| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Year: | 1988 |
| Official Name: | 20th Annual Budweiser 400 |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | ESPN |
| Pole Driver: | Ricky Rudd |
| First Team: | Blue Max Racing |
| Most Team: | Blue Max Racing |
| First Driver: | Rusty Wallace |
| Most Driver: | Rusty Wallace |
| Pole Team: | King Racing |
| Most Laps: | 45 |
| Avg: | 88.341mph |
| Date: | June 12 |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Location: | Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California |
| Race No: | 12 |
| Car: | 27 |
| Race Name: | Budweiser 400 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 248.9 |
| Course Km: | 4.216 |
| Scheduled Km: | 400.565 |
| Distance Km: | 400.565 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 95 |
| Distance Laps: | 95 |
| Course Mi: | 2.62 |
| Pole Time: | 1:19.606 |
| Distance Mi: | 248.9 |
| Attendance: | 75,000 |
The 1988 Budweiser 400 was the 12th stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, the third race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston West Series, and the 20th and final iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 12, 1988, before an audience of 72,000 in Riverside, California, at the short layout of Riverside International Raceway, a 2.62miles permanent road course layout at the track. The race took the scheduled 95 laps to complete. Following an initial scoring error, Blue Max Racing driver Rusty Wallace would manage to pull away on the final restart with five laps left in the race to take his fifth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1] [2] [3] [4] To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Terry Labonte and King Racing driver Ricky Rudd would finish second and third, respectively.
The race was the final NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held at Riverside International Raceway before the track's closure in 1989.
Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside and east of Los Angeles, in 1957. In 1984, the raceway became part of the newly incorporated city of Moreno Valley. Riverside was noted for its hot, dusty environment and for being somewhat of a complicated and dangerous track for drivers. It was also considered one of the finest tracks in the United States.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 10, at 4:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 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, June 11, at 12:30 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-40 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; which was two for entries in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and two extra provisionals for the NASCAR Winston West Series.
Ricky Rudd, driving for King Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 1:19.606 and an average speed of 118.484mph in the first round.[6] [7]
18 drivers would fail to qualify.
| Fin | St | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 95 | 43 | running | 185 | $49,100 | |
| 2 | 3 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 95 | 1 | running | 175 | $26,175 | |
| 3 | 1 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 95 | 30 | running | 170 | $20,950 | |
| 4 | 6 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 7 | running | 165 | $18,600 | |
| 5 | 21 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 95 | 0 | running | 155 | $10,725 | |
| 6 | 29 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 95 | 0 | running | 150 | $10,850 | |
| 7 | 15 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 95 | 0 | running | 146 | $5,450 | |
| 8 | 19 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 95 | 4 | running | 147 | $5,000 | |
| 9 | 10 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 95 | 0 | running | 138 | $6,675 | |
| 10 | 4 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 95 | 5 | running | 139 | $12,925 | |
| 11 | 40 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 95 | 0 | running | 130 | $6,275 | |
| 12 | 37 | 73 | Bill Schmitt | Schmitt Racing | Chevrolet | 95 | 0 | running | 127 | $4,450 | |
| 13 | 30 | 90 | Benny Parsons | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 95 | 0 | running | 124 | $5,550 | |
| 14 | 5 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 95 | 0 | running | 121 | $9,650 | |
| 15 | 13 | 18 | Rick Hendrick | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 94 | 0 | running | 118 | $2,550 | |
| 16 | 8 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 94 | 0 | running | 115 | $11,000 | |
| 17 | 27 | 68 | Derrike Cope | Testa Racing | Chevrolet | 94 | 0 | running | 112 | $5,075 | |
| 18 | 24 | 76 | Tommy Kendall | Spears Motorsports | Buick | 94 | 1 | running | 114 | $3,400 | |
| 19 | 33 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 94 | 0 | running | 106 | $4,800 | |
| 20 | 11 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 94 | 0 | running | 103 | $8,550 | |
| 21 | 9 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 94 | 0 | running | 100 | $4,600 | |
| 22 | 23 | 12 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 93 | 0 | running | 97 | $8,700 | |
| 23 | 16 | 19 | Chad Little | Stoke Racing | Ford | 93 | 3 | running | 99 | $3,875 | |
| 24 | 22 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 92 | 0 | running | 91 | $4,250 | |
| 25 | 38 | 66 | John Krebs | Krebs Racing | Oldsmobile | 92 | 0 | running | 88 | $1,600 | |
| 26 | 18 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 91 | 0 | running | 85 | $2,125 | |
| 27 | 26 | 79 | Roy Smith | Razore Racing | Ford | 85 | 1 | running | 87 | $2,575 | |
| 28 | 7 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 85 | 0 | overheating | 79 | $8,400 | |
| 29 | 28 | 31 | Joe Ruttman | Bob Clark Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 84 | 0 | running | 76 | $2,000 | |
| 30 | 32 | 63 | Jocko Maggiacomo | Linro Motorsports | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | running | 73 | $1,350 | |
| 31 | 42 | 2 | Ernie Irvan (R) | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 78 | 0 | oil pump | 70 | $1,050 | |
| 32 | 34 | 28 | Davey Allison | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 74 | 0 | running | 67 | $10,675 | |
| 33 | 25 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 56 | 0 | running | 64 | $1,850 | |
| 34 | 14 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52 | 0 | piston | 61 | $3,225 | |
| 35 | 36 | 62 | Terry Petris | Petris Racing | Chevrolet | 52 | 0 | ball joint | 0 | $1,150 | |
| 36 | 35 | 04 | Hershel McGriff | McGriff Racing | Pontiac | 51 | 0 | rock stud | 55 | $1,145 | |
| 37 | 31 | 08 | Rick McCray | McCray Racing | Pontiac | 46 | 0 | engine | 52 | $1,140 | |
| 38 | 20 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 39 | 0 | oil pressure | 49 | $3,135 | |
| 39 | 43 | 32 | Ruben Garcia | Stoke Racing | Chevrolet | 27 | 0 | accident | 46 | $3,380 | |
| 40 | 17 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 22 | 0 | engine | 43 | $9,700 | |
| 41 | 39 | 1 | Jim Bown | Bown Racing | Chevrolet | 22 | 0 | oil pressure | 40 | $1,600 | |
| 42 | 12 | 33 | Morgan Shepherd | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 10 | 0 | engine | 37 | $3,100 | |
| 43 | 41 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 5 | 0 | engine | 34 | $3,100 | |
| Failed to qualify | |||||||||||
| 44 | 03 | Howard Mark | Mark Racing | Chevrolet | |||||||
| 45 | 10 | Ken Bouchard (R) | Whitcomb Racing | Ford | |||||||
| 46 | 14 | Butch Gilliland | Gilliland Racing | Buick | |||||||
| 47 | 16 | Reno Fontana | Fontana Racing | Pontiac | |||||||
| 48 | 20 | Scott Gaylord | Burney Racing | Oldsmobile | |||||||
| 49 | 22 | St. James Davis | St. James Racing | Buick | |||||||
| 50 | 41 | Jack Sellers | Vincent Racing | Chevrolet | |||||||
| 51 | 45 | Billy Fulcher | Fulcher Racing | Oldsmobile | |||||||
| 52 | 46 | Marta Leonard | Leonard Racing | Chevrolet | |||||||
| 53 | 48 | Tony Spanos | Hylton Motorsports | Buick | |||||||
| 54 | 50 | George Follmer | Midgley Racing | Pontiac | |||||||
| 55 | 67 | Ron Esau | Arrington Racing | Buick | |||||||
| 56 | 74 | Ray Kelly | Ray Kelly Racing | Pontiac | |||||||
| 57 | 81 | Glen Steurer | Steurer Racing | Chevrolet | |||||||
| 58 | 82 | J. C. Danielsen | Gautsche Racing | Buick | |||||||
| 59 | 85 | Sumner McKnight | McKnight Racing | Ford | |||||||
| 60 | 89 | Bob Howard | Hathaway Racing | Oldsmobile | |||||||
| 61 | 97 | Rodney Combs | Winkle Motorsports | Buick | |||||||
| Official race results | |||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Rusty Wallace | 1,790 | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | Dale Earnhardt | 1,786 (-4) | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | Terry Labonte | 1,702 (-88) | ||||||
| 1 | 4 | Bill Elliott | 1,686 (–104) | ||||||
| 1 | 5 | Sterling Marlin | 1,677 (–113) | ||||||
| 6 | Bobby Allison | 1,608 (–182) | |||||||
| 7 | Ken Schrader | 1,531 (–259) | |||||||
| 1 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | 1,478 (–312) | ||||||
| 1 | 9 | Geoff Bodine | 1,474 (–316) | ||||||
| 2 | 10 | Phil Parsons | 1,469 (–321) | ||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||