1986 Champion Spark Plug 400

1986 Champion Spark Plug 400

Race details
Race 19 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Map of Michigan International Speedway
Date	August 17, 1986 (1986-08-17)
Location	Michigan International Speedway (Brooklyn, Michigan, USA)
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 84 °F (29 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Average speed	135.376 miles per hour (217.867 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Benny Parsons	Leo & Richard Jackson
Most laps led
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Laps	115
Winner
No. 43	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 is a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on August 17, 1986, at Michigan International Speedway in the American community of Brooklyn, Michigan.

Summary

There were 41 drivers on the starting grid for this event. Gary Fedewa (uncle of later Busch Series driver Tim Fedewa), Dick Trickle, USAC veteran Cliff Hucul of Canada, Ronnie Thomas, Joe Booher, and Howard Mark failed to qualify for this race. In this 200-lap event, Buddy Baker deserved his last-place finish due to a problem with the rear end of his vehicle on lap 27. Various problems including engine troubles and crashes caused several drivers not to finish the race. All of the drivers in this racing event were born in the United States of America, and prior to the green flag the total number of Winston Cup wins among all 41 drivers equaled 672, and a total of 20 Winston Cups.^[2]

Sixty-four thousand people witnessed a race lasting for almost three hours. Bill Elliott managed to defeat Tim Richmond by almost one and a half seconds. Benny Parsons earned the pole position for this racing event by driving up to 171.924 miles per hour (276.685 km/h) during qualifying. While the opening laps in the race saw four different drivers duel each other for the lead, only Bill Elliott and Darrell Waltrip would be able to fight for the first-place position on the closing laps. Michael Waltrip would become the lowest-finishing driver to finish the race; even though he only logged in 122 laps of actual racing.^[2]

The total prize purse for the contenders in this event was $345,585 ($743,521.83 in today's American dollars).^[3] Winnings for each individual driver varied from $55,950 ($120,375.73 in today's American dollars) to a meager $1,185 ($2,549.51 in today's American dollars).^[2]

Introductions and retirements

Benny Parsons would make his final pole position start here while David Pearson and Jim Hull would make their respective exits from the NASCAR Cup Series after this event was over.^[4]

Pearson would go on to become "racing royalty" at Michigan International Speedway due to his incredible performances on that race track alone.^[5] While starting an average of 8th place on all NASCAR races that took place on Michigan International Speedway, Pearson's average finish of 12th place would be accompanied by nine other MIS racing victories and twenty finishes in the "top ten.^[6]"

Top ten finishers

1. Bill Elliott – #9
2. Tim Richmond – #25
3. Darrell Waltrip – #11
4. Geoffrey Bodine – #5
5. Dale Earnhardt – #3
6. Rusty Wallace – #27
7. Cale Yarborough – #28
8. Harry Gant – #33
9. Phil Parsons – #66
10. David Pearson – #23

Standings after the race

References