1990 AC Delco 500
The 1990 AC Delco 500 was the 27th stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 16th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 21, 1990, before an audience of 55,800 in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. At race's end, owner-driver Alan Kulwicki would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his second career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott and Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1990 AC Delco 500 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace. | |||
| Date | October 21, 1990 | ||
| Official name | 16th 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 | 126.452 miles per hour (203.505 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 55,800 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 24.769 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | |
| Laps | 207 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
In the driver's championship, second-place driver in the standings, Dale Earnhardt, was able to gain four points over first-place driver Mark Martin, dropping Martin's lead down to 45 points.[5]
Background
North Carolina 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, October 18, 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, October 19, 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,[6] 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.
Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 24.769 and an average speed of 147.817 miles per hour (237.888 km/h) in the first round.[7][8]
Four drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 492 | 151 | running | 180 | $53,300 |
| 2 | 5 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 492 | 82 | running | 175 | $40,775 |
| 3 | 4 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 492 | 0 | running | 165 | $23,575 |
| 4 | 7 | 11 | Geoff Bodine | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 492 | 4 | running | 165 | $23,625 |
| 5 | 1 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 492 | 31 | running | 160 | $26,025 |
| 6 | 29 | 94 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 491 | 0 | running | 150 | $12,882 |
| 7 | 11 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 491 | 0 | running | 146 | $10,925 |
| 8 | 28 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 491 | 3 | running | 147 | $15,425 |
| 9 | 9 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 490 | 0 | running | 138 | $10,325 |
| 10 | 20 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 490 | 0 | running | 134 | $19,750 |
| 11 | 21 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 490 | 0 | running | 130 | $13,350 |
| 12 | 22 | 15 | Morgan Shepherd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 490 | 0 | running | 127 | $10,025 |
| 13 | 12 | 1 | Terry Labonte | Precision Products Racing | Oldsmobile | 490 | 0 | running | 124 | $9,175 |
| 14 | 27 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 490 | 0 | running | 121 | $8,875 |
| 15 | 16 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 489 | 0 | running | 118 | $9,050 |
| 16 | 10 | 21 | Dale Jarrett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 489 | 0 | running | 115 | $8,525 |
| 17 | 18 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Buick | 489 | 0 | running | 112 | $10,825 |
| 18 | 17 | 75 | Rick Wilson | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 487 | 0 | running | 109 | $7,475 |
| 19 | 30 | 41 | Larry Pearson | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 487 | 0 | running | 106 | $4,275 |
| 20 | 6 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 485 | 207 | running | 113 | $13,850 |
| 21 | 35 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 485 | 0 | running | 100 | $5,350 |
| 22 | 8 | 98 | Rick Mast | Travis Carter Enterprises | Chevrolet | 484 | 0 | running | 97 | $4,650 |
| 23 | 25 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 483 | 2 | running | 99 | $6,950 |
| 24 | 31 | 47 | Jack Pennington (R) | Close Racing | Oldsmobile | 482 | 0 | running | 91 | $4,400 |
| 25 | 26 | 19 | Chad Little | Little Racing | Ford | 479 | 0 | running | 88 | $3,675 |
| 26 | 34 | 40 | Tommy Kendall | Reno Enterprises | Chevrolet | 477 | 0 | running | 85 | $3,525 |
| 27 | 38 | 57 | Jim Bown | Osterlund Racing | Pontiac | 477 | 0 | running | 82 | $4,175 |
| 28 | 39 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 471 | 0 | running | 79 | $4,100 |
| 29 | 2 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 470 | 12 | running | 81 | $14,700 |
| 30 | 32 | 2 | Rick Jeffrey | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 467 | 0 | running | 73 | $5,300 |
| 31 | 23 | 20 | Jimmy Hensley | Moroso Racing | Oldsmobile | 452 | 0 | running | 70 | $3,850 |
| 32 | 19 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 421 | 0 | engine | 67 | $14,075 |
| 33 | 15 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | valve | 64 | $7,975 |
| 34 | 13 | 12 | Hut Stricklin | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Buick | 236 | 0 | engine | 61 | $4,050 |
| 35 | 33 | 13 | Mike Skinner | Mansion Motorsports | Buick | 230 | 0 | rear end | 58 | $2,825 |
| 36 | 14 | 66 | Dick Trickle | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 217 | 0 | engine | 55 | $6,350 |
| 37 | 36 | 50 | Ted Musgrave | RaDiUs Motorsports | Chevrolet | 93 | 0 | engine | 52 | $2,700 |
| 38 | 24 | 51 | Jeff Purvis | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | engine | 49 | $2,690 |
| 39 | 37 | 72 | Tracy Leslie | Parker Racing | Oldsmobile | 67 | 0 | engine | 46 | $2,650 |
| 40 | 40 | 93 | Charlie Baker | Baker Racing | Buick | 35 | 0 | engine | 43 | $2,600 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 41 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Motorsports | Pontiac | ||||||
| 42 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| 43 | 0 | Delma Cowart | H. L. Waters Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 44 | 82 | Mark Stahl | Stahl Racing | Ford | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- Higgins, Tom (October 22, 1990). "Kulwicki Carves Win From 'Rock' (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 25. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 22, 1990). "Kulwicki Carves Win From 'Rock' (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 28. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- King, Randy (October 22, 1990). "Kulwicki wins Delco 500 (Part 1)". The Roanoke Times. p. 11. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- King, Randy (October 22, 1990). "Kulwicki wins Delco 500 (Part 2)". The Roanoke Times. p. 15. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 22, 1990). "Earnhardt Creeps Closer To Martin, But Not By Much". The Charlotte Observer. p. 28. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. October 18, 1991. p. 29. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 19, 1990). "Radials Not So Radical As Schrader Wins Pole (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 23. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 19, 1990). "Radials Not So Radical As Schrader Wins Pole (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 29. Retrieved April 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.