For more than 50 years, NASCAR’s Cup Series has raced at Dover Motor Speedway in mid-May. Exactly once, a race fell on May 17. That race produced one of the most unlikely winners not just in Monster Mile history, but in NASCAR history.
Long before the NASCAR All-Star Race was ever put on the calendar, May 17 belonged to Jody Ridley. The year was 1981, and America’s best were set to do battle in the Mason-Dixon 500. Ridley was in no way, shape, or form supposed to win it.
Dover was still cementing its reputation as one of the most demanding tracks in the sport, a place that punished mistakes and wore drivers down lap after lap. That afternoon, the favorites did exactly what everyone expected them to do. They led laps and dominated the majority of the day. Neil Bonnett paced the field for more than 400 laps, and Cale Yarborough was right there, ready to pounce. The outcome seemed all but settled, until Dover did what it has been notorious for for years.
Mechanical issues, fatigue, and bad luck took their toll late. Miles the Monster started removing contenders one by one. Ridley, driving for the legendary Junie Donlavey, stayed patient, stayed clean, and suddenly found himself in front with fewer than 50 laps remaining.
He never gave it back.
When the checkered flag waved, Jody Ridley was a NASCAR Cup Series winner. It would be the only win of his career and the only Cup victory for Donlavey as a car owner. A moment that came on a single afternoon, attached forever to a single date: May 17.
What makes that victory even more unusual now is how rarely Dover has landed on that exact square of the calendar. The Monster Mile has hosted Cup Series races in mid-May dozens of times across multiple eras, especially when the track carried two annual dates. Early, middle, and late May — but May 17 itself appeared just once.
Until now.
This year’s NASCAR All-Star Race marks only the second time a Cup Series event will be held at Dover on May 17, more than four decades after Ridley’s unlikely triumph. In a sport built on repetition and routine, that coincidence stands out, and the parallel runs deeper than the calendar.
Ridley wasn’t a superstar by any means. He wasn’t a top-tier driver in top-tier equipment. He wasn’t expected to contend, let alone win. His moment came because he survived when others didn’t, because he stayed ready when opportunity suddenly appeared.
On May 17 again, Dover will host a day that rewards exactly that approach.
Some will come with everything to gain and nothing to lose. Some will need a strong run, a clean afternoon, or a perfectly timed break to keep their story alive.
That’s when the echo of 1981 starts to get louder, a true tip of the hat to one of NASCAR’s greatest underdogs, Jody Ridley.
May 17 at Dover has already proven it doesn’t care about expectations or résumés. It has already delivered one of the most unlikely outcomes in track history, and now it gets another chance.
Jody Ridley’s name will always be attached to that date at the Monster Mile, and now it’s someone else’s turn. At Dover, opportunity has a way of finding the drivers who stay in position long enough.
At Dover, opportunity has a way of finding the drivers who stay in position long enough. The NASCAR All-Star Race comes to the Monster Mile on May 17, get your tickets here to experience the action in person.
