1988 Miller High Life 400

Race details
Race 22 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1988 Miller Genuine Draft 400 program cover, featuring Bobby Hillin Jr. and Bobby Allison. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
Date	September 11, 1988
Official name	31st Annual Miller High Life 400
Location	Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.75 mi (1.21 km)
Distance	400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km)
Scheduled Distance	400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km)
Average speed	95.77 miles per hour (154.13 km/h)
Attendance	60,000
Pole position
Driver	Davey Allison	Ranier-Lundy Racing
Time	21.978
Most laps led
Driver	Davey Allison	Ranier-Lundy Racing
Laps	262
Winner
No. 28	Davey Allison	Ranier-Lundy Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, Johnny Hayes
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1988 Miller High Life 400 was the 22nd stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 11, 1988, before an audience of 60,000 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Ranier-Lundy Racing's Davey Allison would manage to dominate the majority of the race, leading 262 laps to take his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson & Associates' Terry Labonte would finish second and third, respectively.

The race was the first ever race at the newly-built Richmond International Raceway, a track that replaced the old Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway.^[3]

Background

The layout of Richmond International Raceway, the venue where the race was at.

Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.

Qualifying

Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, September 9, at 3:00 PM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-30 meant to be determined the following day on Saturday, September 10.^[4] However, due to rain, the first round was cancelled. As a result, qualifying was condensed into one round for all starting grid spots in the race, which was run on Saturday. 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.^[5]

Davey Allison, driving for Ranier-Lundy Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 21.978 and an average speed of 122.850 miles per hour (197.708 km/h).^[6]

The starting lineup was drastically changed due to consequences of an ongoing tire war between the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and Hoosier Racing Tire. A rule implemented at the time stated that if a driver who had managed to qualify for a race changed tire brands between the qualifying session and the race, the driver was forced to forfeit their starting position and start at the rear. Around half of qualified drivers decided to switch tire brands, all of them forfeiting their original starting positions. The decision was regarded as unprecedented. The lineup is still disputed to this day, as NASCAR officials at the time were still in dispute over the correct order of the official starting lineup at the start of the race.^[7]

Nine drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Bill Elliott 3,363 1 2 Dale Earnhardt 3,246 (-117) 1 3 Rusty Wallace 3,244 (-119) 1 4 Terry Labonte 2,966 (–397) 1 5 Ken Schrader 2,941 (–422) 6 Geoff Bodine 2,888 (–475) 7 Sterling Marlin 2,819 (–544) 8 Darrell Waltrip 2,811 (–552) 9 Phil Parsons 2,752 (–611) 10 Davey Allison 2,694 (–669) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References