1988 Oakwood Homes 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 25 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1988 Oakwood Homes 500 program cover, featuring Terry Labonte. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | October 9, 1988 | ||
| Official name | 29th Annual Oakwood Homes 500 | ||
| Location | Concord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km) | ||
| Average speed | 130.677 miles per hour (210.304 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 145,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | AK Racing | ||
| Time | 30.700 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 83 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Score (tape-delayed) | ||
| Announcers | Pat Patterson, Bob Latford | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Performance Racing Network | ||
The 1988 Oakwood Homes 500 was the 25th stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 29th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 9, 1988, before an audience of 145,000 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. Coming back from a two-lap deficit, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace managed to defend a challenge from Hendrick Motorsports' Darrell Waltrip in the closing laps of the race to take his seventh career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Darrell Waltrip and Bud Moore Engineering's Brett Bodine finished second and third, respectively.
Background[edit]
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
Entry list[edit]
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying[edit]
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, October 5, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver had 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 Thursday, October 6, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 was decided on time,[4] 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.
Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 30.700 and an average speed of 175.896 miles per hour (283.077 km/h) in the first round.[5]
24 drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results[edit]
Race results[edit]
Standings after the race[edit]
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Notes[edit]
- ^ During a shakedown run held on Wednesday, October 5, Ragan crashed after his car experienced a stuck throttle. As a result of the crash, Ragan suffered numerous bone fractures and was listed in critical condition after the accident. The team did not have a backup car or driver, so the team withdrew from the race.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Higgins, Tom (October 10, 1988). "Wallace Rallies From Waaaaaaay back". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 5B. Retrieved September 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mulhurn, Mike (October 10, 1988). "Wallace Wins Controversy-Filled Race". Winston-Salem Journal. pp. 17, 22. Retrieved September 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom; Olsen, Stan (October 6, 1988). "Ragan Crashes In Practice; Rudd Team To Get Engine Help". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 5D. Retrieved September 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Charlotte Race Schedule". The Charlotte Observer. October 5, 1988. pp. 8B. Retrieved September 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (October 6, 1988). "Kulwicki Charges To 500 Pole". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1D, 4D. Retrieved September 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
