| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Location: | Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway |
| Distance Mi: | 300 |
| Pole Time: | 21.978 |
| Most Laps: | 262 |
| Most Driver: | Davey Allison |
| Pole Driver: | Davey Allison |
| Car: | 28 |
| First Driver: | Davey Allison |
| Most Team: | Ranier-Lundy Racing |
| First Team: | Ranier-Lundy Racing |
| Pole Team: | Ranier-Lundy Racing |
| Network: | TBS |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Announcers: | Ken Squier, Johnny Hayes |
| Scheduled Laps: | 400 |
| Distance Laps: | 400 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 300 |
| Scheduled Km: | 482.803 |
| Distance Km: | 482.803 |
| Course Mi: | 0.75 |
| Course Km: | 1.21 |
| Year: | 1988 |
| Race No: | 22 |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Caption: | The 1988 Miller Genuine Draft 400 program cover, featuring Bobby Hillin Jr. and Bobby Allison. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. |
| Date: | September 11 |
| Avg: | 95.77mph |
| Race Name: | Miller High Life 400 |
| Official Name: | 31st Annual Miller High Life 400 |
| Attendance: | 60,000 |
The 1988 Miller High Life 400 was the 22nd stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 11, 1988, before an audience of 60,000 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Ranier-Lundy Racing's Davey Allison would manage to dominate the majority of the race, leading 262 laps to take his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson & Associates' Terry Labonte would finish second and third, respectively.
The race was the first ever race at the newly-built Richmond International Raceway, a track that replaced the old Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway.[3]
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, September 9, at 3:00 PM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-30 meant to be determined the following day on Saturday, September 10.[4] However, due to rain, the first round was cancelled. As a result, qualifying was condensed into one round for all starting grid spots in the race, which was run on Saturday. 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.[5]
Davey Allison, driving for Ranier-Lundy Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 21.978 and an average speed of 122.85mph.[6]
The starting lineup was drastically changed due to consequences of an ongoing tire war between the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and Hoosier Racing Tire. A rule implemented at the time stated that if a driver who had managed to qualify for a race changed tire brands between the qualifying session and the race, the driver was forced to forfeit their starting position and start at the rear. Around half of qualified drivers decided to switch tire brands, all of them forfeiting their original starting positions. The decision was regarded as unprecedented. The lineup is still disputed to this day, as NASCAR officials at the time were still in dispute over the correct order of the official starting lineup at the start of the race.[7]
Nine drivers would fail to qualify.
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Elliott | 3,363 | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | Dale Earnhardt | 3,246 (-117) | ||||||
| 1 | 3 | Rusty Wallace | 3,244 (-119) | ||||||
| 1 | 4 | Terry Labonte | 2,966 (–397) | ||||||
| 1 | 5 | Ken Schrader | 2,941 (–422) | ||||||
| 6 | Geoff Bodine | 2,888 (–475) | |||||||
| 7 | Sterling Marlin | 2,819 (–544) | |||||||
| 8 | Darrell Waltrip | 2,811 (–552) | |||||||
| 9 | Phil Parsons | 2,752 (–611) | |||||||
| 10 | Davey Allison | 2,694 (–669) | |||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||