USA TODAY International Edition
How snow caused NASCAR havoc
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The weekend weather forecasts for south central Virginia are not encouraging for outdoor activities.
That would include the biggest outdoor activity in the region, Sunday’s scheduled Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Rain and snow are predicted in the speedway area Saturday, and snow showers might continue into Sunday morning. And it will be a bit chilly — a predicted high of 42 both days.
Snow affected Saturday’s schedule; practice was held, but the Cup qualifying was canceled and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race was postponed until after Sunday’s Cup race. Since NASCAR races from February to November, it’s not surprising that winter weather occasionally gets in the way.
The best — or maybe worst — example of this phenomenon occurred in March 1993 when Atlanta Motor Speedway was scheduled to host the Motorcraft 500.
Instead, it hosted the so-called
“Storm of the Century.”
Late in the week, forecasters began warning of a significant snow event in the Southeast, but NASCAR teams were already on site for the weekend.
Practice and qualifying rolled along as scheduled, and Rusty Wallace won the pole position for the Sunday race.
As matters developed, Wallace would stay on that pole for a week.
Snow began falling in the Southeast early Saturday morning, and soon the ground at AMS was covered. Wind gusts approaching 50 mph pushed snow into drifts in the speedway’s turns.
The predicted blizzard was well underway.
It quickly became evident that morning that there would be no racing at AMS that weekend, and most teams stayed in their hotels north and east of the track, avoiding the possibility of being trapped in the snow on highways that were rapidly becoming impassable.
One team provided the exception, however. Those who made it to the track that morning were surprised to find driver Alan Kulwicki and a few members of his team working on his car, snow steadily climbing toward their knees and high winds pounding the sides and roof of the garage.
Kulwicki was wearing his driver’s helmet, perhaps as a shield against the wind.
That was Kulwicki. Few drivers in the history of the sport were more dedicated to the craft. He had proved himself the year before, driving to the Cup series championship in cars he owned, challenging — and beating — teams that were much larger and had bigger financial backing.
Tragically, Kulwicki would be killed the next month in an airplane crash on the way to a race in Bristol, Tenn.
The snowstorm dropped more than 3 feet of snow in the mountains north of Atlanta and spread misery across several states. Temperature gauges at the speedway hit the teens on Sunday, the scheduled race day. Wind and snow caused more than $300,000 in damages to the track, and trees were blown over across the facility, blocking roads.
By the time teams returned to the speedway the next weekend for the rescheduled race, everything was raceready.
Morgan Shepherd, then 51 years old, won the race. Perhaps surprisingly, Shepherd, now 76, is the only competitor from that 40-driver starting field who continues to race today.
Snow in Martinsville this weekend? Maybe. But nothing like Atlanta in ’93. Hopefully.