1988 Goodwrench 500
The 1988 Goodwrench 500 was the third stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 6, 1988, before an audience of 53,600 in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Motor Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 492 laps to complete. In the closing laps of the race, RahMoc Enterprises driver Neil Bonnett would manage to make a late-race charge to the lead, passing for the lead with 20 laps left in the race to take his 18th and final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, owner-driver Lake Speed and Hagan Racing driver Sterling Marlin would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1988 GM Goodwrench 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | March 6, 1988 | ||
| Official name | 23rd Annual Goodwrench 500 | ||
| Location | Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.637 km) | ||
| Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 120.159 miles per hour (193.377 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 53,600 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Melling Racing | ||
| Time | 24.972 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | |
| Laps | 166 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Gary Nelson, Ned Jarrett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The victory was the second NASCAR Winston Cup victory for tire company Hoosier Racing Tire, who had entered the series as a direct competitor to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company starting at the 1988 Daytona 500. With this victory, Hoosier Racing Tire had managed to earn three straight victories, including an exhibition race victory at the 1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500 at Calder Park Raceway; all with Neil Bonnett. The feat was considered a major victory for Hoosier Racing Tire for two main reasons; the first was that before the 1988 season, Goodyear had a monopoly on NASCAR's tire supply since the 1971 season. The second was that for the entirety of the race itself, the contenders for the race victory all exclusively used Hoosier tires.[5][6] In interviews, CEO of Hoosier Racing Tire, Bob Newton would both praise Hoosier and taunt Goodyear, stating that "This wasn't just a win, this was a runaway."[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 split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, March 3, at 2:30 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, March 4, at 2:00 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,[7] 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 24.972 and an average speed of 146.612 miles per hour (235.949 km/h) in the first round.[8][9]
Four drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 492 | 166 | running | 185 | $45,800 |
| 2 | 19 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 492 | 51 | running | 175 | $22,310 |
| 3 | 14 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 492 | 103 | running | 170 | $19,195 |
| 4 | 2 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 492 | 0 | running | 160 | $14,330 |
| 5 | 22 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 492 | 22 | running | 160 | $19,865 |
| 6 | 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 491 | 112 | running | 155 | $17,910 |
| 7 | 35 | 97 | Morgan Shepherd | Winkle Motorsports | Buick | 491 | 6 | running | 151 | $7,710 |
| 8 | 17 | 10 | Ken Bouchard (R) | Whitcomb Racing | Ford | 491 | 0 | running | 142 | $5,760 |
| 9 | 4 | 28 | Davey Allison | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 491 | 0 | running | 138 | $14,210 |
| 10 | 5 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 490 | 0 | running | 134 | $12,785 |
| 11 | 27 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 490 | 22 | running | 135 | $9,170 |
| 12 | 12 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 489 | 0 | running | 127 | $4,120 |
| 13 | 37 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Chevrolet | 489 | 0 | running | 124 | $7,920 |
| 14 | 6 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 489 | 0 | running | 121 | $12,520 |
| 15 | 18 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 488 | 0 | running | 118 | $7,970 |
| 16 | 7 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 488 | 0 | running | 115 | $3,370 |
| 17 | 3 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 487 | 0 | running | 112 | $7,120 |
| 18 | 8 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 487 | 0 | running | 109 | $6,670 |
| 19 | 13 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 487 | 0 | running | 106 | $9,870 |
| 20 | 36 | 68 | Derrike Cope | Testa Racing | Ford | 486 | 0 | running | 103 | $6,770 |
| 21 | 16 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 486 | 0 | running | 100 | $5,665 |
| 22 | 23 | 12 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 484 | 0 | running | 97 | $9,490 |
| 23 | 24 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 481 | 0 | running | 94 | $5,965 |
| 24 | 11 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 481 | 0 | running | 91 | $9,315 |
| 25 | 21 | 2 | Ernie Irvan (R) | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 479 | 0 | running | 88 | $3,290 |
| 26 | 33 | 67 | Rick Jeffrey | Arrington Racing | Ford | 476 | 0 | running | 85 | $5,065 |
| 27 | 15 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 470 | 0 | running | 82 | $10,740 |
| 28 | 9 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 469 | 0 | running | 79 | $4,840 |
| 29 | 38 | 03 | Dave Pletcher Sr. | Weaver Racing | Ford | 464 | 0 | running | 76 | $2,015 |
| 30 | 41 | 22 | Steve Moore | Hamby Racing | Chevrolet | 413 | 0 | running | 73 | $2,665 |
| 31 | 10 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 407 | 4 | valve | 75 | $8,915 |
| 32 | 31 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Chevrolet | 407 | 0 | running | 67 | $1,865 |
| 33 | 32 | 90 | Benny Parsons | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 387 | 0 | running | 64 | $4,520 |
| 34 | 28 | 98 | Ed Pimm | Curb Racing | Buick | 311 | 0 | crash | 61 | $1,745 |
| 35 | 25 | 01 | Mickey Gibbs | Gibbs Racing | Ford | 236 | 0 | engine | 58 | $1,695 |
| 36 | 26 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 234 | 6 | engine | 60 | $2,290 |
| 37 | 39 | 82 | Mark Stahl | Stahl Racing | Ford | 233 | 0 | valve | 52 | $1,615 |
| 38 | 40 | 93 | Charlie Baker | Salmon Racing | Chevrolet | 136 | 0 | clutch | 49 | $1,590 |
| 39 | 29 | 31 | Brad Teague | Bob Clark Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 99 | 0 | engine | 46 | $1,565 |
| 40 | 34 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 86 | 0 | engine | 43 | $4,165 |
| 41 | 20 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 17 | 0 | crash | 40 | $4,140 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 42 | 13 | D. Wayne Strout | Strout Racing | Oldsmobile | ||||||
| 43 | 48 | Tony Spanos | Hylton Motorsports | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 44 | 45 | Billy Fulcher | Fulcher Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| 45 | 02 | Howard Mark | Mark Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- Higgins, Tom (March 7, 1988). "Bonnett Earns Dramatic Win At Rockingham (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 25. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 7, 1988). "Bonnett Earns Dramatic Win At Rockingham (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 28. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Mulhurn, Mike (March 7, 1988). "Bonnett Continues Comeback, Takes Goodwrench for 3rd Straight Win (Part 1)". Winston-Salem Journal. p. 17. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Mulhurn, Mike (March 7, 1988). "Bonnett Continues Comeback, Takes Goodwrench for 3rd Straight Win (Part 2)". Winston-Salem Journal. p. 20. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- King, Randy (March 7, 1988). "Neil Bonnett riding high on Hoosiers (Part 1)". The Roanoke Times. p. 13. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- King, Randy (March 7, 1988). "Neil Bonnett riding high on Hoosiers (Part 2)". The Roanoke Times. p. 15. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. March 3, 1988. p. 51. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 4, 1988). "Elliott Edges Kulwicki To Gain Rockingham Pole (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 25. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 4, 1988). "Elliott Edges Kulwicki To Gain Rockingham Pole (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 29. Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.