July 26 - This day in Schaefer racing history

1981 Mountain Dew 500
NASCAR Winston Cup race
Pocono International Raceway
Pocono, Pennsylvania
Winning driver: Darrell Waltrip
Full results: Racing-Reference.info

Indy car driver and Pennsylvania native, Al Loquasto, makes his NASCAR debut driving a #99 Schaefer beer sponsored Buick Regal for car owner and part-time driver D.K. Ulrich. The race was Loquasto's first of six career Cup starts - all with Ulrich.

  Ulrich and Loquasto talk in the garage during practice.

Source: D.K. Ulrich collection

Loquasto - ready for driver introductions and wearing his "game face".

Source: Rick Houston, Stock Car History Online

The Schaefer Buick in action on the track! Loquasto started 32nd and finished 24th.

Source: D.K. Ulrich collection

Read Rick Houston's entry at Stock Car History Onlinefor a re-visit about the search to find photos of the Schaefer-sponsored Loquasto car. (July 2011 edit: SCHO is no more, but Houston's article lives on here.)

The final lap - Richard Petty leads Cale Yarborough and eventual winner Darrell Waltrip.

Source: Reading Eagle

Other race notables:

• Richard Petty took the while flag in the lead but was passed on the final lap by Darrell Waltrip. The King finished 2nd four car lengths behind Waltrip.
• Kyle Petty finished 8th in only his 2nd race at the triangle-shaped track.
• Richard Childress finished 23rd in his next-to-last race as a driver racing as a struggling independent. After his next start at Talladega, he stepped aside as a driver and hired reigning Cup champion and 1979 Rookie of the Year Dale Earnhardt. The rest, as they say, is history. He made a final start as a driver in the last race of the season at Riverside in a start-and-park car for Junior Johnson to give Darrell Waltrip extra cushion in earning points to claim the 1981 points championship.

TMC