27th race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1989 AC Delco 500 was the 27th stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 25th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, October 22, 1989, before an audience of 52,500 in Rockingham, North Carolina , at North Carolina Speedway , a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. At race's end, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to dominate the late stages of the race, leading the final 77 laps to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] To fill out the top three, Blue Max Racing driver Rusty Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports driver Darrell Waltrip would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of North Carolina Motor Speedway , the venue where the race was held.
North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, October 19, at 2:30 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, October 20, 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,[ 5] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given.
Alan Kulwicki , driving for his own AK Racing team, would win the pole, setting a time of 24.634 and an average speed of 148.624 miles per hour (239.187 km/h) in the first round.[ 6] [ 7]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
7
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
492
101
running
185
$52,800
2
21
27
Rusty Wallace
Blue Max Racing
Pontiac
492
194
running
180
$33,675
3
2
17
Darrell Waltrip
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
492
24
running
170
$32,225
4
9
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
491
0
running
160
$16,725
5
16
84
Dick Trickle (R)
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
491
0
running
155
$15,250
6
19
21
Neil Bonnett
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
491
0
running
150
$10,550
7
11
5
Geoff Bodine
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
490
0
running
146
$12,275
8
28
8
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
490
0
running
142
$9,575
9
1
7
Alan Kulwicki
AK Racing
Ford
490
6
running
143
$13,225
10
36
42
Kyle Petty
SABCO Racing
Pontiac
489
0
running
134
$10,107
11
6
10
Derrike Cope
Whitcomb Racing
Pontiac
489
0
running
130
$6,625
12
3
16
Larry Pearson (R)
Pearson Racing
Buick
488
0
running
127
$6,575
13
27
4
Rick Wilson
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Oldsmobile
488
0
running
124
$7,950
14
15
11
Terry Labonte
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
488
0
running
121
$13,725
15
4
9
Bill Elliott
Melling Racing
Ford
488
0
running
118
$17,500
16
20
2
Ernie Irvan
U.S. Racing
Pontiac
487
0
running
115
$5,075
17
26
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
486
0
running
112
$6,775
18
30
48
Greg Sacks
Winkle Motorsports
Pontiac
485
0
running
109
$3,475
19
24
83
Lake Speed
Speed Racing
Oldsmobile
485
0
running
106
$9,875
20
5
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
484
86
running
108
$13,775
21
14
15
Brett Bodine
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
484
1
running
105
$6,375
22
18
57
Hut Stricklin (R)
Osterlund Racing
Pontiac
474
0
running
97
$3,700
23
10
94
Sterling Marlin
Hagan Racing
Oldsmobile
471
0
running
94
$5,500
24
29
55
Phil Parsons
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
470
0
running
91
$5,375
25
40
54
Bob Schacht
Schacht Racing
Buick
463
0
running
88
$2,700
26
13
28
Davey Allison
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
460
2
running
90
$10,950
27
35
62
Joe Ruttman
Douglas Smith Racing
Oldsmobile
459
0
running
82
$2,500
28
8
26
Ricky Rudd
King Racing
Buick
456
66
running
84
$10,700
29
12
33
Harry Gant
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
446
4
running
81
$10,025
30
33
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
443
0
running
73
$5,500
31
37
52
Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means Racing
Pontiac
341
0
engine
70
$2,200
32
17
47
Jack Pennington
Close Racing
Chevrolet
277
0
handling
0
$2,150
33
22
44
Jim Sauter
Group 44
Pontiac
249
8
brakes
69
$2,080
34
34
43
Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
247
0
handling
61
$4,280
35
31
88
Jimmy Spencer (R)
Baker–Schiff Racing
Pontiac
225
0
crash
58
$4,605
36
23
75
Morgan Shepherd
RahMoc Enterprises
Pontiac
206
0
crash
55
$9,925
37
39
34
Jim Bown
AAG Racing
Buick
195
0
handling
52
$1,900
38
25
53
Jerry O'Neil
Aroneck Racing
Oldsmobile
112
0
axle
49
$1,875
39
32
29
Dale Jarrett
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Pontiac
74
0
clutch
46
$4,450
40
38
93
Charlie Baker
Salmon Racing
Buick
37
0
oil pump
43
$1,825
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos
Driver
Points
1
Rusty Wallace
3,938
2
Dale Earnhardt
3,829 (-109)
3
Mark Martin
3,810 (-128)
4
Darrell Waltrip
3,646 (–292)
5
Bill Elliott
3,512 (–426)
6
Ken Schrader
3,492 (–446)
7
Ricky Rudd
3,401 (–537)
8
Harry Gant
3,356 (–582)
1
9
Terry Labonte
3,351 (–587)
1
10
Geoff Bodine
3,346 (–592)
Official driver's standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Higgins, Tom (October 23, 1989). "Martin Ends Victory Drought (Part 1)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 19. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (October 23, 1989). "Martin Ends Victory Drought (Part 2)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 23. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Mulhurn, Mike (October 23, 1989). "Martin Finally Gets Break... and 1st Win (Part 1)" . Winston-Salem Journal . p. 17. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Mulhurn, Mike (October 23, 1989). "Martin Finally Gets Break... and 1st Win (Part 2)" . Winston-Salem Journal . p. 24. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "NASCAR Today" . The Charlotte Observer . October 19, 1989. p. 56. Retrieved June 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (October 20, 1989). "Kulwicki Captures Top Spot (Part 1)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 37. Retrieved June 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (October 20, 1989). "Kulwicki Captures Top Spot (Part 2)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 42. Retrieved June 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races