Jump to content

1990 AC Spark Plug 500

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1990 AC Spark Plug 500
Race details
Race 16 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1990 AC Spark Plug 500 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace.
The 1990 AC Spark Plug 500 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace.
Date July 22, 1990
Official name 18th Annual AC Spark Plug 500
Location Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed 124.07 miles per hour (199.67 km/h)
Attendance 90,000
Pole position
Driver Roush Racing
Time 56.867
Most laps led
Driver Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 119
Winner
No. 11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

The 1990 AC Spark Plug 500 was the 16th stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 18th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 22, 1990, before an audience of 90,000 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. Depending on fuel mileage, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Geoff Bodine would manage to coast his car for the final 43 laps of the race to take his ninth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[1][2][3] To fill out the top three, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott and Blue Max Racing driver Rusty Wallace would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

[edit]
The layout of Pocono International Raceway, 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.

Entry list

[edit]
  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# 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.[4]

Qualifying

[edit]

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,[5] 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 158.264 miles per hour (254.701 km/h) in the first round.[6][7]

Three drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

[edit]
Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 56.867 158.264
2 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57.245 157.219
3 18 Greg Sacks Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57.282 157.117
4 11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 57.490 156.549
5 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 57.531 156.437
6 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 57.545 156.399
7 20 Rob Moroso (R) Moroso Racing Oldsmobile 57.566 156.342
8 27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 57.614 156.212
9 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 57.629 156.171
10 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Oldsmobile 57.645 156.128
11 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 57.650 156.114
12 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 57.729 155.901
13 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57.751 155.841
14 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 57.757 155.825
15 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 57.759 155.820
Failed to lock in Round 1
16 94 Sterling Marlin Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 57.785 155.750
17 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 57.817 155.664
18 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 57.837 155.610
19 75 Rick Wilson RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 57.848 155.580
20 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 57.883 155.486
21 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 57.896 155.451
22 1 Terry Labonte Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 57.926 155.371
23 66 Dick Trickle Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 57.936 155.344
24 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 57.954 155.296
25 17 Darrell Waltrip Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57.968 155.259
26 98 Butch Miller Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 58.030 155.092
27 15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 58.078 154.964
28 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 58.184 154.682
29 57 Jimmy Spencer Osterlund Racing Pontiac 58.197 154.647
30 22 Rick Mast U.S. Racing Pontiac 58.371 154.186
31 53 Jerry O'Neil (R) Aroneck Racing Oldsmobile 58.426 154.041
32 50 Rich Vogler RaDiUs Motorsports Chevrolet 58.528 153.773
33 38 Dick Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford 58.587 153.618
34 54 Tommy Riggins Hakes–Welliver Racing Oldsmobile 58.658 153.432
35 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 58.754 153.181
36 58 Brian Ross Ken Schrader Racing Pontiac 58.893 152.820
37 77 Ken Ragan Ragan Racing Ford 58.948 152.677
38 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 59.041 152.436
39 13 Randy LaJoie Linro Motorsports Buick 59.392 151.536
40 74 Mike Potter Wawak Racing Pontiac 1:00.025 149.938
Failed to qualify
41 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac -* -*
42 85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet -* -*
43 2 Troy Beebe U.S. Racing Pontiac -* -*
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

[edit]
Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 4 11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 200 119 running 185 $58,500
2 6 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 200 0 running 170 $33,650
3 8 27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 200 7 running 170 $30,000
4 11 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 6 running 165 $22,800
5 15 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 200 24 running 160 $25,950
6 1 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 200 0 running 150 $21,050
7 13 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 0 running 146 $12,650
8 26 98 Butch Miller Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 200 0 running 142 $10,582
9 24 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 200 0 running 138 $8,675
10 22 1 Terry Labonte Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 200 0 running 134 $12,450
11 2 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 3 running 135 $12,750
12 17 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 200 0 running 127 $9,550
13 12 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 200 4 running 129 $11,350
14 5 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 200 0 running 121 $12,150
15 23 66 Dick Trickle Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 199 0 running 118 $10,325
16 21 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 199 0 running 115 $8,650
17 9 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 199 0 running 112 $8,350
18 18 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 198 0 running 109 $7,950
19 29 57 Jimmy Spencer Osterlund Racing Pontiac 197 1 running 111 $7,625
20 25 17 Darrell Waltrip Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 197 0 running 103 $14,175
21 38 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 197 0 running 100 $4,175
22 30 22 Rick Mast U.S. Racing Pontiac 196 0 running 97 $4,075
23 28 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 193 0 running 94 $6,975
24 37 77 Ken Ragan Ragan Racing Ford 190 0 accident 91 $3,925
25 40 74 Mike Potter Wawak Racing Pontiac 189 0 running 88 $3,975
26 10 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Oldsmobile 181 0 running 85 $6,775
27 36 58 Brian Ross Ken Schrader Racing Pontiac 175 0 engine 82 $3,775
28 35 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 172 0 running 79 $6,575
29 20 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 167 0 engine 76 $4,425
30 16 94 Sterling Marlin Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 155 0 accident 73 $6,825
31 19 75 Rick Wilson RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 154 0 accident 70 $6,250
32 7 20 Rob Moroso (R) Moroso Racing Oldsmobile 138 0 accident 67 $4,825
33 3 18 Greg Sacks Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 137 33 accident 69 $14,950
34 31 53 Jerry O'Neil (R) Aroneck Racing Oldsmobile 134 0 accident 61 $3,650
35 14 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 131 3 oil pan 63 $10,350
36 27 15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 121 0 accident 55 $5,925
37 34 54 Tommy Riggins Hakes–Welliver Racing Oldsmobile 120 0 accident 52 $3,250
38 39 13 Randy LaJoie Linro Motorsports Buick 10 0 engine 49 $3,225
39 33 38 Dick Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford 4 0 accident 46 $3,200
40 32 50 Rich Vogler RaDiUs Motorsports Chevrolet 0 0 did not start 0 $0
Failed to qualify
41 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac
42 85 Bobby Gerhart Bobby Gerhart Racing Chevrolet
43 2 Troy Beebe U.S. Racing Pontiac
Official race results

Standings after the race

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (July 23, 1990). "No Gas Guzzling For Bodine In Pocono Win (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 9. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ Higgins, Tom (July 23, 1990). "No Gas Guzzling For Bodine In Pocono Win (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 11. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ Fleischman, Bill (July 23, 1990). "Bodine's Cup Runneth Over; His Gas Tank Doesn't". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 77. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ Higgins, Tom (July 23, 1990). "USAC Driver Vogler Dies In Race Crash". The Charlotte Observer. p. 11. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. July 20, 1990. p. 14. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ Higgins, Tom (July 21, 1990). "Martin Speeds To Pole (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 75. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ Higgins, Tom (July 21, 1990). "Martin Speeds To Pole (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 79. Retrieved March 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
Previous race:
1990 Pepsi 400
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1990 season
Next race:
1990 DieHard 500