Bobby Isaac is listed as finishing 13th of 50 cars, 6 laps down and running at the finish of his infamous "voices told me to park" Talladega 500 in August 1973. He even led a lap around halfway. What gives?
Was there a driver who filled in for him and finished the race? If so, who? Is there even any concrete evidence of what lap during the race he made this decision? Maybe I'm overthinking it and just haven't done enough digging to find the answers. I know obviously whoever starts the race gets credited for it in the points, and I reckon drivers getting out during races wasn't completely uncommon back then. It's just a quirk of knowledge that my NASCAR-obsessed brain doesn't yet have the answer to and it's bugging me.
Posted Jan 6, 2022, 1:13 AM UTC
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I found it. It's mentioned on the Wikipedia page for the 1973 season under race recaps that Coo Coo Marlin got in the car and finished the race.
Driver switches were a bit easier back in the day thanks to lower speeds, longer pit stops, and less safety equipment.
In the one race Benny Parsons won at Bristol in '73, he got out of the car after a bit and driver John A. Utsman drove about half the race until Benny got back in the car near the end to wheel it across the line.
Yeah it’s crazy to see pit stops that were taking what seemed like a minute or so back in the day.
There was also less barriers in way of sponsor or manufacturer ramifications for drivers filling in.