1993 Budweiser 500
The 1993 Budweiser 500 was the 12th stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 6, 1993, in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to defend a late-race charge by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Dale Jarrett to take his 56th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Jarrett and Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 12 of 30 in the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1993 Budweiser 500 program cover, featuring Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | June 6, 1993 | ||
| Official name | 25th Annual Budweiser 500 | ||
| Location | Dover, Delaware, Dover International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1 mi (1.6 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 500 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Average speed | 105.6 miles per hour (169.9 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 86,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | ||
| Time | 23.756 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 226 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TNN | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 4, 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, June 5, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 would be decided on time,[3] 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; which was usually two. 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.
Ernie Irvan, driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 23.756 and an average speed of 151.541 miles per hour (243.882 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Three drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Standings after the race
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References
- Owen, Mike (June 7, 1993). "Earnhardt holds off Jarrett at wire". Messenger-Inquirer. p. 11. Retrieved January 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (June 7, 1993). "Earnhardt slays 'Monster'". The Anniston Star. p. 9. Retrieved January 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. June 4, 1993. p. 21. Retrieved January 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Owen, Mike (June 5, 1993). "Irvan, field shatter qualifying record at Dover". The Anniston Star. p. 13. Retrieved January 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.