Ernie Irvan - Last Years in NASCAR and Retirement

Last Years in NASCAR and Retirement

In 1998, Irvan joined MB2 Motorsports to drive the #36 Skittles Pontiac. During the year he scored 11 Top-10 finishes with three pole positions despite missing the final three races while recovering from injuries suffered at Talladega in October. Irvan finished the season 19th in the Winston Cup points standings, earning $1,476,141. The highlight of 1998 was the birth of his son, Jared, on February 9.

Irvan continued driving the #36 for MB2 in 1999, but with a different sponsor. M&M Mars (parent corporation of Skittles) decided to emblazon the popular "M&M's" characters on the car.

On August 20, exactly 5 years after his near fatal accident there, Irvan crashed at Michigan while driving his own #84 Irvan-Simo Federated Auto Parts Pontiac in a practice session for the Busch Series race. Ernie was again airlifted from the track and was diagnosed with a mild head injury and a bruised lung as a result of the accident.

Less than two weeks later, on September 3, 1999, surrounded by his wife and two children, Irvan announced his retirement from driving at a tearful press conference in Darlington, SC. While he would fully recover before the end of the 1999 season, the reasoning for the retirement was to prevent future incidents and he had a family to support.

Irvan finished his Winston Cup career as a driver with 15 victories, 22 poles, 68 Top-5's, 124 Top-10's and over 11 million dollars in career earnings.