| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Course Km: | 4.28 |
| Caption: | The 1988 Talladega DieHard 500 program cover, featuring Bill Elliott. |
| Pole Time: | 48.789 |
| First Team: | Hendrick Motorsports |
| First Driver: | Ken Schrader |
| Attendance: | 80,000 |
| Announcers: | Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, Chris Economaki |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | CBS |
| Most Team: | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Car: | 25 |
| Most Laps: | 123 |
| Most Driver: | Darrell Waltrip |
| Pole Driver: | Darrell Waltrip |
| Avg: | 154.505mph |
| Location: | Lincoln, Alabama, Alabama International Motor Speedway |
| Pole Team: | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Scheduled Km: | 804.8 |
| Distance Km: | 804.8 |
| Distance Laps: | 188 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 188 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 500.08 |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Race No: | 17 |
| Race Name: | Talladega DieHard 500 |
| Course Mi: | 2.66 |
| Date: | July 31 |
| Year: | 1988 |
| Distance Mi: | 500.08 |
| Official Name: | 20th Annual Talladega DieHard 500 |
The 1988 Talladega DieHard 500 was the 17th stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 20th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 31, 1988, before an audience of 80,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Alabama International Motor Speedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. On the final lap of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would manage to make a pass for the lead coming out of the track's second turn, holding onto the lead for the rest of the lap to take the victory. The victory was Schrader's first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1] [2] [3] [4] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Geoff Bodine and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-longNaN-long tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-longNaN-long tri-oval.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 28, at 2:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 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 Friday, July 29, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 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 were given.
Darrell Waltrip, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 48.789 and an average speed of 196.274mph in the first round.[6] [7]
Eight drivers would fail to qualify.
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rusty Wallace | 2,518 | |||||||
| 2 | Bill Elliott | 2,507 (-11) | |||||||
| 3 | Dale Earnhardt | 2,485 (-33) | |||||||
| 1 | 4 | Ken Schrader | 2,331 (–187) | ||||||
| 1 | 5 | Terry Labonte | 2,309 (–209) | ||||||
| 6 | Geoff Bodine | 2,264 (–254) | |||||||
| 2 | 7 | Sterling Marlin | 2,145 (–373) | ||||||
| 8 | Phil Parsons | 2,137 (–381) | |||||||
| 2 | 9 | Darrell Waltrip | 2,128 (–390) | ||||||
| 10 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | 2,059 (–459) | |||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||