1990 AC Spark Plug 500

File:Pocono_Raceway.svg, the venue where the race was held.]]

The race was held at Pocono International Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The track hosts two annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, as well as one Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series event. Until 2019, the track also hosted an IndyCar Series race.

Pocono International Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.

Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%" !# !Driver !Team !Make !Sponsor

1 |Terry Labonte |Precision Products Racing |Oldsmobile |Skoal

2 |Troy Beebe |U.S. Racing |Pontiac |Taco Bell

3 |Dale Earnhardt |Richard Childress Racing |Chevrolet |GM Goodwrench Service Plus

4 |Ernie Irvan |Morgan–McClure Motorsports |Oldsmobile |Kodak

5 |Ricky Rudd |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Levi Garrett

6 |Mark Martin |Roush Racing |Ford |Folgers

7 |Alan Kulwicki |AK Racing |Ford |Zerex

8 |Bobby Hillin Jr. |Stavola Brothers Racing |Buick |Snickers

9 |Bill Elliott |Melling Racing |Ford |Coors Light

10 |Derrike Cope |Whitcomb Racing |Chevrolet |Purolator Filters

11 |Geoff Bodine |Junior Johnson & Associates |Ford |Budweiser

12 |Hut Stricklin |Bobby Allison Motorsports |Buick |Raybestos

13 |Randy LaJoie |Linro Motorsports |Buick |Linro Motorsports

15 |Morgan Shepherd |Bud Moore Engineering |Ford |Motorcraft

17 |Darrell Waltrip |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Tide

18 |Greg Sacks |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |SlimFast

20 |Rob Moroso (R) |Moroso Racing |Oldsmobile |Crown Central Petroleum

21 |Dale Jarrett |Wood Brothers Racing |Ford |Citgo

22 |Rick Mast |U.S. Racing |Pontiac |Plasti-Kote

25 |Ken Schrader |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Kodiak

26 |Brett Bodine |King Racing |Buick |Quaker State

27 |Rusty Wallace |Blue Max Racing |Pontiac |Miller Genuine Draft

28 |Davey Allison |Robert Yates Racing |Ford |Texaco, Havoline

30 |Michael Waltrip |Bahari Racing |Pontiac |Country Time

33 |Harry Gant |Leo Jackson Motorsports |Oldsmobile |Skoal Bandit

38 |Dick Johnson |Dick Johnson Racing |Ford |Redkote Steel Tubing

42 |Kyle Petty |SABCO Racing |Pontiac |Peak Antifreeze

43 |Richard Petty |Petty Enterprises |Pontiac |STP

50 |Rich Vogler* |RaDiUs Motorsports |Chevrolet |Coors Light

52 |Jimmy Means |Jimmy Means Racing |Pontiac |Alka-Seltzer

53 |Jerry O'Neil (R) |Aroneck Racing |Oldsmobile |Aroneck Racing

54 |Tommy Riggins |Hakes–Welliver Racing |Oldsmobile |Hakes–Welliver Racing

57 |Jimmy Spencer |Osterlund Racing |Pontiac |Heinz

58 |Brian Ross |Ken Schrader Racing |Pontiac |Ken Schrader Racing

66 |Dick Trickle |Cale Yarborough Motorsports |Pontiac |Phillips 66 TropArtic

70 |J. D. McDuffie |McDuffie Racing |Pontiac |McDuffie Racing

71 |Dave Marcis |Marcis Auto Racing |Chevrolet |Big Apple Market

74 |Mike Potter |Wawak Racing |Pontiac |Wawak Racing

75 |Rick Wilson |RahMoc Enterprises |Pontiac |Dinner Bell Foods

77 |Ken Ragan |Ragan Racing |Ford |Jasper Engines & Transmissions

85 |Bobby Gerhart |Bobby Gerhart Racing |Chevrolet |James Omar Landis Auctions

94 |Sterling Marlin |Hagan Racing |Oldsmobile |Sunoco

98 |Butch Miller |Travis Carter Enterprises |Chevrolet |Banquet Foods

*Withdrew due to Vogler dying the day before the race in a USAC event.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=July 23, 1990 |title=USAC Driver Vogler Dies In Race Crash |pages=11 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121740759/usac-driver-vogler-dies-in-race-crash/ |access-date=March 27, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 20, at 3:00 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, July 21, at 10:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 16-40 would be decided on time,{{Cite news |date=July 20, 1990 |title=NASCAR today |pages=14 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121740942/nascar-today/ |access-date=March 27, 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 but were high enough in owner's points; up to two provisionals were given.

Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 56.867 and an average speed of {{Convert|158.264|mph|km/h}} in the first round.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=July 21, 1990 |title=Martin Speeds To Pole (Part 1) |pages=75 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121741196/martin-speeds-to-pole-part-1/ |access-date=March 27, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=July 21, 1990 |title=Martin Speeds To Pole (Part 2) |pages=79 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121741236/martin-speeds-to-pole-part-2/ |access-date=March 27, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

Three drivers would fail to qualify.

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;Drivers' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Pos ! Driver ! Points
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | Mark Martin | style="text-align:center;"| 2,371
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | Dale Earnhardt | style="text-align:center;"| 2,323 (-48)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | Rusty Wallace | style="text-align:center;"| 2,266 (-105)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | Geoff Bodine | style="text-align:center;"| 2,257 (–114)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 5 | Morgan Shepherd | style="text-align:center;"| 2,113 (–258)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | Kyle Petty | style="text-align:center;"| 2,072 (–299)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 7 | Ken Schrader | style="text-align:center;"| 2,065 (–306)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | Bill Elliott | style="text-align:center;"| 2,005 (–366)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | Ernie Irvan | style="text-align:center;"| 1,945 (–426)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 10 | Ricky Rudd | style="text-align:center;"| 1,920 (–451)
class="sortbottom" !colspan="9"|[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121692821/nascar-statistics/ Official driver's standings]

• Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

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AC Spark Plug 500

Category:NASCAR races at Pocono Raceway

AC Spark Plug 500

AC Spark Plug 500