The 1989 Heinz Southern 500 was the 21st stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 40th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 3, 1989, before an audience of 80,000 in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 367 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would dominate the late stages of the race, leading the final 63 laps of the race to take his 37th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and King Racing driver Ricky Rudd would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 21 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1989 Heinz Southern 500 program cover, featuring Darrell Waltrip. | |||
| Date | September 3, 1989 | ||
| Official name | 40th Annual Heinz Southern 500 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.221 km) | ||
| Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km) | ||
| Average speed | 135.462 miles per hour (218.005 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 80,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | AK Racing | ||
| Time | 30.705 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 153 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
edit
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, August 31, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be 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, September 1, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time[5] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified on time but were high enough in owner's points; up to two provisionals were given.
Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.705 and an average speed of 160.156 miles per hour (257.746 km/h) in the first round.[6][7]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
edit| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 153 | running | 185 | $71,150 |
| 2 | 3 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 367 | 0 | running | 170 | $37,550 |
| 3 | 8 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 367 | 0 | running | 165 | $26,865 |
| 4 | 5 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 367 | 94 | running | 165 | $24,330 |
| 5 | 2 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 367 | 5 | running | 160 | $20,390 |
| 6 | 6 | 33 | Harry Gant | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 367 | 83 | running | 155 | $17,000 |
| 7 | 4 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 367 | 4 | running | 151 | $18,430 |
| 8 | 18 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 367 | 0 | running | 142 | $11,195 |
| 9 | 24 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 366 | 0 | running | 138 | $16,287 |
| 10 | 16 | 94 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 365 | 1 | running | 139 | $12,430 |
| 11 | 13 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 365 | 0 | running | 130 | $9,385 |
| 12 | 7 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 365 | 0 | running | 127 | $12,120 |
| 13 | 15 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 364 | 0 | running | 124 | $8,960 |
| 14 | 23 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 364 | 0 | running | 121 | $4,840 |
| 15 | 19 | 21 | Neil Bonnett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 363 | 1 | running | 123 | $9,140 |
| 16 | 11 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 363 | 0 | running | 115 | $8,300 |
| 17 | 14 | 84 | Dick Trickle (R) | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 363 | 0 | running | 112 | $8,690 |
| 18 | 25 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 362 | 0 | running | 109 | $12,595 |
| 19 | 29 | 57 | Hut Stricklin (R) | Osterlund Racing | Pontiac | 362 | 0 | running | 106 | $6,095 |
| 20 | 26 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 361 | 0 | running | 103 | $7,810 |
| 21 | 31 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 360 | 0 | running | 100 | $6,645 |
| 22 | 9 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 359 | 3 | running | 102 | $112,890 |
| 23 | 21 | 83 | Rodney Combs | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 351 | 0 | running | 0 | $6,895 |
| 24 | 20 | 2 | Ernie Irvan | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 325 | 0 | running | 91 | $4,175 |
| 25 | 12 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Pontiac | 320 | 0 | running | 88 | $4,105 |
| 26 | 34 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 309 | 0 | engine | 85 | $3,090 |
| 27 | 35 | 36 | H. B. Bailey | Bailey Racing | Pontiac | 295 | 0 | running | 82 | $3,000 |
| 28 | 30 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 286 | 6 | crash | 84 | $5,605 |
| 29 | 17 | 16 | Larry Pearson (R) | Pearson Racing | Buick | 225 | 0 | engine | 76 | $3,490 |
| 30 | 32 | 62 | Joe Ruttman | Douglas Smith Racing | Oldsmobile | 224 | 0 | water pump | 73 | $2,810 |
| 31 | 37 | 24 | John McFadden | McFadden Racing | Chevrolet | 213 | 0 | vibration | 70 | $2,615 |
| 32 | 1 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 184 | 17 | engine | 72 | $8,005 |
| 33 | 28 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 167 | 0 | engine | 64 | $9,500 |
| 34 | 38 | 81 | Mike Potter | Welch Racing | Ford | 137 | 0 | header | 61 | $2,455 |
| 35 | 33 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 91 | 0 | engine | 58 | $2,995 |
| 36 | 36 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | 90 | 0 | engine | 55 | $2,350 |
| 37 | 27 | 88 | Jimmy Spencer (R) | Baker–Schiff Racing | Pontiac | 80 | 0 | crash | 52 | $4,870 |
| 38 | 22 | 48 | Greg Sacks | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | 21 | 0 | crash | 49 | $2,215 |
| 39 | 39 | 49 | James Hylton | Hylton Motorsports | Buick | 13 | 0 | engine | 46 | $2,100 |
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
edit- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 4, 1989). "Earnhardt Tames Darlington (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 13. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 4, 1989). "Earnhardt Tames Darlington (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ King, Randy (September 4, 1989). "Earnhardt cashes in at Darlington (Part 1)". The Roanoke Times. p. 13. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ King, Randy (September 4, 1989). "Earnhardt cashes in at Darlington (Part 2)". The Roanoke Times. p. 16. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. August 31, 1989. p. 55. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 1, 1989). "Waltrip 9th As Kulwicki Takes Darlington Pole (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 69. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 1, 1989). "Waltrip 9th As Kulwicki Takes Darlington Pole (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 76. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
