1990 Winston 500

Race details
Race 9 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1990 Winston 500 program cover, featuring Davey Allison.
Date	May 6, 1990
Official name	21st Annual Winston 500
Location	Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Average speed	159.571 miles per hour (256.805 km/h)
Attendance	140,000
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Time	48.027
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	107
Winner
No. 3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1990 Winston 500 was the ninth stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 21st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 6, 1990, before an audience of 140,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt was able to fend off part-time driver for Hendrick Motorsports, Greg Sacks to take his 42nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.^[1][2][3] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Greg Sacks and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Talladega Superspeedway, the venue where the race was held.

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, May 3, at 4:30 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, May 4, at 3:30 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,^[4] 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.

Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 48.027 and an average speed of 199.388 miles per hour (320.884 km/h) in the first round.^[5][6]

Four drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 1,460 2 Morgan Shepherd 1,370 (-90) 1 3 Mark Martin 1,295 (-165) 1 4 Darrell Waltrip 1,245 (–215) 2 5 Geoff Bodine 1,227 (–233) 6 Kyle Petty 1,224 (–236) 7 Rusty Wallace 1,174 (–286) 2 8 Brett Bodine 1,155 (–305) 1 9 Ken Schrader 1,136 (–324) 1 10 Bill Elliott 1,129 (–331) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References