1988 Southern 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 21 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1988 Southern 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | September 4, 1988 | ||
| Official name | 39th Annual Southern 500 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.221 km) | ||
| Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km) | ||
| Average speed | 128.297 miles per hour (206.474 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 50,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Melling Racing | ||
| Time | 30.577 | ||
| 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 | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The 1988 Southern 500 was the 21st stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 39th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 4, 1988, before an audience of 50,000 in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 367 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Melling Racing's Bill Elliott would manage to fend off Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace to the finish to take his 28th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fifth victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Rusty Wallace and Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
[edit]
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." 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 is effective at both ends.
Entry list
[edit]- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
[edit]Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, September 1, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Friday, September 2, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time[3] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified on time but were high enough in owner's points; up to two provisionals were given.
Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.577 and an average speed of 160.827 miles per hour (258.826 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Two drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
[edit]Race results
[edit]| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 367 | 154 | running | 185 | $75,800 |
| 2 | 5 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 367 | 50 | running | 175 | $38,850 |
| 3 | 2 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 85 | running | 170 | $31,375 |
| 4 | 6 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 5 | running | 165 | $19,850 |
| 5 | 12 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 367 | 21 | running | 160 | $21,130 |
| 6 | 21 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 366 | 0 | running | 150 | $12,950 |
| 7 | 4 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 366 | 7 | running | 151 | $11,310 |
| 8 | 23 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 366 | 0 | running | 142 | $13,260 |
| 9 | 15 | 28 | Davey Allison | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 366 | 9 | running | 143 | $15,105 |
| 10 | 29 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 366 | 6 | running | 139 | $13,130 |
| 11 | 25 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 366 | 0 | running | 130 | $10,980 |
| 12 | 11 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 366 | 0 | running | 127 | $6,815 |
| 13 | 27 | 90 | Benny Parsons | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 365 | 25 | running | 129 | $19,305 |
| 14 | 30 | 12 | Mike Alexander | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 365 | 2 | running | 126 | $11,495 |
| 15 | 3 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 365 | 0 | running | 118 | $8,735 |
| 16 | 24 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 364 | 0 | running | 115 | $11,195 |
| 17 | 8 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 363 | 2 | running | 117 | $12,635 |
| 18 | 36 | 10 | Ken Bouchard (R) | Whitcomb Racing | Ford | 360 | 0 | running | 109 | $6,240 |
| 19 | 7 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 358 | 0 | running | 106 | $5,040 |
| 20 | 17 | 2 | Ernie Irvan (R) | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 358 | 0 | running | 103 | $4,985 |
| 21 | 13 | 97 | Rodney Combs | Winkle Motorsports | Buick | 357 | 0 | running | 100 | $3,320 |
| 22 | 38 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 355 | 0 | running | 97 | $6,320 |
| 23 | 32 | 31 | Jim Sauter | Bob Clark Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 351 | 0 | running | 0 | $4,120 |
| 24 | 28 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 350 | 0 | running | 91 | $5,000 |
| 25 | 14 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 343 | 0 | running | 88 | $5,955 |
| 26 | 33 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Oldsmobile | 340 | 0 | running | 85 | $2,815 |
| 27 | 34 | 36 | H. B. Bailey | Bailey Racing | Pontiac | 340 | 0 | running | 82 | $2,725 |
| 28 | 35 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 337 | 1 | running | 84 | $9,630 |
| 29 | 39 | 32 | Philip Duffie | Duffie Racing | Buick | 332 | 0 | running | 76 | $2,540 |
| 30 | 16 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 317 | 0 | oil pressure | 73 | $5,335 |
| 31 | 20 | 77 | Ken Ragan | Ragan Racing | Ford | 308 | 0 | accident | 70 | $2,340 |
| 32 | 22 | 88 | Rick Mast | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 305 | 0 | running | 0 | $5,530 |
| 33 | 26 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 266 | 0 | engine | 64 | $4,925 |
| 34 | 18 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 239 | 0 | engine | 61 | $2,850 |
| 35 | 31 | 68 | Derrike Cope | Testa Racing | Ford | 203 | 0 | accident | 58 | $4,755 |
| 36 | 37 | 87 | Randy Baker | Buck Baker Racing | Oldsmobile | 135 | 0 | engine | 55 | $2,055 |
| 37 | 40 | 80 | Jimmy Horton (R) | S&H Racing | Ford | 114 | 0 | engine | 52 | $2,005 |
| 38 | 19 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 82 | 0 | engine | 49 | $2,580 |
| 39 | 10 | 57 | Morgan Shepherd | Osterlund Racing | Buick | 53 | 0 | engine | 46 | $1,910 |
| 40 | 9 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 50 | 0 | engine | 43 | $4,450 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 41 | 98 | Brad Noffsinger (R) | Curb Racing | Buick | ||||||
| 42 | 04 | Hershel McGriff | McGriff Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
[edit]
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References
[edit]- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 5, 1988). "Elliott Holds Off Wallace At Darlington". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 4C. Retrieved July 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McLaurin, Jim (September 5, 1988). "Elliott nabs Southern 500". The State. pp. 1C, 4C. Retrieved July 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. September 1, 1988. pp. 5B. Retrieved July 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 2, 1988). "Elliott To Start Out Front". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1D, 4D. Retrieved July 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
