1991 Champion 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 |Rick Mast |Precision Products Racing |Oldsmobile |Skoal

2 |Rusty Wallace |Penske Racing South |Pontiac |Miller Genuine Draft

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

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

5 |Ricky Rudd |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Tide

6 |Mark Martin |Roush Racing |Ford |Folgers

7 |Alan Kulwicki |AK Racing |Ford |Hooters

8 |Rick Wilson |Stavola Brothers Racing |Buick |Snickers

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

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

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

13 |Randy LaJoie |Golden Annie Racing |Buick |Golden Annie Racing

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

17 |Darrell Waltrip |Darrell Waltrip Motorsports |Chevrolet |Western Auto

19 |Chad Little |Little Racing |Ford |Labatt's

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

22 |Sterling Marlin |Junior Johnson & Associates |Ford |Maxwell House

24 |Mickey Gibbs |Team III Racing |Pontiac |Team III Racing

25 |Ken Schrader |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Kodiak

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

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

30 |Michael Waltrip |Bahari Racing |Pontiac |Pennzoil

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

41 |Larry Pearson |Larry Hedrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Jasper Engines & Transmissions

42 |Bobby Hillin Jr. |SABCO Racing |Pontiac |Mello Yello

43 |Richard Petty |Petty Enterprises |Pontiac |STP

48 |James Hylton |Hylton Motorsports |Chevrolet |Hylton Motorsports

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

55 |Ted Musgrave (R) |U.S. Racing |Pontiac |Overton's

66 |Lake Speed |Cale Yarborough Motorsports |Pontiac |Phillips 66 TropArtic

68 |Bobby Hamilton (R) |TriStar Motorsports |Oldsmobile |Country Time

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

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

75 |Joe Ruttman |RahMoc Enterprises |Oldsmobile |Dinner Bell Foods

94 |Terry Labonte |Hagan Racing |Oldsmobile |Sunoco

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

98 |Jimmy Spencer |Travis Carter Enterprises |Chevrolet |Banquet Foods

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 14, 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, June 15, 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=June 14, 1991 |title=NASCAR today |pages=19 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119059470/nascar-today/ |access-date=February 19, 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. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.

Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 55.557 and an average speed of {{Convert|161.996|mph|km/h}} in the first round.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=June 15, 1991 |title=Pocono record falls - once, twice... |pages=16 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119059726/pocono-record-falls-once-twice/ |access-date=February 19, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

No 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 | Dale Earnhardt | style="text-align:center;"| 2,037
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | Ricky Rudd | style="text-align:center;"| 1,917 (-120)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | Darrell Waltrip | style="text-align:center;"| 1,842 (-195)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | Ken Schrader | style="text-align:center;"| 1,817 (–220)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 5 | Ernie Irvan | style="text-align:center;"| 1,814 (–223)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | Davey Allison | style="text-align:center;"| 1,769 (–268)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 7 | Harry Gant | style="text-align:center;"| 1,767 (–270)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | Mark Martin | style="text-align:center;"| 1,685 (–352)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | Michael Waltrip | style="text-align:center;"| 1,631 (–406)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 10 | Morgan Shepherd | style="text-align:center;"| 1,575 (–462)
class="sortbottom" !colspan="9"|[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119060133/winston-cup-standings/ Official driver's standings]

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

{{col-end}}

{{Reflist}}{{NASCAR next race|Previous_race=1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300|Next_race=1991 Miller Genuine Draft 400 (Michigan)|Monsteryear=1991|Series=NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{1991 Winston Cup}}{{NASCAR on ESPN}}

Category:1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Category:NASCAR races at Pocono Raceway

Category:June 1991 sports events in the United States

Category:1991 in sports in Pennsylvania