It’s time for another stroll through NASCAR history with the help of the vastness of social media and #ThrowbackThursday.
Back in the 1990s, before NASCAR entered TV deals with NBC and Fox, NASCAR races could be found on CBS, ESPN, ABC, TNN (The Nashville Network) and TBS (Turner Broadcasting System).
Here’s the theme song that accompanied the TBS broadcasts of races.
NOW PLAYING: The old #NASCAR on TBS theme.
— Chicagoland Speedway (@ChicagolndSpdwy) February 1, 2017
Tell us this doesn't pump you up. Go on, tell us...https://t.co/6vERcJtFLv
It’s been 20 years since Texas Motor Speedway held its first NASCAR weekend in April 1997. The track has shared a photo of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt hanging out on the construction site that would eventually become the 1.5-mile track in Forth Worth, Texas.
#TBT When it all began Dale was here. pic.twitter.com/b1OLI8QN7O
— Texas Motor Speedway (@TXMotorSpeedway) February 2, 2017
It has now become legend that Ricky Rudd once competed in a race with his eyelids taped open after a terrible wreck. That race was the 1984 Daytona 500. Rudd was injured in the Busch Clash earlier in the week when he went airborne and flipped multiple times down the frontstretch. Here his No. 15 Wrangler car as seen in mid-air before it begins its tumble.
In case you were wondering, Rudd finished seventh in the Daytona 500 with his eyes taped open and a week later won his third Cup race in the Miller High Life 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Four years later, Bobby and Davey Allison would finish 1-2 in the Daytona 500, with the elder Allison winning his final Cup Series race. The Motor Racing Network broadcast of the race will be available on iTunes today.
1ET MRNs #ThrowbackThursday! The 1988 #Daytona500 from @DISupdates on MRN .com/MRN app! Later today in iTunes & Google Play!#AskMRN pic.twitter.com/y13ar4CH9D
— Motor Racing Network (@MRNRadio) February 2, 2017
Here’s a post from the folks over at the NASCAR Hall of Fame looking back at the days of racing on the beaches of Daytona.
#TBT 2/17/1957 - #NASCARHOFer Cotton Owens snags his 1st Cup win at Daytona in the red & white No. 6 Pontiac. #NASCARHistory #NASCARHOF pic.twitter.com/ncwQKYdScC
— NASCAR Hall of Fame (@NASCARHall) February 2, 2017
And to finish it off, click through this Jeff Gordon tweet to see a picture of four-time Cup champion from his sprint car days, back before he had that iconic mustache from his rookie Cup season.
Now thats the early early sprint car days! The wing could use some more angle though😊 https://t.co/aJKcLJaEKR
— Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb) February 2, 2017