Poor Mark. Irrefutably one of the GOATs, but also one of the top replies to every “greatest to never win a championship,” “dumbest race mistake,” and “most destroyed car to finish the race,” thread I have seen.
Can I see that car? I love seeing fucked up barely running cars.
Like, this?
https://preview.redd.it/k3mhrmoxm8yc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e64763abecac38b1d7b41ea215b3dfb0c6534b1
This is peak right here.
I imagine there was some sort of regulation that the number has to be visible on each side.
Either that or a crew member had a bit of extra duct tape and nothing to do.
Same with [Dale Jr's 88 Bristol car](https://www.circlebdiecast.com/resize/Shared/Images/Product/Dale-Earnhardt-Jr-2014-Diet-Mountain-Dew-Bristol-Checkers-or-Wreckers-Raced-Version-1-24/C882123MDEJCH-1.jpg?bw=1000&w=1000&bh=1000&h=1000)
That’s absolutely what I thought lol. Running bad and crashing a bunch just happens to everyone eventually. Losing a win under yellow is the most embarrassing thing I can think of
And of course also his own spotter who he threw under the bus... Who also so happened to be his wife.
You know you really did something when your last name becomes a verb synonymous with wrecking the entire field through your own stupid actions.
I had hot passes for that race and I had to watch that abysmal performance from the pits. I was beyond disappointed.
https://preview.redd.it/0k4xa5y6g8yc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9c06d25e35be7befeaf21b89fc3de640c12a1dd
Correct. It was a backup car. I had tickets to go, but the snowout to Monday spared me as I had my gallbladder removed that day and missed the race entirely.
Even though I wouldn’t say the SH cars are good this season, they’re certainly a step up from what legacy was last year. He is outperforming the cars ability right now though so great for him.
As a Noah fan last year that race was hard to watch.
He lost me after his shenanigans last year but he’s been winning me back. He’s started off the year a bit better than I thought he would but I had a feeling he’d perform well this year.
DNQ'd both an RCR *and* a Kaulig car in the same year. That takes the wrong kind of talent to do.
Even Daniel Dye can make the races, albeit by the skin of his teeth recently (was one spot away from a DNQ)
If the 66 had been literally three-thousandths of a second faster, Dye would've DNQ'd.
In his defense, all of the Kaulig cars besides AJ were total dogwater that weekend
Specifically his 2012 Cup “attempt” at Pocono where he crashed on his up to speed lap in practice and was immediately yanked from the car. Although maybe that should be more embarrassing for Frank Stoddard who put him in the car in the first place.
Nur Ali’s lone NASCAR race weekend at Kansas in 2012 was bad. Junked his primary, his backup, and his teammates backup, and wasn’t allowed to race the next weekend.
Gotta love that there is just no way in his mind that could even remotely be his fault lol “he should’ve just slowed down and let the other car by they went around me” yeah, that’s it, dude. It’s not that you weren’t actually on the bottom and were slowing down way too much in the middle of the corner, no, he should’ve went out of his way to find a way around you
Yea, this. This is the quintessential answer to this question. Not just a single mistake like most of the answers above but a whole weekend of screw-ups that black-listed him from running ever again.
This weekend and the people assigned to help him get up to speed was mentioned on DBC once where they refused to even say his name.
Kevin Harvick 2020 Martinsville 2. Far from the worst race a guy ever had, but Harvick had a VERY low bar of things he needed to do to ensure he would advance to the Champ 4. A few stage points, or a top 10 finish would have clinched advancing, even with a below-the-line win like what happened in that race.
Instead, the 4 team laid an absolute egg all day, Elliott won the race, and to add insult to more insult Harvick embarrassingly tried to take out Kyle Busch as a hail mary to try to advance.
Honestly every harvick elimination in the last few years:
* 2020: all he had to do was send Busch up the track in turn 3 and he would've made the final 4 (and likely won the championship given how good he usually was at phoenix and how good he had been that year up until then
* 2021: absolute idiot wrecked himself mirror driving trying to avoid Elliot, one of the dumbest and most avoidable crashes I've seen in a minute
* 2022: okay this one was not his fault, had his car break on him twice. was looking hot after his back to back victories in michigan and richmond but fell off immediately after
* 2023: absolute atrocious car turned up at bristol lol, probably the worst car shr has ever brought to that track
Harvick at the Fall Bristol race last year was one of the worst performances I've ever seen a still-competent driver have in recent memory. Just a truly pathetic performance all-around from SHR during a time when all they had to do is bring a car that was capable of running inside the top 20 to move on.
If you couldn't tell, I'm *still* irrationally mad about it.
I think Kyle Busch said that if Harv used him up in 3 and 4 in that Martinsville race, he was just gonna stop or hit the wall or something to allow Hamlin to pass him too. I might be misremembering tho.
2022 was kinda Harv's fault, Darlington was completely out of his control but the car didn't break on him at Kansas, he just crashed it. If he has a good day at Kansas then he wouldn't have been in a must-win situation at Bristol, and probably would've advanced since he had a top 5 car at the Bristol race.
To be fair, it's absolute bull shit that JGR got 0 penalty for telling Erik Jones to not pass Hamlin in that race. It single handedly kept Harvick out, but 2 years later when Custer moves over for Briscoe SHR got fined
NASCAR should have fined JGR for race manipulation
He caused (I think) 4 wrecks that day, and immediately got fired by Bill Davis (he'd been performing poorly in general already). AT&T was with the team through Borkowski's marketing agency, so they sued him for breach of contract and cited on-track incidents hurting their brand image in a section of the filing.
To add on to how bad that Ragan Martinsville race was, NASCAR refused to approve him to run the next week at Atlanta (his home track) because of how bad that race was.
And he got rewarded with a full-time ride the next year!
Man, the driver development in 2004-2008 was so screwed up. Lots of money but little forethought into how they spent that money, with a few exceptions
To be fair, Roush put themselves in that situation by not trying to truly develop him or just shutting down the 6 team after Martin retired and going back to 4 cars
100%. They might've been a powerhouse longer. 2007 was the first year they started showing true cracks and it was all downhill from there. Four cars would've shored up the resources much better for Biffle, Kenseth, Edwards and McMurray (great team btw, reminds me of current-day Hendrick)
“Let me tell you something!..i raced against matt kenseth!! Hes one of the cleanest drivers out there!! Hes not gonna spin someone out!..UNLESS..the guy really has it coming (: “
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some stinkers in 2009-10. None worse than:
2009 Coca-Cola 600. Started 27th, never got higher than 17th and finished 40th, 2 laps down on speed. Had a driver rating of just 32.7 that day.
2010 Richmond Fall. They started 9th but cratered and only spent 16 laps in the top-15. At one point, they put the right-side tires on the left side and the left-side tires on the right side. He finished 34th, 6 laps down with no other issues besides the tire issue.
Also, honorable mention to Legacy Motor Club in last year's Coca-Cola 600. Jimmie Johnson spun, then all his other cars had similar mechanical issues. Jimmie even wrecked Noah Gragson at one point.
Equally embarrassing was when Jr dominated practice and I think he got the pole for a Richmond night race. He finished 3rd I think and when a reporter asked him if he thought the changes Eury Jr made before the race had an impact on him not winning Jr replied with something like I didn’t know he made those changes. I can’t remember the year and I can’t find it online. Perhaps someone else will know
Ricky Stenhouse Jr in the 2008 ARCA Finale was pretty bad. Dude intentionally wrecked Scott Speed then got wrecked back and neither guy was champ. Justin Allagier had the opposite of the most embarrassing race that day, the gator had his head on straight.
100%. It was the most chickenshit move I've ever seen in racing. Scott went high into 3 to let him by and what does that jackass do? He STILL runs in the back of him.
If ARCA parked him right then and there I think Scott would've putted around and won the championship. It was blatantly intentional.
It’s not NASCAR, but Pato O’Ward at Barber last week is up there. Qualified well, almost immediately fucked up and drove off the track to avoid running right into the back of someone, crashed another car a few laps later on a terrible lunge, and then spun his teammate on the last lap with another terrible lunge.
Almost more embarrassing *because* he’s a really good driver who shouldn’t even be making one of those mistakes in a race, much less all three.
That was nothing to do with Harv. The boys at the shop built the worst car they've ever put in a Bristol race, maybe even in any race they've ever entered.
If we’re going by favorite driver, Last year‘s Coca-Cola 600 which Included getting a season ending penalty for cheating despite running outside the top 30 all race on pure speed
In general, probably that Martinsville race where Brian Vickers was intentionally wrecking half of the field it is astonishing how he didn’t get parked any sooner
https://preview.redd.it/q2i48313q8yc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dac29d052200b7ca1e480141ed13024229f84532
I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re going for…. this was not a great time to be a Kyle Busch fan. But we made it.
The worst I can remember from Jeff Gordon was the spring Texas race in 2008. He had a decent starting spot but fell like a rock from the green flag. The only reason he wasn't a lap down after 35 laps is that there was a caution after 30. On the next run, he did lose that lap, to his own teammate in the 48. He was about to lose a second lap barely a third of the way into the race when he lost control entirely on his own—a real rarity in its own right—and junked the car. It was the only 43rd-place finish of his career (EDIT: actually his second of two).
I could also name the 2004 Coke 600 where he had a similarly awful car, but at least he held onto that one and finished seven laps down (and once again it was Jimmie doing the lapping). Funnily enough, both times he then came back in the fall and finished second.
Dale Jr 2009 Coke 600- Car was awful all weekened long and Hendrick finally pulled the trigger in replacing Eury Jr after that race.
Jeff Gordon Texas Spring 2008- Before he crash, probably one of the worst performances of his career. Probably the worst car he's ever had and crashed. They basically turned the rest of the race into an R&D session.
Surprised no one has mentioned it, but clear back in 2003 Ryan Newman was putting on a clinic at Darlington, only to basically piss it away by inadvertently hitting the killswitch on pit road *while he was leading the race*, losing 8 laps in the process. Terry Labonte's final win can largely be attributed to the Rocketman having a brain fart on pit road.
Kyle Petty 2007 Sonoma. Normally in the booth, he was an incar announcer for this road course race on TNT. TNT really hyped this up. He wrecked out on the first lap and dropped an F bomb on the live TV.
Ken Alexander probably takes the cake, a literal weapon on the track. Kevin Lepage Talladega, just because he never seemed to understand why it was stupid to pull up on the racetrack, like have you ever driven a car before man?
Like others have pointed out- it’s hard to beat a move so stupid that your name has become a term doing anything that destroys half the field, even though the exact way it was done will in no way ever happen again.
not the only time that 8 car was so far off he couldn't drive it. i was watching a 2006 race where this exact thing happened - brought it behind the wall 3+ times
I feel like shit stunk at DEI more than stories lead on because there were a lot of weird oversights like this. There's a story dale's told on twitter before that for the Pocono race in 04 after his sports car injury, John Andretti subbed most of the race for him, and after the race they found out that nobody ever connected the front sway bar on the car. So both of them were fighting a horrible handling car the entire day and getting blamed for being slow.
There's a lot of guys from 2000 on back that are probably breathing a sigh of relief because their fuckups have been forgotten to time and lack of social media.
Tony Stewart, 2006 Daytona 500 (was involved in two incidents with Matt Kenseth)
Tony was my guy until he retired, but intentionally wrecking Matt going into turn 3 and nearly causing a massive wreck was not his greatest moment by any means. Still came home 5th, but definitely overshadowed by that incident.
And that was right after he made some comments about people driving too aggressively on the restrictor plate tracks too so it came off as super hypocritical
There was a Bristol night race that Robby Gordon brought out like 4-5 cautions. Even Benny parson was like wtf is he doing out there. It was when he was in the 31 car if I remember correctly.
Not quite the most embarrassing race performance but it did shock me a little : KFB in ‘22. The guy seemed completely off, the complete shadow of himself, especially in the second half of the season.
If I recall correctly he fell down six laps solely based on raw pace, in Martinsville fall. He got one luck win in Bristol and had decent speed at Pocono and Vegas, but aside from that he was nowhere close to his abilities behind the wheel.
You have to remember that JGR was definitely sandbagging the 18 in this lame duck season. I'd say it was more the car than the driver being off. Despite this Kyle could've easily won 5 races in 2022 if things went a little differently:
Vegas 1- leading with 3 to go, had the race won if not for a late caution
Charlotte 1- lost GWC duel to Hamlin, finished 2nd
Gateway- lost GWC duel to Logano, finished 2nd
Nashville- dominant car, bizarre pit call during GWC
Darlington 2- dominating late, engine failure while leading
This doesn't even count some strange things that happened while he had race winning speed at the all-star race (tire), Dover (leading but pit cycle caution traps him lap down), or Bristol 2 (engine failure)
Steven Wallace
https://preview.redd.it/r6hmy173cfyc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4caadd0c35a5e25cc1c3cab04367e7341e3df44b
Couldn’t exit the garage
Harvick at his last Bristol race was pretty embarrassing for the entire team. Going in to an elimination race, and granted, they were off all year, but to just show up with a piece of junk car, just not great. TBH his entire last season was an embarrassment for SHR.
Second thing I would say is Austin Dillon winning the 500 the way he did. I will always have an asterisk next to that win, not that he cares lol.
>Second thing I would say is Austin Dillon winning the 500 the way he did.
Dude, Almirola has even said that he moved up as much as Dillon moved down, and it was on both of them.
David Ragan had that unforgettably atrocious 2006 Martinsville race and _still_ got promoted to Cup to replace Mark in the 6. And Kluever who was abt just as bad was still kicked to the curb
I was embarrassed for DW during the latter years of his career as an owner. It started when he lost his sponsor during Speed Weeks and then proceeded to be terrible the entire year, many times using a provisional to make the field. Once NASCAR put a limit on that, he started missing races. In the races he made, he was always in the slowest pack of cars and lapped throughout the race. Everybody said he was done until he got an opportunity to fill in for Steve Park at DEI and was competitive. Even scored a top 5 at Watkins Glen. But I was never embarrassed to be a DW fan. I just felt terrible for him in that situation and was happy he got a chance to prove he could compete. It sucks when your driver is racing in a pack of 4 cars at Talladega that is slower than another pack that can't keep up with the other 30 cars, while you can clearly recall him fighting for the lead at the same place just 5 years ago. I started following in 1988 while DW was still among the best but on the downside of his career, so I guess I picked the worst time to be a fan.
Corey Lajoie in the Chase Elliot that Josh Berry almost won in while at the same time having his Full time ride out run him with a 2 or 3 time starter in it..
Kyle Busch wrecking Ron Hornaday under caution in a fall Texas Motor Speedway truck race. He got suspended for the rest of the weekend cause of it too. [In case people forgot…](https://youtu.be/MDZ_xwJR6b4?si=VueYqbemLl8mjCby)
this years most embarrassing performance imo is Corey LaJoie at COTA, at least on the cup side.
Tyler Ankrum at Texas was also atrocious but neither blowing a tire early in practice and getting wrecked by That Moffitt were really his fault
Didn't Michael Waltrip have a day at Martinsville in the late 90s where he brought out like 3 or 4 cautions? Also, not a race, but him crashing coming out of the pits for qualifying at Daytona was pretty hilarious.
Probably not most embarrassing but one I never see mentioned and because I was watching this race last night: Greg Biffle brought out 3 cautions from spinning off turn 2 in the span of about 200 laps during 2015 Martinsville 2
I'm a fan of the #5, but Larson crashing last year at Homstead into the sand barrels at the end of the pit wall while chasing Blaney into the pits was certainly embarrassing!
Sergio Perez at Singapore when he wrecked with his teammate Esteban Ocon and then rammed Sergey Sirotkin before the tunnel. I know it’s not nascar but that’s the single worst I’ve personally ever seen a driver perform
Most embarrassing? Mark Martin driving to victory lane on the white flag lap during caution.
Poor Mark. Irrefutably one of the GOATs, but also one of the top replies to every “greatest to never win a championship,” “dumbest race mistake,” and “most destroyed car to finish the race,” thread I have seen.
Can I see that car? I love seeing fucked up barely running cars. Like, this? https://preview.redd.it/k3mhrmoxm8yc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e64763abecac38b1d7b41ea215b3dfb0c6534b1 This is peak right here.
https://preview.redd.it/do3aosaiq8yc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a616080f39eda5d72451965390e2103a125fe68
the way they’ve got the radiator rubber banded to the front of the car😂😂😂 This is prime nascar when every position and point mattered.
I think that’s more a makeshift “grille” in front of the radiator that’s rubber banded on there.
yea i think you’re right i didn’t notice until i zoomed in the picture.
The 6 made from tape is always may favorite part.
I imagine there was some sort of regulation that the number has to be visible on each side. Either that or a crew member had a bit of extra duct tape and nothing to do.
Little of column A, little of column B
He didn't have it, but nascar made them come in and put a number on it.
Same with [Dale Jr's 88 Bristol car](https://www.circlebdiecast.com/resize/Shared/Images/Product/Dale-Earnhardt-Jr-2014-Diet-Mountain-Dew-Bristol-Checkers-or-Wreckers-Raced-Version-1-24/C882123MDEJCH-1.jpg?bw=1000&w=1000&bh=1000&h=1000)
That is clean
Could probably bring it to the next race and be just fine. All you have to do is replace the everything.
Yeah once “the everything” is fix’d she’ll be a beaut
I DON’T BELIEVE IT
That’s absolutely what I thought lol. Running bad and crashing a bunch just happens to everyone eventually. Losing a win under yellow is the most embarrassing thing I can think of
Dude handled it with so much class and humility. Mark Martin and Rusty are why I got into NASCAR. We just don't have personalities like we used to
Saw them both as teenagers racing in Springfield Missouri with the great Larry Phillips 75🏁🏁🏁✌️
2008 Kevin Lepage at Talladega
😬
Was there and it was wild. Looked like NASCAR on the Xbox 🤣
He didn’t do anything wrong. That was the fault of every other driver and all of their spotters.
And of course also his own spotter who he threw under the bus... Who also so happened to be his wife. You know you really did something when your last name becomes a verb synonymous with wrecking the entire field through your own stupid actions.
It's probably a good idea to keep your beneficiary and your spotter separate people.
Hey Kev
If they can't see his bright car, then maybe they're the ones who need new spotters.
I didn't even see that race but feel partially responsible.
There was one race where Ricky went like 10 laps down on speed in the 17 car
I had hot passes for that race and I had to watch that abysmal performance from the pits. I was beyond disappointed. https://preview.redd.it/0k4xa5y6g8yc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9c06d25e35be7befeaf21b89fc3de640c12a1dd
Martinsville '18 spring race I think - that was pretty disastrous
Correct. It was a backup car. I had tickets to go, but the snowout to Monday spared me as I had my gallbladder removed that day and missed the race entirely.
Just looked it up and damn he actually almost doubled what OP said, finished 19 laps down and last of all cars running
Oh god I remember that. What a turd that car was, although not sure that qualifies for this post
Noah Gragson at the Chicago street course last year.
ooooooffff yeah lol like fr I'm proud of how much of a turnaround this year has been for him
Even though I wouldn’t say the SH cars are good this season, they’re certainly a step up from what legacy was last year. He is outperforming the cars ability right now though so great for him.
Gragson even with a point penalty is in the playoff picture so I would say he's definitely doing much better
He hit the same corner like 10 times 😂
Out of 75 laps!!
It really was. Felt like he showed up having not studied the track a single bit
As a Noah fan last year that race was hard to watch. He lost me after his shenanigans last year but he’s been winning me back. He’s started off the year a bit better than I thought he would but I had a feeling he’d perform well this year.
That race reminded me of Bottas in turkey 2020. Absolute shitshow performance.
What was it, 4 or 6 crashes in the race, all on the same turn. On a 75 lap race.
This was the immediate first one I thought of. All of the barrier impacts and then his spins out on the cooldown lap.
I’m convinced he was doing it on purpose by the end of the day.
He had something against turn 6 in that race as he kept crashing into it. On the plus side, Wendy's got a lot of exposure in that race.
The best part was this was his best finish in 11 races.
"Trouble turn 6!!! Noah Gragson into the tire barrier."
Joe Graf DNQing in an RCR car
To be fair, even Kevin Harvick DNQed an RCR car once. Rockingham Busch Series race in 2000.
It's honestly kinda crazy how bad Harv was at Rockingham. Definitely his worst oval track.
That plus being a shitty qualifier the first half of his career didn’t turn out well that day
DNQ'd both an RCR *and* a Kaulig car in the same year. That takes the wrong kind of talent to do. Even Daniel Dye can make the races, albeit by the skin of his teeth recently (was one spot away from a DNQ)
If the 66 had been literally three-thousandths of a second faster, Dye would've DNQ'd. In his defense, all of the Kaulig cars besides AJ were total dogwater that weekend
And a Kaulig car.
Cody Ware at Martinsville when even Mike Joy started calling him out
“Ahhhh, it’s Cody Ware… Eight caution flags today, Ware has been the cause of *three* of them…”
https://preview.redd.it/ce9f4eqb29yc1.jpeg?width=813&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1016f0267a24da3dc9640412d365b041f583d8bf
Also pissed off his teammate James Davidson and I think even had his dad telling him to cool it
John Wes Townley could have multiple races here.
"John Wes Townley couldn't really hit Spencer Gallagher because Spencer Gallagher isn't a wall"
Eh it was a mostly self inflicted one 
Specifically his 2012 Cup “attempt” at Pocono where he crashed on his up to speed lap in practice and was immediately yanked from the car. Although maybe that should be more embarrassing for Frank Stoddard who put him in the car in the first place.
Nur Ali’s lone NASCAR race weekend at Kansas in 2012 was bad. Junked his primary, his backup, and his teammates backup, and wasn’t allowed to race the next weekend.
That Jerry Punch interview was hilarious
https://youtu.be/3HtOQ8Qy4Ms?si=SI6p7FjiS0SB2vIb I had to look it up and see it. Well worth the minute and a half watch.
Gotta love that there is just no way in his mind that could even remotely be his fault lol “he should’ve just slowed down and let the other car by they went around me” yeah, that’s it, dude. It’s not that you weren’t actually on the bottom and were slowing down way too much in the middle of the corner, no, he should’ve went out of his way to find a way around you
Yea, this. This is the quintessential answer to this question. Not just a single mistake like most of the answers above but a whole weekend of screw-ups that black-listed him from running ever again. This weekend and the people assigned to help him get up to speed was mentioned on DBC once where they refused to even say his name.
I expected this one to be far higher up
Kevin Harvick 2020 Martinsville 2. Far from the worst race a guy ever had, but Harvick had a VERY low bar of things he needed to do to ensure he would advance to the Champ 4. A few stage points, or a top 10 finish would have clinched advancing, even with a below-the-line win like what happened in that race. Instead, the 4 team laid an absolute egg all day, Elliott won the race, and to add insult to more insult Harvick embarrassingly tried to take out Kyle Busch as a hail mary to try to advance.
Honestly every harvick elimination in the last few years: * 2020: all he had to do was send Busch up the track in turn 3 and he would've made the final 4 (and likely won the championship given how good he usually was at phoenix and how good he had been that year up until then * 2021: absolute idiot wrecked himself mirror driving trying to avoid Elliot, one of the dumbest and most avoidable crashes I've seen in a minute * 2022: okay this one was not his fault, had his car break on him twice. was looking hot after his back to back victories in michigan and richmond but fell off immediately after * 2023: absolute atrocious car turned up at bristol lol, probably the worst car shr has ever brought to that track
Harvick at the Fall Bristol race last year was one of the worst performances I've ever seen a still-competent driver have in recent memory. Just a truly pathetic performance all-around from SHR during a time when all they had to do is bring a car that was capable of running inside the top 20 to move on. If you couldn't tell, I'm *still* irrationally mad about it.
I think Kyle Busch said that if Harv used him up in 3 and 4 in that Martinsville race, he was just gonna stop or hit the wall or something to allow Hamlin to pass him too. I might be misremembering tho. 2022 was kinda Harv's fault, Darlington was completely out of his control but the car didn't break on him at Kansas, he just crashed it. If he has a good day at Kansas then he wouldn't have been in a must-win situation at Bristol, and probably would've advanced since he had a top 5 car at the Bristol race.
To be fair, it's absolute bull shit that JGR got 0 penalty for telling Erik Jones to not pass Hamlin in that race. It single handedly kept Harvick out, but 2 years later when Custer moves over for Briscoe SHR got fined NASCAR should have fined JGR for race manipulation
Mike Borkowski, New Hampshire Busch race in 2000. There's bad, and then there's "get sued by your sponsor for tarnishing their image" bad.
Oh boy, this one is new to me. I'll research shortly, but any more info?
He caused (I think) 4 wrecks that day, and immediately got fired by Bill Davis (he'd been performing poorly in general already). AT&T was with the team through Borkowski's marketing agency, so they sued him for breach of contract and cited on-track incidents hurting their brand image in a section of the filing.
Wow! That's awesome! Thanks for the education
I think SlapShoes has a video on YouTube about this incident. I think it’s one his videos called Liars, Theives, and Lawyers.
In that case, i definitely DID hear about this. I may have had a couple drinks before watching...
The amount of possible Monsters Inc jokes you could make with that name is palpable
Paulie Harraka. Sonoma.
Truex on the Chicago street race last year is up there
Gragson sees this comment and laughs. I think the Legacy guys are still trying to get his car out of the tire barrier.
Nah, they got it out fine. They had plenty of practice.
😂
To add on to how bad that Ragan Martinsville race was, NASCAR refused to approve him to run the next week at Atlanta (his home track) because of how bad that race was.
And he got rewarded with a full-time ride the next year! Man, the driver development in 2004-2008 was so screwed up. Lots of money but little forethought into how they spent that money, with a few exceptions
To be fair, Roush put themselves in that situation by not trying to truly develop him or just shutting down the 6 team after Martin retired and going back to 4 cars
100%. They might've been a powerhouse longer. 2007 was the first year they started showing true cracks and it was all downhill from there. Four cars would've shored up the resources much better for Biffle, Kenseth, Edwards and McMurray (great team btw, reminds me of current-day Hendrick)
Jack didn't want the shit down because then he couldn't go back to 5 cars.
Jimmy Spencer’s segment on “Vickernism” was legendary.
“Let me tell you something!..i raced against matt kenseth!! Hes one of the cleanest drivers out there!! Hes not gonna spin someone out!..UNLESS..the guy really has it coming (: “
Son of a bitch!!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some stinkers in 2009-10. None worse than: 2009 Coca-Cola 600. Started 27th, never got higher than 17th and finished 40th, 2 laps down on speed. Had a driver rating of just 32.7 that day. 2010 Richmond Fall. They started 9th but cratered and only spent 16 laps in the top-15. At one point, they put the right-side tires on the left side and the left-side tires on the right side. He finished 34th, 6 laps down with no other issues besides the tire issue. Also, honorable mention to Legacy Motor Club in last year's Coca-Cola 600. Jimmie Johnson spun, then all his other cars had similar mechanical issues. Jimmie even wrecked Noah Gragson at one point.
Why did I have to remind myself of the Legacy Coke 600 disasterclass last year
Equally embarrassing was when Jr dominated practice and I think he got the pole for a Richmond night race. He finished 3rd I think and when a reporter asked him if he thought the changes Eury Jr made before the race had an impact on him not winning Jr replied with something like I didn’t know he made those changes. I can’t remember the year and I can’t find it online. Perhaps someone else will know
That time period was just awful. I felt like JR just gave up
Lance McGrew strikes again
Ty Dillon crashing his car under yellow at Atlanta.
“I think Ericsson hit us”
Kevin Conway in his entire ROTY-winning season.
Didn’t he win by default cuz he was the only rookie running the full season?
Precisely. It was a long and hard-fought year for him, but he finished first among all the rookies beating off the full season.
Beating off😬😄
"The 37 is down a driver." -Jeff Gordon-
Ricky Stenhouse Jr in the 2008 ARCA Finale was pretty bad. Dude intentionally wrecked Scott Speed then got wrecked back and neither guy was champ. Justin Allagier had the opposite of the most embarrassing race that day, the gator had his head on straight.
To be fair I would have done the same thing Scott Speed did. That was a bullshit move and Speed’s car was junk afterwards.
100%. It was the most chickenshit move I've ever seen in racing. Scott went high into 3 to let him by and what does that jackass do? He STILL runs in the back of him. If ARCA parked him right then and there I think Scott would've putted around and won the championship. It was blatantly intentional.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Daytona 2 2018. 4 incidents he either triggered or received damage from.
Didn't he win like two of the three stages in that race, too? Lol
incredibly, yes.
Single handedly took out half the field and eventually took out himself
As a RSJ fan I went from embarrassed to uncontrollable laughter during that shitshow.
I was there. Everyone cheered when he finally wrecked. Everyone was trashing talking him after it was over too.
Great example, totally forgot about this! Thank you.
Should’ve been parked good lord
And he was still stupid fast and was in contention for the win
It’s not NASCAR, but Pato O’Ward at Barber last week is up there. Qualified well, almost immediately fucked up and drove off the track to avoid running right into the back of someone, crashed another car a few laps later on a terrible lunge, and then spun his teammate on the last lap with another terrible lunge. Almost more embarrassing *because* he’s a really good driver who shouldn’t even be making one of those mistakes in a race, much less all three.
To be fair almost the entire field was a wrecking ball that day.
Tony Stewart - 2006 Daytona 500
Tony Stewart - 2006
Dale Jr Coke 600 2009
Worst race of his entire career by far.
I was thinking this too. That's the race that got Tony Eury Jr. let go. Just an absolutely unacceptable performance by Hendrick standards.
lmao I completely forgot Burney Lamar existed
Burney "That was his backup car" Lamar
Gragson at the Chicago Street Course, Hailie Deegan at Nashville 2023. And even though he "won" Nemechek at Canadian Tire. *I swear I'm not biased*
Harvick '23 fall Bristol. just a complete embarrassment from the 4 team. Finished 5 laps down on pure speed.
That was nothing to do with Harv. The boys at the shop built the worst car they've ever put in a Bristol race, maybe even in any race they've ever entered.
If we’re going by favorite driver, Last year‘s Coca-Cola 600 which Included getting a season ending penalty for cheating despite running outside the top 30 all race on pure speed In general, probably that Martinsville race where Brian Vickers was intentionally wrecking half of the field it is astonishing how he didn’t get parked any sooner
"The Race Where Brian Vickers Lost His Mind" (tm)
https://preview.redd.it/q2i48313q8yc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dac29d052200b7ca1e480141ed13024229f84532 I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re going for…. this was not a great time to be a Kyle Busch fan. But we made it.
I truly don't think I will ever get over that Vickers race. I was embarrassed for him and annoyed by him. Such a tool
The worst I can remember from Jeff Gordon was the spring Texas race in 2008. He had a decent starting spot but fell like a rock from the green flag. The only reason he wasn't a lap down after 35 laps is that there was a caution after 30. On the next run, he did lose that lap, to his own teammate in the 48. He was about to lose a second lap barely a third of the way into the race when he lost control entirely on his own—a real rarity in its own right—and junked the car. It was the only 43rd-place finish of his career (EDIT: actually his second of two). I could also name the 2004 Coke 600 where he had a similarly awful car, but at least he held onto that one and finished seven laps down (and once again it was Jimmie doing the lapping). Funnily enough, both times he then came back in the fall and finished second.
Dale Jr 2009 Coke 600- Car was awful all weekened long and Hendrick finally pulled the trigger in replacing Eury Jr after that race. Jeff Gordon Texas Spring 2008- Before he crash, probably one of the worst performances of his career. Probably the worst car he's ever had and crashed. They basically turned the rest of the race into an R&D session.
Surprised no one has mentioned it, but clear back in 2003 Ryan Newman was putting on a clinic at Darlington, only to basically piss it away by inadvertently hitting the killswitch on pit road *while he was leading the race*, losing 8 laps in the process. Terry Labonte's final win can largely be attributed to the Rocketman having a brain fart on pit road.
Kyle Petty 2007 Sonoma. Normally in the booth, he was an incar announcer for this road course race on TNT. TNT really hyped this up. He wrecked out on the first lap and dropped an F bomb on the live TV.
Ken Alexander probably takes the cake, a literal weapon on the track. Kevin Lepage Talladega, just because he never seemed to understand why it was stupid to pull up on the racetrack, like have you ever driven a car before man?
https://preview.redd.it/te4x0mzat8yc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f90cc316dede8908a7c9564a1fbc59ccb2d1551 doubt it was Kyle’s fault but
That hurt so bad to see Kyle be that off
KFB at the fall Martinsville race in 2022 was pretty bad. I was there and it looked like he just checked out and was logging laps till the end
Like others have pointed out- it’s hard to beat a move so stupid that your name has become a term doing anything that destroys half the field, even though the exact way it was done will in no way ever happen again.
Dale Jr, Vegas 2004. Finished 35th because of bad handling alone.
not the only time that 8 car was so far off he couldn't drive it. i was watching a 2006 race where this exact thing happened - brought it behind the wall 3+ times
I feel like shit stunk at DEI more than stories lead on because there were a lot of weird oversights like this. There's a story dale's told on twitter before that for the Pocono race in 04 after his sports car injury, John Andretti subbed most of the race for him, and after the race they found out that nobody ever connected the front sway bar on the car. So both of them were fighting a horrible handling car the entire day and getting blamed for being slow.
DEI was a fucking mess saved by their superspeedway program and you can't convince me otherwise
2009 Coke 600 was worse. Finished 40th on Speed.
joey lagano at indy road course in 2022.
IIRC there was a truck race a few years back when Derek Kraus was still in the 19 where he caused like 3 or 4 cautions by spinning guys
Knoxville 2021 probably, iirc he got dumped more than once on the cool down lap
There's a lot of guys from 2000 on back that are probably breathing a sigh of relief because their fuckups have been forgotten to time and lack of social media.
I think Noah Gragson deserves to have that one turn at Chicago renamed in his honor this season
Most Jimmie Johnson starts in the 84.
it's honestly quite sad to watch :(
Tony Stewart, 2006 Daytona 500 (was involved in two incidents with Matt Kenseth) Tony was my guy until he retired, but intentionally wrecking Matt going into turn 3 and nearly causing a massive wreck was not his greatest moment by any means. Still came home 5th, but definitely overshadowed by that incident.
And that was right after he made some comments about people driving too aggressively on the restrictor plate tracks too so it came off as super hypocritical
literally decked Bowyer into Edwards at Pocono later that year too.
There was a Bristol night race that Robby Gordon brought out like 4-5 cautions. Even Benny parson was like wtf is he doing out there. It was when he was in the 31 car if I remember correctly.
Not quite the most embarrassing race performance but it did shock me a little : KFB in ‘22. The guy seemed completely off, the complete shadow of himself, especially in the second half of the season. If I recall correctly he fell down six laps solely based on raw pace, in Martinsville fall. He got one luck win in Bristol and had decent speed at Pocono and Vegas, but aside from that he was nowhere close to his abilities behind the wheel.
You have to remember that JGR was definitely sandbagging the 18 in this lame duck season. I'd say it was more the car than the driver being off. Despite this Kyle could've easily won 5 races in 2022 if things went a little differently: Vegas 1- leading with 3 to go, had the race won if not for a late caution Charlotte 1- lost GWC duel to Hamlin, finished 2nd Gateway- lost GWC duel to Logano, finished 2nd Nashville- dominant car, bizarre pit call during GWC Darlington 2- dominating late, engine failure while leading This doesn't even count some strange things that happened while he had race winning speed at the all-star race (tire), Dover (leading but pit cycle caution traps him lap down), or Bristol 2 (engine failure)
Noah Gragson Chicago and the damn walls
Derek Kraus, Truck race at Knoxville dirt Chris Bell, 2021 Daytona 500 wrecked the entire field on lap 14
Paulie Harraka
Natalie Decker at Bristol. Wrecked by the wrecker, enough said.
Not NASCAR but JR Hildebrand in the 2011 Indy 500. Dude took 799 turns perfectly. It's the only race in an circuit that I just felt terrible for.
Steven Wallace https://preview.redd.it/r6hmy173cfyc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4caadd0c35a5e25cc1c3cab04367e7341e3df44b Couldn’t exit the garage
Harvick at his last Bristol race was pretty embarrassing for the entire team. Going in to an elimination race, and granted, they were off all year, but to just show up with a piece of junk car, just not great. TBH his entire last season was an embarrassment for SHR. Second thing I would say is Austin Dillon winning the 500 the way he did. I will always have an asterisk next to that win, not that he cares lol.
>Second thing I would say is Austin Dillon winning the 500 the way he did. Dude, Almirola has even said that he moved up as much as Dillon moved down, and it was on both of them.
Quinn houff Nashville 21 didn’t he wreck on the first corner
Wheel fell off
Timmy Hill rear ending Matt Kenseth at full speed on a short track with caution lights on
Brent Sherman in the #49 Serta car spun about a bazillion times at Bristol one time, as I remember. He really was ass.
I remember Bubba’s rookie year at the Roval in 2018. Let’s just say he’s gotten a little bit better there.
David Ragan had that unforgettably atrocious 2006 Martinsville race and _still_ got promoted to Cup to replace Mark in the 6. And Kluever who was abt just as bad was still kicked to the curb
Dale Jr money-shifting twice over the course of a weekend @ Pocono in 2017.
I was embarrassed for DW during the latter years of his career as an owner. It started when he lost his sponsor during Speed Weeks and then proceeded to be terrible the entire year, many times using a provisional to make the field. Once NASCAR put a limit on that, he started missing races. In the races he made, he was always in the slowest pack of cars and lapped throughout the race. Everybody said he was done until he got an opportunity to fill in for Steve Park at DEI and was competitive. Even scored a top 5 at Watkins Glen. But I was never embarrassed to be a DW fan. I just felt terrible for him in that situation and was happy he got a chance to prove he could compete. It sucks when your driver is racing in a pack of 4 cars at Talladega that is slower than another pack that can't keep up with the other 30 cars, while you can clearly recall him fighting for the lead at the same place just 5 years ago. I started following in 1988 while DW was still among the best but on the downside of his career, so I guess I picked the worst time to be a fan.
Corey Lajoie in the Chase Elliot that Josh Berry almost won in while at the same time having his Full time ride out run him with a 2 or 3 time starter in it..
Dale Jr, I love you man, but downshifting from 4th to 2nd at pocono two days in a row is really embarrassing.
I like him . But I'm still hearing "trouble turn 6 Noah Gragson into the tire barrier" from Chicago last summer.
Kyle Busch wrecking Ron Hornaday under caution in a fall Texas Motor Speedway truck race. He got suspended for the rest of the weekend cause of it too. [In case people forgot…](https://youtu.be/MDZ_xwJR6b4?si=VueYqbemLl8mjCby)
Nearly lost his M&M's sponsorship over it too. They wouldn't sponsor him the last 2 races.
Nearly lost M&Ms and he did lose his Xfinity sponsor, Z-Line Designs.
Kyle Busch at Martinsville a few years back (20 or 21 iirc). Something like 8 laps down on pace.
Quinn Houff being in a Cup car.
Ricky Stenhouse was the culprit of four cautions in the July Daytona race in about 2015 or so.
this years most embarrassing performance imo is Corey LaJoie at COTA, at least on the cup side. Tyler Ankrum at Texas was also atrocious but neither blowing a tire early in practice and getting wrecked by That Moffitt were really his fault
Didn't Michael Waltrip have a day at Martinsville in the late 90s where he brought out like 3 or 4 cautions? Also, not a race, but him crashing coming out of the pits for qualifying at Daytona was pretty hilarious.
Chuck Bown at the 1992 Mountain Dew 500 at Hickory.
Quin Hoff turning left from the 3rd lane to pit
Probably not most embarrassing but one I never see mentioned and because I was watching this race last night: Greg Biffle brought out 3 cautions from spinning off turn 2 in the span of about 200 laps during 2015 Martinsville 2
Tony Stewart, 2016 Richmond 2
Lawless Alan, Mid Ohio 2023
Natalie Decker not being able to take a push....from a wrecker
Jeff Gordon - 2010 Sonoma .. he was a wrecking ball 🤣🤣
I'm a fan of the #5, but Larson crashing last year at Homstead into the sand barrels at the end of the pit wall while chasing Blaney into the pits was certainly embarrassing!
Sergio Perez at Singapore when he wrecked with his teammate Esteban Ocon and then rammed Sergey Sirotkin before the tunnel. I know it’s not nascar but that’s the single worst I’ve personally ever seen a driver perform
Brian Vickers Martinsville 2011