1986 Daytona 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway. | |||
| Date | February 16, 1986 | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 71.1 °F (21.7 °C); wind speeds approaching 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 148.124 miles per hour (238.382 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | |
| Qualifying race winners | |||
| Duel 1 Winner | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | |
| Duel 2 Winner | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Geoffrey Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 101 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 |
Geoffrey Bodine |
Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, David Hobbs and Ned Jarrett | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 8.4/22 (10.3 million viewers) | ||
The 28th annual Daytona 500 was held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway. The #9 of Bill Elliott won the pole.
Results
Top Ten Results
- 5-Geoff Bodine*
- 44-Terry Labonte
- 11-Darrell Waltrip
- 8-Bobby Hillin, Jr.
- 55-Benny Parsons
- 98-Ron Bouchard
- 4-Rick Wilson
- 27-Rusty Wallace
- 1-Sterling Marlin
- 75-Lake Speed=[2]
Failed to qualify
- 0-Delma Cowart
- 19-Bob Park
- 23-Michael Waltrip
- 29-Grant Adcox
- 35-Alan Kulwicki
- 39-Blackie Wangerin
- 48-Ron Esau
- 49-Ferdin Wallace
- 53-Donny Paul
- 54-Slick Johnson
- 60-Dick Skillen
- 70-J. D. McDuffie
- 73-Phil Barkdoll
- 74-Bobby Wawak
- 76-Clark Dwyer
- 81-Chet Fillip
- 82-Mark Stahl
- 95-Davey Allison
- 99-Connie Saylor
- 07-Randy LaJoie[3]
Recap
- On Lap 116 a major accident (such crashes are now known as "The Big One") in Turn 4 involved several cars, including some contenders for the win. 1980 winner Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett (already several laps down after earlier problems), 1985 winner Bill Elliott, Tommy Ellis, Harry Gant, Kyle Petty, Joe Ruttman, Lake Speed, & 4-time 500 winner Cale Yarborough were caught up in the melee. Elliott, Ellis, Petty, and Speed were able to continue to the finish.
- Geoff Bodine won this race on fuel mileage after engaging in a long feud with Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was forced to pit for gas with 3 laps to go, then blew the engine leaving the pits. This allowed Bodine to cruise to victory by a margin of over 11 seconds.
- It was the first of many hard luck finishes for Earnhardt that would last until the 1998 Daytona 500.
- Prior to the race, they paid tribute to the astronauts who were killed in the Challenger disaster, which was several miles away from the track 19 days ago. They would do so again in 2003 when the Columbia disaster occurred.
References
- ↑ "Weather of the 1986 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
- ↑ "1986 DAYTONA 500 Results". daytonainternationalspeedway.com. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
- ↑ "1986 Daytona 500". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
| Preceded by 1985 Winston Western 500 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1985-86 |
Succeeded by 1986 Miller High Life 400 |
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