PHOTO: Fuller Motorsports and Collectibles
SEASON IN REVIEW
Saluda, South Carolina driver Lyndon Amick scored his first LASTCAR Busch Series Grand National Division title in 1999, scoring two last-place finishes in nineteen starts during a thirty-two race season. Amick won a bottom-five tiebreaker over Adam Petty 5-4.
Amick was competing in his third Busch Series Grand National Division season. The 1996 Goody’s Dash Series Champion, Amick’s family-owned team joined the series in 1997, leading to a career-best 4th at Myrtle Beach on July 11, 1998. In 1999, Amick improved from running twelve races to nineteen and scored another Top Five at Talladega during the Touchstone Energy 500 on April 24. Unfortunately, he also scored six DNQs and nine DNFs, including a pair of last-place finishes.
Amick’s first last-place run of the year came at Las Vegas on March 6 when his #35 SCANA Chevrolet started 3rd only to lose the engine after 13 laps of the Sam’s Town 300. The other finish came nine races later at Richmond, where on May 14, his #35 SCANA / Powertel Chevrolet was taken out in a three-car crash after 10 laps.
Amick returned to the Busch Series Grand National Division in 2000 and successfully defended his title.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
The 18-year-old fourth-generation driver Adam Petty scored the first and only two last-place finishes of his Busch Series Grand National Division career in 1999. One year after his ARCA Racing Series win at Charlotte, he attempted the full season in the #45 Spree Prepaid Phonecard Chevrolets and Pontiacs fielded by his father Kyle Petty. Adam finished 4th at Fontana that year, but crashes made him finish last at Charlotte on May 29 and South Boston on June 12 after 14 and 5 laps, respectively. Adam made his only Cup Series start the next season at Texas, but was tragically killed in a practice crash at New Hampshire on May 12, 2000.
Casey Atwood, another young star, won his first Busch Series Grand National Division race at Milwaukee on July 4, but finished last for the first time at Rockingham on October 23. Atwood’s #27 Castrol GTX Chevrolet lost the engine after 4 laps of the Kmart 200. Finishing next-to-last was a Californian named Kevin Harvick. Harvick made his Busch Series Grand National Division debut that day, but his #2 Invinca-Shield Chevrolet lost the engine after 34 laps. Just over a year later, Harvick would find himself behind the wheel of the late Dale Earnhardt’s GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, and he beat Atwood for Rookie of the Year with two emotional wins.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Lyndon Amick [5 B5s], Adam Petty [4 B5s] (2)
2nd) Casey Atwood, Stanton Barrett, Johnny Benson, Jr., Dave Blaney, David Blankenship, Mike Bliss, Gary Bradberry, Joe Buford, Kerry Earnhardt, Tim Fedewa, Jeff Fuller, Wayne Grubb, Bobby Hillin, Jr., D.J. Hoelzle, Jason Jarrett, Eric Jones, Jeff Krogh, Randy LaJoie, Kevin Lepage, Brad Loney, Mike McLaughlin, Phil Parsons, Tony Roper, Dale Shaw, Jamie Skinner, R.D. Smith, Gus Wasson, Jason White (1)
