This Week in NASCAR History: June 1-7
by Tom Jensen June 01, 2020
Hall of Famers Cale Yarborough and Benny Parsons found Victory Lane deep in the heart of Texas
Cale Yarborough bested the field deep in the heart of Texas. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
June 1, 1980
At the ultra-fast Texas World Speedway in College Station, Hall of Famers dominated the action by taking all of the top six finishing positions. In the NASCAR 400, Cale Yarborough (2012) lapped the field to claim the $21,000 purse for himself and Hall of Fame team owner Junior Johnson (2010). Richard Petty (2010) was second ahead of Bobby Allison (2011), Darrell Waltrip (2012), Terry Labonte (2016) and Richard Childress (2017).
Jimmie Johnson’s second career victory came at Dover in 2002. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images.
June 2, 2002
Rookie Jimmie Johnson scored his second career NASCAR premier series race victory in the MBNA Platinum 400 at Dover International Speedway, where he bested Hall of Famer Bill Elliott (2015) by 0.478 seconds. With the victory, Johnson earned $152,400 for himself and the Hendrick Motorsports team owned by Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick (2017).
Cale Yarborough lapped the field in Nashville – twice. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
June 3, 1978
En route to his record-setting third consecutive premier series championship, Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough (2012) finished two laps ahead of the field in the Music City USA 420 at Nashville Speedway. Yarborough led every lap of the race in an Oldsmobile owned by Hall of Famer Junior Johnson (2010) to collect the $11,215 first-place money. Yarborough’s Olds is on display on Glory Road in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Ned Jarrett was especially tough to beat on short tracks. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images.
June 4, 1961
At Fairgrounds Speedway, a 0.500-mile dirt track in Birmingham, Alabama, Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett (2011) collected the $800 winner’s purse in the Southland 200, where he finished two laps ahead of the field. It was Jarrett’s lone victory of the season, but his 23 top-five finishes helped propel him to the first of two NASCAR premier series championships.
It was a big day for Team Penske at Kansas. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
June 5, 2011
The STP 400 at Kansas Speedway was a big race for Hall of Fame team owner Roger Penske (2019). Team Penske’s Kurt Busch dominated the race, leading 152 of 267 laps, but with just nine laps left at the 1.5-mile track, Brad Keselowski passed his teammate Busch to take his first and only lead of the day and deliver the race victory for Penske.
Bobby Allison won 10 races in 1971. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images.
June 6, 1971
At Dover International Speedway, Hall of Famer Bobby Allison (2011) won his second consecutive race by claiming victory in the Mason-Dixon 500 over fellow Hall of Famers Fred Lorenzen (2015), Richard Petty (2010) and Bobby Isaac (2016). The winner’s share of the purse for Allison and his Holman-Moody Racing teammates was $15,720. Allison went on to stretch his winning streak to five consecutive races.
Benny Parsons came up big in Texas. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images.
June 7, 1981
In the final multi-win season of his Hall of Fame career, Benny Parsons (2017) held off Dale Earnhardt (2010), Bobby Allison (2011) and Richard Petty (2010) to prevail by 0.51 seconds in the final NASCAR premier series race at Texas World Speedway—the Budweiser NASCAR 400. Parsons drove a Bud Moore (2011) owned Ford to the win. First place paid $22,750.
Plan your visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and purchase tickets by visiting nascarhall.com/tickets.
