The 1989 Budweiser 500 was the 11th stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 21st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 4, 1989, before an audience of 66,000 in Dover, Delaware at Dover Downs International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. On the final restart with seven laps left in the race, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to pull away from the field, completing a dominant performance where Earnhardt led 456 laps of the race. The victory was Earnhardt's 36th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1989 Budweiser 500 program cover, featuring Terry Labonte. | |||
| Date | June 4, 1989 | ||
| Official name | 21st Annual Budweiser 500 | ||
| Location | Dover, Delaware, Dover Downs 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 | 121.67 miles per hour (195.81 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 66,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Roush Racing | ||
| Time | 24.933 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 456 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
edit
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
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 2, 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 3, 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 21-40 would be decided on time,[5] 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.
Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 24.933 and an average speed of 144.387 miles per hour (232.368 km/h) in the first round.[6][7]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
edit| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 456 | running | 185 | $59,350 |
| 2 | 1 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 500 | 2 | running | 175 | $38,950 |
| 3 | 5 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 22 | running | 170 | $36,525 |
| 4 | 15 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 500 | 6 | running | 165 | $18,425 |
| 5 | 3 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 500 | 9 | running | 160 | $20,975 |
| 6 | 7 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 500 | 0 | running | 150 | $11,675 |
| 7 | 21 | 21 | Neil Bonnett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 499 | 3 | running | 151 | $10,925 |
| 8 | 8 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 499 | 0 | running | 142 | $16,625 |
| 9 | 12 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 498 | 0 | running | 138 | $13,675 |
| 10 | 25 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 497 | 0 | running | 134 | $11,275 |
| 11 | 14 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 494 | 0 | running | 130 | $8,025 |
| 12 | 31 | 57 | Hut Stricklin (R) | Osterlund Racing | Pontiac | 493 | 0 | running | 127 | $6,732 |
| 13 | 26 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 493 | 0 | running | 124 | $7,400 |
| 14 | 6 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 492 | 0 | running | 121 | $6,825 |
| 15 | 9 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 492 | 0 | running | 118 | $7,175 |
| 16 | 32 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 491 | 0 | running | 115 | $6,100 |
| 17 | 23 | 2 | Ernie Irvan | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 491 | 0 | running | 112 | $3,850 |
| 18 | 19 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 490 | 0 | running | 109 | $5,700 |
| 19 | 11 | 16 | Larry Pearson (R) | Pearson Racing | Buick | 490 | 0 | running | 106 | $3,850 |
| 20 | 30 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 489 | 0 | running | 103 | $4,375 |
| 21 | 18 | 84 | Dick Trickle (R) | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 487 | 0 | running | 100 | $6,050 |
| 22 | 16 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 483 | 0 | accident | 97 | $5,200 |
| 23 | 13 | 33 | Harry Gant | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 482 | 2 | running | 99 | $9,450 |
| 24 | 33 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 477 | 0 | running | 91 | $2,400 |
| 25 | 17 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 444 | 0 | running | 88 | $5,150 |
| 26 | 24 | 94 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 434 | 0 | running | 85 | $4,950 |
| 27 | 27 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Oldsmobile | 355 | 0 | running | 82 | $2,875 |
| 28 | 28 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Pontiac | 304 | 0 | engine | 79 | $2,200 |
| 29 | 10 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 294 | 0 | piston | 76 | $9,150 |
| 30 | 35 | 99 | Norm Benning | O'Neil Racing | Chevrolet | 226 | 0 | steering | 73 | $2,150 |
| 31 | 29 | 80 | Jimmy Horton | S&H Racing | Pontiac | 211 | 0 | engine | 70 | $2,050 |
| 32 | 22 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 171 | 0 | engine | 67 | $10,400 |
| 33 | 4 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 140 | 0 | accident | 64 | $9,950 |
| 34 | 20 | 88 | Jimmy Spencer (R) | Baker–Schiff Racing | Pontiac | 75 | 0 | engine | 0 | $4,500 |
| 35 | 34 | 49 | Bill Flowers | Hylton Motorsports | Buick | 2 | 0 | engine | 58 | $1,800 |
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
edit- ^ Higgins, Tom (June 5, 1989). "Earnhardt Gives Chevrolet A Dover Victory (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved May 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (June 5, 1989). "Earnhardt Gives Chevrolet A Dover Victory (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 18. Retrieved May 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Vehorn, Frank (June 5, 1989). "Dale Earnhardt settles old score with Dover Downs (Part 1)". The Roanoke Times. p. 9. Retrieved May 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Vehorn, Frank (June 5, 1989). "Dale Earnhardt settles old score with Dover Downs (Part 2)". The Roanoke Times. p. 14. Retrieved May 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. June 2, 1989. p. 28. Retrieved May 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (June 2, 1989). "Martin, Ford Cruise Away For Dover Pole (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 29. Retrieved May 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (June 2, 1989). "Martin, Ford Cruise Away For Dover Pole (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 32. Retrieved May 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
