On This Day 1996 Winston Cup Champion Rusty Wallace Outlasted Dale Earnhardt to Win at Suzuka

It’s been three decades since Rusty Wallace made motorsport history by seizing victory in the inaugural NASCAR event in Japan. The 1989 Winston Cup champion, Wallace, edged out Dale Earnhardt by 1.192 seconds, with Earnhardt at the wheel of a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Despite losing his lead towards the end of the first half, Wallace swiftly reclaimed it in the latter half, clinching the Suzuka Thunder Special 100 stock car race at Suzuka.

Crossing the finish line, Wallace triumphantly thrust a fist out of his car window, brandishing both U.S. and Japanese flags. He then steered his black Ford Thunderbird to the winner’s circle, greeted by an enthusiastic team. Climbing onto the roof of his car, Wallace raised both fists in a victory pose, basking in the glory of his achievement.

Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt received a memorable reception, as Wallace fondly recalled

The first-ever NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka held as an exhibition race without points, took place on November 24, 1996. Commemorating its 30th anniversary, NASCAR shared snapshots of this historic race, headlined, “OTD in 1996: Rusty Wallace wins the inaugural running of the NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan.”

Wallace, reflecting on that time, fondly remembered in one of his December 1996 interviews- the exceptionally warm welcome from the Japanese fans. He remarked, “When we’re in the United States, our fans might pull for Rusty, they might pull for Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon or different drivers. The thing I like so much about Japan is that everybody was happy about all the drivers and they were very, very nice to us.”

The event’s inception was marked by a blend of excitement and confusion when Hiromishi Suzuki, general manager of Circuit Suzuka at the time, proposed hosting a Winston Cup exhibition race on the esteemed Japanese road course. The Suzuka Thunder Special brought NASCAR luminaries like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, and Rusty Wallace on a 7,000-mile journey to face off against Japan’s top drivers on their turf. This foray into Japan was just the tip of the iceberg, paving the way for NASCAR’s expansion into Europe, Mexico, and Canada.

In 1996, the Japanese had their first taste of the thunderous roar of 30 V8 engines, a stark contrast to their initial unfamiliarity with NASCAR. The Suzuka race itself was a spectacle, split into two 50-lap segments with a top-10 inversion after the first half. Rusty Wallace dominated, leading 84 out of 100 laps, with only Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte briefly taking the lead. It featured four Japanese drivers, including Suzuka native Hideo Fukuyama, who nearly clinched a top-10 finish before being sideswiped into the wall. Keiichi Tsuchiya, the revered Drift King, finished 15th in 1996 and improved to 11th the following year. 

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Considering all these things and the pros of the race held back 30 years ago, as soon as the story hit Reddit, fans flocked to share their thoughts and memories of the groundbreaking race.

NASCAR enthusiasts yearn for a comeback of international NASCAR races

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Lately, amid talks of NASCAR grappling with a sponsorship crunch, a proposed fix has been to shake up the race schedule. This could mean adding new tracks or revamping old ones. Just look at this year’s Chicago street race, which set the NASCAR fanbase abuzz.

This longing for a different approach resonated in the comments section of a recent Reddit post. Fans were curious, asking, “Why did they stop anyway? Or attempt a points race??” Another chimed in, praising the concept: “Such an interesting idea for a race. Too bad it only lasted a couple of years…”

One fan, swept up in nostalgia, fondly recalled,  “The good ole days.”

Meanwhile, others, brimming with enthusiasm for NASCAR’s international potential, said, “I really hope NASCAR does a race in Japan again one day. Folks out there are super passionate about motorsports and they have some absolutely world class facilities to boot. A return to Suzuka or Motegi, or even visiting a new track out there like Fuji or Autopolis would be super cool to see with this new generation of drivers and the new car. I’m sure that the logistics of holding an event like the Thunder Special are much more viable than they were nearly 30 years ago too. On another note, that mid 90s Thunderbird was such a beautiful car.”

While one fan focused on the paint scheme, “The next years race had my favorite two car paint scheme in the Coca Cola cars driven dy Sr an Jr.”

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These fan suggestions are nothing to sneeze at, especially with viewership needing a boost. It might be just the right time for NASCAR to remind the world of its global reach.