1993 Pontiac Excitement 400

{{Short description|Third race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox NASCAR race report|Type=NASWINSTON|Race_No=3|Distance_mi=300|Year=1993|Pole_Time=21.922|Race_Name=Pontiac Excitement 400|Course_mi=0.75|Scheduled_km=482.803|Distance_km=482.803|Course_km=1.21|Distance_laps=400|Scheduled_laps=400|Scheduled_mi=300|Official_name=39th Annual Pontiac Excitement 400|Location=Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway|Avg={{convert|107.709|mph|km/h}}|Season_No=30|Date=March 7|Car=28|Radio=Motor Racing Network|Network=TBS|Announcers=Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett|Most_laps=168|First_Driver=Davey Allison|First_Team=Robert Yates Racing|Most_Driver=Kyle Petty|Pole_Driver=Ken Schrader|Pole_Team=Hendrick Motorsports|Most_Team=SABCO Racing|Caption=The 1993 Pontiac Excitement 400 program cover, with artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.|Image=1993_Pontiac_Excitement_400.jpeg|Attendance=70,000}}

The 1993 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 39th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 7, 1993, in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 19th and eventual final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=March 8, 1993 |title=Dominating Allison leaves foes behind at Richmond |pages=15 |work=Messenger-Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115342643/dominating-allison-leaves-foes-behind/ |access-date=December 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{Cite news |last=McKee |first=Sandra |date=March 8, 1993 |title=Allison takes Richmond easily |pages=26 |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115342822/allison-takes-richmond-easily/ |access-date=December 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and owner-driver Alan Kulwicki would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

File:Richmond_International_Speedway.png, the venue where the race was at.]]

Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.

= Entry list =

(R) denotes rookie driver.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"

!#

!Driver

!Team

!Make

!Sponsor

1

|Precision Products Racing

2

|Penske Racing South

|Miller Genuine Draft

3

|Dale Earnhardt

|Richard Childress Racing

|GM Goodwrench Service Plus

4

|Morgan–McClure Motorsports

5

|Hendrick Motorsports

6

7

8

|Sterling Marlin

|Stavola Brothers Racing

11

|Junior Johnson & Associates

12

|Bobby Allison Motorsports

14

|Kellogg's Frosted Flakes

15

|Bud Moore Engineering

16

|Wally Dallenbach Jr.

17

|Darrell Waltrip

|Darrell Waltrip Motorsports

18

|Joe Gibbs Racing

|Interstate Batteries

21

|Morgan Shepherd

|Wood Brothers Racing

22

|Bobby Labonte (R)

|Bill Davis Racing

24

|Jeff Gordon (R)

|Hendrick Motorsports

25

|Hendrick Motorsports

26

27

|Junior Johnson & Associates

28

|Robert Yates Racing

|Texaco, Havoline

30

|Michael Waltrip

32

|Active Motorsports

|Active Trucking

33

|Leo Jackson Motorsports

40

|Kenny Wallace (R)

41

|Larry Hedrick Motorsports

|Manheim Auctions

42

44

|Petty Enterprises

45

|Terminal Trucking Motorsports

|Kraft, Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce

52

|Jimmy Means Racing

55

|RaDiUs Motorsports

|USAir, Jasper Engines & Transmissions

61

|Chesrown Racing

|Chesrown Racing

68

|Bobby Hamilton

|TriStar Motorsports

71

|Marcis Auto Racing

|Southwest Technical Group

75

|Butch Mock Motorsports

|Carolina Pottery

83

90

|Bobby Hillin Jr.

|Donlavey Racing

98

|Cale Yarborough Motorsports

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 4, 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 Saturday, March 5, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 would be decided on time,{{Cite news |date=March 5, 1996 |title=NASCAR Today |pages=27 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115343016/nascar-today/ |access-date=December 28, 2022 |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 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.

Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 21.922 and an average speed of {{Convert|123.164|mph|km/h}} in the first round.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=March 6, 1993 |title=Schrader burns up Richmond |pages=6 |work=The Messenger |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115343352/schrader-burns-up-richmond/ |access-date=December 28, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

Three drivers would fail to qualify.

= Full qualifying results =

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"

!Pos.

!#

!Driver

!Team

!Make

!Time

!Speed

1

|25

|Hendrick Motorsports

|21.922

|123.164

2

|1

|Precision Products Racing

|21.942

|123.052

3

|21

|Morgan Shepherd

|Wood Brothers Racing

|21.976

|122.861

4

|26

|21.982

|122.828

5

|17

|Darrell Waltrip

|Darrell Waltrip Motorsports

|21.986

|122.805

6

|7

|22.007

|122.688

7

|42

|22.048

|122.460

8

|24

|Jeff Gordon (R)

|Hendrick Motorsports

|22.063

|122.377

9

|18

|Joe Gibbs Racing

|22.067

|122.355

10

|4

|Morgan–McClure Motorsports

|22.090

|122.227

11

|3

|Dale Earnhardt

|Richard Childress Racing

|22.092

|122.216

12

|6

|22.109

|122.122

13

|2

|Penske Racing South

|22.120

|122.061

14

|28

|Robert Yates Racing

|22.124

|122.039

15

|5

|Hendrick Motorsports

|22.133

|121.990

16

|55

|RaDiUs Motorsports

|22.141

|121.946

17

|98

|Cale Yarborough Motorsports

|22.154

|121.874

18

|44

|Petty Enterprises

|22.191

|121.671

19

|14

|22.192

|121.665

20

|22

|Bobby Labonte (R)

|Joe Gibbs Racing

|22.254

|121.327

colspan="7" |Failed to lock in Round 1

21

|15

|Bud Moore Engineering

|22.184

|121.709

22

|16

|Wally Dallenbach Jr.

|22.267

|121.256

23

|8

|Sterling Marlin

|Stavola Brothers Racing

|22.267

|121.256

24

|12

|Bobby Allison Motorsports

|22.280

|121.185

25

|11

|Junior Johnson & Associates

|22.288

|121.141

26

|30

|Michael Waltrip

|22.298

|121.087

27

|75

|Butch Mock Motorsports

|22.346

|120.827

28

|41

|Larry Hedrick Motorsports

|22.350

|120.805

29

|71

|Marcis Auto Racing

|22.360

|120.751

30

|90

|Bobby Hillin Jr.

|Donlavey Racing

|22.368

|120.708

31

|83

|22.414

|120.460

32

|40

|Kenny Wallace (R)

|22.419

|120.434

33

|27

|Junior Johnson & Associates

|22.486

|120.075

34

|33

|Leo Jackson Motorsports

|22.495

|120.027

colspan="7" |Provisionals

35

|68

|Bobby Hamilton

|TriStar Motorsports

| -*

| -*

36

|52

|Jimmy Means Racing

| -*

| -*

colspan="7" |Failed to qualify

37

|45

|Terminal Trucking Motorsports

| -*

| -*

38

|32

|Active Motorsports

| -*

| -*

39

|61

|Chesrown Racing

| -*

| -*

colspan="7" |[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115341167/fridays-qualifying-results/ Official first round qualifying results]

colspan="7" |[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115341250/todays-lineup/ Official starting lineup]

Race results

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"

!Fin

!St

!#

!Driver

!Team

!Make

!Laps

!Led

!Status

!Pts

!Winnings

1

|14

|28

|Robert Yates Racing

|400

|155

|running

|180

|$70,125

2

|13

|2

|Penske Racing South

|400

|0

|running

|170

|$31,550

3

|6

|7

|400

|0

|running

|165

|$39,225

4

|9

|18

|Joe Gibbs Racing

|400

|0

|running

|160

|$29,050

5

|7

|42

|400

|168

|running

|165

|$21,600

6

|8

|24

|Jeff Gordon (R)

|Hendrick Motorsports

|400

|0

|running

|150

|$14,700

7

|12

|6

|400

|0

|running

|146

|$18,150

8

|5

|17

|Darrell Waltrip

|Darrell Waltrip Motorsports

|400

|51

|running

|147

|$18,100

9

|34

|33

|Leo Jackson Motorsports

|400

|0

|running

|138

|$17,300

10

|11

|3

|Dale Earnhardt

|Richard Childress Racing

|399

|0

|running

|134

|$17,000

11

|10

|4

|Morgan–McClure Motorsports

|399

|0

|running

|130

|$16,800

12

|21

|15

|Bud Moore Engineering

|399

|1

|running

|132

|$13,300

13

|24

|12

|Bobby Allison Motorsports

|398

|0

|running

|124

|$12,850

14

|3

|21

|Morgan Shepherd

|Wood Brothers Racing

|398

|18

|running

|126

|$12,650

15

|15

|5

|Hendrick Motorsports

|398

|0

|running

|118

|$13,035

16

|28

|41

|Larry Hedrick Motorsports

|398

|0

|running

|115

|$9,275

17

|16

|55

|RaDiUs Motorsports

|397

|0

|running

|112

|$12,075

18

|33

|27

|Junior Johnson & Associates

|396

|0

|running

|109

|$11,825

19

|17

|98

|Cale Yarborough Motorsports

|396

|0

|running

|106

|$11,500

20

|1

|25

|Hendrick Motorsports

|396

|7

|running

|108

|$15,325

21

|27

|75

|Butch Mock Motorsports

|395

|0

|running

|100

|$6,225

22

|35

|68

|Bobby Hamilton

|TriStar Motorsports

|395

|0

|running

|97

|$8,100

23

|26

|30

|Michael Waltrip

|394

|0

|running

|94

|$10,975

24

|19

|14

|394

|0

|running

|91

|$10,850

25

|18

|44

|Petty Enterprises

|394

|0

|running

|88

|$7,700

26

|32

|40

|Kenny Wallace (R)

|394

|0

|running

|85

|$6,525

27

|22

|16

|Wally Dallenbach Jr.

|393

|0

|running

|82

|$7,600

28

|30

|90

|Bobby Hillin Jr.

|Donlavey Racing

|392

|0

|running

|79

|$5,975

29

|20

|22

|Bobby Labonte (R)

|Joe Gibbs Racing

|382

|0

|running

|76

|$5,950

30

|31

|83

|359

|0

|running

|73

|$5,920

31

|23

|8

|Sterling Marlin

|Stavola Brothers Racing

|337

|0

|running

|70

|$10,475

32

|4

|26

|327

|0

|running

|67

|$10,445

33

|25

|11

|Junior Johnson & Associates

|227

|0

|engine

|64

|$16,260

34

|36

|52

|Jimmy Means Racing

|190

|0

|clutch

|61

|$5,850

35

|2

|1

|Precision Products Racing

|68

|0

|engine

|58

|$11,375

36

|29

|71

|Marcis Auto Racing

|54

|0

|engine

|55

|$7,350

colspan="11" |Failed to qualify

37

! rowspan="3" |

|45

|Terminal Trucking Motorsports

! colspan="5" rowspan="3" |

38

|32

|Active Motorsports

39

|61

|Chesrown Racing

colspan="11" |[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115340771/sundays-results/ Official race results]

Standings after the race

{{col-begin}}

{{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;"| 490

align="left"| 10px 1

| style="text-align:center;"| 2

| Dale Earnhardt

| style="text-align:center;"| 489 (-1)

align="left"| 10px 1

| style="text-align:center;"| 3

| style="text-align:center;"| 456 (-34)

align="left"| 10px 1

| style="text-align:center;"| 4

| style="text-align:center;"| 445 (–45)

align="left"| 10px 3

| style="text-align:center;"| 5

| Rusty Wallace

| style="text-align:center;"| 422 (–68)

align="left"| 10px 3

| style="text-align:center;"| 6

| Alan Kulwicki

| style="text-align:center;"| 415 (–75)

align="left"| 10px 2

| style="text-align:center;"| 7

| Hut Stricklin

| style="text-align:center;"| 398 (–92)

align="left"| 10px 10

| style="text-align:center;"| 8

| Davey Allison

| style="text-align:center;"| 385 (–105)

align="left"| 10px 3

| style="text-align:center;"| 9

| style="text-align:center;"| 381 (–109)

align="left"| 10px 6

| style="text-align:center;"| 10

| style="text-align:center;"| 371 (–119)

class="sortbottom"

!colspan="9"|[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115343619/winston-cup-standings/ 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=1993 GM Goodwrench 500|Next_race=1993 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500|Monsteryear=1993|Series=NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}{{NASCAR on TBS}}{{1993 Winston Cup}}

Category:1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Category:NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway

Category:March 1993 sports events in the United States

Category:1993 in sports in Virginia