intrepid RM-1 before crashing hard in turn 5, breaking both of his legs.[18]

Although track officials did not specifically cite the two serious incidents as their reasoning, for 1992 Watkins Glen International installed a bus stop chicane near Turn 5 in order to slow the cars down before entering The Loop.[19] The circuit left it up to the individual racing series as to whether or not they would use what would be referred to as the Inner Loop going forward. Those that do have access to what is now the Outer Loop blocked off with pylons, while those that run the original course layout block off the Inner Loop.

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 3 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 90 39 running 185 $64,850
2 22 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 90 11 running 175 $37,325
3 2 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 90 0 running 165 $31,440
4 21 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 90 0 running 160 $16,680
5 14 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 90 0 running 155 $18,565
6 7 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 90 0 running 150 $11,600
7 19 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 90 0 running 146 $16,030
8 30 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 90 0 running 142 $11,320
9 31 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 90 0 running 138 $11,640
10 9 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 90 3 running 139 $18,100
11 23 19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford 90 0 running 130 $5,590
12 28 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 90 0 running 127 $7,250
13 26 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 90 0 running 124 $13,560
14 29 75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 90 0 running 121 $8,720
15 8 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 90 1 running 123 $16,180
16 27 53 John Paul Jr. Team Ireland Chevrolet 90 0 running 115 $4,610
17 11 24 Dorsey Schroeder Team III Racing Pontiac 90 3 running 117 $6,840
18 16 42 Bobby Hillin Jr. SABCO Racing Pontiac 89 0 running 109 $11,370
19 17 8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 89 0 running 106 $7,515
20 38 54 Jim Derhaag Hakes Racing Oldsmobile 88 0 running 103 $5,120
21 40 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 88 0 running 100 $6,995
22 4 11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 86 3 running 102 $12,575
23 12 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 82 0 radiator 94 $10,680
24 39 13 Oma Kimbrough Linro Motorsports Buick 80 0 oil line 91 $3,620
25 18 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 77 0 engine 88 $6,685
26 34 55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac 76 1 running 90 $4,725
27 33 98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 72 0 engine 82 $6,265
28 15 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 71 0 running 79 $6,105
29 32 68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile 70 0 running 76 $3,995
30 6 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 68 10 camshaft 78 $6,660
31 37 20 Kim Campbell Moroso Racing Oldsmobile 64 0 crash 70 $3,725
32 5 90 Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R) Donlavey Racing Ford 58 0 steering 67 $3,010
33 10 66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 55 0 rear end 64 $5,575
34 1 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 47 19 engine 66 $9,490
35 24 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 41 0 transmission 58 $4,830
36 25 15 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 33 0 engine 55 $9,800
37 20 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 11 0 brakes 52 $4,745
38 13 44 Irv Hoerr Labonte Motorsports Oldsmobile 8 0 engine 49 $2,710
39 36 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 4 0 crash 46 $2,655
40 35 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac 4 0 fatal crash 43 $2,595
Official race results

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (August 12, 1991). "Irvan holds off challengers (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 25. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  2. ^ Higgins, Tom (August 12, 1991). "Irvan holds off challengers (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 29. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ Harris, Mike (August 12, 1991). "Irvan survives Martin bid, wins at Glen". The State. p. 20. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ a b Harris, Mike (August 12, 1991). "McDuffie killed at Watkins Glen". Great Falls Tribune. p. 16. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ Higgins, Tom (August 12, 1991). "Racing wreck kills popular NASCAR driver (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 1. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ Higgins, Tom (August 12, 1991). "Racing wreck kills popular NASCAR driver (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 4. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ a b Harris, Mike (August 12, 1991). "McDuffie death casts pall over Irvan's win (Part 1)". The Anniston Star. p. 11. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ Harris, Mike (August 12, 1991). "McDuffie death casts pall over Irvan's win (Part 2)". The Anniston Star. p. 15. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  9. ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. August 8, 1991. p. 32. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  10. ^ Higgins, Tom (August 10, 1991). "Record at the Glen (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 33. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  11. ^ Higgins, Tom (August 10, 1991). "Record at the Glen (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 38. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  12. ^ Hinton, Ed (February 11, 2001). "Head Impact Isn't Necessary in Fatal Crashes". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  13. ^ Beard, Brock (2018). J. D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend. Grapevine, Texas: Waldorf Books. ISBN 978-1-64136-980-0.
  14. ^ Beard 2018, p. 260.
  15. ^ "1991 Budweiser At The Glen death scene". Legends of NASCAR. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
  16. ^ a b 1991 Budweiser At The Glen (RAW SATELLITE FEED). SMIFF TV. YouTube. October 22, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  17. ^ 1991 Champion Spark Plug 500 - Sad News. battalionfan888. YouTube. March 18, 2008. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  18. ^ Hawke, George (July 1, 1991). "Crash mars Camel Continental". Star-Gazette. p. 1. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  19. ^ Levanduski, Ron (October 9, 1991). "Turn 5 shifts gears". Star-Gazette. p. 9. Retrieved February 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
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