Ernie Irvan

Irvan finished 22nd in the final standings for the year with winnings totaling $155,239.

After sponsorship problems plagued Ulrich's team, Irvan left to race for Junie Donlavey, who had procured a sponsorship program with True Cure.

True Cure failed to fulfill its financial obligations, and after three races, Irvan was told he could seek other opportunities.

He moved over to Morgan-McClure Motorsports' (MMM) No. 4 Kodak-sponsored Oldsmobile, filling the vacancy left by Phil Parsons.

Irvan started 25th at Bristol in April and caught leader Mark Martin after 38 laps.

Irvan went on to lead 56 laps before being sidelined in an accident on lap 167.

Irvan's sixth-place finish at Martinsville in September gave him his best of four top-10 finishes for the year.

He finished 26th in the final points standings with winnings for the year totaling $96,370.

He finished 29th and won $860.

Since he earned so little money, Irvan was spotted by long-time owner and driver D.K. Ulrich.

After starting 30th in his first race for the new team (Atlanta in March), Irvan charged to the front and grabbed a third-place finish, the first Top 5 of his career.

The next race, at Darlington Raceway, he became involved in controversy after being involved in an accident that nearly killed Neil Bonnett.

Irvan then won his first Winston Cup pole position, at Bristol, in the spring.

He won his first Winston Cup race, in the Busch 500 at Bristol, on August 25.

In October, Irvan drove the No. 56, again sponsored by Dale Earnhardt, in his first Winston Cup start at Charlotte, starting 36th, leading lap 128, and finishing eighth.

Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver.

Irvan began his racing career driving karts in California in 1968 at the age of nine.

He won the California Championship at the age of 15.

In 1974, Irvan finished second in the country in his class at the national kart championship races.

In 1975, Irvan moved up to stock cars at the age of 16 at Stockton 99 Speedway and was victorious in his first race on asphalt in a semi-main event.

From then until 1981 Irvan raced every weekend at Madera and Stockton, California, winning numerous feature events.

He missed his high school graduation ceremony to race at Riverside, California.

During this time, he lost his best friend, Tim Williamson, in a racing accident at Riverside, several months before he was slated to test in the Winston Cup.

In 1982, Irvan left California with $700 in his pocket and everything he owned loaded into his pickup truck and a homemade trailer, and he headed east to North Carolina.

Worried about running out of money, Irvan stopped in Las Vegas and managed to leave with an additional $200.

Irvan supported himself in Charlotte, North Carolina by welding grandstand seats at Charlotte Motor Speedway, unloading Ken Schrader's moving van, building racecars, and other odd jobs.

During that time, he won nine races driving in the late model series at Concord Speedway.

Driving a Firebird, Irvan won two races his first year and seven races the next year.

Irvan met car-builder Marc Reno and they became partners in their racing ventures.

Before long, Irvan made his Winston Cup debut, on September 13, 1987 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway driving the No. 56 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

The car, built and prepared by Irvan and Reno, was sponsored by Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet.

Irvan qualified 20th but was sidelined after 35 laps after the car's engine overheated.

In 1988, Irvan made a bid for NASCAR Rookie of the Year, driving Ulrich's No. 2 Kroger Chevrolets and Pontiacs.

Irvan competed in 25 of the 29 Winston Cup Series events, losing rookie-of-the-year honors to Ken Bouchard by three points (242-239) in the closest battle in Winston Cup history.

In 1989 Irvan started all 29 races in his first full year in the Winston Cup Series behind the wheel of Ulrich's U.S. Racing Pontiac.

After a series of injuries in the late 1990s, he retired from racing in 1999.

A retired NASCAR competitor, he is perhaps best remembered for his comeback after a serious head injury suffered from a crash during practice at Michigan in 1994 that left him with only a 10% chance of survival.

Irvan has been inducted into numerous halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Irvan's best finish of the year was 11th at Martinsville in September.

Irvan made three starts in Ulrich's No. 6 car, finishing 15th at Martinsville, 22nd at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and 19th at Riverside.