1986 First Union 400

Race details
Race 7 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1986 First Union 400 program cover, featuring Neil Bonnett.
Date	April 20, 1986
Official name	36th Annual First Union 400
Location	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.625 mi (1.006 km)
Distance	400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km)
Scheduled Distance	400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km)
Average speed	88.408 miles per hour (142.279 km/h)
Attendance	29,500
Pole position
Driver	Geoff Bodine	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	20.014
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	195
Winner
No. 3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Larry Nuber, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1986 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 36th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 20, 1986, before an audience of 29,500 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete.^[1]

By race's end, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt was able to hold off a late-race charge by Bud Moore Engineering's Ricky Rudd, securing his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.^[2][3] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine finished third.

The race was the first start for African-American driver Willy T. Ribbs, after previous failed attempts in the 1986 season. With the start, Ribbs became the sixth African-American driver to make a start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the first African-American driver since George Wiltshire in 1975.^[4]

Background

The layout of North Wilkesboro Speedway, the venue where the race was held

North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625 mi (1.006 km) and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing.

Qualifying

Qualifying was done over two rounds of qualifying over two days. The first round was held on Friday, April 18, at 3:00 PM EST, with each driver having one lap to set a time. In the first round, the first eight drivers in the round were guaranteed a starting spot within the top eight; however, their official starting positions were then determined by calculating the averages of their first round time and their second round time, with the second round being held on Saturday, April 19, at 3:00 PM EST, with all drivers having one lap to set a time in the round.^[5] Drivers who did not lock into the race in the first round had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time, with all non-locked in drivers setting positions 9-30 based on speed. Depending on if teams 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.^[6]

Geoff Bodine, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting an average time of 20.014 and average speed of 112.419 miles per hour (180.921 km/h) in his two runs.^[7]

Four drivers failed to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Darrell Waltrip 1,160 2 Dale Earnhardt 1,137 (-23) 3 Rusty Wallace 1,019 (-141) 1 4 Bill Elliott 970 (–190) 1 5 Terry Labonte 948 (–212) 6 Kyle Petty 927 (–233) 7 Tim Richmond 900 (–260) 8 Harry Gant 891 (–269) 2 9 Geoff Bodine 883 (–277) 10 Bobby Allison 876 (–284) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References