NASCAR has had a lot of flips over the years. I already did an article addressing 13 unknown flips in NASCAR’s top couple series, however this time I’m going to address NASCAR’s junior series. Being as NASCAR will be taking control of ARCA in 2020, I’ve decided to include a few ARCA flips too. Here are 12 lower series flips in NASCAR!
1. LANNY PEMBERTON (1976 CALIFORNIA 150: LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN @ RIVERSIDE)
Leonard “Lanny” Pemberton of Lemon Grove, California lost control of his 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle during practice for the California 150, a NASCAR Late Model Sportsman race at Riverside in June 1976. He crashed off the track and went airborne, landing on the asphalt upside down, after which he did two rolls, again landing on its roof. The Chevelle slid off the track surface, doing two more rolls before once again landing upside down and coming to rest. Pemberton was battered, however his worst injury was a badly bruised elbow. The Chevelle, however, was written off.
2. CHRIS MONOLEOS (1977 WINSTON INAUGURAL PHOENIX 250: NASCAR WEST @ PHOENIX)
During the opening laps of the 1977 Winston West finale, coincidentally the first NASCAR race ever held at what is now the Phoenix Raceway, Chris Monoleos of Burbank, California found himself going for a ride. A collision with the #41 of Ernie Stierly caused Monoleos’ #92 Monoleos Racing 1976 Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna to plow into the wall and take off, rolling several times and coming to rest outside the track, atop the wall. Monoleos suffered minor injuries, and apparently, two children suffered bruises, though how they were involved is unknown.
The crash warranted an hour-long red flag to remove Monoleos’ car.
3. JIM BOWN (1984 STROH’S 200: NASCAR WEST @ PACIFIC RACEWAYS)
During practice for a NASCAR West race at the Pacific Raceways in Washington State in 1984, Jim Bown found himself shooting off the track into the runoff after cutting a tire. What exactly happened was not documented, but his brand new #98 Wholesale Truck Parts Buick Regal was completely destroyed after rolling about four times.
Bown had a backup car and used said car to win the race. Interestingly, both Richard Petty and Kyle Petty were lured westward to compete by the race’s promoter. Neither finished the race, both their engines failing within a lap of one another.
4. BILL VENTURINI (1987 PERMATEX 500k: ARCA @ TALLADEGA)
It was kinda like Cale Yarborough’s amazing win, except not really.
On his first qualifying lap ahead of the 1987 ARCA Permatex 500k at Talladega, Bill Venturini set the fastest lap ever recorded in ARCA competition at 205.432mph. On his second lap, Venturini lost control of the #25 Amoco Ultimate Chevrolet Monte Carlo and blew over, doing seven rolls through the trioval. Venturini wasn’t hurt.
The car was obliterated, and Venturini was ready to withdraw, but Phil Barkdoll approached him regarding a Monte Carlo his wife had on display as a show car. They came to a deal, and Venturini kept his pole position in the show car. He isn’t known to have led any laps and dropped out at the two-thirds mark due to a blown engine.
5. DON MARMOR (1988 SNAP-ON TOOLS 500: ARCA @ SALEM)
A collision with Jerry Churchill sent Don Marmor of Northlake, Illinois flying over the inside wall during an ARCA race at Salem in 1988. Marmor’s #50 Lombard Auto Wrecking Chevrolet Celebrity nearly struck a photographer during its rolls, but luckily he was able to get out of the way. Marmor did not suffer any serious injuries.
Marmor’s career, however, famously would be ended at the next race at Atlanta, where he collided with a spinning Lee Raymond and slammed into a massive set of tractor tires at the end of the pit wall. Marmor only survived the Atlanta crash due to the efforts of Dr. Jerry Punch, becoming the third confirmed driver to be saved by Punch after Bill Dennis and Rusty Wallace.
6. RICH DeLONG (1989 MILLER 125: NASCAR SOUTHWEST @ SAUGUS)
Such unprofessionalism…
Driver Chuck Pittenger went into a NASCAR Southwest Tour midseason race at Saugus in 1989 second in the points, however he was rather slow during qualifying, and ended up having to run a 15-lap last chance race. On lap 10, he overtook race leader Rich DeLong of Cantaic, California, giving DeLong a bump as he did so. DeLong reportedly believed this bump was Pittenger attempting to wreck him, and after seeing that officials didn’t plan on waving the black flag, he took matters into his own hands. On lap 12, he turned Pittenger’s car around on the backstretch. Pittenger’s car spun back around and collected Delong’s #94 DeLong Racing Pontiac Trans Am, which vaulted into the air, flipping onto its side and landing atop the turn three wall. His car then caught fire, which spread to Pittenger’s car.
Pittenger hopped out of his car unhurt, and DeLong suffered minor burns and a broken left foot. Pittenger eventually bought out fellow driver Bob Campanella’s ride, which he start and parked in an effort to still get a few points. He placed sixth in points that year. DeLong was indefinitely suspended after the incident, a penalty he vowed to protest. It’s unknown if his protest went anywhere, but he didn’t make any more starts in the series.
7. JOHN NANCE (1991 FLORIDA 200: NASCAR DASH @ DAYTONA)
The Goody’s Dash Series is remembered for its many flips, however they appear to have actually been quite rare before the mid 1990s. Here’s one from before then.
During practice for the 1991 Florida 200, driver John Nance of Lynchburg, Virginia was rounding turn four when he spotted the slow car of David Probst on the low side. Nance tapped the brakes and made a turn to ascend the track, but while doing so he was rammed from behind by Dale Howdyshell, who hadn’t slowed sufficiently. Nance’s #90 Valley Termite & Pest Control Ford Probe went up and into the wall just on the exit of turn four, hitting and hooking onto the wall and flipping over once. Nance was able to refire his car and drive it back to the pits. He finished lower midfield in the race.
8. GARY BRADBERRY (1992 COCA-COLA 200: ALL PRO @ GREENVILLE)
I actually only learned about this one the day before this article was finished.
During the 1992 Coca-Cola 200 NASCAR All Pro Series race at Greenville, track regular Donnie Bishop found himself up front with a very fast car, however, he made a huge mistake when he did not pit with the leaders for new tires. A series of yellow flags, all one after another, halted Bishop’s fall, and he was able to hang on to the lead. On lap 194, the wildest incident of all broke out when Gary Bradberry and Mike Cope, both dueling for second, collided. Bradberry’s #78 Bradberry Racing Buick Regal was sent into the inside wall, and the Alabama native’s car flipped over, rolling twice before coming to rest on its wheels. The crash, which also wiped out Bobby Gill and Mike Garvey, forced a red flag, during which a rainstorm began and NASCAR decided to end the race. Bishop, a part-timer, won his second and last All Pro race due to this.
9. DIRK STEPHENS (1996 GAMBLER BASS BOATS: ALL PRO @ BRISTOL)
During the 1996 Gambler Bass Boats 200 NASCAR Slim Jim All Pro race at Bristol, Dirk Stephens of Turnwater, Washington was squeezed up and into the frontstretch wall during a large duel between several cars. The #44 Lee McAllister Race Cars Pontiac Grand Prix was put up and onto the wall, sliding on its roof down the chute before rolling back at the entrance to turn one. Dirk climbed out of his car unhurt. The broadcast crew didn’t identify who squeezed him up onto the wall, but Stephens said it was the #74 of Nipper Alsup. Also collected was Dan Mathews, however Stephens was the only car taken out of the race.
All Pro races at Bristol were infamous for being messy, this one being no exception. Ironically, Dirk’s interview regarding the incident was cut short when Mike Cope spun his car in the middle of a corner. Cope’s spin didn’t force a yellow.
This would be Dirk’s last start in the higher ranks for a few years. The 1992 NASCAR Northwest Tour had just stepped back down to the regional series after a failed Busch campaign, and he didn’t make another start in a regional series until 2000, where he made a few starts in the Northwest Tour.
10. CAM STRADER (2002 ORANGE COUNTY 150: NASCAR DASH @ ORANGE COUNTY)
Goody’s Dash had a few short track flips during its waning years. Here’s one, incidentally the last of them.
Halfway through the 2002 Orange County 150 at Rougemont, Kelly Sutton and Cam Strader collided while dueling on corner exit, sending Cam up, into, and atop the outside wall. The #6 Wesson Mercury Cougar did about six rolls down the straightaway before landing on its wheels, after which Strader, the 2001 Goody’s Dash champion and a native of Wilson, North Carolina, climbed out unhurt.
The crash also wiped out Nick Pistone.
11. DENNIS DEMERS (2002 LITTLE TREES 150: NASCAR BUSCH NORTH @ WATKINS GLEN)
Every once in a while, there’s a race that is simply destructive, with violent accidents and several controversial incidents. The 2002 Busch North Little Trees 150 at Watkins Glen was one of these races, with Troy Williams going over the wall and a young Martin Truex, Jr. (ironically in a #56, his family number and a number he’d later have success in for a different team) having his roof ripped off in a first-lap pileup, but there was one more wild incident that race.
Around halfway through the race, hobbyist racer Dennis Demers of Shelburne, Vermont blew his right front tire entering turn two. TV cameras did not catch the incident, which ended with a collapsed guardrail and Demers upside down.
Dennis climbed out of his self-owned #86 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Monte Carlo unhurt, unzipped his firesuit, and hopped in the ambulance, very nonplussed.
12. BILLY LESLIE (2009 WOLVERINE POWER SYSTEMS 200: ARCA @ BERLIN)
This was a really wild one.
Billy Leslie, Tracy Leslie’s son, ran off course during the early laps of the annual ARCA trip to Berlin in 2009. He exited the racing surface, running off Berlin’s famous berm outside turn two, and in his attempt to return to the track, plowed into the tires protecting the attenuator at turn three. The #18 Titan Tire Ford Fusion lifted up and began a violent flip, apparently rolling about six times into the forest. Leslie suffered minor injuries but never raced in ARCA again after this.
Sources:
“Qualifying speeds high at Riverside”, The Greenville News, June 13, 1976
“Race overshadowed by crashes”, The San Francisco Examiner, November 28, 1977
“After destroying one race car during practice, Jim Bown…”, UPI, July 8, 1984
“Press makes himself at home again at Saugus”, The Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1989
“Bishop wins early GPS gamble”, The Greenville News, August 16, 1992
Influential Moments in Racing 
4 thoughts on “12 More Unknown NASCAR Flips”