1988 AC Delco 500
The 1988 AC Delco 500 was the 27th stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 14th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 23, 1988, before an audience of 52,400 in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1988 AC Delco 500 program cover. | |||
| Date | October 23, 1988 | ||
| Official name | 14th Annual AC Delco 500 | ||
| Location | Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.636 km) | ||
| Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 111.557 miles per hour (179.534 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 52,400 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Melling Racing | ||
| Time | 24.678 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | |
| Laps | 217 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Gary Nelson | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Coming back from a two-lap deficit, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace managed to gain the laps back late in the first half of the race. Afterwards, he proceeded to dominate most of the second half of the race, leading 182 of the last 189 laps to take his ninth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his fifth victory of the season, and his third consecutive victory.[1][2] To fill out the top three, King Racing's Ricky Rudd and Junior Johnson & Associates' Terry Labonte finished second and third, respectively.
In the driver's championship for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Wallace was able to gain 10 points on championship leader Bill Elliott, dropping Wallace's deficit down to 79 points.[3]
Background
North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, October 20, at 2:30 pm EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-40 meant to be determined the following day on Friday, October 21.[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.[5]
Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 24.678 and an average speed of 148.359 miles per hour (238.761 km/h) in the first round.[6]
Seven drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 492 | 200 | running | 180 | $52,150 |
| 2 | 9 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 492 | 8 | running | 175 | $26,985 |
| 3 | 7 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 492 | 1 | running | 170 | $25,095 |
| 4 | 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 491 | 217 | running | 170 | $23,480 |
| 5 | 13 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 491 | 1 | running | 160 | $27,965 |
| 6 | 16 | 12 | Mike Alexander | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 489 | 0 | running | 150 | $12,910 |
| 7 | 12 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 489 | 0 | running | 146 | $10,110 |
| 8 | 23 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 489 | 2 | running | 147 | $9,210 |
| 9 | 14 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 489 | 0 | running | 138 | $14,410 |
| 10 | 25 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 489 | 0 | running | 134 | $13,810 |
| 11 | 21 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 488 | 0 | running | 130 | $11,020 |
| 12 | 10 | 88 | Greg Sacks | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 488 | 0 | running | 127 | $8,220 |
| 13 | 29 | 90 | Benny Parsons | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 488 | 0 | running | 124 | $11,520 |
| 14 | 17 | 57 | Morgan Shepherd | Osterlund Racing | Buick | 487 | 0 | running | 121 | $3,720 |
| 15 | 32 | 2 | Ernie Irvan (R) | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 484 | 0 | running | 118 | $6,470 |
| 16 | 34 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 481 | 1 | running | 120 | $7,170 |
| 17 | 33 | 31 | Jim Sauter | Bob Clark Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 479 | 0 | running | 0 | $4,820 |
| 18 | 40 | 10 | Ken Bouchard (R) | Whitcomb Racing | Pontiac | 477 | 0 | running | 109 | $5,620 |
| 19 | 15 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 475 | 0 | running | 106 | $5,970 |
| 20 | 36 | 40 | Ben Hess | Hess Racing | Oldsmobile | 472 | 0 | running | 103 | $3,370 |
| 21 | 39 | 34 | Connie Saylor | AAG Racing | Buick | 464 | 0 | running | 100 | $2,565 |
| 22 | 24 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 458 | 0 | running | 97 | $3,490 |
| 23 | 38 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 444 | 11 | running | 99 | $5,340 |
| 24 | 30 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 433 | 0 | running | 91 | $3,165 |
| 25 | 35 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 425 | 0 | engine | 88 | $5,090 |
| 26 | 2 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 379 | 0 | handling | 85 | $5,140 |
| 27 | 6 | 28 | Davey Allison | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 374 | 50 | crash | 87 | $12,290 |
| 28 | 4 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 374 | 0 | crash | 79 | $4,765 |
| 29 | 8 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 373 | 0 | crash | 76 | $10,615 |
| 30 | 20 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 355 | 0 | crash | 73 | $6,715 |
| 31 | 5 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 276 | 1 | engine | 75 | $9,625 |
| 32 | 22 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 255 | 0 | engine | 67 | $2,450 |
| 33 | 11 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Oldsmobile | 241 | 0 | engine | 64 | $1,755 |
| 34 | 18 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 236 | 0 | engine | 61 | $4,305 |
| 35 | 27 | 67 | Brad Teague | Arrington Racing | Ford | 231 | 0 | engine | 58 | $3,655 |
| 36 | 19 | 68 | Derrike Cope | Testa Racing | Ford | 231 | 0 | crash | 55 | $1,600 |
| 37 | 31 | 98 | Brad Noffsinger (R) | Curb Racing | Buick | 173 | 0 | crank | 52 | $1,575 |
| 38 | 26 | 97 | Joe Ruttman | Winkle Motorsports | Buick | 71 | 0 | handling | 0 | $1,550 |
| 39 | 37 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 29 | 0 | engine | 46 | $3,525 |
| 40 | 28 | 22 | Rodney Combs | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4 | 0 | quit | 43 | $1,500 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 41 | 32 | Philip Duffie | Duffie Racing | Buick | ||||||
| 42 | 63 | Jocko Maggiacomo | Linro Motorsports | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 43 | 13 | D. Wayne Strout | Strout Racing | Oldsmobile | ||||||
| 44 | 80 | Jimmy Horton (R) | S&H Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 45 | 93 | Charlie Baker | Salmon Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 46 | 06 | Lee Raymond | Coyle Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 47 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- Higgins, Tom (October 24, 1988). "Wallace Rallies At Rockingham". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 2B. Retrieved September 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Mulhurn, Mike (October 24, 1988). "Final-lap tap boosts Wallace past Bodine". Winston-Salem Journal. pp. 15, 22. Retrieved September 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- McLaurin, Jim (October 24, 1988). "Elliott still favored over Wallace for title". The State. pp. 1C, 6C. Retrieved September 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. October 20, 1988. pp. 3B. Retrieved September 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 22, 1988). "NASCAR Might Ride On Radials In '89". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 6C. Retrieved September 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 21, 1988). "Elliott Outruns Kulwicki For Pole". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1D, 4D. Retrieved September 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.