In April I won the Talladega 500 by a car length for my fourth career Winston cup win and Andy Petree's first win as a team owner. We come back to Talladega in October for the EA Sports 500 on a mission for a repeat. We come down to three laps to go, it's myself, Dale Jr, and Bobby Labonte, we're racing real hard at start finish line. Needless to say we got thirty other people chasing us. Dale Jr had enough. White flag falls, he hits Bobby Labonte knocks him out of the way he goes on. That gives me a chance to make a run on both of them. We go into turn one, I get on the outside of Bobby Labonte, he has no part of that. he carries me to the wall, we both touch the wall, I turn left to cut up under him, he turns left to block me. I hit Bobby labonte he flips over, debris everywhere cars are turning and wr hiting the wall everywhere, other cars up in the air, I'm racing hard to get back to Dale Jr. Next thing I know I'm racing for fifth place. i passed Jeff Gordon for fifth place right start finish line. When I left there that day, I wonder what could happen if I had to win that race if me and Bobby Labonte hadn't touched. Well today you and I finally get to prove this out. I think i coulda won that race and the folks at EA Sports are going to give you and me three laps to prove it. You're in third place in a pack with Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jeff Burton, three to go in the EA Sports 500 anything can happen, lets make it a win and get the repeat at Talladega.
I was there too, in the back stretch seats. We were in section J or K at the very top - put us in the middle of the back stretch. That entire wreck was right in front of us.
Mike Bagley graduated up to the secondary turn announcer in 2001, after Joe Moore graduated up to the booth and subsequently Dave Moody up to primary turn announcer, AND after Allen Bestwick graduated from MRN radio booth up to NBC/TNT television booth. Hence why you only heard Bagley *occasionally* on MRN pre-2000.
I think he was rankled by the plate package and the HANS because they made it mandatory and there still were some skeptics like Stewart who were worried about getting out of the car and feeling trapped.
Everyone that day was angry about the aero package, there's an interview Sterling had after the race the summed up how everyone thought. Funny enough though come 2003, he advocated for this package to come back.
I work at an indoor sports complex and one of our front desk staff is partially blind. She can’t really get into sports because on tv they’re not descriptive enough. I told her that nascar radio is honestly the best way for her to enjoy the race because the radio guys have to paint a picture of what’s happening. I found the 2012 Watkins Glen finish and she said that she had a good understanding of what was happening but I think this will be good too
That ones on Labonte. Hamilton had a run on him twice and he got away with it the first time but not the second. Hamilton had a car that could have won this race.
Its so ironic to me that this is my favorite radio call of all time, yet it involves my favorite driver (Bobby Labonte) absolutely destroying his car. NASCAR used to be so much better.
