The 1991 Budweiser at The Glen was the 18th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the sixth iteration of the event.

A mechanical failure on McDuffie's #70 Pontiac led to him crashing at nearly full race speed into a tire barrier, where he was killed on impact.

[4][5][6][7][8] The race was covered on television by ESPN as part of their contract to air NASCAR Winston Cup Series events.

Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, and Ned Jarrett were the broadcast team with Jerry Punch and John Kernan as pit reporters.

Terry Labonte, driving the #94 Sunoco Oldsmobile for Hagan Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 1:11.851 and an average speed of 121.652 miles per hour (195.780 km/h) in the first round.

Michael Waltrip crashed his #30 Pennzoil Pontiac during his qualifying run and did not record a time, starting fortieth with a provisional.

[13] McDuffie's sponsor, Medford Speed, hired accident investigators, Phil Moser and Terry Shaw, to perform to determine the cause of the fatal injuries.

The report cited a "black tar-like substance" on the window and damage to McDuffie's helmet foam and microphone tab that was consistent with a tire from the barrier entering the car upon impact.

Means then spoke to Ned Jarrett, who as mentioned before was stationed on the track just behind where the accident occurred, on the ESPN broadcast moments later that he hoped his fellow driver was okay but conceded the situation did not look good.

[7] Later, as the race was restarting, Jerry Punch of ESPN and Bill Bowser of MRN were both present for the official statement from Winston Cup Media Director Chip Williams that McDuffie had died from his injuries sustained in the crash.

Earlier that season, during the Winston Cup’s June race weekend at Pocono, he had stayed behind at his North Carolina home to be with his wife Connie as she battled a terminal illness.

On June 30, 1991, during the running of the IMSA Camel Continental sports car event, Tommy Kendall suffered a wheel failure in his Intrepid RM-1 before crashing hard in turn 5, breaking both of his legs.

[18] Although track officials did not specifically cite the two serious incidents as their reasoning, for 1992 Watkins Glen International installed a bus stop chicane near Turn 5 in order to slow the cars down before entering The Loop.