Fifth race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1989 TranSouth 500 was the fifth stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 33rd iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, April 2, 1989, before an audience of 45,000 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. At race's end, Jackson Bros. Motorsports driver Harry Gant would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 10th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his only victory of the season, and his first victory in 90 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison and Hendrick Motorsports driver Geoff Bodine would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of Darlington Raceway , the venue where the race was held.
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
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, March 30, at 2:00 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, March 31, at 10:30 AM 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.
Mark Martin , driving for Roush Racing , would win the pole, setting a time of 30.523 and an average speed of 161.111 miles per hour (259.283 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
10
33
Harry Gant
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
367
179
running
185
$59,935
2
4
28
Davey Allison
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
367
4
running
175
$35,435
3
8
5
Geoff Bodine
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
367
1
running
170
$25,345
4
1
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
367
18
running
165
$18,810
5
26
94
Sterling Marlin
Hagan Racing
Oldsmobile
367
0
running
155
$18,270
6
13
9
Bill Elliott
Melling Racing
Ford
367
0
running
150
$17,725
7
3
7
Alan Kulwicki
AK Racing
Ford
366
56
running
151
$10,750
8
5
27
Rusty Wallace
Blue Max Racing
Pontiac
366
64
running
147
$15,120
9
23
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
366
0
running
138
$8,820
10
14
83
Lake Speed
Speed Racing
Oldsmobile
366
2
running
139
$10,675
11
17
4
Rick Wilson
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Oldsmobile
366
0
running
130
$7,850
12
25
26
Ricky Rudd
King Racing
Buick
365
0
running
127
$7,425
13
28
84
Dick Trickle (R)
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
365
0
running
124
$8,250
14
2
15
Brett Bodine
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
365
0
running
121
$6,725
15
33
43
Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
364
0
running
118
$4,955
16
12
75
Morgan Shepherd
RahMoc Enterprises
Pontiac
363
0
running
115
$11,300
17
22
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
363
0
running
112
$5,935
18
19
11
Terry Labonte
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
362
1
running
109
$9,875
19
38
31
Jim Sauter
Bob Clark Motorsports
Pontiac
361
0
running
106
$3,610
20
36
16
Larry Pearson (R)
Pearson Racing
Buick
361
0
running
103
$3,725
21
32
23
Eddie Bierschwale
B&B Racing
Oldsmobile
359
0
running
100
$2,570
22
34
10
Ken Bouchard
Whitcomb Racing
Pontiac
358
0
running
97
$3,490
23
29
40
Ben Hess (R)
Hess Racing
Oldsmobile
357
0
running
94
$2,435
24
18
2
Ernie Irvan
U.S. Racing
Pontiac
355
0
running
91
$3,080
25
16
88
Greg Sacks
Baker–Schiff Racing
Pontiac
352
7
crash
93
$5,925
26
15
8
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
352
0
crash
85
$4,870
27
6
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
350
0
crash
82
$9,140
28
30
42
Kyle Petty
SABCO Racing
Pontiac
350
0
crash
79
$2,095
29
35
34
Rodney Combs
AAG Racing
Buick
349
0
running
76
$2,050
30
39
57
Hut Stricklin (R)
Osterlund Racing
Pontiac
341
0
running
73
$2,050
31
40
70
J. D. McDuffie
McDuffie Racing
Pontiac
339
0
running
70
$1,935
32
31
80
Jimmy Horton
S&H Racing
Pontiac
324
0
engine
67
$1,895
33
11
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
290
35
running
69
$10,655
34
24
66
Rick Mast (R)
Mach 1 Racing
Chevrolet
284
0
running
61
$5,090
35
37
68
Derrike Cope
Testa Racing
Pontiac
276
0
oil pump
58
$1,790
36
7
17
Darrell Waltrip
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
261
0
running
55
$10,355
37
41
90
Chad Little (R)
Donlavey Racing
Ford
257
0
engine
52
$2,350
38
27
52
Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means Racing
Pontiac
211
0
rear end
49
$1,710
39
20
21
Neil Bonnett
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
162
0
valve
46
$4,295
40
9
29
Dale Jarrett
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Pontiac
83
0
engine
43
$3,645
41
21
55
Phil Parsons
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
83
0
crash
40
$3,645
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Higgins, Tom (April 3, 1989). "Who Says Gant Can't? (Part 1)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 23. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (April 3, 1989). "Who Says Gant Can't? (Part 2)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 25. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ King, Randy (April 3, 1989). "For win-starved Gant, 'it's been awhile' (Part 1)" . The Roanoke Times . p. 12. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ King, Randy (April 3, 1989). "For win-starved Gant, 'it's been awhile' (Part 2)" . The Roanoke Times . p. 14. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "NASCAR Today" . The Charlotte Observer . March 30, 1989. p. 47. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (March 31, 1989). "Martin Leads Ford Domination At Darlington (Part 1)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 39. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (March 31, 1989). "Martin Leads Ford Domination At Darlington (Part 2)" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 44. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races