| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Official Name: | 16th Annual AC Spark Plug 500 |
| Race Name: | AC Spark Plug 500 |
| Pole Time: | 57.269 |
| Year: | 1988 |
| Date: | July 24 |
| First Team: | Melling Racing |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Race No: | 16 |
| Announcers: | Mike Joy, Ron Bouchard |
| Most Laps: | 122 |
| Network: | Viewer's Choice (PPV) |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Avg: | 122.866mph |
| Pole Driver: | Morgan Shepherd |
| First Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Most Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Most Team: | Melling Racing |
| Pole Team: | RahMoc Enterprises |
| Car: | 9 |
| Location: | Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway |
| Scheduled Km: | 804.672 |
| Distance Km: | 804.672 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 500 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 200 |
| Distance Laps: | 200 |
| Course Km: | 4.0 |
| Course Mi: | 2.5 |
| Distance Mi: | 500 |
| Attendance: | 70,000 |
The 1988 AC Spark Plug 500 was the 16th stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 16th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 24, 1988, before an audience of 70,000 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. At race's end, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott would manage to dominate a majority of the race, leading 122 laps to take his 27th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth victory of the season.[1] [2] [3] [4] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader and Ranier-Lundy Racing driver Davey Allison would finish second and third, respectively.
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.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 22, 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 23, 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.
Morgan Shepherd, driving for RahMoc Enterprises, would win the pole, setting a time of 57.269 and an average speed of 157.153mph in the first round.[6]
Five drivers would fail to qualify.
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rusty Wallace | 2,363 | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | Bill Elliott | 2,360 (-3) | ||||||
| 1 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | 2,315 (-48) | ||||||
| 4 | Terry Labonte | 2,188 (–175) | |||||||
| 5 | Ken Schrader | 2,151 (–212) | |||||||
| 1 | 6 | Geoff Bodine | 2,094 (–269) | ||||||
| 1 | 7 | Darrell Waltrip | 2,054 (–309) | ||||||
| 2 | 8 | Phil Parsons | 2,002 (–361) | ||||||
| 9 | Sterling Marlin | 1,995 (–368) | |||||||
| 10 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | 1,947 (–416) | |||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||