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1985 Winston 500

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1985 Winston 500
Race details[1]
Race 9 of 28 in the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Bill Elliott in victory lane after winning the 1985 Winston 500
Bill Elliott in victory lane after winning the 1985 Winston 500
Date May 5, 1985 (1985-May-05)
Official name Winston 500
Location Alabama International Motor Speedway, Talladega, Alabama
Course Permanent racing facility
2.660 mi (4.280 km)
Distance 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km)
Weather Very hot with temperatures of 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds of 4.1 miles per hour (6.6 km/h)
Average speed 186.288 mph (299.801 km/h)
2 hours, 41 minutes, 04 seconds
Attendance 122,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Melling Racing
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Racing
Laps 97
Winner
No. 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Paul Page
Bobby Unser

The 1985 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 5, 1985, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama as race number 9 of 28 of the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.

Prior to this event, two-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip complained to NASCAR about how Bill Elliott was ruining the parity of the sport and he needed to be slowed down.[3] As a result, NASCAR raised the height of the Ford vehicles by half an inch.[3] The roof of the GM race cars was lowered by the same amount in order to improve their speed performance.[3]

Background

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Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 miles (4.28 km), and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.[4]

Bill Elliott dominated the early part of the 1985 season, including winning the Daytona 500, the first race of the Winston Million promotion. The Winston 500 was the second. Later in the season at the Southern 500, Elliott would go on to become the first Winston Million winner.[5]

Race report

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There were 40 drivers who qualified for this race with 1 driver withdrawing (Greg Sacks due to a blown engine); the pole position winner was Bill Elliott who qualified at a then-track record speed of 209.398 miles per hour (336.993 km/h) in a Ford Thunderbird.[3][2][6] He would go on to beat Kyle Petty by nearly two seconds at a then-record average speed of 186.288 miles per hour (299.801 km/h) for the race;[2][6] a record that stood until broken in the 1997 Winston 500 by Mark Martin.

More than 100,000 live spectators saw more than two and a half hours of racing with two cautions periods (lasting for only eight laps).[2] This relatively clean race would see 28 different lead changes.[2][6] Canadian driver Trevor Boys would finish in last place due to a problem with the engine on lap 6.[2][6] Bosco Lowe and Dick Skillen would exit NASCAR after this race while Geoff Bodine would lose the championship points lead to Terry Labonte.[6]

Some of the drivers were complaining (most notably Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip) about how it was difficult to draft off the back end of the '85 Thunderbird's in general and Elliott in specific. They commented that they felt the shape of the rear of the car was the reason why the average NASCAR driver found it difficult to draft off of Elliott.

Early in the race, a broken oil fitting would put Elliott nearly two laps out of the lead before he managed a comeback. Elliott would return to the track and begin consistently running laps near 205 mph, making up the two laps lost without the aide of a yellow flag or the draft.[7]

The Ford Thunderbirds placed 1-2-3 with Kyle Petty beating Cale Yarborough in a photo finish for second place behind Elliott. The Ford trio were the only drivers to finish on the lead lap.[2][6]

Full Results

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[8] Average speed: 186.288 mph (299.801 km/h)
Pole speed: 209.398 mph (336.993 km/h)
Attendance: 122,000

Box Score

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Pos Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps
led
Points Time/Status
1 1 9 Bill Elliott Ford Thunderbird 188 60 180* 2:41:04
2 4 7 Kyle Petty Ford Thunderbird 188 9 175* -1.72 seconds
3 2 28 Cale Yarborough Ford Thunderbird 188 97 175** Flagged
4 17 22 Bobby Allison Buick Regal 187 3 165* -1 lap
5 15 15 Ricky Rudd Ford Thunderbird 187 155 -1 lap
6 32 88 Buddy Baker Oldsmobile Cutlass 185 150 -3 laps
7 3 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo 185 2 151* -3 laps
8 18 71 Dave Marcis Chevrolet Monte Carlo 185 142 -3 laps
9 7 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Chevrolet Monte Carlo 184 138 -4 laps
10 20 75 Lake Speed Pontiac Grand Prix 183 134 -5 laps
11 14 5 Geoffrey Bodine Chevrolet Monte Carlo 182 130 -6 laps
12 24 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet Monte Carlo 181 127 -7 Laps
13 22 38 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Monte Carlo 180 124 -8 Laps
14 28 67 Buddy Arrington Ford Thunderbird 175 121 -13 Laps
15 38 70 J.D. McDuffie Pontiac Grand Prix 174 118 -14 Laps
16 27 27 Tim Richmond Pontiac Grand Prix 171 115 -17 Laps
17 37 17 Bosco Lowe Chevrolet Monte Carlo 171 -17 Laps
18 39 79 Dick Skillen Chevrolet Monte Carlo 167 109 -21 Laps
19 31 6 Eddie Bierschwale Chevrolet Monte Carlo 161 106 Engine
20 21 90 Ken Schrader Ford Thunderbird 159 103 -29 Laps
21 13 3 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo 155 12 105* Engine
22 26 99 Connie Saylor Chevrolet Monte Carlo 155 97 Ignition
23 29 64 Clark Dwyer Ford Thunderbird 150 94 Ignition
24 5 11 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo 137 1 96* Piston
25 10 95 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Monte Carlo 113 88 Engine
26 12 12 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet Monte Carlo 106 1 90* Water Leak
27 9 43 Richard Petty Pontiac Grand Prix 94 1 87* Valve
28 19 47 Ron Bouchard Buick Regal 85 79 Suspension
29 16 55 Benny Parsons Chevrolet Monte Carlo 74 2 81* Driveshaft
30 6 4 Joe Ruttman Chevrolet Monte Carlo 70 73 Transmission
31 23 84 Mike Alexander Chevrolet Monte Carlo 70 70 Engine
32 34 74 Bobby Wawak Chevrolet Monte Carlo 61 67 Wheel
33 36 49 Don Hume Chevrolet Monte Carlo 35 64 Vibration
34 11 66 Phil Parsons Chevrolet Monte Carlo 33 61 Wheel Bearing
35 33 00 Phil Barkdoll Chevrolet Monte Carlo 33 58 Engine
36 8 21 David Pearson Chevrolet Monte Carlo 26 55 Carburetor
37 35 2 Rusty Wallace Pontiac Grand Prix 7 52 Engine
38 25 33 Harry Gant Chevrolet Monte Carlo 7 49 Engine
39 30 98 Canada Trevor Boys Chevrolet Monte Carlo 6 46 Engine
WD 40 51 Greg Sacks Chevrolet Monte Carlo 0 Withdrawn due
to Engine Failure

* - Includes 5 bonus points for leading at least 1 lap.
** - Includes additional 5 bonus points for leading the most laps.

Cautions

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2 for 8 laps

Start
Lap
End
Lap
# of
laps
Reason
160 163 4 Geoffrey Bodine accident, turn 4
174 177 4 Eddie Bierschwale accident, turn 4

Lap Leader Breakdown

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Lead changes: 28

Driver From
Lap
To
Lap
# of
Laps
Cale Yarborough 1 4 4
Kyle Petty 5 5 1
Bill Elliott 6 27 22
Dale Earnhardt 28 33 6
Bill Elliott 34 36 3
Terry Labonte 37 37 1
Dale Earnhardt 38 39 2
Kyle Petty 40 42 3
Dale Earnhardt 43 43 1
Cale Yarborough 44 47 4
Dale Earnhardt 48 48 1
Richard Petty 49 49 1
Kyle Petty 50 53 4
Cale Yarborough 54 70 17
Neil Bonnett 71 71 1
Benny Parsons 72 73 2
Bobby Allison 74 75 2
Cale Yarborough 76 102 27
Bobby Allison 103 103 1
Darrell Waltrip 104 104 1
Terry Labonte 105 105 1
Cale Yarborough 106 131 26
Dale Earnhardt 132 133 2
Kyle Petty 134 134 1
Cale Yarborough 135 144 10
Bill Elliott 145 159 15
Cale Yarborough 160 168 9
Bill Elliott 169 188 20

Failed to qualify

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Name Car # Car manufacturer
Eldon Dotson 96 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Delma Cowart 0 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Slick Johnson 05 Ford Thunderbird
Blackie Wangerin 39 Ford Thunderbird
Craig Spetman 08 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Rick Newsom 20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Ronnie Thomas 41 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Mike Potter 68 Ford Thunderbird
Steve Moore 73 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Mark Stahl 82 Ford Thunderbird
Ken Ragan
(car was driven by Bosco Lowe)
17 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Standings after the race

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Pos Driver Points Differential
1 Increase Terry Labonte 1355 0
2 Decrease Geoffrey Bodine 1343 -12
3 Increase Bill Elliott 1312 -43
4 Decrease Neil Bonnett 1279 -76
5 Increase Ricky Rudd 1228 -127
6 Lake Speed 1215 -140
7 Decrease Darrell Waltrip 1208 -147
8 Increase Kyle Petty 1197 -158
9 Increase Bobby Allison 1187 -168
10 Decrease Dale Earnhardt 1150 -205

[9]

References

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  1. ^ 1985 Winston 500 weather conditions at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 1985 Winston 500 at Racing Reference
  3. ^ a b c d Elliott Was Awesome At Talladega In 1985 at GeorgiaRacingHistory.com
  4. ^ "Track Facts". talladegasuperspeedway.com. Talladega Superspeedway. November 1, 2012. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  5. ^ "Bill Elliott". The Crittenden Automotive Library. Retrieved May 8, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e f 1985 Winston 500 at Race Database
  7. ^ 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Recap Archived 2011-10-28 at the Wayback Machine at Auto.Howstuffworks.com
  8. ^ "Race Results".
  9. ^ "Race Results".
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1985
Succeeded by
Preceded by Winston 500 races
1985
Succeeded by