1988 Southern 500

The 1988 Southern 500, the 39th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on September 4, 1988, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.

1988 Southern 500
Race details[1]
Race 21 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Darlington Raceway
Date September 4, 1988 (1988-September-04)
Official name Southern 500
Location Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance 367 laps, 501.3 mi (806.7 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures reaching up to 88 °F (31 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed 128.297 miles per hour (206.474 km/h)
Attendance 74,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Melling Racing
Most laps led
Driver Bill Elliott Melling Racing
Laps 154
Winner
No. 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Ned Jarrett
Gary Nelson

All the wives of the participating NASCAR drivers received a special racing pass that allowed them to access all aspects of racing life except for the pits where the drivers' crew did their actual work.

Background

Layout of Darlington Raceway, the track where the race was held.

Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

The track is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval.[3] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.[3] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.[3] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.[3]

Summary

Lasting almost four hours, this final "traditional" Southern 500 racing event would feature Bill Elliott (employed at that time by Mr. Harry Melling of Melling Racing) defeating Rusty Wallace (employed by Raymond Beadle Blue Max Racing racing team during this era) by 0.24 seconds; the average speed of the race was 128.297 miles per hour (206.474 km/h).[2] Four drivers would fail to qualify for this race; which had ten cautions for a whopping 49 laps.[2] 74000 people would attend the race to see 367 laps of racing action; last-place finisher Harry Gant would only finish 50 of them due to engine difficulties.[2] Twenty-four different changes would be made for the first-place position of the race.[2] The pole winner was also the winner of the race; qualifying with speeds up to 160.827 miles per hour (258.826 km/h).[2] Both Richard Petty and his son Kyle would compete in this race.[2] Notable drivers at the race also included Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, and Alan Kulwicki.[2]

Despite being the 21st round of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, this was the first Cup race in 1988 to have any driver get the pole, lead the most laps and win.[2] Rusty Wallace faired fairly well at this race; he just could never win the race because Bill Elliott was already ahead for at least four lengths car lengths in turns 3 and 4.[2]

Just like in 1985, Elliott dominates and wins the Southern 500 and leaves there leading the points.[2] Unlike 1985, the Melling team has a strong, consistent run to the end of the season to claim the Winston Cup title for 1988.[2]

Two different drivers would be involved in accidents; Derrike Cope on lap 203 and Ken Ragan on lap 308.[4] A stock car carrying the Ford manufacturer won the race while Chevrolet was the official manufacturer of the last-place finisher.[4] The total purse of the race was $431,345 ($932,477.11 when adjusted for inflation); with the winner taking $75,800 of the purse ($163,863.65 when adjusted for inflation).[5]

From the following year to the end of the autumn Southern 500 races in 2004, a sponsor's name would be added to the overall race name; reducing the traditionalism surrounding the early "Southern 500" races.

Timeline

Section reference:[2]

  • Start: Bill Elliott was ahead of the other drivers as the green flag was waved.
  • Lap 41: NASCAR officials gave out a competition caution, caution ended on lap 44.
  • Lap 50: Harry Gant had to leave the race because his vehicle's engine stopped working properly.
  • Lap 54: Caution due to Morgan Shepherd's engine failure, caution ended on lap 60.
  • Lap 82: Rick Wilson's vehicle had engine problems and had to leave the race.
  • Lap 113: Jimmy Horton had to leave the race due to engine failure.
  • Lap 130: Caution due to Brett Bodine causing terminal damage to his vehicle, caution ended on lap 132.
  • Lap 135: Randy Baker had to leave the race due to a problematic engine.
  • Lap 167: Caution due to Rick Mast causing terminal damage to his vehicle on turn 1, caution ended on lap 170.
  • Lap 206: Caution due to Derrike Cope causing terminal damage to his vehicle on turn 4, caution ended on lap 208.
  • Lap 236: Caution due to Richard Petty causing terminal damage to his vehicle on turn 2, caution ended on lap 239.
  • Lap 239: Dale Jarrett had to the leave the race due to engine difficulties.
  • Lap 257: Caution due to Ken Bouchard spinning out on the front stretch, caution ended on lap 260.
  • Lap 302: Caution due to H.B. Bailey spinning out on turn 4, caution ended on lap 305.
  • Lap 312: Caution due to debris in the backstretch, caution ended on lap 314.
  • Lap 317: Bobby Hillin, Jr. had to leave the race due to oil pressure problems.
  • Lap 328: Caution due to Ken Ragan causing terminal damage to his vehicle on turn 4, caution ended on lap 330.
  • Finish: Bill Elliott was officially declared the winner of the event.

Official results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
119Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord367185
2527Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac367175
323Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet367170
4617Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet367165
51244Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile367160
62155Phil ParsonsPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile366150
745Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet366151
82311Terry LabonteJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet366142
91528Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord366143
102926Ricky RuddKing RacingBuick366139
112525Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet366130
121183Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobile366127
132790Benny ParsonsDonlavey RacingFord365129
143012Mike AlexanderStavola Brothers RacingBuick365126
1537Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord365118
162475Neil BonnettRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac364115
17815Brett BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord363117
183610Ken Bouchard #Whitcomb RacingFord360109
1976Mark MartinRoush RacingFord358106
20172Ernie Irvan #U.S. RacingChevrolet358103
211397Rodney CombsWinkle MotorsportsBuick365100
223871Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet35597
233231Jim SauterBob Clark MotorsportsOldsmobile351
242852Jimmy MeansMeans RacingPontiac35091
251430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac34388
263323Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobile34085
273436H. B. BaileyBailey RacingPontiac34082
283521Kyle PettyWood Brothers RacingFord33784
293932Philip DuffieDuffie RacingBuick33281
30168Bobby Hillin, Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick31773
312077Ken RaganBob Beard RacingFord30870
322288Rick MastBaker-Schiff RacingOldsmobile305
332643Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac26664
341829Dale JarrettCale Yarborough RacingOldsmobile23961
353168Derrike CopeTesta RacingFord20358
363787Randy BakerBuck Baker RacingOldsmobile13555
374080Jimmy Horton #S & H RacingFord11452
38194Rick WilsonMorgan-McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile8249
391057Morgan ShepherdShepherd RacingBuick5346
40933Harry GantMach 1 RacingChevrolet5043
Did Not Qualify
#98 Brad Noffsinger #; Slick Johnson; Ricky Woodward; #64 Mike Potter; #04 Hershel McGriff
# Rookie of the Year candidate / † Driver change following qualifying
Source:[2]

References

  1. Weather information for the 1988 Southern 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1988 Southern 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. "Darlington Raceway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  4. 1988 Southern 500 Archived 2012-04-29 at the Wayback Machine racing information at Driver Averages
  5. 1988 Southern 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by
1988 Busch 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1988
Succeeded by
1988 Miller High Life 400
Preceded by
1987
Southern 500 races
1988
Succeeded by
1989
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.