Ninth race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1986 Winston 500 was the ninth
stock car race of the
1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 17th iteration of the
event . The race was held on Sunday, May 4, 1986, before an audience of 130,000 in
Lincoln, Alabama at
Alabama International Motor Speedway , a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped
superspeedway . The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete.
In the final laps of the race,
Stavola Brothers Racing 's
Bobby Allison made a late-race charge to the lead, passing with six laps left in the race. Allison then defended a last-lap move by
Richard Childress Racing 's
Dale Earnhardt in the final turns of the race, securing his 82nd career
NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Earnhardt and owner-driver
Buddy Baker finished second and third, respectively.
[1]
[2]
Background
The layout of
Alabama International Motor Speedway , the venue where the race was held.
Talladega Superspeedway , originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS) , is a
motorsports complex located north of
Talladega, Alabama . It is located on the former
Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of
Lincoln . The track is a
tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the
International Speedway Corporation , a business controlled by the
France family . Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the
NASCAR series such as the
NASCAR Cup Series ,
Xfinity Series and the
Camping World Truck Series . Talladega is the longest
NASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the
Daytona International Speedway , which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, May 1, at 1:00 PM
EST . Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round were guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Friday, May 2, at 1:00 PM
EST . As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 were decided on time,
[3] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given.
Bill Elliott , driving for
Melling Racing , won the pole, setting a time of 45.121 and an average speed of 212.229 miles per hour (341.549 km/h) in the first round.
[4]
Seven drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
2
22
Bobby Allison
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
188
40
running
180
$77,905
2
14
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
188
18
running
175
$53,900
3
7
88
Buddy Baker
Baker–Schiff Racing
Oldsmobile
188
6
running
170
$27,600
4
10
8
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
188
0
running
160
$21,470
5
11
66
Phil Parsons
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
188
0
running
155
$15,525
6
6
47
Morgan Shepherd
Race Hill Farm Team
Buick
188
2
running
155
$11,750
7
18
43
Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
188
0
running
146
$14,425
8
21
4
Rick Wilson
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
188
0
running
142
$10,500
9
26
98
Ron Bouchard
Curb Racing
Pontiac
188
1
running
143
$7,900
10
19
10
Greg Sacks
DiGard Motorsports
Pontiac
188
0
running
134
$9,350
11
32
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Pontiac
188
2
running
135
$10,455
12
12
25
Tim Richmond
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
187
0
running
127
$9,835
13
16
27
Rusty Wallace
Blue Max Racing
Pontiac
187
0
running
124
$12,440
14
39
48
Ronnie Thomas
Hylton Motorsports
Chevrolet
185
0
running
121
$8,875
15
38
94
Doug Heveron
Eller Racing
Pontiac
185
0
running
118
$4,940
16
40
52
Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means Racing
Chevrolet
185
0
running
115
$8,115
17
17
26
Joe Ruttman
King Racing
Buick
182
0
running
112
$7,635
18
25
17
Pancho Carter
Hamby Racing
Chevrolet
181
0
running
109
$7,725
19
35
0
Delma Cowart
H. L. Waters Racing
Chevrolet
181
0
running
106
$3,820
20
8
55
Benny Parsons
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
180
0
engine
103
$3,735
21
22
33
Harry Gant
Mach 1 Racing
Chevrolet
178
0
engine
100
$12,010
22
41
67
Buddy Arrington
Arrington Racing
Ford
178
0
running
97
$5,855
23
29
81
Chet Fillip (R)
Fillip Racing
Ford
177
0
running
94
$3,670
24
1
9
Bill Elliott
Melling Racing
Ford
175
116
engine
101
$43,070
25
42
64
Tommy Gale
Langley Racing
Ford
175
0
running
$5,845
26
33
90
Ken Schrader
Donlavey Racing
Ford
168
0
running
85
$5,785
27
3
5
Geoff Bodine
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
157
0
running
82
$10,070
28
28
73
Phil Barkdoll
Barkdoll Racing
Ford
149
1
engine
84
$2,820
29
13
44
Terry Labonte
Hagan Enterprises
Oldsmobile
144
0
engine
76
$9,770
30
31
54
Eddie Bierschwale
Gray Racing
Chevrolet
129
0
transmission
73
$2,720
31
9
7
Kyle Petty
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
125
0
accident
70
$9,625
32
23
18
Tommy Ellis
Freedlander Motorsports
Chevrolet
117
0
fan blade
67
$2,600
33
34
99
Connie Saylor
Ball Motorsports
Chevrolet
114
0
engine
64
$2,575
34
24
11
Darrell Waltrip
Junior Johnson & Associates
Chevrolet
102
0
engine
61
$13,850
35
37
23
Michael Waltrip (R)
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
92
0
accident
58
$2,525
36
20
15
Ricky Rudd
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
85
0
engine
55
$10,500
37
4
28
Cale Yarborough
Ranier-Lundy Racing
Ford
63
0
engine
52
$2,575
38
30
6
Trevor Boys
U.S. Racing
Chevrolet
62
2
accident
54
$5,305
39
5
1
Sterling Marlin
Ellington Racing
Chevrolet
48
0
piston
46
$2,500
40
27
12
Neil Bonnett
Junior Johnson & Associates
Chevrolet
40
0
fuel pressure
43
$10,800
41
36
32
Jim Sauter
Ingle Racing
Chevrolet
26
0
vibration
40
$2,400
42
15
75
Jody Ridley
RahMoc Enterprises
Pontiac
4
0
engine
37
$5,135
Failed to qualify
43
77
Ken Ragan
Ragan Racing
Chevrolet
44
35
Alan Kulwicki (R)
AK Racing
Ford
45
02
Mark Martin
Gunderman Racing
Ford
46
70
J. D. McDuffie
McDuffie Racing
Pontiac
47
95
Davey Allison
Sadler Brothers Racing
Buick
48
60
Dick Skillen
Goff Racing
Chevrolet
49
78
Steve Moore
Steve Moore Racing
Chevrolet
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos
Driver
Points
1
1
Dale Earnhardt
1,417
1
2
Darrell Waltrip
1,308 (-109)
1
3
Rusty Wallace
1,216 (-204)
3
4
Bobby Allison
1,198 (–219)
2
5
Terry Labonte
1,189 (–228)
1
6
Kyle Petty
1,152 (–265)
1
7
Bill Elliott
1,141 (–276)
8
Tim Richmond
1,135 (–282)
2
9
Harry Gant
1,084 (–333)
1
10
Geoff Bodine
1,082 (–335)
Official driver's standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Higgins, Tom (May 5, 1986).
"Allison Wins At Talladega" .
The Charlotte Observer . pp. 1B,
4B . Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Williams, Chuck (May 5, 1986).
"Gulp! It's Allison!" .
The Anniston Star . pp. 1B,
5B . Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Shoemaker, Mack (May 1, 1986).
"Drivers are expecting a qualifying record" .
Birmingham Post-Herald . pp. C1. Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (May 2, 1986).
"Elliott Runs To Record" .
The Charlotte Observer . pp. 1B,
4B . Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via
Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races