1989 AC Spark Plug 500

1989 AC Spark Plug 500

Race details
Race 16 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1989 AC Spark Plug 500 program cover
Date	July 23, 1989
Official name	17th Annual AC Spark Plug 500
Location	Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed	117.847 miles per hour (189.656 km/h)
Attendance	70,000
Pole position
Driver	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	57.031
Most laps led
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Blue Max Racing
Laps	68
Winner
No. 9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1989 AC Spark Plug 500 was the 16th stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 17th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 23, 1989, before an audience of 70,000 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott would make a late-race charge, passing for the lead with six laps left in the race to take his 31st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.^[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Blue Max Racing driver Rusty Wallace and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.

The race was held at Pocono International Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The track hosts two annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, as well as one Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series event. Until 2019, the track also hosted an IndyCar Series race.

Pocono International Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.

Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, July 21, at 3:00 PM EST. However, due to fog, the first round was cancelled, and qualifying was condensed into one round,^[5] which was held on Saturday, July 22, at 8:00 AM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 1–40 would be decided on time,^[6] 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 provisionals were given.

Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 57.031 and an average speed of 157.809 miles per hour (253.969 km/h).^[7]

Four drivers would fail to qualify.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 2,314 2 Rusty Wallace 2,227 (-87) 3 Darrell Waltrip 2,179 (-135) 1 4 Bill Elliott 2,153 (–161) 1 5 Mark Martin 2,148 (–166) 3 6 Davey Allison 2,016 (–298) 1 7 Geoff Bodine 1,996 (–318) 2 8 Sterling Marlin 1,995 (–319) 1 9 Terry Labonte 1,984 (–330) 1 10 Ken Schrader 1,971 (–343) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.