NASCAR Car Number Countdown - #36
January 11th, 2008 by James J.
We’re at #36 in our car number countdown to the Daytona 500 and today’s spotlight subject closed out his career in the #36 car. While the stats he put up in the #36 car were not impressive when compared to earlier in his 13 year career, the fact that he was able to choose to walk away from the sport is a miracle in itself. Today, he uses his celebrity and NASCAR association to actually walk the tracks that he once competed on.
Stats for all cars running the #36:
- Number of Races: 516
- Number of Wins: 0
- Number of Top 5s: 32
- Number of Top 10s: 122
- Number of Poles: 5
- Number of Drivers: 52
Spotlight Subject: Driver Ernie Irvan
The year is 1994. Ernie Irvan would start the year off with champion caliber form. He already had one Daytona 500 win to his record from his 1991 season with Morgan-McClure Motorsports, but he was looking to take another in 1994 with car owner Robert Yates. He would win the first Gatorade Twin 125 Qualifier races and then go on to lead 84 laps in the Daytona 500 and finish in second place. The margin of victory over Irvan was 0.19 seconds and was handed to him by Sterling Marlin in car #4 which was owned by Morgan-McClure Motorsports (the team from which Irvan went through lawsuits the year before to free himself from). But don’t think for a minute he was second guessing his decision to join Robert Yates Racing [Photo of Irvan & Yates: credit Jayski.com]. Ernie would keep the hammer down on the start of the 1994 Cup season with phenomenal finishes. In the first 13 races he would finish outside the top 7 only once (a 33rd at Bristold due to engine failure). His strength during just these first 13 races was impressive!
- 3 Wins
- 4 Second Place Finishes
- 10 Top Fives
- 4 Poles
- 1,408 Laps Led
- 1 33rd place DNF, thus an avearge finish of 5.3
Ernie was truly giving his competitors “the business” on the track. However, his championship run came to a halt later in the season after a tire failure sent his car slamming into the wall at over 170mph at Michigan International Speedway. He would need to be air lifted to the hospital and was given only the slightest change of survival. His lungs were damaged and he sustained severe brain damage. Amazingly, he would recover and take the stage during the season’s awards banquet to accept the 1994 Hard Charger Award. He was a “hard charger” too! Not only as evidenced by his performance at the beginning of the 1994 season, but also by the fact that after his recovery he made a concentrated focus to return to Cup level competition. And he would succeed in doing so too! Once he returned for Cup events it would take him only a dozen races to once again sit on the pole, and only 7 additional races to take the checkered flag at Loudon. He would go on to win two more races during his career with his final Cup victory coming at the track where he nearly lost his life 3 years earlier, Michigan International Speedway.
A move to MB2 Motorsports came in 1998 as Ernie would continue his Cup career in the #36 Skittles car [Photo credit: Jayski.com]. His career would end with the team and the #36 after competing in 51 races. During his ride in the #36 he would add 3 poles and 16 top ten finishes to his stats. In an eery twist of fate, exactly 5 years after his near fatal wreck in Michigan
Ernie would once again crash at Michigan requiring him to once again be flown to the hospital and once again be diagnosed with lung and brain damage. Yet the “hard charger” would recover from this accident as well. After making his recovery though he would also call it quits on racing.
Having been given the chance at life, twice, after such harrowing and similar accidents, Ernie put his “hard charger” drive to work on a new focus, helping others who suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). He started his own organization named Race2Safety that focused on educating parents and their children about head injuries and how to prevent it with safety equipment such as bicycle helmets. In addition to this organizations work, he also helps in LAPS Walk events held at NASCAR tracks during race weekends. “These inspirational events unite TBI survivors, family members, NASCAR fans, and NASCAR celebrities on the 
racetrack for the common purpose of raising funds toward the awareness and prevention of TBI. Participants get the unique opportunity to walk on the racetrack and meet Irvan and other NASCAR celebrities while doing their part to positively influence the lives of those living with TBI.” - LAPS Walk.
It’s unfortunate that Ernie’s career was cut short. But it’s nice to know that he was able to take those terrible events, survive them, and then come out on the other side to try and help others. At one time in my life I worked in the emergency room along side the doctors caring for victims right after accidents that resulted in TBI. I’ve seen how this sudden life changing tragedy can rip apart a family’s normal life. One doesn’t have to slam into a concrete wall at 170 miles per hour either. I’ve taken care of a lady who simply fell out of the golf cart while her and her golf partner were horsing around. She hit her head on the ground, got up and laughed about it. Finished her golf round and her day, but a headache later in the night simply wouldn’t get better resulting in her husband bringing her to the ER where she was later diagnosed with TBI. So be smart people, buckle up, wear your bicycle helmets and most importantly, make your kids use the available safety equipment. Brain damage is not something that is easily overcome, and I doubt one really ever heals 100% from it. Just don’t risk it!
EDIT: 1/11/08In a somewhat related note, it was announced today that Morgan-McClure Motorsports has closed it’s doors after 25 years of racing. The team had to lay off 28 employees, but was still working to try and have Mike Wallace drive the #4 in this years Daytona 500. Ernie Irvan has won several races in the #4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports car with the Kodak sponsorship. He had 105 races in the MMM #4 car with a total of 7 wins, 33 top fives, and 51 top tens. Ernie won the 1991 Daytona 500, the 1992 Pepsi 400 at Daytona, and two events at Talladega.
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