Tenth race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1989 Coca-Cola 600 was the 10th stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 30th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, May 28, 1989, before an audience of 161,000 in Concord, North Carolina , at Charlotte Motor Speedway , a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. With the help of a fast final pit stop, Hendrick Motorsports driver Darrell Waltrip would manage control the final laps of the race, leading the final 80 laps to take his 77th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] To fill out the top three, Hagan Racing driver Sterling Marlin and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway , the venue where the race was held.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge , as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500 . The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith ) as track president.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, May 24, 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 Thursday, May 25, 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 31.210 and an average speed of 173.021 miles per hour (278.450 km/h) in the first round.[ 6] [ 7]
Nine drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
4
17
Darrell Waltrip
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
87
running
180
$126,400
2
18
94
Sterling Marlin
Hagan Racing
Oldsmobile
400
17
running
175
$61,675
3
3
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
1
running
170
$44,275
4
13
5
Geoff Bodine
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
399
0
running
160
$30,950
5
15
9
Bill Elliott
Melling Racing
Ford
399
12
running
160
$32,305
6
2
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
399
53
running
155
$29,675
7
25
21
Neil Bonnett
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
399
0
running
146
$17,800
8
10
15
Brett Bodine
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
398
0
running
142
$16,900
9
27
8
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
397
0
running
138
$15,200
10
9
26
Ricky Rudd
King Racing
Buick
397
0
running
134
$16,925
11
41
66
Rick Mast (R)
Mach 1 Racing
Chevrolet
396
0
running
130
$13,107
12
22
10
Derrike Cope
Whitcomb Racing
Pontiac
396
0
running
127
$8,500
13
31
55
Phil Parsons
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
395
0
running
124
$11,725
14
26
57
Hut Stricklin (R)
Osterlund Racing
Pontiac
395
0
running
121
$7,625
15
36
2
Ernie Irvan
U.S. Racing
Pontiac
394
0
running
118
$9,175
16
42
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
394
0
running
115
$9,650
17
33
42
Kyle Petty
SABCO Racing
Chevrolet
392
0
running
112
$6,000
18
39
90
Chad Little (R)
Donlavey Racing
Ford
392
0
running
109
$5,650
19
11
43
Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
391
0
running
106
$6,400
20
30
40
Ben Hess (R)
Hess Racing
Oldsmobile
388
0
running
103
$5,775
21
35
06
Terry Byers
Byers Racing
Chevrolet
379
0
running
100
$4,700
22
21
16
Larry Pearson (R)
Pearson Racing
Buick
377
0
running
97
$5,450
23
1
7
Alan Kulwicki
AK Racing
Ford
371
138
engine
104
$58,500
24
20
83
Lake Speed
Speed Racing
Oldsmobile
364
0
running
91
$6,800
25
29
14
Tracy Leslie
A. J. Foyt Racing
Oldsmobile
360
0
crank
88
$3,925
26
37
53
Jerry O'Neil
Aroneck Racing
Chevrolet
353
0
running
85
$3,100
27
7
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
333
0
engine
82
$6,150
28
24
29
Dale Jarrett
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Pontiac
331
0
engine
79
$5,200
29
16
84
Dick Trickle (R)
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
330
0
oil line
76
$4,975
30
19
88
Greg Sacks
Baker–Schiff Racing
Pontiac
320
2
accident
78
$4,800
31
6
27
Rusty Wallace
Blue Max Racing
Pontiac
306
22
engine
75
$13,950
32
23
75
Morgan Shepherd
RahMoc Enterprises
Pontiac
303
0
engine
67
$10,000
33
17
28
Davey Allison
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
298
1
engine
69
$10,550
34
32
47
Allan Grice
Allan Grice Racing
Pontiac
294
0
engine
61
$1,900
35
5
4
Rick Wilson
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Oldsmobile
292
15
running
63
$6,975
36
40
23
Eddie Bierschwale
B&B Racing
Oldsmobile
242
0
accident
55
$2,400
37
38
31
Jim Sauter
Bob Clark Motorsports
Pontiac
236
0
engine
52
$1,775
38
14
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
223
2
engine
54
$10,750
39
12
11
Terry Labonte
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
186
0
engine
46
$8,725
40
8
33
Harry Gant
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
148
50
engine
48
$10,600
41
34
52
Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means Racing
Pontiac
113
0
engine
40
$1,700
42
28
51
Butch Miller (R)
Miller Racing
Chevrolet
24
0
wheel bearing
37
$2,200
Failed to qualify
43
89
Rodney Combs
Mueller Brothers Racing
Pontiac
44
18
Jim Bown
TriStar Motorsports
Pontiac
45
34
Jimmy Spencer (R)
Frank Cicci Racing
Buick
46
95
Slick Johnson
Sadler Brothers Racing
Chevrolet
47
36
H. B. Bailey
Bailey Racing
Pontiac
48
93
Charlie Baker
Salmon Racing
Chevrolet
49
24
John McFadden
McFadden Racing
Pontiac
50
73
Don Hume
Barkdoll Racing
Oldsmobile
51
0
Delma Cowart
H. L. Waters Racing
Ford
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos
Driver
Points
1
1
Darrell Waltrip
1,479
1
2
Geoff Bodine
1,458 (-21)
2
3
Dale Earnhardt
1,430 (-49)
4
Alan Kulwicki
1,375 (–104)
3
5
Sterling Marlin
1,374 (–105)
1
6
Mark Martin
1,368 (–111)
2
7
Rusty Wallace
1,313 (–166)
2
8
Davey Allison
1,291 (–188)
4
9
Ken Schrader
1,238 (–241)
4
10
Bill Elliott
1,211 (–268)
Official driver's standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Higgins, Tom (May 29, 1989). "Waltrip Runs Off With 5th 600 (Part 1)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 17. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (May 29, 1989). "Waltrip Runs Off With 5th 600 (Part 2)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 21. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Mulhern, Mike (May 29, 1989). "Wallace Streaks to 4th Victory of Season (Part 1)" . Winston-Salem Journal . p. 17. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Mulhern, Mike (May 29, 1989). "Wallace Streaks to 4th Victory of Season (Part 2)" . Winston-Salem Journal . p. 22. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Speedway Calendar" . The Charlotte Observer . May 19, 1989. p. 16. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (May 25, 1989). "Kulwicki Quick On 600 Trigger (Part 1)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 47. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (May 25, 1989). "Kulwicki Quick On 600 Trigger (Part 2)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 52. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races
Commentators
Lap-by-lap Color commentators Pit reporters Studio anchors
Races covered
Related articles