1988 Valleydale Meats 500

Race details
Race 6 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1988 Valleydale Meats 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and Ricky Rudd.
Date	April 10, 1988
Official name	28th Annual Valleydale Meats 500
Location	Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol International Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Average speed	83.115 miles per hour (133.761 km/h)
Attendance	48,800
Pole position
Driver	Rick Wilson	Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Time	16.323
Most laps led
Driver	Harry Gant	Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Laps	121
Winner
No. 9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Gary Nelson
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1988 Valleydale Meats 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 10, 1988, before an audience of 48,800, in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol International Raceway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack.

With nine laps left in the race, race Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott would spin after contact with second-place driver, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine. After racing back to the line, putting out the caution with eight laps left in the race, Elliott would manage to maintain second place. After the race proceeded to restart with four laps left in the race, Elliott would manage to mount a comeback, passing for the lead with three laps left in the race. Elliott would manage to defend Bodine for the victory, completing a spin-and-win late in the race. The victory was Elliott's 24th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.^[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and the aforementioned Geoff Bodine would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Bristol Motor Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 8, at 4:45 pm EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 15 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 Saturday, April 9, at 12:00 pm EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 16-30 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.

Rick Wilson, driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 16.323 and an average speed of 117.552 miles per hour (189.182 km/h) in the first round.^[6]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 884 1 2 Sterling Marlin 877 (-8) 1 3 Neil Bonnett 868 (-16) 2 4 Bill Elliott 860 (–24) 1 5 Rusty Wallace 846 (–38) 1 6 Bobby Allison 840 (–44) 2 7 Terry Labonte 752 (–132) 8 Darrell Waltrip 751 (–133) 1 9 Bobby Hillin Jr. 751 (–133) 2 10 Ken Schrader 749 (–135) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References