1989 Holly Farms 400

1989 Holly Farms 400
Race details[1][2]
Race 26 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

North Wilkesboro Speedway
Date October 15, 1989 (1989-October-15)
Official name Holly Farms 400
Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.005 km)
Distance 400 laps, 250 mi (402 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 90.269 miles per hour (145.274 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Laps 343
Winner
No. 5 Geoffrey Bodine Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Benny Parsons
Ned Jarrett

The 1989 Holly Farms 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) race that took place on October 15, 1989, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Summary

The race was scheduled for October 1, but rain persisted and a two-week postponement resulted. This race is memorable for a last-lap incident between leader Dale Earnhardt and second-place driver Ricky Rudd.

There were no time trials because the inclement weather on the race track washed out qualifying,[2] so the field lined up according to the Winston Cup Series owners' points standings prior to Charlotte. Four hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.625 miles (1.006 km).[2] The race featured 11 cautions for 60 laps, the final yellow waved for a spin by Bobby Hillin in Turn 2. No serious accidents occurred, although an accident involving both Richard and Kyle Petty and Hut Stricklin saw The King get his right-side wheels in the air, but at a reduced speed. Dale Earnhardt was the clear dominator, as only Mark Martin (51 laps) led more than 5 laps. The final restart was on Lap 398, as Earnhardt led Rudd, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, and Martin to the green. Hillin spun again in Turn 1, but left the scene quickly without prompting a yellow flag. Rudd pressured Earnhardt relentlessly, and as Dale got loose exiting Turn 4 coming to the white flag, Rudd got alongside the #3. As they entered Turn 1 Earnhardt tried to keep a tight line through the corner, while in the outside line, and as he came closer to the ideal line Rudd's car appeared to push slightly, and the ensuing contact spun both drivers around. This handed the lead to a surprised but elated Bodine, who won his 7th Winston Cup race (all for Hendrick Motorsports).

“ (Ricky) Rudd is inside of Dale Earnhardt, as they go into Turn 1 and both of them spin! ”

Richard Petty would get his 15th (and final) last place finish here (in a Pontiac car) with his son finishing only slightly ahead of him in 31st place.[2] Thirty-four thousand people would attend a race where Geoffrey Bodine (in his Chevrolet Lumina) would defeat Mark Martin (in his Ford Thunderbird) by a margin of three seconds.[2] Darrell Waltrip and Kyle Petty would eventually get 16 last-place finishes each that would allow them to surpass Richard Petty on the "all-time last place finishers' list."

The points leader before and after this race was Rusty Wallace; he had to only finish 18th or better to win the title so his driving style for the race was extremely conservative. Everyone was eligible for NASCAR Winston Cup points back then; with the first-place winner receiving 180 points and the last-place finisher receiving a meager 67 points.[3]

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 3 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet
2 27 Rusty Wallace Pontiac
3 6 Mark Martin Ford
4 17 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet
5 26 Ricky Rudd Buick
6 9 Bill Elliott Ford
7 25 Ken Schrader Chevrolet
8 28 Davey Allison Ford
9 11 Terry Labonte Ford
10 33 Harry Gant Oldsmobile

Finishing order

  1. Geoffrey Bodine (No. 5)
  2. Mark Martin (No. 6)
  3. Terry Labonte (No. 11)
  4. Harry Gant (No. 33)
  5. Morgan Shepherd (No. 75)
  6. Bill Elliott (No. 9)
  7. Rusty Wallace (No. 27)
  8. Ernie Irvan (No. 2)
  9. Ricky Rudd (No. 26)
  10. Dale Earnhardt† (No. 3)
  11. Alan Kulwicki† (No. 7)
  12. Dick Trickle† (No. 84)
  13. Ken Schrader (No. 25)
  14. Dave Marcis (No. 71)
  15. Bobby Hillin, Jr. (No. 8)
  16. Tommy Ellis (No. 21)
  17. Brett Bodine (No. 15)
  18. Jimmy Spencer (No. 88)
  19. Sterling Marlin (No. 94)
  20. Darrell Waltrip (No. 17)
  21. Davey Allison† (No. 28)
  22. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
  23. Michael Waltrip (No. 30)
  24. Larry Pearson (No. 16)
  25. Lake Speed (No. 83)
  26. Derrike Cope (No. 10)
  27. Dale Jarrett* (No. 29)
  28. Phil Parsons* (No. 55)
  29. Rick Wilson* (No. 4)
  30. Hut Stricklin (No. 57)
  31. Kyle Petty* (No. 42)
  32. Richard Petty* (No. 43)

* Driver failed to finish race
† Driver is deceased

Timeline

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Rusty Wallace 3758 0
2 Dale Earnhardt 3721 -37
3 Mark Martin 3630 -128
4 Darrell Waltrip 3476 -282
5 Bill Elliott 3394 -364
6 Ken Schrader 3332 -426
7 Ricky Rudd 3317 -441
8 Increase Harry Gant 3275 -483
9 Decrease Davey Allison 3252 -506
10 Terry Labonte 3230 -528

References

  1. ↑ "1989 Holly Farms 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1989 Holly Farms 400 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
  3. ↑ Points leader and distribution of points at Race Database
Preceded by
1989 All Pro Auto Parts 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Races
1989 		Succeeded by
1989 AC Delco 500
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