1991 Valleydale Meats 500

Race details
Race 6 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1991 Valleydale Meats 500 program cover.
Date	April 14, 1991
Official name	31st Annual Valleydale Meats 500
Location	Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway
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	72.809 miles per hour (117.175 km/h)
Attendance	58,300
Pole position
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South
Time	16.254
Most laps led
Driver	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	145
Winner
No. 2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1991 Valleydale Meats 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 14, 1991, before an audience of 58,300 in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In a chaotic race, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would manage to come back from a two-lap deficit and hold off Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Ernie Irvan to take his 19th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.^[1][2][3] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Ernie Irvan and Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison 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 originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 12, at 3:00 PM EST. Originally, the first 15 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 16-30 meant to be determined the following day on Saturday, April 13.^[4] However, due to rain, the second round was cancelled. As a result, the rest of the starting lineup was set using the results from the first round. 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.^[5]

Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske Racing South, would win the pole, setting a time of 16.254 and an average speed of 118.051 miles per hour (189.985 km/h).^[6]

Three drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Ricky Rudd 973 1 2 Ernie Irvan 854 (-119) 1 3 Dale Earnhardt 831 (-142) 2 4 Mark Martin 813 (–160) 4 5 Rusty Wallace 805 (–168) 1 6 Morgan Shepherd 778 (–195) 6 7 Darrell Waltrip 761 (–212) 7 8 Davey Allison 758 (–215) 5 9 Ken Schrader 751 (–222) 5 10 Sterling Marlin 749 (–224) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References