In honor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win in the Daytona 500, we thought we’d give you this blast from the past.

While visiting the one-and-only Robert Yates recently at his latest venture, Robert Yates Racing Engines, we spotted the famous number 88 Ford piloted by Dale Jarrett to his Daytona 500 win all the way back in 1996.

Back then Jarrett was driving for Robert Yates Racing, and Robert Yates has kept the car all this time. While we were in the shop the car was on it’s way to be displayed in the NASCAR Hall of Fame and was actually scheduled to be picked up later that evening. The car is in exactly the same condition it was in when it crossed the finish line–including the grime. It is a great time capsule from racing 20 years ago.

The Thunderbird is still in the same condition it was in when it rolled into Daytona’s Victory Lane over 20 years ago. Notice how sand and grit thrown up off the track from other cars has sandblasted the red off the lower valence. We also wonder what did the damage in the bumper cover.

Remember these old teardrop capsules used to contain the on-board television cameras? Not all the cars were outfitted with in-car cameras back then, but every car at least had a dummy box so that the aerodynamics would be equal.

This was before teams discovered they could reduce drag-inducing turbulence behind the car by creating sharp “corners” where the rear quarterpanel meets the bumper.

Here’s the mounting box for the “bumper cam.” Notice the slick bit of advertising for Quality Care. In an age before the ubiquitous GoPro camera, television cameras with lenses capable of fitting in this box (remember, no high-def widescreen here) were big money items.

Daytona aerodyanamics are all about decreasing drag. Notice how the Lexan for the passenger-side window is pushed out so that it is practically flush with the body, and the air sees a smooth plane as it passes from the passenger window, over the B-pillar and the quarter glass.

Notice the rear window brace is actually threaded rod so that it can be easily adjusted. We aren’t saying the 88 team did it, but know some teams at the time would lengthen the brace after the car got through qualifying to “bubble” the rear class out. This would help keep air off the rear spoiler and give the car just a touch less drag.

Today, programmable gauges light up in a different color (usually red) to alert the driver when a vital pressure or temperature gets out of range. But that technology wasn’t yet available back in ’96. Instead, teams twisted the gauges in the housing so that when everything was operating as it should the needle on each gauge would be pointing straight up. In the 88 all Jarrett had to do was quickly scan his gauges, and if all were pointing up he could quickly turn his attention back to the track.

This photo may be a little bit hard to discern at first, but this shot is of the driver’s footwell. In these cars the left-side header runs directly underneath the driver’s feet and during a race the floorboards can get incredibly hot. To protect the driver’s feet teams needed a highly efficient insulator that is also quite stiff so that it won’t affect the driver’s “feel” through the pedals. The answer at the time was a sheet of good-old-fashioned plywood.

The death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 2001 was the spark that caused the great advancement in driver safety in stock car racing that drivers are enjoying today. In ’96 safety gear was still quite rudimentary by comparison. At the time this Butlerbuilt aluminum racing seat with it’s rib protectors was the gold standard, but next to today’s carbon fiber cocoons it looks quite flimsy.