The crazy mofo that got me to care even a bit about Nascar, here on the channel that got me to watch the Monster Cup Series week by week...this is great. Happy you made that video when you did, else I would have missed Darrell Waltrip who retires this Sunday on commentary.
I think he knew they made history too, as one of the most badass finishes of all time! He was probably honored to be a part of that. And also to see the deserving Ricky Craven go to victory lane.
Honestly my favorite piece surrounding this race was Kurt's comments after. No whining he lost the car was hurt. "I didn't give him room in 1, he didn't give me room in 4. That's how it's supposed to be" Miss racers like that, starting to see more tho.
@I OFFER YOU THIS YES, my perspective on Kurt has changed so much over the years. His attitude often times WAS entitled during the early years of his career... but if his attitude had been like it was in this interview more often, he would have been so much more likable. It took the debacle at Penske, and the berating of the people at Phoenix Racing, and his woman beating him half to death while trying to take his money to get him to a place where he was likable though.
so true. I watch F1 mainly and while Leclerc is a good dude, he's a diva, but he still isn't the worst, the top position belongs to Lewis Hamilton, reigning world champion, and a fucking diva. Spends half of his race complaining about his tires and acting salty if he isn't first.
@@tofusrvng yeah, but Leclerc is just a 21 year old kid and doesnt complain when he makes mistakes. In the other hand Hamilton is 35 and complains all the time about everything, and when he doesnt win is not because other driver did it better, is because his team or his car failed according to him 🙄
@@danielwest9955 may or may not is how I'd look at it. The Southern 500 is a crown jewel even with Brian France wanting to ruin the roots of the sport.
@@badbooking3221 I'm just saying there were legitimate rumors that Darlington & Rockingham were in a similar boat. The original comment that this race saved the race is perhaps rather valid.
“There's a point at 7,000 RPMs where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. It disappears. All that's left, a body moving through space, and time.” -Ken Miles
Best part of that finish is on the last lap when Larry Mac says “both these cars are drivin terrible” and DW immediately follows up with “Nah, they’re drivin good”
I'm from South Africa an have never even watched a single NASCAR race before. To be honest, they never did interest me all too much but I stumbled onto your channel by chance and have watched all of your videos. Absolutely brilliant storytelling and flow so that even I, a person who has never seen a race and has had no exposure to the sport, loves your videos! Maybe, just maybe, I'll even watch a race or two from now on. Keep it up man! Brilliant work! You've got a subscriber from down in Africa
Glad to hear it! I try to make all my videos interesting and accessible to fans and non-fans alike. There's a lot of compelling history in NASCAR, like any sport, and it's just a matter of going out there and telling it.
I would recommend searching TH-cam for races in full. This website thenascararchive.blogspot.com is another tool I have used. You can sometimes find races that are not listed on it, but you have to dig pretty good for them. Might I suggest starting with the 2003 season? It has all the races for that year. You can work your way forward or back, depending upon how hard nostalgia gets to you. I'm partial to the 80s and 90s seasons as that was when the sport was most special to me. Anyways hope that makes things easier for you when you need that NASCAR itch scratched!
You are without a doubt the best Nascar TH-camr. You walk that nice line of entertainment and providing information which I enjoy. Keep up the good work.
@@HirokaAkita Wish it was easier to watch US Motorsport series here in Europe, the only way I can watch either Indycar or Nascar right now afaik is through the TH-cam videos posted by the respective organisations to their YT channels, but from what I have been able to watch, definitely is a lot more exciting than current F1.
I was 10 years old watching this race with my dad out in the garage and I'll never forget it. This was the last win for Pontiac in Nascar and they couldn't have possibly gone out in a better fashion.
I was 7 when this race was held and I can still remember my dad screaming “come on craven! Come on!” At the tv, to this day I still get chills and so excited when I watch this finish, at the time I had no idea that darlington was threatened with losing a cup race completely since I was so young, and even now this is the first I’ve heard of it, great video and the music made it so captivating 😂
78caprice that was my experience with this race as well. Have no idea how or why Craven was my favorite but he was and this win gives me chills with childhood memories .
You really know how to evoke emotions with your edits, especially in your scene from 12:15 to the piano and Save North Wilkesboro sign. Choked me up and made me long for the old days of NASCAR...
As a NASCAR fan, this race is everything we love and everything we live for. So much drama and excitement. A beloved track in need of a savior, a historic manufacturer desperately looking for a swan song, and two drivers trying their hardest to make a name for themselves. Everything came together in an awe inspiring display of perfection. For those who wonder why we love NASCAR so much, this is why. In just two one thousandths of a second, a crown jewel was saved.
I'm currently 24, I was 8 when this race happened. After Ryan Newman's flip in the 500 that year this is one of the next races I watched, and I've been a fan ever since I want to meet these two drivers face to face some day
The short track veteran from a working class family in Maine versus the come-up kid from the big city of Las Vegas. This is when the sport had every American’s attention and there could not have been a more perfect duo, background, track, or finish. Well done on the video.
I've watched a good dose of your videos. I'm actually from Martinsville and my "grandma's" house is on the hill of Ridgeway behind the track. I was born in '72 and it was pretty much part of my blood. When you wake up every day outside a NASCAR track, you just know racing. My dad was involved in promoting Bush teams and was friends with a lot of the teams as well. I still have friends that promote for them and I'm trying my hand at it. Now I have a house next to Daytona and just South of New Hampshire. Like a drug, the addiction keeps coming back. As I said, I've enjoyed your videos when they get recommended in my feed and I've enjoyed some of the commentary, oh and it's spot on. It's like going back to live that moment all over. I'd remember who I liked and who I jeered. Some of the best times in racing for me funny enough was just having Waltrip commentate (which I'm going to miss after this year). I just wanted to remember again what happened and maybe even bring some clarity to the hindsight they said was suppose to be 20/20, but is just a blurry haze to me. So here we are in a moment that really shouldn't have happened at a track that really shouldn't be and for one moment in time, like someone flipped some magic coin in the grand stands, everything came up heads. As a creator myself I can understand how hard it is to capture these moments. How hard it is to convey. We're just talking, right? No, it's so much more. Music, tension, building the kind of story that is told around a campfire to your partially drunk friends, stuffed by hotdogs over a makeshift fire, and when that punch line hits you need have them jump off their logs like someone poured gasoline on the fire with a crescendo of speech that ends in a whisper as everyone gasps and our heroes walk away unscathed and the monster is defeated. Well, today you did that. You did it with the execution of a bard, separated away from reality in some small pocket of existence, there we were intently listening as if our lives depended on it. Like the subject matter was going to save our lives and when it finally delivered the punch, it hit hard. We held our breaths for one moment even though we knew the outcome, the monster had been defeated. Today, nobody lost, we all won. I felt like something inside me had just survived and sucked in breath to check to see if I had made it while somewhere in my memory, left dormant for so many years, was jumping out of my computer race chair, but just like back then I celebrated in a melancholy way, with just a smile. For that moment I was still there saying, "good job guys, you did it." And once again I walked away. So today I subscribed to your channel. I hope this one moment will be repeated again. It probably won't be as grand as this one, I have no qualms about that. I understand that I won't have the alignment to others that I did to this, but just to know that at some point I can sit around that camp fire again and here you tell a tale about days gone by, of warriors that faced off on the black top, fed by high octane and speeds not imagined, still pure and unadulterated. To live that moment again will be worth it. Have a great day. Thanks. Allen #vipprimo, host of What It's Like to Drive and Car Side Chat.
As a Limey who doesn’t know a great deal about NASCAR, (it just wasn’t shown on British TV when I was a kid), but who loves great racing and loves V8’s, (despite the criminal amount of tax we pay on our petrol over here), I really, really enjoy your vids. Without a doubt they are some of the very best on TH-cam. My only complaint about your videos is that there ain’t enough of them ! Many thanks from England 🏴
I'm gonna call it this way: A manufacter who wanted one final win before fade away, a driver who needed a win to still driving, and a speedway that was in it's "final fantasy" scenario. And, yes. The speedway got it's "Final fantasy", it was supposed to be it's final show before die and be forgotten, and by just pure chance survived it in a legendary fashion.
THEY TOUCH! THEY TOUCH! I’m 46 from Chicago, and about to watch my first ever NASCAR race, at Darlington no less, and it’s all thanks to your channel. Your channel has been informative, educational, and entertaining. Keep up the great work, Sir. I salute you.
Same was a fan from 1997 when I was 7 years old up until about 2005. Loved it, watched it every weekend. Now I don't tune in anymore. Merl from the walking dead had me wanting to watch Bristol and Darlington in 2019. They should bring racing back to North Wilksboro and Rockingham. The year they dropped Rockingham completely is when I stopped watching. 2005 Darlington is a crazy race always been a fan of it and Dover.
This is the greatest TH-cam video I have ever seen. Hands down, Bottom line, Not a single contest. This is the best video I’ve seen. Much love from the UK. Hope your good Slap, all these crazy times atm have me just going through your video’s and Back into the sport of NASCAR. keep up the awesome work. 😁👍🏻
Slap is awesome for sure. I found him through another youtuber named Emplemon. While he is not solely NASCAR material, he has 2 vids on his channel I recommend as well: The history of Talladega and a video about Dale Earnhardt. His quality is just as good as Slap's
I honestly can’t get enough of these videos. This one hits a spot close to home mostly cause it was one of the most memorable races for me. I remember watching this race live when I was a kid and I remember jumping around cause how close that finish was
I got chills watching this. THIS. This is the video I'm going to show to my many lovely friends to show why I've spent thousands of hours racing simulators, reading about or watching virtual, recorded, and real motorsports, studied car setup tweaking information in every racing video game manual I've ever owned, and more, specifically NASCAR for nearly half of that time and effort but also other kinds of car racing types and series as well. This is why auto racing. This is why NASCAR. Period. Thank you for summing up the artistry, beauty, creativity, drama, history, and poetry of one of my most treasured hobbies, pastimes, and soon-to-be career paths. Love, Chris. 🎮 🏁🏎❤💛💚💙💜
damn this is amazing! so well done its scary. Editing and pacing of this is just top tier greatness! Thanks for making this and showing why this finish is so good!!
Excellent video once again. What made this finish even more legendary was that Ricky Craven was, as Bill Weber called him, "damaged goods left on the shelf." He landed the Hendrick ride in 1997 after some solid runs with Larry Hedrick, but was critically injured in an accident at Texas. He then returned to the track too soon, which was why he wasn't in the No. 50 for most of 1998. In his first race back at his home track in Loudon, he won the pole. But the team let him go, and he struggled with several small teams before Cal Wells finally called in 2001.
Good sruff as always Slap. As a diehard Ricky Craven fan I didn't get to see the race in real time but I did watch it on good ole VHS when I got home that day. It brings tears to my eyes each I watch the end, and the way you presented is perfect. Ricky got to experience the Glory of Victory Lane one more time in the cup series. Truly the best way to do so. Many drivers never got a win in the cup🏆series, but our fellow Maineiac did more than once. Many people never thought he'd do it, but not me. I always knew Ricky would somehow get a win, but when he did it for a 2nd time I never imagined it would be this way. Ricky and Kurt saved Darlington. It wasn't just by chance because the universe doesn't work that way. I love all my fellow Nascar fans and thanks to you ole Slapshoes. Don't stop what you're doing because you're an excellent Nascar hostorian!
I have literally zero interest in nascar, and probably never will, and yet this video was made well enough for me to watch the whole thing and enjoy it. Reminds me a lot of SB Nation. Great video, keep up the good work!
I'm 20. I grew up liking nascas as it started to decline. The golden era happened before and during my early years of life and these videos brings back the love I used to have for it. I don't watch it anymore but I still have the same feelings for it that I always did. These videos are great and I will be watching your videos for a very long time.
I don't care what anyone says, this is my all-time favorite finish and the best out of the 0.002 second club. Also, I remember I had my 2003 Craftsman racing guide and a pen, anxiously waiting to jot down the winning number. As soon as CRAVEN was shouted, instantly wrote 32.
I just showed this video to my friends in a discord server dedicated to a sim football league (a role play thing), and i got a couple of people responding that they loved it despite not being nascar fans. This is an absolute win.
I remember seeing this race on TV, I was just ten years old at the time. I already was pretty into Nascar and was a big Jeff Gordon fanboy, but the excitement me and my family (well me anyway, I can’t speak for them) had after watching this finish was immeasurable. Two guys I had never even heard of had just beat and banged their way across the finish line and it was the best thing I had ever watched. It was magnificent, a thing of beauty, and I probably developed more as a Nascar fan that day than I would have ever if it hadn’t happened, or if I hadn’t watched it. Thank you for this video, it was a nice analysis of a trip down memory lane.
My favorite paint job in NASCAR was the Tide paint. That sunglow orange, just the way they put that paint job together looked fantastic. It's also amazing that this race featured that amazing looking car in a stellar moment that words have a hard time capturing, though you did those words incredible justice. Amazing finish!
I was 4 y/o when I saw this finish live. I remember playing with a Jimmie Johnson diecast in the living room in front of our TV and my parents were yelling in excitement at what was happening before us. Loved this vid. Brought back good memories.
This was awesome. I remember watching this race live. I was always a Gordon fan, but when he couldn't win it I started pulling for Craven to run Kurt down. Those last two laps I remember jumping up and down trying to will him up into the lead and going absolutely nuts when they were locked together coming across the line. Thank you Slap for taking me back to when I was an 18 year old kid jumping up and down and hollering at my TV for Craven to pass Kurt's sorry ass.
I'm an F1 guy and my only exposure to Nascar is the Disney movie Car's and the Tom Cruise movie work the famous hammer time that I saw ages ago. I saw this thumbnail and was like yeah I see the clip then move on but man I am impressed with your story telling ability. It was like a Good Time at the movie's vibe they way you introduced the crazy ending. Then introduced, built up our leads and slowly unraveled the story + racing beautiful. Came say I'm much interested in Nascar yet Maybe I'll give it a spin in a sim racer some day but man you definitely got a subscriber in me. I'm a writer and I loved the way you made this video and then the happy ever after ending credits beautiful. You can't find multi million dollar movie's made this way but this video is pure Story Time Gold!!!! Thanks for making it mate!!!
This finish, is quintessential NASCAR. The cars are out of control, and the drivers are not afraid to lean on each other. Shame we have cars today where all you have to do is place a brick on the accelerator...
Fast Forward 21 Years and The Record for The Closest Finish in NASCAR History would get shattered at Kansas at the hands of Kyle Larson & Chris Buescher
This was absolutely amazing to watch! Well done! I remember watching this race live with friends and family, which was primarily Earnhardt & Gordon fans. We all become Ricky craven & Kurt Busch fans after that race.
my grandfather was from central maine and was a HUGE ricky craven fan. i remember watching races with him in his workshop when i was little. brought back memories watching this. thanks man.
i was watching this as a kid and it was mind blowing. Its the kind of finish you BEG for as a fan of any sport. A finish where centimeters decide, and thats awesome. Great video as always.
I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of the old nascar days with your videos. They are great btw and then this one, boom out of nowhere If these trees could talk?? Dann! Great selection.
Was I watching a documentary on Netflix? Dude, this video gave me chills! So professional, dude, you've my request. I hope you make more of these kind of videos. ♥️♥️♥️
Even after watching the video 4 times, getting to 12:21 and hearing, “maybe it was fate” still brings me to tears for some reason. Keep up the amazing work bucko, yer the #1 nascar man on TH-cam!
Apparently my Great Grandmother was watching that race on tv while holding a 2 year old me. When she saw that glorious finish she threw her arms up and dropped me on my ass🤣.
Over the last day or so I've watched a number of your videos now, I'm not sure how I ended up getting the recommendation. But, I'm very glad I did. Superb, engaging, and really interesting. Keep up the great work!
I was so glad Craven won, my neighbor up in Newburg, Maine ! Nice family !! If memory serves me right Craven would win one more in the truck series and that’s a wrap !!! He figured it was safer to be an announcer !
I love watching your videos and listening to your analysis. I remember watching this race and this has always been my favorite track but I didn't realize how much this race really meant to the track. Keep up the in depth analysis of Nascar. It's honestly about the only thing that keeps me in it nowadays.
I've been recently getting into your work after your feature on EmpLemon's NASCAR videos, and honestly? After watching a few videos, especially this one, you made me take the step towards getting into actually watching the sport actively, instead of just watching clips of historical races for context. Thank you for your work and what you do in inspiring new and old fans into loving the sport more and more. It honestly, genuinely means the world.
Still such a good note for Pontiac to go out on, with a miracle push on the last turn, winning by just an edge. Much of that excitement still bleeds over to this day.
The music you used in this video is a really good accompaniment to the story you are telling. I've seen this vid last year but I still watch this to this very day. Of all the NASCAR TH-camrs here, you are the best story teller. Keep it up Slapshoes!
The irony of all of this is the attendance number mentioned of 65,000. Fast forward to now and most tracks can't even achieve that. NASCAR basically killed itself by getting away from history. Historic tracks, historic sponsors, etc. They got too greedy and now are an afterthought. I went from watching every race, every season in the 90s and early 00s to nothing. I've seen part of one race, once in the past ten years. Thank you Brian France.
You forgot to add in your epilogue portion of the video that the Southern 500 returned to it's Labor Day weekend slot in 2015, 12 years after it was replaced in favor of California Speedway. To this day, Darlington is a HIGHLY anticipated race as throwback weekend comes upon us all once a year. Great video, by the way!
Have you ever?
No, I've never!
Huge fan of yours, dude. It means a lot to see you here in the comments.
Hey there. Didnt expect to see you here
What a finish!
Holy crap, wasn't expecting you here. (HUGE fan of your videos BTW)
Hello Daddy Emp. Love your videos.
The crazy mofo that got me to care even a bit about Nascar, here on the channel that got me to watch the Monster Cup Series week by week...this is great.
Happy you made that video when you did, else I would have missed Darrell Waltrip who retires this Sunday on commentary.
To understand, we need to rewind...
Procter and Gamble was founded in 1837
*sticks VHS tape into red car VHS player*
@@zart3374 I work for a Doctor named.Mr. Kevorkian, he always asks.me.how.im.feeling . Ever. Single. Day.
Eerily similar to sb nation's rewind.. still pretty amazing analysis tho!
13.7 billion years ago, the universe was created by what some believe to be a big bang.
To *truly* understand, we need to rewind...
The Earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago...
I like how he said " I didn't give him room and he didn't give me room, that's how it is supposed to be" good sportsmanship and the right attitude.
That's why I liked Kurt, shenanigans aside he is a racer
I think he knew they made history too, as one of the most badass finishes of all time! He was probably honored to be a part of that. And also to see the deserving Ricky Craven go to victory lane.
Bleeds Ford Blue now Kyle on the other hand...
Kurt always was respectful but his temper was horrific making him look like a bad guy but kyle is just a baby at times but he has gotten better
"That was some good racing"
To understand we need to rewind...
13.7 Billion years ago, the Big Bang happens.
@americanvillageidiot ahh, thats hot
Welcome to a moment in history
Austin Reed hahaha yea that feels about right
4.6 billion years ago, earth was formed
Soviet Russia andddddddd the big band didn’t directly lead to earth forming there was billions of years between them
That finish was NASCAR at it's finest. Plain and simple.
What In Carnation? True dat
Hey do you watch edsoundhead
Make no mistake,,Craven definitely earned that win. Nascar as we once knew it is forever gone.....
@@jeffcarroll1990shock, that makes zero sense. Crawl back in your hole, troll.
That race made darlington my favorite track
My god. I had three distinct panic attacks watchin' dude try to hoist that trophy at 8:24
DeletableMan lol so true. No! Don’t drop it!
The last real NASCAR Championship trophy, that thing was a behemoth.
@@DerrickRG no kidding..it was almost as big as a 1960's color tv set...
Woah😐
Bobby labonte
"Is that a Pontiac?" Oh, I feel old and I'm only in my 20's!
I'm 18 and I feel the same
Same I'm 34
Rip Pontiac
Harley Ray I’m 18 and still driving a Pontiac and some younger people I know don’t even know what the badge on the front of my car is supposed to be 😂
I feel the same at 17
"There's nothing left to decide this race except Physics and Fate."
100% excellent wording of that, actual chills.
What about gravity
@@Ob1tuber implied with physics lmao
The most famous call in NASCAR History
“It’s Gonna be a Drag Race! They touch! They touch! CRAVEN GOT HIM! CRAVEN GOT HIM!”
“Brad kesuhlowski has won this race?”
That is not the most famous call not even close
@@calebBalls69 more like CHAD kesloski
@@misterjersey5460 Krad Beselowski
“Harvick by inches” too
Honestly my favorite piece surrounding this race was Kurt's comments after. No whining he lost the car was hurt. "I didn't give him room in 1, he didn't give me room in 4. That's how it's supposed to be" Miss racers like that, starting to see more tho.
@I OFFER YOU THIS YES, my perspective on Kurt has changed so much over the years. His attitude often times WAS entitled during the early years of his career... but if his attitude had been like it was in this interview more often, he would have been so much more likable. It took the debacle at Penske, and the berating of the people at Phoenix Racing, and his woman beating him half to death while trying to take his money to get him to a place where he was likable though.
man he's a real one for that
so true. I watch F1 mainly and while Leclerc is a good dude, he's a diva, but he still isn't the worst, the top position belongs to Lewis Hamilton, reigning world champion, and a fucking diva. Spends half of his race complaining about his tires and acting salty if he isn't first.
@@tofusrvng yeah, but Leclerc is just a 21 year old kid and doesnt complain when he makes mistakes.
In the other hand Hamilton is 35 and complains all the time about everything, and when he doesnt win is not because other driver did it better, is because his team or his car failed according to him 🙄
the race that pretty much saved Darlington
Unfortunately it lost the Southern 500 for a decade after 2003 was run.
@@badbooking3221 But there was a legit chance they ended up like Rockingham and off the schedule entirely. This may have indeed saved the speedway.
@@danielwest9955 may or may not is how I'd look at it. The Southern 500 is a crown jewel even with Brian France wanting to ruin the roots of the sport.
@@badbooking3221 I'm just saying there were legitimate rumors that Darlington & Rockingham were in a similar boat. The original comment that this race saved the race is perhaps rather valid.
It lost its Southern 500 to a cookie cutter.
“There's a point at 7,000 RPMs where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. It disappears. All that's left, a body moving through space, and time.”
-Ken Miles
“Craven got him!”
“Craven!”
“Man alright what a finish!!”
Chills down my spine
have you ever?
@@Issybear666 NO I NEVER!
WOW!
Every time a track dies I cry. Thank God Darlington was saved.
Jeff Carroll uhm. you’re three months in the future from him. how the hell was he supposed to know?
@@jeffcarroll1990shock tf is your problem?
@@spector8679 I guess they deleted cuz I didn't even see anything
Socky Noob Yeah. they got two little replies and got scared and ran away.
@@spector8679 what did they even say?
"is that a pontiac?" i lost it for some reason at that point lmao
Same
Best part of that finish is on the last lap when Larry Mac says “both these cars are drivin terrible” and DW immediately follows up with “Nah, they’re drivin good”
My body is not ready for this
me 2
I'm from South Africa an have never even watched a single NASCAR race before. To be honest, they never did interest me all too much but I stumbled onto your channel by chance and have watched all of your videos.
Absolutely brilliant storytelling and flow so that even I, a person who has never seen a race and has had no exposure to the sport, loves your videos! Maybe, just maybe, I'll even watch a race or two from now on.
Keep it up man! Brilliant work! You've got a subscriber from down in Africa
Glad to hear it! I try to make all my videos interesting and accessible to fans and non-fans alike. There's a lot of compelling history in NASCAR, like any sport, and it's just a matter of going out there and telling it.
I would recommend searching TH-cam for races in full.
This website thenascararchive.blogspot.com is another tool I have used. You can sometimes find races that are not listed on it, but you have to dig pretty good for them.
Might I suggest starting with the 2003 season? It has all the races for that year. You can work your way forward or back, depending upon how hard nostalgia gets to you. I'm partial to the 80s and 90s seasons as that was when the sport was most special to me.
Anyways hope that makes things easier for you when you need that NASCAR itch scratched!
You also just got one from Maine. Love the videos. Lewiston,Maine
You are without a doubt the best Nascar TH-camr. You walk that nice line of entertainment and providing information which I enjoy. Keep up the good work.
Radman = The best NASCAR YTuber for race analysis.
S1ap and Sh0e = The best NASCAR YTuber for documentaryes.
Thery're the two great of this.
Hirouka Akita true
@@HirokaAkita I don't even watch NASCAR as a sport but S1ap makes it interesting for me to learn about the sport.
@@xander1052 It has a exciting history. And, in fact, it's getting fun again.
@@HirokaAkita Wish it was easier to watch US Motorsport series here in Europe, the only way I can watch either Indycar or Nascar right now afaik is through the TH-cam videos posted by the respective organisations to their YT channels, but from what I have been able to watch, definitely is a lot more exciting than current F1.
I was 10 years old watching this race with my dad out in the garage and I'll never forget it. This was the last win for Pontiac in Nascar and they couldn't have possibly gone out in a better fashion.
Out with a bang.... and to a nail biting finish
One of the first races I watched flag to flag back in 03. Became a fan for life after this race!
150+ mph without power steering feels like power steering
Steven Tsakiris what the fuck?
@Steven Tsakiris what the fuck?
@Steven Tsakiris what the fuck?
Steven Tsakiris what the frick?
Steven Tsakiris fuck the what?
Beautiful video man! Better than the actual NASCAR media group!
After years of trying and working to save Darlington
2 thousandths of a second was all I came down to
That Tide Pontiac was a nice looking ride. One of my favourite paint schemes from that era, along with Jeff Burton's 99' Exide Batteries Taurus
I had a slot car of that 99 exide Taurus, but sadly it broke and I hadn't thought of it since I was about 11 years old till just now.
Same. Jeff Green's iconic Nesquik ride as well.
I was 7 when this race was held and I can still remember my dad screaming “come on craven! Come on!” At the tv, to this day I still get chills and so excited when I watch this finish, at the time I had no idea that darlington was threatened with losing a cup race completely since I was so young, and even now this is the first I’ve heard of it, great video and the music made it so captivating 😂
78caprice that was my experience with this race as well. Have no idea how or why Craven was my favorite but he was and this win gives me chills with childhood memories .
You really know how to evoke emotions with your edits, especially in your scene from 12:15 to the piano and Save North Wilkesboro sign. Choked me up and made me long for the old days of NASCAR...
Maine's own Ricky Craven! Man, was I so happy he won this race. Thanks, S1apSh0es, for all your wonderful NASCAR history!
As a NASCAR fan, this race is everything we love and everything we live for. So much drama and excitement. A beloved track in need of a savior, a historic manufacturer desperately looking for a swan song, and two drivers trying their hardest to make a name for themselves. Everything came together in an awe inspiring display of perfection. For those who wonder why we love NASCAR so much, this is why. In just two one thousandths of a second, a crown jewel was saved.
After many Jon Bois like videos on NASCAR, sh0es gives us a Rewinder style video on NASCAR.
S1apsh0es: The SB Nation of NASCAR.
Whenever someone says nascar is boring, I always direct them to the final three laps of this race and they always say, holy shit, that was awesome
I'm currently 24, I was 8 when this race happened.
After Ryan Newman's flip in the 500 that year this is one of the next races I watched, and I've been a fan ever since
I want to meet these two drivers face to face some day
The short track veteran from a working class family in Maine versus the come-up kid from the big city of Las Vegas. This is when the sport had every American’s attention and there could not have been a more perfect duo, background, track, or finish. Well done on the video.
A true testament in Automotive Form of the consistency in metaphorical battle The City Slicker vs The Country Man ... what a finish!
I've watched a good dose of your videos. I'm actually from Martinsville and my "grandma's" house is on the hill of Ridgeway behind the track. I was born in '72 and it was pretty much part of my blood. When you wake up every day outside a NASCAR track, you just know racing. My dad was involved in promoting Bush teams and was friends with a lot of the teams as well. I still have friends that promote for them and I'm trying my hand at it. Now I have a house next to Daytona and just South of New Hampshire. Like a drug, the addiction keeps coming back.
As I said, I've enjoyed your videos when they get recommended in my feed and I've enjoyed some of the commentary, oh and it's spot on. It's like going back to live that moment all over. I'd remember who I liked and who I jeered. Some of the best times in racing for me funny enough was just having Waltrip commentate (which I'm going to miss after this year). I just wanted to remember again what happened and maybe even bring some clarity to the hindsight they said was suppose to be 20/20, but is just a blurry haze to me.
So here we are in a moment that really shouldn't have happened at a track that really shouldn't be and for one moment in time, like someone flipped some magic coin in the grand stands, everything came up heads.
As a creator myself I can understand how hard it is to capture these moments. How hard it is to convey. We're just talking, right? No, it's so much more. Music, tension, building the kind of story that is told around a campfire to your partially drunk friends, stuffed by hotdogs over a makeshift fire, and when that punch line hits you need have them jump off their logs like someone poured gasoline on the fire with a crescendo of speech that ends in a whisper as everyone gasps and our heroes walk away unscathed and the monster is defeated.
Well, today you did that. You did it with the execution of a bard, separated away from reality in some small pocket of existence, there we were intently listening as if our lives depended on it. Like the subject matter was going to save our lives and when it finally delivered the punch, it hit hard. We held our breaths for one moment even though we knew the outcome, the monster had been defeated. Today, nobody lost, we all won. I felt like something inside me had just survived and sucked in breath to check to see if I had made it while somewhere in my memory, left dormant for so many years, was jumping out of my computer race chair, but just like back then I celebrated in a melancholy way, with just a smile. For that moment I was still there saying, "good job guys, you did it." And once again I walked away.
So today I subscribed to your channel. I hope this one moment will be repeated again. It probably won't be as grand as this one, I have no qualms about that. I understand that I won't have the alignment to others that I did to this, but just to know that at some point I can sit around that camp fire again and here you tell a tale about days gone by, of warriors that faced off on the black top, fed by high octane and speeds not imagined, still pure and unadulterated. To live that moment again will be worth it.
Have a great day. Thanks. Allen #vipprimo, host of What It's Like to Drive and Car Side Chat.
2 years later and I can honestly say that this is the very best NASCAR TH-cam video ever created.
As a Limey who doesn’t know a great deal about NASCAR, (it just wasn’t shown on British TV when I was a kid), but who loves great racing and loves V8’s, (despite the criminal amount of tax we pay on our petrol over here), I really, really enjoy your vids. Without a doubt they are some of the very best on TH-cam.
My only complaint about your videos is that there ain’t enough of them !
Many thanks from England 🏴
I'm gonna call it this way:
A manufacter who wanted one final win before fade away, a driver who needed a win to still driving, and a speedway that was in it's "final fantasy" scenario.
And, yes. The speedway got it's "Final fantasy", it was supposed to be it's final show before die and be forgotten, and by just pure chance survived it in a legendary fashion.
THEY TOUCH! THEY TOUCH!
I’m 46 from Chicago, and about to watch my first ever NASCAR race, at Darlington no less, and it’s all thanks to your channel. Your channel has been informative, educational, and entertaining. Keep up the great work, Sir. I salute you.
This was the pinnacle of my NASCAR watching days. The tracks and the cars started all turning the same and changing points systems made me leave.
Eric Gulseth same. I was there late 90s- mid 00s.
Same was a fan from 1997 when I was 7 years old up until about 2005. Loved it, watched it every weekend. Now I don't tune in anymore. Merl from the walking dead had me wanting to watch Bristol and Darlington in 2019. They should bring racing back to North Wilksboro and Rockingham. The year they dropped Rockingham completely is when I stopped watching. 2005 Darlington is a crazy race always been a fan of it and Dover.
Brilliantly put together video!
This is the greatest TH-cam video I have ever seen. Hands down, Bottom line, Not a single contest. This is the best video I’ve seen. Much love from the UK. Hope your good Slap, all these crazy times atm have me just going through your video’s and Back into the sport of NASCAR. keep up the awesome work. 😁👍🏻
Thanks, man. I'll keep trying to impress.
Slap is awesome for sure. I found him through another youtuber named Emplemon. While he is not solely NASCAR material, he has 2 vids on his channel I recommend as well: The history of Talladega and a video about Dale Earnhardt. His quality is just as good as Slap's
I come back to this video every few months. Its just amazing.
I honestly can’t get enough of these videos. This one hits a spot close to home mostly cause it was one of the most memorable races for me. I remember watching this race live when I was a kid and I remember jumping around cause how close that finish was
I got chills watching this. THIS. This is the video I'm going to show to my many lovely friends to show why I've spent thousands of hours racing simulators, reading about or watching virtual, recorded, and real motorsports, studied car setup tweaking information in every racing video game manual I've ever owned, and more, specifically NASCAR for nearly half of that time and effort but also other kinds of car racing types and series as well. This is why auto racing. This is why NASCAR. Period. Thank you for summing up the artistry, beauty, creativity, drama, history, and poetry of one of my most treasured hobbies, pastimes, and soon-to-be career paths. Love, Chris. 🎮 🏁🏎❤💛💚💙💜
I love this channel and how your videos are like mini documentary's
Say what you want about Darrel as a commentator, he was damn good calling the end of this race:
Mike: Have you ever?
Darrel: No I never!
damn this is amazing! so well done its scary. Editing and pacing of this is just top tier greatness! Thanks for making this and showing why this finish is so good!!
Excellent video once again. What made this finish even more legendary was that Ricky Craven was, as Bill Weber called him, "damaged goods left on the shelf." He landed the Hendrick ride in 1997 after some solid runs with Larry Hedrick, but was critically injured in an accident at Texas. He then returned to the track too soon, which was why he wasn't in the No. 50 for most of 1998. In his first race back at his home track in Loudon, he won the pole. But the team let him go, and he struggled with several small teams before Cal Wells finally called in 2001.
I wish Maine had a cup track. It's odd for a Mainer to have too associate New Hampshire with home
Another video clearly inspired by SB Nation but covering a sport they almost definitely won't cover. good work!!
I've found it to be a general rule that videos about a sport are more interesting than the sport itself. That rule is even more true for motorsports.
"The Greatest Finish in NASCAR History Deserves a Deep Rewi...er, Closer Look"
Good sruff as always Slap. As a diehard Ricky Craven fan I didn't get to see the race in real time but I did watch it on good ole VHS when I got home that day. It brings tears to my eyes each I watch the end, and the way you presented is perfect. Ricky got to experience the Glory of Victory Lane one more time in the cup series. Truly the best way to do so. Many drivers never got a win in the cup🏆series, but our fellow Maineiac did more than once. Many people never thought he'd do it, but not me. I always knew Ricky would somehow get a win, but when he did it for a 2nd time I never imagined it would be this way. Ricky and Kurt saved Darlington. It wasn't just by chance because the universe doesn't work that way. I love all my fellow Nascar fans and thanks to you ole Slapshoes. Don't stop what you're doing because you're an excellent Nascar hostorian!
This also gave us possibly the greatest commentating finish of all time as well
12:12 my favourite part of the whole video.. great job man, such a great video! Great narration and editing put everything together nicely.
I have literally zero interest in nascar, and probably never will, and yet this video was made well enough for me to watch the whole thing and enjoy it. Reminds me a lot of SB Nation. Great video, keep up the good work!
My favorite video on TH-cam. Brings a tear to my eye every time. Don’t know why. It’s incredible
I could watch this video a million times and I'd still get goosebumps at 12:21.
I'm 20. I grew up liking nascas as it started to decline. The golden era happened before and during my early years of life and these videos brings back the love I used to have for it. I don't watch it anymore but I still have the same feelings for it that I always did. These videos are great and I will be watching your videos for a very long time.
I don't care what anyone says, this is my all-time favorite finish and the best out of the 0.002 second club. Also, I remember I had my 2003 Craftsman racing guide and a pen, anxiously waiting to jot down the winning number. As soon as CRAVEN was shouted, instantly wrote 32.
I just showed this video to my friends in a discord server dedicated to a sim football league (a role play thing), and i got a couple of people responding that they loved it despite not being nascar fans. This is an absolute win.
I'm 33 and have never cared about NASCAR. Now I've watched every one of your videos...hurry up and make more! I need more!
I remember seeing this race on TV, I was just ten years old at the time. I already was pretty into Nascar and was a big Jeff Gordon fanboy, but the excitement me and my family (well me anyway, I can’t speak for them) had after watching this finish was immeasurable. Two guys I had never even heard of had just beat and banged their way across the finish line and it was the best thing I had ever watched. It was magnificent, a thing of beauty, and I probably developed more as a Nascar fan that day than I would have ever if it hadn’t happened, or if I hadn’t watched it.
Thank you for this video, it was a nice analysis of a trip down memory lane.
My favorite paint job in NASCAR was the Tide paint. That sunglow orange, just the way they put that paint job together looked fantastic. It's also amazing that this race featured that amazing looking car in a stellar moment that words have a hard time capturing, though you did those words incredible justice. Amazing finish!
I was 4 y/o when I saw this finish live. I remember playing with a Jimmie Johnson diecast in the living room in front of our TV and my parents were yelling in excitement at what was happening before us. Loved this vid. Brought back good memories.
I still get the same feeling all these years later as I did when I saw this, just plain, WOW! What a race!
I was notified when this video was uploaded and enjoyed it. I stumbled across it today, and for some reason it made me cry. Beautiful video.
This was awesome. I remember watching this race live. I was always a Gordon fan, but when he couldn't win it I started pulling for Craven to run Kurt down. Those last two laps I remember jumping up and down trying to will him up into the lead and going absolutely nuts when they were locked together coming across the line. Thank you Slap for taking me back to when I was an 18 year old kid jumping up and down and hollering at my TV for Craven to pass Kurt's sorry ass.
I'm an F1 guy and my only exposure to Nascar is the Disney movie Car's and the Tom Cruise movie work the famous hammer time that I saw ages ago. I saw this thumbnail and was like yeah I see the clip then move on but man I am impressed with your story telling ability. It was like a Good Time at the movie's vibe they way you introduced the crazy ending. Then introduced, built up our leads and slowly unraveled the story + racing beautiful. Came say I'm much interested in Nascar yet Maybe I'll give it a spin in a sim racer some day but man you definitely got a subscriber in me. I'm a writer and I loved the way you made this video and then the happy ever after ending credits beautiful. You can't find multi million dollar movie's made this way but this video is pure Story Time Gold!!!! Thanks for making it mate!!!
This finish, is quintessential NASCAR. The cars are out of control, and the drivers are not afraid to lean on each other. Shame we have cars today where all you have to do is place a brick on the accelerator...
12:23 to 12:26 .. the photos with the music, I can’t explain how touching it is .. goosebumps ♥️ loved it!!
Seeing the tide ride just warms my heart ❤️
Fast Forward 21 Years and The Record for The Closest Finish in NASCAR History would get shattered at Kansas at the hands of Kyle Larson & Chris Buescher
This was absolutely amazing to watch! Well done! I remember watching this race live with friends and family, which was primarily Earnhardt & Gordon fans. We all become Ricky craven & Kurt Busch fans after that race.
This is your best video by far. It makes me cry every time
Slap has to make a sequel now. I will say, even though the Kansas finish is closer, the duel between Busch and Craven was better.
my grandfather was from central maine and was a HUGE ricky craven fan. i remember watching races with him in his workshop when i was little. brought back memories watching this. thanks man.
13:41 The fact that Kurt wasnt mad or anything-
i was watching this as a kid and it was mind blowing. Its the kind of finish you BEG for as a fan of any sport. A finish where centimeters decide, and thats awesome. Great video as always.
Imagine the Roush dominance that would've occurred if everything had stayed stable: Edwards, Biffle, Kenseth, Busch, and Martin.
I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of the old nascar days with your videos. They are great btw and then this one, boom out of nowhere If these trees could talk?? Dann! Great selection.
Came here to see the Greatest Finish Ever in Nascar:
*Left the video learning Ejukated:*
Was I watching a documentary on Netflix? Dude, this video gave me chills! So professional, dude, you've my request. I hope you make more of these kind of videos. ♥️♥️♥️
I did not expect this to be beaten but it happened.
Even after watching the video 4 times, getting to 12:21 and hearing, “maybe it was fate” still brings me to tears for some reason. Keep up the amazing work bucko, yer the #1 nascar man on TH-cam!
This is now history. A history that lasted over 21 years. History is meant to be broken.
I appreciate the light you shine on this sport, not just in this video but with your channel as a whole.
Apparently my Great Grandmother was watching that race on tv while holding a 2 year old me. When she saw that glorious finish she threw her arms up and dropped me on my ass🤣.
And suddenly you experience the law of gravity.... what goes up, must come down.... 😊
Over the last day or so I've watched a number of your videos now, I'm not sure how I ended up getting the recommendation. But, I'm very glad I did. Superb, engaging, and really interesting. Keep up the great work!
I was so glad Craven won, my neighbor up in Newburg, Maine !
Nice family !! If memory serves me right Craven would win one more in the truck series and that’s a wrap !!! He figured it was safer to be an announcer !
The greatest finish in nascar history....
Ross Chastain just said "hold my beer" lol.... great video
You are hands down the best nascar related YT channel, would to see you do a video dedicated to road courses and their good/important moments
I generally don't use this word, but this documentary was... beautiful. Brought me to tears. Excellent pacing, editing, and presentation!
Somebody give this man a show! Love your work
I love watching your videos and listening to your analysis. I remember watching this race and this has always been my favorite track but I didn't realize how much this race really meant to the track. Keep up the in depth analysis of Nascar. It's honestly about the only thing that keeps me in it nowadays.
Crazy to watch this now seeing how North Wilkesboro is coming back and it was just doom and gloom a few years ago
I've been recently getting into your work after your feature on EmpLemon's NASCAR videos, and honestly? After watching a few videos, especially this one, you made me take the step towards getting into actually watching the sport actively, instead of just watching clips of historical races for context.
Thank you for your work and what you do in inspiring new and old fans into loving the sport more and more. It honestly, genuinely means the world.
Still such a good note for Pontiac to go out on, with a miracle push on the last turn, winning by just an edge. Much of that excitement still bleeds over to this day.
The music you used in this video is a really good accompaniment to the story you are telling. I've seen this vid last year but I still watch this to this very day. Of all the NASCAR TH-camrs here, you are the best story teller. Keep it up Slapshoes!
The irony of all of this is the attendance number mentioned of 65,000. Fast forward to now and most tracks can't even achieve that. NASCAR basically killed itself by getting away from history. Historic tracks, historic sponsors, etc. They got too greedy and now are an afterthought. I went from watching every race, every season in the 90s and early 00s to nothing. I've seen part of one race, once in the past ten years. Thank you Brian France.
You forgot to add in your epilogue portion of the video that the Southern 500 returned to it's Labor Day weekend slot in 2015, 12 years after it was replaced in favor of California Speedway. To this day, Darlington is a HIGHLY anticipated race as throwback weekend comes upon us all once a year. Great video, by the way!
Solid content as always! The following day the busch race had a similar finish the next day with McMurray and Bodine
Dude, that was outright poetic. I'm not even mega into nascar and i'm always on the edge of my seat for all your videos.