1991 Budweiser at The Glen


The 1991 Budweiser at The Glen racing event was officially sanctioned as part of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Taking place on August 11, 1991, at Watkins Glen International, this race was the 18th race completed out of the 29 attempted during the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. The race was won by Ernie Irvan driving the No. 4 Kodak Chevrolet Lumina for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, but was marred by an early crash that claimed the life of veteran driver J. D. McDuffie.

Summary

The entire race took approximately two hours and twelve minutes to complete.
Terry Labonte, driving the No. 94 Sunoco-sponsored Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for Billy Hagan, qualified on pole for the race. Irvan, who won the race, qualified third. Five cautions slowed the race for 11 laps. Ricky Rudd finished second behind Irvan in the No. 5 Tide-sponsored Chevrolet Lumina for Hendrick Motorsports, and Richard Petty recorded his final career Top 10 finish in the No. 43 STP-sponsored Pontiac Grand Prix by finishing ninth.
ESPN carried the race as part of its coverage of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, and Ned Jarrett called the race while Jerry Punch and John Kernan were pit reporters. Jenkins called the race from the broadcast booth near the front straightaway while his analysts were stationed on the track, with Parsons reporting from the first turn and Jarrett stationed at the fifth turn known as the "Loop".

Lap 5 crash

The crash that killed McDuffie occurred on the fifth lap of the race. As he usually did, McDuffie was driving his own #70 Pontiac Grand Prix, this week carrying sponsorship from local construction firm The L.C. Whitford Company. As he entered the fifth turn, which was simply known as the Loop back then, McDuffie’s car suffered a catastrophic series of mechanical failures that left it with no brakes and only three wheels as one of the axles broke entering the turn. He left the track at his full racing speed, with the only thing stopping the #70 being a tire barrier in front of the turn 5 fence. McDuffie struck it with such force that his car lifted off the ground. As this was happening, fellow owner-driver Jimmy Means in the #52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac was moving toward the crash scene, with Means also having lost control of his car entering the Loop. Since Means had merely lost control, he was able to slow down enough in the grassy runoff area before the tire barrier and survive the impact largely unscathed. Means’ car actually slid under the #70 while it was in the air, hitting the tire barrier just before McDuffie came to rest on the grass upside down. Means went over to the wrecked Pontiac to try to assist McDuffie, who had been killed instantly in the initial impact. Seeing how badly injured McDuffie was, Means began frantically waving for track safety officials to come to the scene; Means told Ned Jarrett on the ESPN broadcast moments later that he hoped his fellow driver was okay but conceded the situation did not look good.
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, first to extract McDuffie from his vehicle, and then to allow time for track workers to repair the guardrail in that location. 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. Parsons too had just recently lost a spouse; his wife Connie passed away from surgery complications during the June race at Pocono, which Jenkins and Jarrett called without him as he stayed with his wife in the hospital. McDuffie was credited with a last-place finish of 40th. A brief ceremony honoring McDuffie was held during the 1992 Coca-Cola 600 race held the following year.
This incident was the second serious accident at Turn 5 that year. During June's Camel Continental sports car race, Tommy Kendall crashed in the same area after losing control of his vehicle — he, like McDuffie, lost a wheel before crashing — and broke both of his legs. Coincidentally, Kendall was scheduled to take part in this particular race prior to his accident driving the No. 42 Mello Yello Pontiac for Felix Sabates in place of an injured Kyle Petty, but his injuries allowed Bobby Hillin, Jr. to take over the ride for the Budweiser at the Glen.
In the wake of both serious incidents, Watkins Glen International track officials decided to reconfigure the track and added a chicane called the Inner Loop to the entrance to Turn 5, which was renamed the Outer Loop. As of 2020 the track is laid out in such a manner that race organizers can use the chicane or bypass it in favor of the traditional setup, depending on the series.

Race

When the race restarted, Terry Labonte maintained the lead. On lap 20, Labonte cut a left-rear tire and spun entering turn one, bringing out the caution to retrieve his tire. Ernie Irvan ran up front until he spun out of the lead in turn six on lap 48. Irvan re-entered the track in fifth place. A caution for rain came out on lap 59. The shower was brief and Ken Schrader emerged in the lead after pitting shortly before the caution. Schrader led until lap 68 when he broke a camshaft in turn five and coasted back to the pits. Later that lap, Kim Campbell spun in turn five, hitting the wall with the back of his Oldsmobile and bringing out the fifth and final caution of the day.
The race came down to a three car battle between Irvan, Mark Martin, and Davey Allison for the victory. On the final lap, Martin attempted a pass for the lead entering turn one. Irvan blocked the attempt forcing Martin to slam on the brakes. This disrupted the balance of Martin's Thunderbird causing him to spin and Davey Allison to spin in avoidance. Irvan drove to a seven-second victory. Martin finished third while Allison had trouble restarting his car, finishing tenth. Coming out of the final turn, Bill Elliott and Hut Stricklin spun across the finish line, finishing seventh and eight respectively.

Results