1993 Miller Genuine Draft 500

Race details
Race 17 of 30 in the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1994 Miller Genuine Draft 500 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace.
Date	July 18, 1993
Official name	21st Annual Miller Genuine Draft 500
Location	Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed	133.343 miles per hour (214.595 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	55.237
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	71
Winner
No. 3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1993 Miller Genuine Draft 500 was the 17th stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 18, 1993, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to defend the field on the final restart with 11 to go to take his 58th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fifth victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would finish second and third, respectively.

The race weekend was marred by the death of Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison, who had died in a helicopter crash on July 13. En route to Talladega Superspeedway to watch friends race on July 12, he would crash his helicopter while trying to land. Due to a critical head injury, he would die the next morning.^[3][4]

Background

The layout of Pocono Raceway, the venue where the race was held.

The race was held at Pocono Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The track hosts two annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, as well as one Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series event. Until 2019, the track also hosted an IndyCar Series race.

Pocono Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.

Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 16, at 3:00 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, July 17, at 10:30 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,^[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 provisionals 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.

Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 55.237 and an average speed of 162.934 miles per hour (262.217 km/h) in the first round.^[6]

Four drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 2,612 2 Dale Jarrett 2,403 (−209) 3 Rusty Wallace 2,352 (−260) 4 Morgan Shepherd 2,272 (−340) 5 5 Ken Schrader 2,181 (−431) 6 Kyle Petty 2,175 (−437) 1 7 Mark Martin 2,172 (−440) 1 8 Jeff Gordon 2,108 (−504) 5 9 Davey Allison 2,104 (−508) 1 10 Geoff Bodine 2,099 (−513) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References