1991 Miller Genuine Draft 400

Race details
Race 14 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 400 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
Date	June 23, 1991
Official name	23rd Annual Miller Genuine Draft 400
Location	Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Average speed	160.912 miles per hour (258.963 km/h)
Attendance	90,000
Pole position
Driver	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing
Time	41.296
Most laps led
Driver	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	107
Winner
No. 28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, Chris Economaki
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 400 was the 14th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 23, 1991, before an audience of 90,000 in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 11th NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.^[1][2][3] To fill out the top three, Bobby Allison Motorsports driver Hut Stricklin and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Michigan International Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 21, at 3:30 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 Saturday, June 22, at 11:00 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,^[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. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.

Michael Waltrip, driving for Bahari Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 41.296 and an average speed of 174.351 miles per hour (280.591 km/h) in the first round.^[5]

Two drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 2,202 2 Ricky Rudd 2,064 (-138) 3 Darrell Waltrip 1,993 (-209) 1 4 Ernie Irvan 1,974 (–228) 1 5 Ken Schrader 1,972 (–230) 6 Davey Allison 1,954 (–248) 7 Harry Gant 1,906 (–296) 8 Mark Martin 1,855 (–347) 1 9 Morgan Shepherd 1,713 (–489) 1 10 Michael Waltrip 1,697 (–505) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References