1991 Pepsi 400
The 1991 Pepsi 400 was the 15th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 6, 1991, before an audience of 80,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 160 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott would manage to mount a late-race charge to the lead, passing for the lead with 13 to go to take his 34th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Geoff Bodine and Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1991 Pepsi 400 program cover. | |||
| Date | July 6, 1991 | ||
| Official name | 33rd Annual Pepsi 400 | ||
| Location | Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Average speed | 159.116 miles per hour (256.072 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 80,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson & Associates | ||
| Time | 47.286 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ernie Irvan | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | |
| Laps | 85 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
On lap 120 of the race, owner-driver Darrell Waltrip, along with RahMoc Enterprises driver Joe Ruttman, would both be involved in a crash on the track's back straightaway. Waltrip and Ruttman would both slide into the infield grass, and Waltrip's car, after hitting a bump in the infield, would then proceed to go into a series of violent flips, destroying Waltrip's car. Waltrip was not seriously hurt.[5][6]
Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 2, at 10:00 AM 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, July 3, at 11:00 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,[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 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.
Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 47.286 and an average speed of 190.331 miles per hour (306.308 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 | 10 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 160 | 13 | running | 180 | $75,000 |
| 2 | 4 | 11 | Geoff Bodine | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 160 | 4 | running | 175 | $48,325 |
| 3 | 2 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 160 | 11 | running | 170 | $36,950 |
| 4 | 22 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 21 | running | 165 | $27,450 |
| 5 | 11 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 85 | running | 165 | $36,525 |
| 6 | 7 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 160 | 4 | running | 155 | $17,300 |
| 7 | 12 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 8 | running | 151 | $23,200 |
| 8 | 1 | 22 | Sterling Marlin | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 160 | 2 | running | 147 | $17,100 |
| 9 | 13 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 8 | running | 143 | $16,500 |
| 10 | 32 | 98 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Chevrolet | 160 | 2 | running | 139 | $15,800 |
| 11 | 26 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 130 | $17,090 |
| 12 | 28 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Pontiac | 160 | 0 | running | 127 | $9,600 |
| 13 | 19 | 20 | Buddy Baker | Moroso Racing | Oldsmobile | 160 | 0 | running | 124 | $9,210 |
| 14 | 17 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 121 | $14,070 |
| 15 | 25 | 42 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 160 | 0 | running | 118 | $14,480 |
| 16 | 15 | 12 | Hut Stricklin | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Buick | 160 | 2 | running | 120 | $10,440 |
| 17 | 36 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | running | 112 | $14,825 |
| 18 | 31 | 21 | Dale Jarrett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 109 | $9,810 |
| 19 | 9 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Oldsmobile | 160 | 0 | running | 106 | $9,295 |
| 20 | 18 | 15 | Morgan Shepherd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 103 | $13,730 |
| 21 | 34 | 41 | Larry Pearson | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | running | 100 | $5,510 |
| 22 | 21 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 159 | 0 | running | 97 | $8,490 |
| 23 | 3 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 159 | 0 | running | 94 | $8,470 |
| 24 | 14 | 8 | Rick Wilson | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 158 | 0 | running | 91 | $8,050 |
| 25 | 39 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | running | 88 | $7,930 |
| 26 | 38 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 157 | 0 | running | 85 | $4,810 |
| 27 | 35 | 24 | Mickey Gibbs | Team III Racing | Pontiac | 154 | 0 | running | 82 | $5,440 |
| 28 | 5 | 68 | Bobby Hamilton (R) | TriStar Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 153 | 0 | running | 79 | $6,070 |
| 29 | 8 | 19 | Chad Little | Little Racing | Ford | 150 | 0 | running | 76 | 4,475 |
| 30 | 29 | 51 | Jeff Purvis (R) | Phoenix Racing | Oldsmobile | 144 | 0 | running | 73 | $5,080 |
| 31 | 16 | 75 | Joe Ruttman | RahMoc Enterprises | Oldsmobile | 125 | 0 | crash | 70 | $7,000 |
| 32 | 20 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 119 | 0 | crash | 67 | $5,945 |
| 33 | 30 | 14 | Mike Chase | A. J. Foyt Racing | Oldsmobile | 106 | 0 | crash | 64 | $4,265 |
| 34 | 40 | 90 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R) | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 89 | 0 | ignition | 61 | $4,585 |
| 35 | 37 | 73 | Phil Barkdoll | Barkdoll Racing | Oldsmobile | 84 | 0 | crash | 58 | $4,205 |
| 36 | 23 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Buick | 17 | 0 | engine | 55 | $6,800 |
| 37 | 24 | 55 | Ted Musgrave (R) | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 12 | 0 | crash | 52 | $4,745 |
| 38 | 6 | 66 | Lake Speed | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 12 | 0 | crash | 49 | $6,130 |
| 39 | 33 | 47 | Greg Sacks | Close Racing | Oldsmobile | 12 | 0 | crash | 46 | $4,120 |
| 40 | 27 | 49 | Stanley Smith (R) | BS&S Motorsports | Buick | 12 | 0 | crash | 43 | $4,080 |
| 41 | 41 | 94 | Terry Labonte | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 8 | 0 | quit | 40 | $6,080 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 42 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| 43 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Oldsmobile | ||||||
| 44 | 80 | Jimmy Horton | S&H Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 45 | 95 | Kerry Teague | Sadler Brothers Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- Higgins, Tom (July 7, 1991). "Elliott pours on the power (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 37. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (July 7, 1991). "Elliott pours on the power (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 40. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Coble, Don (July 7, 1991). "Uh-huh... Elliott's the right one (Part 1)". Florida Today. p. 21. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Coble, Don (July 7, 1991). "Uh-huh... Elliott's the right one (Part 2)". Florida Today. p. 22. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (July 7, 1991). "Daytona track not on Waltrip's list of favorites". The Charlotte Observer. p. 40. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- D'Angelo, Tom (July 7, 1991). "Waltrip on course - until crash". The Palm Beach Post. p. 51. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. July 2, 1991. p. 26. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (July 5, 1991). "Marlin displays true grit (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 13. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (July 5, 1991). "Marlin displays true grit (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved February 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.