Virgil Earnest Irvan (1959-01-13) January 13, 1959 (age 65) Salinas, California, U.S.
Achievements
1991 Daytona 500 Winner 1993 Winston 500 Winner Led Winston Cup Series in poles in 1994
Awards
1993 Super Ford Magazine Driver of the Year 1994 True Value Hard Charger 1994 Mike Rich Memorial Award 1994, 1995 Maxwell House Spirit Award 1995 Winston Cup Scene Top Story of the Year 1995 Arete Award for Courage in Sports (Professional Division) 1996 Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award 1996 AP Parts Meet the Challenge Award Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) Selected as a torchbearer for the 2002 Olympics Stock Car Hall of Fame (2002) Voted by MSNBC Top Ten Greatest Sport Comebacks of All Time (2002) West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame[1] (2005) Named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023)
NASCAR Cup Series career
313 races run over 12 years
Best finish
5th (1991)
First race
1987 Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400 (Richmond)
Last race
1999 Frontier @ the Glen (Watkins Glen)
First win
1990 Busch 500 (Bristol)
Last win
1997 Miller 400 (Michigan)
Wins
Top tens
Poles
15
124
22
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
57 races run over 8 years
Best finish
28th (1991)
First race
1986 All Pro 300 (Charlotte)
Last race
1999 MBNA Platinum 200 (Dover)
First win
1991 AC-Delco 200 (Rockingham)
Last win
1992 Fram Filter 500K (Talladega)
Wins
Top tens
Poles
3
15
5
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
12 races run over 5 years
Best finish
45th (1995)
First race
1995 Lowe's 150 (North Wilkesboro)
Last race
1999 NAPA 250 (Martinsville)
Wins
Top tens
Poles
0
8
0
Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. 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. After a series of injuries in the late 1990s, he retired from racing in 1999.
^Biography at the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, 2005, Retrieved November 13, 2007
Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver...
the Daytona 500 and in August at Michigan International Speedway when ErnieIrvan suffered near fatal injuries due to a practice crash. The Busch Clash...
Marlin, and ErnieIrvan went three wide coming out of turn two. Marlin, sandwiched in the middle, bounced off both his teammate and Irvan, and all three...
8-Bobby Hillin Jr. 10-Derrike Cope 83-Lake Speed 28-Davey Allison 90-ErnieIrvan 1-Terry Labonte On the final lap of the first race, Daytona 500 and Race...
Daytona International Speedway. ErnieIrvan drew the pole. Top ten results 3-Dale Earnhardt 25-Ken Schrader 4-ErnieIrvan 6-Mark Martin 5-Ricky Rudd 28-Davey...
Bill Elliott 23- Jimmy Spencer 33- Ken Schrader 7- Geoff Bodine 36- ErnieIrvan 6- Mark Martin 43- John Andretti 35- Todd Bodine Race One: Top Ten Results...
a late race restart, eventual winner ErnieIrvan passed Dale Earnhardt for the lead. Davey tried to follow Irvan around Earnhardt but could not make the...
backstretch after being tagged by Brett Bodine. Race two top ten results 28-ErnieIrvan 25-Ken Schrader 37-John Andretti 24-Jeff Gordon 10-Ricky Rudd 75-Morgan...
1993. ErnieIrvan (1993–1994) After Allison's death, Robby Gordon drove at Talladega later in July and Lake Speed drove in the next three races. Ernie Irvan...
crash involving championship contender ErnieIrvan would occur in the race's first Saturday practice session. Irvan would suffer a basilar skull fracture...
70-lap race was an exhibition race in the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. ErnieIrvan of Morgan–McClure Motorsports won the pole and led the most laps, but...
Gonzalo Rodriguez; and ARCA drivers Blaise Alexander and Slick Johnson. ErnieIrvan is a survivor of a basilar skull fracture sustained at an accident during...
were as follows: Championship standings following the 1994 DieHard 500 ErnieIrvan, 2,739 points Dale Earnhardt, −16 Mark Martin, −258 Rusty Wallace, −289...
Cup Series. Rusty Wallace of Penske Racing South won the pole, while ErnieIrvan of Robert Yates Racing led the most laps, but it was Geoff Bodine of...
Richard Petty. He was very consistent, scoring four wins, and after ErnieIrvan was sidelined due to a near-deadly crash at Michigan (the two were neck-and-neck...
Tools Ford F-150, and later in the #28 Federated Auto Parts Ford for ErnieIrvan. His best finish was sixth. As an owner, Simo fielded the #44 entry full-time...
have survived basilar skull fractures, such as NASCAR's Larry Pollard, ErnieIrvan, Stanley Smith, Rick Carelli and F1's Philippe Streiff. Hubbard had extensive...
point standings. ErnieIrvan (1998–1999) Veteran driver ErnieIrvan took over from Cope in 1998. The season was highlighted by Irvan's pole win at the...
second-year driver Jeff Gordon took the lead late in the race after ErnieIrvan suffered a flat tire. Gordon drove on to a historic win in NASCAR's debut...
In the closing laps, ErnieIrvan led Spencer, Dale Earnhardt, and Mark Martin. Spencer was tucked in nose-to-tail behind Irvan, waiting until the final...
failure. The race was marred by a brutal multi-car crash involving ErnieIrvan when Irvan spun out and was center-punched by John Andretti. 2000: Bobby Labonte...
named ErnieIrvan, who qualified 20th in a Dale Earnhardt-sponsored car for a race that Ulrich didn't make. Ulrich put the aggressive young Irvan in his...
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