Dave Marcis stayed on track to score Richmond win

TOM HIGGINS' SCUFFS

Friday, May. 29, 2009

It was a race during which three of NASCAR’s most famous teams and stars outsmarted themselves.

No, I’m not specifically referring to Memorial Day, when journeyman driver David Reutimann won the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. As sprinkles began in the rain-plagued event, postponed from the previous day, Reutimann remained on the track while most of the top competitors pitted under a yellow flag for fuel and tires.

This gamble gave Reutimann the lead.

The showers intensified, forcing NASCAR to order a red flag and bring the field onto pit road. After a wait of about two hours and with rain continuing, the 600 was declared official with only 227 of the scheduled 400 laps at the 1.5-mile track completed.

Reutimann’s first Sprint Cup Series victory, a terrific upset, stirred recollection of a somewhat similar situation that occurred 27 years ago.

The date was Feb. 21, 1982. The site was the old Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, a .542-mile track in a state of disrepair and destined to be replaced in 1988 by a sparkling new facility at the same location.

Joe Ruttman was leading and pulling away on the 244th of 400 laps when the right-rear tire failed on his car. Ruttman lost control and spun, bringing out the yellow.

The next three drivers behind Ruttman in the Richmond 400 - Richard Petty, Benny Parsons and Dale Earnhardt, all Winston Cup champions - dashed onto pit road for service.

The fourth in line, Dave Marcis, headily stayed on the track. Marcis and his teammates, led by new crew chief Jerry Darling, had noticed thick, black clouds approaching from the southwest.

“Stay out! Stay out!” Darling shouted into the radio hookup between himself and Marcis. “You’re the leader!”

Six laps were run under caution, then heavy rain swept over the speedway, and the red flag was shown on the 250th circuit. NASCAR shortly made the season’s second race official.

“There was no way I was coming into the pits,” Marcis said upon arriving in the press box, still wearing his helmet to keep the rain off his head. “I couldn’t believe the guys in front of me pitted, not with weather threatening like it was.

“Richard stopping really surprised me. He’s always on top of everything, more so than anybody, and I just knew he’d stay out. But in he went.

“Maybe Richard and Benny and Dale had some little problem. Maybe their cars were loose. When that’s the case, and you see a yellow flag, the first reaction is to pit.

“When they did, I said to myself, ‘Here’s my chance!’

“During the red flag I didn’t exactly pray for the rain to continue. But I said if the Good Lord ever wanted to help a poor ol' independent driver who fields his own cars and builds his engines, then this was His chance.”

The Good Lord agreed and Marcis pocketed a sorely needed winner’s prize of $19,425.

He missed by a week qualifying for a $130,000 bonus under what was then known as the Winner’s Circle Plan. This program paid what amounted to appearance money to Winston Cup Series victors.

Bobby Allison had qualified for the eighth and final spot in the plan by taking the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14 of 1982.

“Of course, I’d like to have gotten bonus money,” continued Marcis. “But right now, I feel so good about winning again it’s hard to think of anything negative.”

The triumph, the fifth and what proved to be the last of Marcis’ colorful career, ended a winless streak of 137 races dating to November of 1976, when he took the Dixie 500 at Atlanta.

Petty competed in the Richmond race despite being hobbled by a broken right foot and torn ligaments in the leg. He suffered the injuries the previous Sunday in a Daytona 500 crash.

Petty wore a cast from his right knee to the ankle, and a hinge connected to another cast on the foot. Prior to qualifying on Thursday, Petty drove a van around the Fairgrounds parking lot, testing how he’d be able to work the accelerator pedal.

“I really felt comfortable the first 150 or so laps,” said Petty, destined to win seven championships and 200 races. “Maybe that’s because my car was running so good. Then, the durn injuries started hurting me.

“I started not to pit after Ruttman’s spin. Just as I did it started sprinkling rain, and we put on only two tires rather than four in order to get out quickly. Benny and Dale took four tires, so I was in front of them and felt good about my chances.

“I wasn’t even thinking about Marcis, 'cause I’d been told he was a lap down. Turns out, of course, he wasn’t.

“If I couldn’t win, I’m happy Dave did. He’s driven relief for me before, and is a fine guy. Nobody works much harder.”

Marcis, known for wearing wing-tip shoes while driving in races, retired in 2002 from a career in the big time that covered 25 years and 883 starts. Dave, 68, has made his home near Asheville, N.C., for four decades, and he now builds custom street rods on order and operates a fishing/hunting lodge at Rib Lake in his native Wisconsin.

Concluded Marcis that stormy long-ago Sunday at Richmond: “My previous four wins came in heavily sponsored cars fielded for me. This is my first win out of my own shop. I built the engine, towed the car up here driving my truck and drove the race. I consider it my greatest accomplishment.”

David Reutimann knows the feeling.

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