1989 Holly Farms 400

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1989 Holly Farms 400
Race details[1][2]
Race 26 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date October 15, 1989 (1989-October-15)
Official name Holly Farms 400
Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.005 km)
Distance 400 laps, 250 mi (402 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 90.269 miles per hour (145.274 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Laps 343
Winner
No. 5 Geoffrey Bodine Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Benny Parsons
Ned Jarrett

The 1989 Holly Farms 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on October 15, 1989, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Summary

The race was scheduled for October 1, but rain persisted and a two-week postponement resulted. This race is memorable for a last-lap incident between leader Dale Earnhardt and second-place driver Ricky Rudd.

There were no time trials because the inclement weather on the race track washed out qualifying,[2] so the field lined up according to the Winston Cup Series owners' points standings prior to Charlotte. Four hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.625 miles (1.006 km).[2] The race featured 11 cautions for 60 laps, the final yellow waved for a spin by Bobby Hillin in Turn 2. No serious accidents occurred, although an accident involving both Richard and Kyle Petty and Hut Stricklin saw The King get his right-side wheels in the air, but at a reduced speed. Dale Earnhardt was the clear dominator, as only Mark Martin (51 laps) led more than 5 laps. The final restart was on Lap 398, as Earnhardt led Rudd, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, and Martin to the green. Hillin spun again in Turn 1, but left the scene quickly without prompting a yellow flag. Rudd pressured Earnhardt relentlessly, and as Dale got loose exiting Turn 4 coming to the white flag, Rudd got alongside the #3. As they entered Turn 1 Earnhardt tried to keep a tight line through the corner, while in the outside line, and as he came closer to the ideal line Rudd's car appeared to push slightly, and the ensuing contact spun both drivers around. This handed the lead to a surprised but elated Bodine, who won his 7th Winston Cup race (all for Hendrick Motorsports).

  • The last-lap contact also produced one of the most memorable broadcasting quotes in NASCAR history. ESPN's Bob Jenkins, accompanied by former champions Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons, said the following:

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(Ricky) Rudd is inside of Dale Earnhardt, as they go into Turn 1 and both of them spin!

Richard Petty would get his 15th (and final) last place finish here (in a Pontiac car) with his son finishing only slightly ahead of him in 31st place.[2] Thirty-four thousand people would attend a race where Geoffrey Bodine (in his Chevrolet Lumina) would defeat Mark Martin (in his Ford Thunderbird) by a margin of three seconds.[2] Darrell Waltrip and Kyle Petty would eventually get 16 last-place finishes each that would allow them to surpass Richard Petty on the "all-time last place finishers' list."

The points leader before and after this race was Rusty Wallace. Everyone was eligible for NASCAR Winston Cup points back then; with the first-place winner receiving 180 points and the last-place finisher receiving a meager 67 points.[3]

Finishing order

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  1. Geoffrey Bodine
  2. Mark Martin
  3. Terry Labonte
  4. Harry Gant
  5. Morgan Shepherd
  6. Bill Elliott
  7. Rusty Wallace
  8. Ernie Irvan
  9. Ricky Rudd
  10. Dale Earnhardt†
  11. Alan Kulwicki†
  12. Dick Trickle†
  13. Ken Schrader
  14. Dave Marcis
  15. Bobby Hillin, Jr.
  16. Tommy Ellis
  17. Brett Bodine
  18. Jimmy Spencer
  19. Sterling Marlin
  20. Darrell Waltrip
  21. Davey Allison†
  22. Jimmy Means
  23. Michael Waltrip
  24. Larry Pearson
  25. Lake Speed
  26. Derrike Cope
  27. Dale Jarrett*
  28. Phil Parsons*
  29. Rick Wilson*
  30. Hut Stricklin
  31. Kyle Petty*
  32. Richard Petty*

* Driver failed to finish race
† Driver is deceased

Timeline

  • Start of race: Dale Earnhardt has the pole position
  • Lap 30: Mark Martin took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt
  • Lap 78: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Mark Martin
  • Lap 118: Ernie Irvan took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt
  • Lap 123: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Ernie Irvan
  • Lap 124: Richard Petty had a terminal crash while his son Kyle developed problems with his vehicle's distributor
  • Lap 181: Rick Wilson's vehicle had a faulty ignition; causing him to leave the race
  • Lap 199: Phil Parsons had a terminal crash; forcing him to exit the race early
  • Lap 218: Dale Jarrett's vehicle overheated; ending his race weekend prematurely
  • Lap 310: Mark Martin took over the lead from Ernie Irvan
  • Lap 313: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Mark Martin
  • Lap 400: Geoffrey Bodine took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt
  • Finish: Geoffrey Bodine won the race

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2]
1 Rusty Wallace 3758
2 Dale Earnhardt 3721
3 Mark Martin 3630
4 Darrell Waltrip 3476
5 Bill Elliott 3394

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Points leader and distribution of points at Race Database
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Races
1989		 Succeeded by
1989 AC Delco 500
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