The "Thunderbolts" 600

   Seldom in NASCAR history have two things simultaneously deepened so rapidly and intensely.

   These were darkness and drama.

   The date was May 25, 1980.  The site was Charlotte Motor Speedway, now known as Lowe's Motor Speedway.  The event was one of NASCAR's major races, the World 600, now named the Coca-Cola 600, a classic chase that's scheduled to be held once again on Sunday.

   What developed that stormy Sunday has become a rich part of NASCAR history--a classic, tense duel between Benny Parsons and Darrell Waltrip.

   Because of the setting and the circumstances, It rates as perhaps the most thrilling finish ever among the 600-mile, 400-lap races staged at the 1.5-mile speedway, which opened in 1960 and has evolved into a showplace of motorsports.

   There were thunderbolts both in the sky and on the track that spring Sabbath.

   Black clouds boiling along the horizon of North Carolina's rolling Piedmont Plateau spit streaks of lightning that looked like "end of time" scenes depicted in movies.  Heavy rain twice forced red flags that halted the race for periods of 47 and 48 minutes.

   There were rashes of crashes as new pavement tore apart tires.

   Bill Elliott wrecked.  So did John Greenwood...Bruce Hill...Tighe Scott...Bill Elswick...Harry Gant...Billie Harvey.

   Gant's accident on the 203rd lap was especially spectacular.  For the fourth time that day a right front tire on Gant's car blew out.  As the car skidded through the fourth turn, the right front wheel broke off and bounded over the fence and out of the track.

   The biggest, wildest, most pivotal crash came on the 267th lap.  Dale Earnhardt, leading the point standings toward what would become the first of his seven Winston Cup championships, blew a tire.  Earnhardt lost control of his car, sweeping fellow strong contenders Bobby Allison, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough into a grinding melee.

   This accident left Parsons alone in the lead lap with Waltrip, who was intent on scoring a victory that would make him the first driver to win three straight 600s.

   Excitement built as the two drivers raced in close proximity with nightfall increasingly looming as a threat to end the race short of 600 miles.  The track's racing surface wasn't illuminated at that time, remember.  Lights didn't come along until 1992.

   Pressure intensified as Parsons and Waltrip made their final pit stops for fuel and--maybe--fresh tires.  Parsons came in on the 362nd lap.  His crew, led by David Ifft, gambled on gas only.  Waltrip, driving for the DiGard team, stopped two laps later and was forced to adopt the same strategy--fuel only, no tires.

   The most furious finish in track history had been forged.

   Parsons and Waltrip were to swap the lead eight times in the final 26 laps, or six times when counted officially at the start/finish line.

   Here's how the exciting exchange went as a crowd estimated at 120,000 stood throughout:

   Waltrip led following the pit stops, but Parsons surged ahead on lap 375 and stayed in front through lap 388.  Waltrip led laps 389-392.  Parsons led 393-394.  Waltrip led 395-398.  Parsons led 399-400, winning by half a car lenght as specators strained to see in the gloom. 

   Just moments after the checkered flag fell, rain began falling, too.  This didn't dampen the celebrating in victory lane, however, as the colorful Ifft and his crewmen toasted Parsons and popular team owner M.C. Anderson, who for the first time had watched in person as his car won.

   Ifft is the source of Parsons' most amusing recollection of the great race.

   "David is among the most colorful characters ever in NASCAR, and I love him dearly," said Parsons, who, like Waltrip, retired from the cockpit of a race car to a successful career in motorsports television.  "But David is so excitable that he was on the radio constantly those closing laps as Darrell and I raced.  David was cheerleading and offering me advice.  I was annoyed and distracted.

   "Finally, I had to remind David that I had won a Winston Cup championship a few years earlier and therefore knew what I was doing.  I told him, 'Please, shut up!'

   "As fulfilling as winning was for me, I felt for Darrell.  Second place in that race would have been very difficult to swallow."

   Both Parsons and Waltrip say the intervening years have produced added appreciation of just how great their battle into the gloaming proved to be.

   There has been no 600 like it...There may never be again.  Certainly not one with so many passes for the lead in the closing stages.