Showing results by narrator "Brock Beard" in All Categories

August 11, 1991. Watkins Glen, New York. 52-year-old John Delphus "J.D." McDuffie, Jr. climbs aboard his No. 70 Pontiac, lined up 35th on the grid for NASCAR's Budweiser at the Glen. For the 653rd time, he pinches a cigar between his teeth and fires the engine. Few take notice of No. 70 as it rolls onto the 2.428-mile road course - only a small group of volunteers, fans, and family back home in Sanford, North Carolina. Even they knew McDuffie had never won a NASCAR race, and likely never would before the big-money teams squeezed him out of the sport.

It’s an underdog story everyone thinks they know. Derrike Cope, an unheralded outsider from Spanaway, Washington, was running second to Dale Earnhardt on the last lap of the 1990 Daytona 500. As Derrike followed Earnhardt into the final corner, “The Intimidator” cut down a tire, handing Derrike his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in just his 72nd start.