1999 Piston Cup Season

The 1999 Piston Cup Season was a season of serious problems. Though Murray Clutchburn won his third and final Piston Cup, the season was marred with many near-fatal problems in the Piston Cup Dash 600 and the Trunk Fresh 650, leaving many to believe that the cars shouldn't race for more than 500 miles. This led to those two races to be replaced by the Easy Idle 450 and Bumper Save 450 for the 2000 season. Kevin Shiftright debuted and Larry Smith and James Robson retired following their part failures in the Piston Cup Dash 600. The Piston Cup Dash 600 would be replaced by the Easy Idle 450 and the Trunk Fresh 650 would be replaced by the Bumper Save 450 the following season. Trunk Fresh would not sponsor a race again until 2013. This was the last season to have races that were more than 500 miles.

## Racers

1. Tow Cap 4 - Rusty Cornfuel
2. Dale Earnhardt 8 - Dale Earnhardt Jr (part-time)
3. Mood Springs 33 - Chuck Armstrong (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600 and Brake Dock 400 to Dinoco 400) Rodney Banks (Sidewall Shine 400 to RPM 350)
4. Trunk Fresh 34 - Dirkson D'Agostino (Nightdona 500 to Trunk Fresh 650) Buck Vincent (Dinoco 400)
5. Tank Coat 36 - Eugene Carbureski
6. Dinoco 43 - The King
7. Brake Dock 50 - Travis Driftshaft
8. Easy Idle 51 - Ruby Oaks (Nightdona 500 to Trunk Fresh 650) Unknown Backup (Dinoco 400)
9. Leak Less 52 - Claude Scruggs (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600 and RPM 350 to Dinoco 400) Oscar Hollister (Sidewall Shine 400 to Fiber Fuel 400)
10. Faux Wheel Drive 54 - Johnny Blamer (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600) Xander Cortland (Sidewall Shine 400 to Dinoco 400)
11. Fiber Fuel 56 - Brush Curber
12. Octane Gain 58 - Bernie Simpson (Nightdona 500 to Trunk Fresh 650) Kyle Henderson (Dinoco 400)
13. Vitoline 61 - James Cleanair
14. RPM 64 - Winford Bradford Rutherford
15. N20 Cola 68 - Ron Pitcar (Nightdona 500 to Trunk Fresh 650) Unknown Backup (Dinoco 400)
16. Gasprin 70 - Edgar Filterroot
17. Rev N Go 73 - Misti Motorkrass (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600 and RPM 350 to Dinoco 400) Unknown Backup (Sidewall Shine 400 to Fiber Fuel 400)
18. Retread 79 - Haul Inngas (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600 and Brake Dock 400 to Dinoco 400) Gerald Turner (Sidewall Shine 400 to RPM 350)
19. Shiny Wax 82 - Mark Landis
20. htB 86 - Chick Hicks
21. Bumper Save 90 - James Robson (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600) Ponchy Wipeout (Sidewall Shine 400 to Dinoco 400)
22. Sputter Stop 92 - Murray Clutchburn
23. Spare Mint 93 - Ernie Gearson (Nightdona 500 to Trunk Fresh 650) Unknown Backup (Dinoco 400)
24. Tach O Mint 101 - Greg Candyman (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600 and Brake Dock 400 to Dinoco 400) Hanz Guenther (Sidewall Shine 400 to RPM 350)
25. AXELE 115 - Joe Rodrun Jr
26. Clutch Aid 121 - Kevin Shiftright (Rookie)
27. No Stall 123 - Larry Smith (Nightdona 500 to Piston Cup Dash 600) Todd Marcus (Sidewall Shine 400 to Dinoco 400)

## 500+ Mile Race Problems

In the two races that are longer than 500 miles, many of the racers couldn't hold their power for 600 or the 650 miles, many backups raced. James Robson and Larry Smith chose to retire.

### 1999 Piston Cup Dash 600

The 1999 Piston Cup Dash 600 took place at Georgia Motor Speedway. It was the 24th race in the 35-race schedule. Eugene Carbureski scored the pole. The first 231 laps were normal but it wasn't till after lap 232 the problems struck.

* Lap 232 - Chuck Armstrong's engine stalls in front of field and exhaust explodes causing, James Cleanair, Mark Landis, and Ruby Oaks to crash into him. Armstrong would be injured for the next four races.
* Lap 244 - James Robson's rear suspension starts dragging on the ground and his tire pops, causing him to spin and flip six times on top of Rusty Cornfuel, who spins and collects Joe Rodrun Jr. Robson retires after this race.
* Lap 259 - Larry Smith's driveshaft gets in critical condition and his brakes stop working and he smashes the wall at 194 mph. Smith retires after this race.
* Lap 264 - Claude Scruggs had so much smoke coming out of his car at 75 mph and Haul Inngas hit him because he couldn't see at 155 mph and both were injured. Scruggs was out for three races while Inngas was out for four.
* Lap 266 - The King leaves the race with ignition problems.
* Lap 271 - Greg Candyman's overheats and loses all power while leading and hits wall collecting, part-timer Dale Jr, rookie Kevin Shiftright, Chick Hicks, and Edgar Filterroot. Candyman is out for four races.
* Lap 274 - Misti Motorkrass loses steering power and hits wall fender-on at 110 mph. She is out for three races.
* Lap 277 - Johnny Blamer loses steering and brakes and hits wall at 199 mph collecting Brush Curber. Blamer is out for the rest of the season.
* Lap 300 - Winford Bradford Rutherford wins race. Only seven other racers finish (not in order), Bernie Simpson, Ernie Gearson, Ron Pitcar, Travis Driftshaft, Eugene Carbureski, Dirkson D'Agostino, and Murray Clutchburn.

#### Backups put on duty for next three to four races

* Rodney Banks
* Ponchy Wipeout
* Todd Marcus
* Oscar Hollister
* Gerald Turner
* Hanz Guenther
* Unknown Backup for Rev N Go
* Xander Cortland

### 1999 Trunk Fresh 650

The 1999 Trunk Fresh 650 took place at Sun Valley International Speedway. It was the 34th race in the 35-race schedule. Backup Hanz Guenther got his only career pole. During the first 316 laps, everything was normal except that Travis Driftshaft crashed out on lap 153. It wasn't until lap 317 when the chaos struck. The race was 433 laps.

* Lap 317 - Bernie Simpson's oil in his engine runs out and he spins, collecting Rusty Cornfuel, Xander Cortland, and The King. Simpson is out for the rest of the season.
* Lap 321 - Ernie Gearson's engine stops and he is found in a coma. He is out for the rest of the season.
* Lap 335 - Ruby Oaks' exhaust gets clogged and he spins into the wall at 145 mph and collects Winford Bradford Rutherford with him. Oaks is out for the rest of the season.
* Lap 349 - Ron Pitcar's wing breaks and he lifts off the ground and lands upside down on rookie Kevin Shiftright. Pitcar is out for the rest of the season.
* Lap 362 - Dirkson D'Agostino's splitter breaks and gets stuck in his exhaust. He spins head-on into the wall at 156 mph. He is out for the rest of the season.
* Lap 433 - Murray Clutchburn wins the race and clinches third title one race early.

#### Backups put on duty for Dinoco 400

* Billy Oilchanger
* Unknown Backup for Spare Mint
* Unknown Backup for Easy Idle
* Manny Flywheel
* Buck Vincent

## Race Winners

1. Nightdona 500 - James Cleanair
2. Pizza Planet 400 at Las Vegas - Dirkson D'Agostino
3. Texas 350 - Larry Smith
4. Shiny Wax 500 - Murray Clutchburn
5. BnL 500 - Joe Rodrun Jr
6. Ben's Hot Sauce 400 - The King
7. Vitoline 350 - Haul Inngas
8. Tank Coat 400 - Brush Curber
9. Tach O Mint 400 - Chick Hicks
10. New York 300 - Chuck Armstrong
11. Palm Mile 300 - Joe Rodrun Jr
12. htB 400 - Murray Clutchburn
13. Rev N Go 350 - Haul Inngas
14. N20 Cola 400 - Ruby Oaks
15. Brickyard 400 - Ruby Oaks
16. Clutch Aid/Coszen 400 - Travis Driftshaft
17. No Stall 350 - The King
18. Retread 500 - Rusty Cornfuel
19. Gasprin 400 - Greg Candyman
20. Nashville 400 - Chick Hicks
21. Homestead 350 - The King
22. Faux Wheel Drive 400 - Murray Clutchburn
23. Shifty Drug 350 - Kevin Shiftright
24. Piston Cup Dash 600 - Winford Bradford Rutherford
25. Sidewall Shine 400 - Chick Hicks
26. Spare Mint 400 - Ruby Oaks
27. Fiber Fuel 400 - Eugene Carbureski
28. RPM 350 - Murray Clutchburn
29. Brake Dock 400 - Gerald Turner
30. Sputter Stop 400 - The King
31. Leak Less 400 - Joe Rodrun Jr
32. Octane Gain 400 - Kevin Shiftright
33. Mood Springs 350 - Ponchy Wipeout
34. Trunk Fresh 650 - Murray Clutchburn
35. Dinoco 400 - Brush Curber

## Championship Standings

1. Murray Clutchburn
2. Chick Hicks
3. Brush Curber
4. The King
5. Ruby Oaks
6. Joe Rodrun Jr
7. Eugene Carbureski
8. James Cleanair
9. Travis Driftshaft
10. Winford Bradford Rutherford
11. Dirkson D'Agostino
12. Mark Landis
13. Kevin Shiftright (Rookie)
14. Rusty Cornfuel
15. Edgar Filterroot
16. Ron Pitcar
17. Ernie Gearson
18. Bernie Simpson
19. Misti Motorkrass
20. Chuck Armstrong
21. Larry Smith
22. Claude Scruggs
23. Haul Inngas
24. James Robson
25. Greg Candyman
26. Johnny Blamer
27. Ponchy Wipeout
28. Gerald Turner
29. Rodney Banks
30. Oscar Hollister
31. Unknown Backup For Rev N Go
32. Todd Marcus
33. Hanz Guenther
34. Xander Cortland
35. Manny Flywheel
36. Buck Vincent
37. Unknown Backup For Easy Idle
38. Billy Oilchanger
39. Unknown Backup For Spare Mint

## Trivia

* The top 13, with the exception of Ruby Oaks, and Dirkson D'Agostino, are the only drivers that were in all 35 events, while the two outliers competed in all but the last event.

1998 Piston Cup Season (Previous) (Next) 2000 Piston Cup Season