1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
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The 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began February 12 and ended November 19. Rusty Wallace of the #27 Pontiac for Blue Max Racing won the championship. This was the first year that every Winston Cup race was televised, with almost all of them being televised live.

1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Drivers

Team	Make	No.	Driver	Crew Chief
Buick	David Pearson Racing	16	Larry Pearson (R)
	King Racing	26	Ricky Rudd	Larry McReynolds
	Stavola Brothers Racing	8	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Harry Hyde
	Stavola Brothers Racing	84	Dick Trickle (R)	Jimmy Fennig
Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	5	Geoff Bodine	Waddell Wilson
		17	Darrell Waltrip	Jeff Hammond
		25	Ken Schrader	Richard Broome
	Mach 1 Racing	66	Rick Mast (R)	Travis Carter
	Marcis Auto Racing	71	Dave Marcis
	Richard Childress Racing	3	Dale Earnhardt	Kirk Shelmerdine
	Whitcomb Racing	10	Derrike Cope	Buddy Parrott
Ford	AK Racing	7	Alan Kulwicki	Paul Andrews
	Bud Moore Engineering	15	Brett Bodine	Donnie Wingo
	Junior Johnson & Associates	11	Terry Labonte	Tim Brewer
	Melling Racing	9	Bill Elliott	Ernie Elliott
	RahMoc Enterprises	75	Morgan Shepherd	Bob Rahilly
	Robert Yates Racing	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates
	Roush Racing	6	Mark Martin	Robin Pemberton
	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Neil Bonnett26	Leonard Wood
	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Tommy Ellis3	Leonard Wood
Oldsmobile	B&B Racing	23	Eddie Bierschwale
	Hagan Racing	94	Sterling Marlin
	Jackson Brothers Motorsports	33	Harry Gant	Andy Petree
	Jackson Brothers Motorsports	55	Phil Parsons
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Rick Wilson	Tony Glover
	Speed Racing	83	Lake Speed
Pontiac	Bahari Racing	30	Michael Waltrip	Bill Ingle
	Baker-Schiff Racing	88	Jimmy Spencer	Dennis Conner
	Blue Max Racing	27	Rusty Wallace	Barry Dodson
	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	29	Dale Jarrett
	Means Racing	52	Jimmy Means
	Osterlund Racing	57	Hut Stricklin (R)	Doug Richert
	Petty Enterprises	43	Richard Petty	Dale Inman
	SABCO Racing	42	Kyle Petty	Gary Nelson
	U.S. Racing	2	Ernie Irvan	Bob Johnson
	Winkle Motorsports	48	Greg Sacks

Busch Clash

The Busch Clash, an annual invitational event for all winners of the Busch Pole award from the previous season, was held February 12 at Daytona International Speedway. Ken Schrader drew for the pole.

Top Ten Results

Gatorade 125s

The Gatorade 125s, a pair of qualifying races for the Daytona 500, were held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway. Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip won the poles for each event, respectively.

Race One Top Ten Results

Race Two Top Ten Results

Daytona 500

Main article: 1989 Daytona 500

Darrell Waltrip stretched his fuel for 53 laps, and won the Daytona 500 for the first time in his career, after 17 tries.

Top Ten Results

17-Darrell Waltrip
25-Ken Schrader
3-Dale Earnhardt
5-Geoffrey Bodine
55-Phil Parsons
66-Rick Mast*
7-Alan Kulwicki
4-Rick Wilson
11-Terry Labonte
23-Eddie Bierschwale

Goodwrench 500

The Goodwrench 500 was held March 5 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Rusty Wallace won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Rusty Wallace became the first driver to claim the Unocal 76 Challenge. After one rollover, and bonus money added at the season ending banquet, Wallace received an additional $22,800 for winning from the pole.

Motorcraft Quality Parts 500

The Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was held March 12 at Atlanta International Raceway. The #7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to Qualify: #36-H.B. Baily, #69-Lee Raymond, #70-J.D. McDuffie, Rodney Combs, Rick Jeffrey

Richard Petty was a factor among the leaders, and led 9 laps. But during a pit stop, the gas can leaked fuel onto the exhaust pipe, and started a bad pit fire. Crew member Robert Callicutt suffered second degree burns over 40% of his body and was hospitalized. Petty was forced to drop out of the race. The incident led to new rules regarding crew member fire protection, and newly designed gas can nozzles to prevent leakage.

Pontiac Excitement 400

The Pontiac Excitement 400 was held March 26 at Richmond International Raceway. The #5 of Geoff Bodine won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 43-Richard Petty

This race was scheduled for the weekend after the Daytona 500 (February 26), but snow fell in Richmond, and blanketed the Speedway. The race was postponed a month, and in subsequent seasons, the spring Richmond race was moved later and later into the season. It is one of the rare times a NASCAR race has been held on Easter Sunday, a weekend that has not had an originally scheduled NASCAR Cup race in the modern era.
After qualifying for 513 consecutive races, Richard Petty failed to make the field for this race. He wrecked his primary car during practice, and could not get the backup car up to speed. His consecutive starts record would stand until the 1996 First Union 400 when Terry Labonte broke the record.

TranSouth 500

The TranSouth 500 was held April 2 at Darlington Raceway. Mark Martin won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Valleydale Meats 500

The Valleydale Meats 500 was held April 9 at Bristol International Raceway. Mark Martin won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to Qualify: #40-Ben Hess, #43-Richard Petty, #52-Jimmy Means, #70-J.D. McDuffie, #71-Dave Marcis, Steve Seligman

First Union 400

The First Union 400 was held April 16 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Rusty Wallace won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 8-Bobby Hillin Jr., 43-Richard Petty, 55-Phil Parsons*, 70-J. D. McDuffie, 04-Bill Meacham, Jerry O'Neil, Kevin Evans, Mark Walbridge

Phil Parsons' team purchased the #60 in this event in order to race. He finished 12th, 6 laps down.

Pannill Sweatshirts 500

The Pannill Sweatshirts 500 was held April 23 at Martinsville Speedway. The #5 of Geoff Bodine won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Winston 500

The Winston 500 was held May 7 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole.

Top Ten Results

This was the first race for the new Chevrolet Lumina bodystyle in Winston Cup.

The Winston

The Winston, an annual all-star race for previous winners and champions, was held May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The #11 of Terry Labonte won the pole. Rusty Wallace spun Darrell Waltrip out of the lead coming to the white flag to earn the victory. This sparked a fight between Wallace and Waltrip's crewmembers in the pits before Wallace got to victory lane.

Top Ten Results

Coca-Cola 600

The Coca-Cola 600 was held May 28 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The #7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

By winning the Daytona 500 earlier in the season, and now the Coca-Cola 600, Waltrip secured a $100,000 bonus for winning two of the Winston Million races, and put himself in position to win the Winston Million later in the season at Darlington.

Budweiser 500

The Budweiser 500 was held June 4 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Banquet Frozen Foods 300

The inaugural Banquet Frozen Foods 300 was held June 11 at Sears Point International Raceway. Rusty Wallace won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Mark Martin actually rolled his car during the race due to an error by a new tire changer (only 2 of 5 lugnuts were properly fastened on the car). Right after the car left the pits, the right rear came off, the car spun, hit the tire barrier and rolled onto its roof. However, he came back to finish the race in 31st, 5 laps down.

Miller High Life 500

The Miller High Life 500 was held June 18 at Pocono Raceway. The #27 of Rusty Wallace won the pole. This race was one of the few races telecast on Pay Per View.

Top Ten Results

Miller High Life 400

The Miller High Life 400 was held June 25 at Michigan International Speedway. The #25 of Ken Schrader won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Pepsi 400

The Pepsi 400 was held July 1 at Daytona International Speedway. The #6 of Mark Martin won the pole. This race featured a rollover crash involving the #83 of Lake Speed on lap 144.

Top Ten Results

This was the last Pepsi 400 to be shown on tape delay, but was shown flag-to-flag. Previous to this, the race was aired as part of ABC's Wide World of Sports and only the last 25 laps or so of the race would be aired.

AC Spark Plug 500

The AC Spark Plug 500 was held on July 23 at Pocono International Raceway. Ken Schrader won the pole. This race was notable for two wrecks that tore open portions of the track's boilerplate walls. Jimmy Horton crashed in Turn Two and tore open a hole in the wall. Later a big wreck erupted in Turn One involving Greg Sacks in the Tom Winkle #48 and the #83 of Lake Speed. The two cars got together going into Turn One and smashed into the boilerplate wall head-on. The hit punched open the wall and sent Sacks flipping. The yellow remained out for the duration of time needed to repair the wall. Speed broke his shoulder in the crash and had to sit out for a couple weeks.

Top Ten Finishers

Elliott cut a tire on the opening lap but rallied to take the lead from Wallace in the final ten laps. The win tied Elliott with Tim Richmond for most wins at Pocono. Richmond, battling illness, was the subject of a short retrospective piece on the ESPN telecast and former Richmond crew chiefs Barry Dodson and Harry Hyde were interviewed on-air about him.

Talladega DieHard 500

The Talladega DieHard 500 was held July 30 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Joe Ruttman substituted for Lake Speed in the #83, and crashed spectacularly on lap 145. Ruttman hit the wall nearly head-on and almost got on his side as a result.

The Budweiser at the Glen

The Budweiser at the Glen was held August 13 at Watkins Glen International. Morgan Shepherd won the pole. This race is notable for a big wreck on lap 89 involving the #5 of Geoff Bodine. Bodine lost a tire at the end of the backstraight, spun around and went through the barrier and hitting a fence behind the barrier (more or less marking off the property line of Watkins Glen International's land). Bodine was uninjured. Also on that day, Tim Richmond who had a long battle with AIDS, died earlier in the day.

Top Ten Results

Eddie Bierschwale was the substitute driver in the #83 for Lake Speed, who was still recovering from his shoulder injury at Pocono. He finished 38th.

Champion Spark Plug 400

The Champion Spark Plug 400 was held August 20 at Michigan International Speedway. Geoff Bodine won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Busch 500

The Busch 500 was held August 26 at Bristol International Raceway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Heinz Southern 500

The Heinz Southern 500 was held September 3 at Darlington Raceway. The #7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Darrell Waltrip had a chance to win the Winston Million at Darlington, but hit the wall early in the race and finished 22nd.

Rodney Combs replaced Joe Ruttman as Lake Speed's substitute driver in the #83 at Darlington. He finished 23rd.

Miller High Life 400

The Miller High Life 400 was held September 10 at Richmond International Raceway. The #9 of Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Lake Speed returned to the #83 at Richmond after sitting out 5 races due to injury.

Peak Performance 500

The Peak Performance 500 was held September 17 at Dover Downs International Speedway. The #28 of Davey Allison won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Neil Bonnett broke his sternum in a crash at Dover. This forced him to step out of the car for 3 races.

Goody's 500

The Goody's 500 was held September 24 at Martinsville Speedway. Dale Earnhardt started on the pole, which was actually won by Jimmy Hensley (as a substitute driver) as Earnhardt and others could not reach the track in time due to Hurricane Hugo, which affected the area.

Top Ten Results

Tommy Ellis substituted for Neil Bonnett in the #21 in this race, and the next 2 events in Charlotte and North Wilkesboro.

All Pro Auto Parts 500

The All Pro Auto Parts 500 was held October 8 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to Qualify: 14-A.J. Foyt*

A.J. Foyt was involved in a practice crash where he suffered a significant concussion which kept him from attempting to qualify.

Dale Earnhardt lost the points lead in this race when the camshaft in his #3 Chevrolet broke in the 13th lap, and he dropped out.

Holly Farms 400

The Holly Farms 400 was held October 15 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Dale Earnhardt won the pole. This race was notable for the race for the win between Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd. On the last lap, Earnhardt and Rudd touched in turn 1, spinning both cars out. This allowed Geoff Bodine to slip by and win the race, and allowed Rusty Wallace to gain points on Earnhardt for the championship hunt.

Top Ten Results

This was Bodine's first win since 1986. Bodine led only the final lap of the race. Earnhardt had led 343 of the 400 laps.

AC Delco 500

The AC Delco 500 was held October 22 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

This was Mark Martin's first career Winston Cup victory.

This was Neil Bonnett's first race back from his sternum injury that he suffered at Dover.

Autoworks 500

The Autoworks 500 was held November 5 at Phoenix International Raceway. Ken Schrader won the pole.

Top Ten Results

2 cars entered by Hendrick Motorsports (The #46 Chevrolet driven by Greg Sacks and the #51 Chevrolet driven by Bobby Hamilton) were entered to get in-race footage for the 1990 movie, Days of Thunder. Hamilton actually led the race with 100 laps to go (in his 1st career start) before the engine blew.

Atlanta Journal 500

Main article: 1989 Atlanta Journal 500

The Atlanta Journal 500 was held November 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The #7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole. On Lap 203, Grant Adcox struck the wall and suffered a heart attack and severe head injuries. Adcox died shortly after the accident.

Top Ten Results

Rusty Wallace's 15th-place finish clinched the 1989 Winston Cup championship. It was his only Winston Cup.

Final points standings

Rusty Wallace – 4176
Dale Earnhardt – 4164
Mark Martin – 4053
Darrell Waltrip – 3971
Ken Schrader – 3876
Bill Elliott – 3774
Harry Gant – 3610
Ricky Rudd – 3608
Geoff Bodine – 3600
Terry Labonte – 3569
Davey Allison – 3481
Sterling Marlin – 3422
Morgan Shepherd – 3403
Alan Kulwicki – 3236
Dick Trickle – 3203
Bobby Hillin, Jr. – 3139
Rick Wilson – 3119
Michael Waltrip – 3057
Brett Bodine – 3051
Neil Bonnett – 2995
Phil Parsons – 2933
Ernie Irvan – 2919
Larry Pearson – 2860
Dale Jarrett – 2789
Dave Marcis – 2715
Hut Stricklin – 2705
Lake Speed – 2550
Derrike Cope – 2180
Richard Petty – 2148
Kyle Petty – 2099
Jimmy Means – 1698
Greg Sacks – 1565
Jim Sauter – 1510
Jimmy Spencer – 1445
Rick Mast – 1315
Eddie Bierschwale – 1306
Ben Hess – 921
Chad Little – 602
Butch Miller – 576
A.J. Foyt – 527
Mickey Gibbs – 508
Rodney Combs – 470
Joe Ruttman – 469
J. D. McDuffie – 457
Phil Barkdoll – 378
Jimmy Horton – 377
Dick Johnson – 322
Ken Bouchard – 313
Terry Byers – 306
Darin Brassfield – 306

Rookie of the Year

Dick Trickle was named the 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, despite entering the competition in the second week of the season, replacing Mike Alexander at Stavola Brothers Racing. The top runner-up was former Dash champion Hut Stricklin, driving for returning car owner Rod Osterlund. Two-time Busch champion Larry Pearson and former modified driver Jimmy Spencer were the only other candidates to make a full schedule, as Rick Mast, Ben Hess, Chad Little, Butch Miller, and Mickey Gibbs all ran part-time.

External links

Winston Cup Standings and Statistics for 1989

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