1988 Holly Farms 400 Explained
The 1988 Holly Farms 400 was the 26th stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 39th iteration of the event. Originally scheduled to be the 25th race of the season and to be held on Sunday, October 2, the race was delayed by two weeks due to rain and scheduling conflicts.[1] The race was eventually held on Sunday, October 16, before an audience of 35,000 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625miles oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete.
In a three-lap sprint to the finish, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine engaged for a battle for the victory. On the final lap of the race, Bodine moved Wallace up the track in the first turn, giving Bodine the lead. However, heading into the final turns, Wallace was close enough to be able to bump Bodine back, eventually deciding to send him up the track, giving Wallace the victory. The victory was Wallace's eighth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth victory of the season.[2] [3] To fill out the top three, Jackson Bros. Motorsports' Phil Parsons and the aforementioned Geoff Bodine finished second and third, respectively.
Background
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625miles and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 30, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 10 drivers in the round were 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, October 1, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 11-30 were 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.
Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 19.247 and an average speed of 116.901mph in the first round.[5]
Eight drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|
| 1 | 12 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 400 | 30 | running | 180 | $47,000 |
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| 2 | 10 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 400 | 0 | running | 170 | $22,900 |
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| 3 | 8 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 49 | running | 170 | $16,750 |
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| 4 | 9 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 160 | $12,825 |
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| 5 | 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 400 | 45 | running | 160 | $21,625 |
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| 6 | 22 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 400 | 107 | running | 155 | $15,475 |
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| 7 | 4 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 400 | 154 | running | 156 | $10,025 |
|---|
| 8 | 3 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 142 | $7,030 |
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| 9 | 23 | 12 | Mike Alexander | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 399 | 0 | running | 138 | $8,000 |
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| 10 | 15 | 88 | Greg Sacks | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 399 | 0 | running | 134 | $9,250 |
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| 11 | 13 | 28 | Davey Allison | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 130 | $10,145 |
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| 12 | 21 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 127 | $7,595 |
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| 13 | 28 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 399 | 0 | running | 124 | $5,020 |
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| 14 | 20 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 398 | 0 | running | 121 | $6,765 |
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| 15 | 5 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 398 | 0 | running | 118 | $3,695 |
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| 16 | 18 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 115 | $7,370 |
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| 17 | 14 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 112 | $8,945 |
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| 18 | 16 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 397 | 0 | running | 109 | $4,420 |
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| 19 | 6 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 106 | $4,320 |
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| 20 | 31 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 396 | 0 | running | 103 | $3,270 |
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| 21 | 30 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 100 | $3,850 |
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| 22 | 29 | 57 | Morgan Shepherd | Osterlund Racing | Buick | 396 | 0 | running | 97 | $1,475 |
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| 23 | 19 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 395 | 0 | running | 94 | $2,250 |
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| 24 | 32 | 90 | Jimmy Means | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 394 | 0 | running | 91 | $3,650 |
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| 25 | 27 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 392 | 0 | running | 88 | $3,675 |
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| 26 | 17 | 2 | Ernie Irvan (R) | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 390 | 0 | running | 85 | $2,750 |
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| 27 | 24 | 10 | Ken Bouchard (R) | Whitcomb Racing | Ford | 389 | 0 | running | 82 | $2,225 |
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| 28 | 11 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 380 | 1 | running | 84 | $7,025 |
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| 29 | 2 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 297 | 14 | engine | 81 | $2,850 |
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| 30 | 7 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 229 | 0 | rear seal | 73 | $2,775 |
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| 31 | 26 | 22 | Rob Moroso | Moroso Racing | Oldsmobile | 142 | 0 | ignition | 70 | $1,250 |
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| 32 | 25 | 31 | Lee Faulk | Bob Clark Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 129 | 0 | rear end | 0 | $1,250 |
|---|
| Failed to qualify (results unknown) |
|---|
| 33 | | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | |
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| 34 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac |
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| 35 | 98 | Brad Noffsinger (R) | Curb Racing | Buick |
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| 36 | 67 | Brad Teague | Arrington Racing | Ford |
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| 37 | 24 | Kevin Evans | Gray Racing | Pontiac |
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| 38 | 09 | Doug French | Caragias Racing | Chevrolet |
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| 39 | 20 | Alan Russell | Russell Racing | Chevrolet |
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| 40 | 38 | Mike Laws | Pro-Star Motorsports | Oldsmobile |
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| Official race results | |
|---|
Standings after the race
- Drivers' Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|
| 1 | Bill Elliott | 4,028 |
| 2 | Rusty Wallace | 3,939 (-89) |
| 3 | Dale Earnhardt | 3,840 (-188) |
| 4 | Terry Labonte | 3,520 (–508) |
| 5 | Ken Schrader | 3,452 (–576) |
| 1 | 6 | Geoff Bodine | 3,448 (–580) |
| 1 | 7 | Darrell Waltrip | 3,405 (–623) |
| 8 | Sterling Marlin | 3,289 (–739) |
| 1 | 9 | Phil Parsons | 3,230 (–798) |
| 1 | 10 | Davey Allison | 3,204 (–824) |
| Official driver's standings | |
|---|
- Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
Notes
- News: Higgins . Tom . October 4, 1988 . N. Wilkesboro Rain Pushes Charlotte To Forefront . 5B . . September 15, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . October 17, 1988 . Wallace Charges To North Wilkesboro Win . 1B, 7B . . September 15, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Cooper . Ray . October 17, 1988 . Final-lap tap boosts Wallace past Bodine . B4, B5 . . September 15, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: September 30, 1988 . NASCAR Today . 5D . . September 15, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . October 1, 1988 . Elliott Takes Pole At North Wilkesboro . 1C, 4C . . September 15, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
