1988 Miller High Life 400 (June)

1988 Miller High Life 400
Race details
Race 14 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Map of Michigan International Speedway
Date June 26, 1988
Location Michigan International Speedway (Brooklyn, Michigan, USA)
Course Permanent racing facility
2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
WeatherTemperatures up to 90 °F (32 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Average speed 153.551 miles per hour (247.116 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Bill Elliott Melling Racing
Most laps led
Driver Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing
Laps 106
Winner
No. 27
 Rusty Wallace
 Blue Max Racing
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, and Chris Economaki

The 1988 Miller High Life 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on June 26, 1988, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, U.S.[2] An unrelated race with the same sponsor was implemented on September 11, 1988 at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Summary

Rusty Wallace defeated Bill Elliott by a time of 0.28 seconds in front of an audience of 68,000.[2] Wallace's first victory out of the five that he would accumulate at Michigan International Speedway would be credited to conserving fuel and making as few bad decisions on pit road as possible.[3] Four cautions were given for 15 laps while 13 lead changes were made.[2] The race took more than two hours and thirty-six minutes to complete.[2] Elliott qualified for the pole position with a speed of 172.687 miles per hour (277.913 km/h) while the average race speed was 153.551 miles per hour (247.116 km/h).[2] Rick Wilson was the last-place finisher due to an engine issue on lap 2 of 200.[2]

There was a 41-driver grid of American-born males.[2] Only 25 of these drivers managed to finish the race.[2][4] David Simko would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing after this event; finishing 40th in the process. David Sosebee would also retire after this race; completing the race in 31st place.

Jimmy Horton, Jay Sommers, J.D. McDuffie, and Connie Saylor would fail to qualify for this race.[2] Individual earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $64,100 ($127,821.24 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of a meager $3,050 ($6,081.98 when adjusted for inflation). The total prize purse for this racing event was advertised at $440,975 ($879,344.35 when adjusted for inflation).[5]

Finishing order

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2]
1 Rusty Wallace 2145
2 Dale Earnhardt 2015
3 Bill Elliott 1995
4 Terry Labonte 1939
5 Ken Schrader 1829

References

  1. ↑ "1988 Miller High Life 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. 2012-09-10.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 "1988 Miller High Life 400 racing information". Racing Reference. 2011-07-19.
  3. ↑ "Fuel mileage pays off for Wallace on superspeedway". NASCAR.com. 2012-12-25.
  4. ↑ "1988 Miller High Life 400 racing information (second reference)". Driver Averages. 2012-11-18.
  5. ↑ "NASCAR race results for the 1988 Miller High Life 400". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. 2012-11-18.
Preceded by
1988 Miller Life 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1988 		Succeeded by
1988 Pepsi Firecracker 400