1990 Daytona 500

The 1990 Daytona 500, the 32nd running of the event, was held on February 18, 1990 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida over 200 laps on the 2.5 mile (4 km) asphalt tri-oval. The first race of the 1990 Winston Cup Series season, it was won by Bob Whitcomb's entrant Derrike Cope. Terry Labonte finished second, followed by Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, and Dale Earnhardt.

1990 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 1 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of Daytona International Speedway.
Date February 18, 1990 (1990-02-18)
Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (800 km)
Weather Temperatures of 82 °F (28 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Average speed 165.761 miles per hour (266.766 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 196.515 miles per hour (316.260 km/h)
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates
Duel 2 Winner Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Laps 155
Winner
No. 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing
Television in the United States
Network CBS Sports
Announcers Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki
Nielsen Ratings 7.3/20
(10.5 million viewers)

This race was the first Daytona 500 starts for Jimmy Spencer, Rich Bickle, Hut Stricklin, and Jimmy Horton. This was also the only Daytona 500 starts for Butch Miller, Jack Pennington, Jerry O'Neil, and Rob Moroso. And this was the final Daytona 500 starts for Larry Pearson and Mike Alexander.[2]This was the second consecutive race that Dale Earnhardt’s car dominated. Earnhardt was able to win the 1989 Atlanta finale but unfortunately he had an issue on the last lap, and lost to Derrike Cope.

Race review

Ken Schrader won his third straight Daytona 500 pole with a speed of 196.515 miles per hour (316.260 km/h). In the Thursday Gatorade 125-mile qualifier, he crashed on the last lap and had to use a backup car on Sunday. He quickly passed several cars at the start.[3] By the first caution flag, Schrader had driven up to second place. Geoff Bodine led the first lap of the race and the season. Two cars used to create film footage for the upcoming movie Days of Thunder, driven by Bobby Hamilton and Tommy Ellis, started the race in the last row, completing 100 miles before parking. Those cars were not listed in the official race results.

On Lap 27, Richard Petty (who started a promising 11th) spun ahead of Phil Parsons while running 13th. The spin left him with all four tires flat, meaning The King would need a wrecker to take him to the pits for new tires, and he would finish well down the order in 34th. During the yellow, Davey Allison (running 6th) pitted with the leaders and hit the pit wall. This was unnoticed by the television broadcast for several minutes; no injuries were reported but Mike Joy confirmed left front toe damage.

On Lap 43, an accident occurred between the tri-oval and Turn 1 involving Mike Alexander, Alan Kulwicki (who would continue), Phil Parsons, and 1989 NASCAR Busch Series champion and Winston Cup rookie Rob Moroso. Moroso said he touched Phil Parsons' left rear with his own right front after Parsons came down on him, and Parsons explained that he was attempting a pass on A. J. Foyt. After 58 laps, Schrader's run to the front was halted by an engine failure. Shortly after halfway, 1972 winner A. J. Foyt quit after experiencing a bizarre problem: In a mid-race interview with CBS's David Hobbs, Foyt claimed he had become intoxicated by fumes produced by his new racing helmet.[4]

Dale Earnhardt dominated the race. He led nearly 3/4 of the laps, relinquishing the lead briefly to Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Derrike Cope, Davey Allison, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, and Bobby Hillin, Jr.. Daytona 500 rookies Jimmy Spencer and Jack Pennington led yellow flag laps early in the race.

Dale Earnhardt had the race in his grasp with a lead of more than 40 seconds until lap 193 when Geoff Bodine spun in the first turn, causing the third and final caution of the race. Derrike Cope assumed the lead again by staying out, a call made by crew chief Buddy Parrott. The Top 5 on the restart were Cope, Bobby Hillin, Jr., Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, and Bill Elliott. Earnhardt dispatched Cope and Hillin simultaneously with help from Geoff Bodine, who was one lap down. With a few laps remaining, Rick Wilson in the RahMoc car lost an engine, and a piece of metal bell housing from that engine had tumbled to a stop on the backstretch. On the last lap, Earnhardt ran over it and shredded the right rear tire. He held the wheel straight, let off the throttle and let his car climb the banking of turn three. Spanaway, Washington's Derrike Cope drove by Earnhardt to his first ever Winston Cup victory. His previous best career finish was 6th the previous year at Charlotte. Although Earnhardt would lose the race, his crew took the shredded tire and hung it on the wall of the race shop using the loss as motivation to win the 1990 Winston Cup championship. Meanwhile, Cope would become an overnight sensation appearing on The Late Show a week or so later to talk about his big win. Although it is considered as one of the biggest upsets in NASCAR history, the ratings did not quite show it, as it drew a 7.3, the lowest in Daytona 500 history.

Results

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Make Laps Laps led Status
1 1210Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet2005Running
2 201Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobile2007Running
3 49Bill Elliott (W)Melling RacingFord2001Running
4 195Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2001Running
5 23Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet200155Running
6 108Bobby Hillin, Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick2004Running
7 3827Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac2000Running
8 2430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac1990Flagged
9 311Geoff Bodine (W)Junior Johnson & AssociatesFord1998Flagged
10 3015Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord1990Flagged
11 3121Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFord1990Flagged
12 3266Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac1990Flagged
13 1890Ernie IrvanDonlavey RacingFord1990Flagged
14 917Darrell Waltrip (W)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1990Flagged
15 657Jimmy Spencer (R)Osterlund EnterprisesPontiac1994Flagged
16 1483Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobile1993Flagged
17 3326Brett BodineKing RacingBuick1990Flagged
18 533Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile1991Flagged
19 2194Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile1980Flagged
20 1628Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord1982Flagged
21 76Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1983Flagged
22 1798Butch Miller (R)Travis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet1980Flagged
23 4271Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet1970Flagged
24 2242Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac1960Handling
25 2347Jack Pennington (R)Close RacingOldsmobile1966Flagged
26 2732Joe RuttmanWellings MotorsportsPontiac1960Flagged
27 2616Larry PearsonPearson RacingBuick1950Flagged
28 2902Rich Bickle (R)Bickle RacingOldsmobile1950Flagged
29 3752Jimmy MeansMeans RacingPontiac1950Flagged
30 2875Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile1930Engine
31 3953Jerry O'Neil (R)Aroneck RacingOldsmobile1930Flagged
32 412Eddie BierschwaleU.S. RacingOldsmobile1910Flagged
33 3468Hut Stricklin (R)TriStar MotorsportsChevrolet1900Flagged
34 1143Richard Petty (W)Petty EnterprisesPontiac1830Flagged
35 257Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord1800Flagged
36 1314A. J. Foyt (W)A. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile1150Quit
37 4080Jimmy Horton (R)S&H RacingFord1080Transmission
38 3620Rob Moroso (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobile820Contact T1
39 3573Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile640Engine
40 125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet580Engine
41 1512Mike AlexanderBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick420Contact T1
42 84Phil ParsonsMorgan-McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile410Contact T1
Failed to Qualify
43 72Stan BarrettBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile
44 35Bill Venturini (R)Venturini RacingChevrolet
45 44Jim SauterGroup 44 RacingPontiac
46 01Mickey GibbsGibbs Knuckle RacingFord
47 19Chad LittleLittle RacingFord
48 48Trevor BoysLusty RacingBuick
49 85Bobby Gerhart (R)Gerhart RacingChevrolet
50 37Dennis Langston (R)Langston MotorsportsFord
51 13Mike Potter (R)Mansion MotorsportsChevrolet
52 0Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord
53 96Philip Duffie (R)Duffie RacingBuick
54 70J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac
55 77Ken RaganRagan RacingFord
56 82Mark StahlStahl RacingFord
57 59Mark Gibson (R)CoHo RacingPontiac
58 34Charlie GlotzbachAAG RacingPontiac
59 39Blackie WangerinWangerin RacingFord
60 89Rodney CombsMueller Brothers RacingPontiac
61 29Joe BooherJoe Booher RacingPontiac
Source:[2]
Notes:
  1. After Chad Little failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, his sponsor Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce signed an agreement to sponsor Ernie Irvan's entry for the Daytona 500, which was having difficulty with its original sponsor True Cure.

Notes

  1. "Weather of the 1990 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  2. "1990 Daytona 500". Racing-Reference.info. February 18, 1990. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  3. "The 1990 Daytona 500". NASCAR.com; Turner Entertainment Digital Network. July 28, 2003. Archived from the original on June 30, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
  4. "1990 Daytona 500"

References

Preceded by
1989 Atlanta Journal 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1989-90
Succeeded by
1990 Pontiac Excitement 400
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