1988 Busch 500
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Short description|20th race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}
{{Infobox NASCAR race report|Type=NASWINSTON|Location=Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol International Speedway|Distance_mi=266.5|Pole_Time=16.415|Most_laps=220|Most_Driver=Dale Earnhardt|Pole_Driver=Alan Kulwicki|Car=3|First_Driver=Dale Earnhardt|Most_Team=Richard Childress Racing|First_Team=Richard Childress Racing|Pole_Team=AK Racing|Network=ESPN|Radio=Motor Racing Network|Announcers=Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Gary Nelson|Scheduled_laps=500|Distance_laps=500|Scheduled_mi=266.5|Scheduled_km=428.89|Distance_km=428.89|Course_mi=0.533|Course_km=0.858|Year=1988|Race_No=20|Season_No=29|Caption=The 1988 Busch 500 program cover, featuring Bill Elliott.|Date=August 27|Avg={{convert|78.775|mph|km/h}}|Race_Name=Busch 500|Official_name=28th Annual Busch 500|Image=1988 Busch 500.jpeg|Attendance=53,100}}
The 1988 Busch 500 was the 20th stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 27, 1988, before an audience of 54,000 in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol International Speedway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt managed to dominate the late stages of the race, leading the final 110 laps to take his 34th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=August 29, 1988 |title=Earnhardt Takes Bristol; Elliott Leads Points |pages=1B, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-earnhardt-takes-b/128365743/ 3B] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-earnhardt-takes-b/128365724/ |access-date=July 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{Cite news |last=Mulhurn |first=Mike |date=August 28, 1988 |title=Earnhardt Preparing For Title |pages=17, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/winston-salem-journal-earnhardt-preparin/128365806/ 19] |work=Winston-Salem Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/winston-salem-journal-earnhardt-preparin/128365795/ |access-date=July 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} To fill out the top three, Melling Racing's Bill Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports's Geoff Bodine would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
File:Bristol_Motor_Speedway_map.png, the venue where the race was held.]]
The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.
= Entry list =
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!# !Driver !Team !Make !Sponsor |
| 2
|Ernie Irvan (R) |
| 3 |
| 4 |
| 5 |
| 6
|Ford |
| 7
|Ford |
| 8 |
| 9
|Ford |
| 10
|Ken Bouchard (R) |Ford |
| 11 |
| 12 |
| 15
|Ford |
| 17
|Tide |
| 20 |
| 21
|Ford |
| 25 |
| 26 |
| 27 |
| 28
|Ford |
| 29 |
| 30 |
| 31 |
| 32 |
| 33 |
| 41 |
| 43
|STP |
| 44 |
| 52 |
| 55 |
| 57 |
| 67
|Ford |
| 68
|Ford |
| 70 |
| 71 |
| 75 |
| 83 |
| 88 |
| 90
|Ford |
| 97 |
| 98
|Brad Noffsinger (R) |
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 26, at 7:35 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 15 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 Saturday, August 27, at 1:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 15-30 would be decided on time,{{Cite news |date=August 26, 1988 |title=NASCAR Today |pages=3B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-nascar-today/128365887/ |access-date=July 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} 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 16.415 and an average speed of {{Convert|116.893|mph|km/h}} in the first round.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=August 27, 1988 |title=Kulwicki wins pole, sets qualifying mark |pages=20 |work=The Charlotte Observer |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/standard-speaker-kulwicki-wins-pole-set/128365949/ |access-date=July 17, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}
Eight drivers would fail to qualify.
= Full qualifying results =
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!Pos. !# !Driver !Team !Make !Time !Speed |
| 1
|7 |Ford |16.415 |116.893 |
|---|
| 2
|6 |Ford |16.454 |116.616 |
| 3
|5 |16.574 |115.772 |
| 4
|17 |16.630 |115.382 |
| 5
|3 |16.676 |115.064 |
| 6
|9 |Ford |16.723 |114.740 |
| 7
|33 |16.785 |114.316 |
| 8
|4 |16.818 |114.092 |
| 9
|25 |16.819 |114.085 |
| 10
|11 |16.839 |113.950 |
| 11
|28 |Ford |16.865 |113.774 |
| 12
|31 |16.883 |113.653 |
| 13
|44 |16.905 |113.505 |
| 14
|68 |Ford |16.922 |113.391 |
| 15
|29 |16.930 |113.337 |
| colspan="7" |Failed to lock in Round 1 |
| 16
|15 |Ford |16.931 |113.331 |
| 17
|27 |16.953 |113.184 |
| 18
|71 |16.964 |113.110 |
| 19
|26 |16.967 |113.090 |
| 20
|43 |16.987 |112.957 |
| 21
|2 |Ernie Irvan (R) |16.991 |112.930 |
| 22
|21 |Ford |17.003 |112.851 |
| 23
|55 |17.016 |112.764 |
| 24
|83 |17.016 |112.764 |
| 25
|88 |17.017 |112.758 |
| 26
|12 |17.030 |112.672 |
| 27
|20 |17.062 |112.460 |
| 28
|97 |17.066 |112.434 |
| 29
|75 |17.068 |112.421 |
| 30
|98 |Brad Noffsinger (R) |17.084 |112.316 |
| colspan="7" |Provisionals |
| 31
|8 | -* | -* |
| 32
|30 | -* | -* |
| colspan="7" |Failed to qualify |
| 33
|57 | -* | -* |
| 34
|52 | -* | -* |
| 35
|90 |Ford | -* | -* |
| 36
|10 |Ken Bouchard (R) |Ford | -* | -* |
| 37
|41 | -* | -* |
| 38
|32 | -* | -* |
| 39
|70 | -* | -* |
| 40
|67 |Ford | -* | -* |
| colspan="7" |[https://www.newspapers.com/article/morning-sentinel-auto-racing/128356884/ Official first round qualifying results] |
| colspan="7" |[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-knoxville-news-sentinel-busch-500-li/128363621/ Official starting lineup] |
Race results
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!Fin !St !# !Driver !Team !Make !Laps !Led !Status !Pts !Winnings |
| 1
|5 |3 |500 |220 |running |185 |$48,500 |
|---|
| 2
|6 |9 |Ford |500 |3 |running |175 |$29,150 |
| 3
|3 |5 |499 |15 |running |170 |$17,475 |
| 4
|11 |28 |Ford |499 |17 |running |165 |$16,775 |
| 5
|1 |7 |Ford |499 |21 |running |160 |$16,410 |
| 6
|7 |33 |497 |24 |running |155 |$7,525 |
| 7
|4 |17 |497 |3 |running |151 |$9,300 |
| 8
|20 |43 |497 |0 |running |142 |$6,300 |
| 9
|17 |27 |493 |0 |running |138 |$10,800 |
| 10
|31 |8 |492 |0 |running |134 |$9,050 |
| 11
|28 |97 |489 |0 |running |130 |$2,450 |
| 12
|13 |44 |481 |0 |running |127 |$5,350 |
| 13
|22 |21 |Ford |479 |65 |running |129 |$7,950 |
| 14
|29 |75 |476 |0 |running |121 |$7,850 |
| 15
|21 |2 |Ernie Irvan (R) |452 |0 |running |118 |$3,450 |
| 16
|19 |26 |451 |10 |engine |120 |$4,850 |
| 17
|12 |31 |438 |0 |engine |0 |$3,175 |
| 18
|26 |12 |428 |0 |running |109 |$7,525 |
| 19
|23 |55 |417 |0 |overheating |106 |$4,475 |
| 20
|24 |83 |391 |66 |running |108 |$3,425 |
| 21
|9 |25 |388 |0 |running |100 |$6,835 |
| 22
|10 |11 |331 |17 |engine |102 |$7,305 |
| 23
|8 |4 |285 |0 |crash |94 |$2,435 |
| 24
|27 |20 |271 |0 |engine |91 |$1,565 |
| 25
|16 |15 |Ford |252 |0 |crash |88 |$8,945 |
| 26
|15 |29 |207 |0 |crash |85 |$2,325 |
| 27
|2 |6 |Ford |207 |37 |crash |87 |$3,480 |
| 28
|25 |88 |207 |2 |crash |0 |$3,660 |
| 29
|18 |71 |142 |0 |crash |76 |$3,615 |
| 30
|14 |68 |Ford |93 |0 |overheating |73 |$3,550 |
| 31
|32 |30 |54 |0 |engine |70 |$2,950 |
| 32
|30 |98 |Brad Noffsinger (R) |1 |0 |crash |67 |$1,700 |
| colspan="11" |Failed to qualify |
| 33
! rowspan="8" | |57 ! colspan="5" rowspan="8" | |
| 34
|52 |
| 35
|90 |Ford |
| 36
|10 |Ken Bouchard (R) |Ford |
| 37
|41 |
| 38
|32 |
| 39
|70 |
| 40
|67 |Ford |
| colspan="11" |[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-saturdays-result/128364340/ Official race results] |
Standings after the race
{{col-start}}
{{col-2}}
;Drivers' Championship standings
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |
| ! Pos
! Driver ! Points |
|---|
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3,027 |
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 3,011 (-16) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,901 (-126) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 4 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,702 (–325) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 5 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,654 (–373) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 6 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,640 (–387) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 7 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,544 (–483) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,511 (–516) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 9 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,504 (–523) |
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 10 | style="text-align:center;"| 2,369 (–658) |
| class="sortbottom"
!colspan="9"|[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-nascar-winston/128364970/ Official driver's standings] |
- Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{NASCAR next race|Previous_race=1988 Champion Spark Plug 400|Next_race=1988 Southern 500|Monsteryear=1988|Series=NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}
{{1988 Winston Cup}}
{{NASCAR on ESPN}}
Category:1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Category:NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway