1989 Coca-Cola 600 Explained
The 1989 Coca-Cola 600 was the 10th stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 30th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 28, 1989, before an audience of 161,000 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. With the help of a fast final pit stop, Hendrick Motorsports driver Darrell Waltrip would manage control the final laps of the race, leading the final 80 laps to take his 77th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth victory of the season.[1] [2] [3] [4] To fill out the top three, Hagan Racing driver Sterling Marlin and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, May 24, at 3:00 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 Thursday, May 25, 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.
Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, would win the pole, setting a time of 31.210 and an average speed of 173.021mph in the first round.[6] [7]
Nine drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
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| 1 | 4 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 87 | running | 180 | $126,400 |
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| 2 | 18 | 94 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 400 | 17 | running | 175 | $61,675 |
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| 3 | 3 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 1 | running | 170 | $44,275 |
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| 4 | 13 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 160 | $30,950 |
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| 5 | 15 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 399 | 12 | running | 160 | $32,305 |
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| 6 | 2 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 399 | 53 | running | 155 | $29,675 |
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| 7 | 25 | 21 | Neil Bonnett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 146 | $17,800 |
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| 8 | 10 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 142 | $16,900 |
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| 9 | 27 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 397 | 0 | running | 138 | $15,200 |
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| 10 | 9 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 397 | 0 | running | 134 | $16,925 |
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| 11 | 41 | 66 | Rick Mast (R) | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 130 | $13,107 |
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| 12 | 22 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Pontiac | 396 | 0 | running | 127 | $8,500 |
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| 13 | 31 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 395 | 0 | running | 124 | $11,725 |
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| 14 | 26 | 57 | Hut Stricklin (R) | Osterlund Racing | Pontiac | 395 | 0 | running | 121 | $7,625 |
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| 15 | 36 | 2 | Ernie Irvan | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 394 | 0 | running | 118 | $9,175 |
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| 16 | 42 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 394 | 0 | running | 115 | $9,650 |
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| 17 | 33 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Chevrolet | 392 | 0 | running | 112 | $6,000 |
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| 18 | 39 | 90 | Chad Little (R) | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 392 | 0 | running | 109 | $5,650 |
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| 19 | 11 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 391 | 0 | running | 106 | $6,400 |
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| 20 | 30 | 40 | Ben Hess (R) | Hess Racing | Oldsmobile | 388 | 0 | running | 103 | $5,775 |
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| 21 | 35 | 06 | Terry Byers | Byers Racing | Chevrolet | 379 | 0 | running | 100 | $4,700 |
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| 22 | 21 | 16 | Larry Pearson (R) | Pearson Racing | Buick | 377 | 0 | running | 97 | $5,450 |
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| 23 | 1 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 371 | 138 | engine | 104 | $58,500 |
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| 24 | 20 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 364 | 0 | running | 91 | $6,800 |
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| 25 | 29 | 14 | Tracy Leslie | A. J. Foyt Racing | Oldsmobile | 360 | 0 | crank | 88 | $3,925 |
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| 26 | 37 | 53 | Jerry O'Neil | Aroneck Racing | Chevrolet | 353 | 0 | running | 85 | $3,100 |
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| 27 | 7 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 333 | 0 | engine | 82 | $6,150 |
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| 28 | 24 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 331 | 0 | engine | 79 | $5,200 |
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| 29 | 16 | 84 | Dick Trickle (R) | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 330 | 0 | oil line | 76 | $4,975 |
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| 30 | 19 | 88 | Greg Sacks | Baker–Schiff Racing | Pontiac | 320 | 2 | accident | 78 | $4,800 |
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| 31 | 6 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 306 | 22 | engine | 75 | $13,950 |
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| 32 | 23 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 303 | 0 | engine | 67 | $10,000 |
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| 33 | 17 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 298 | 1 | engine | 69 | $10,550 |
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| 34 | 32 | 47 | Allan Grice | Allan Grice Racing | Pontiac | 294 | 0 | engine | 61 | $1,900 |
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| 35 | 5 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 292 | 15 | running | 63 | $6,975 |
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| 36 | 40 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Oldsmobile | 242 | 0 | accident | 55 | $2,400 |
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| 37 | 38 | 31 | Jim Sauter | Bob Clark Motorsports | Pontiac | 236 | 0 | engine | 52 | $1,775 |
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| 38 | 14 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 223 | 2 | engine | 54 | $10,750 |
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| 39 | 12 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 186 | 0 | engine | 46 | $8,725 |
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| 40 | 8 | 33 | Harry Gant | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 148 | 50 | engine | 48 | $10,600 |
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| 41 | 34 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 113 | 0 | engine | 40 | $1,700 |
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| 42 | 28 | 51 | Butch Miller (R) | Miller Racing | Chevrolet | 24 | 0 | wheel bearing | 37 | $2,200 |
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| Failed to qualify |
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| 43 | | 89 | Rodney Combs | Mueller Brothers Racing | Pontiac | |
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| 44 | 18 | Jim Bown | TriStar Motorsports | Pontiac |
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| 45 | 34 | Jimmy Spencer (R) | Frank Cicci Racing | Buick |
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| 46 | 95 | Slick Johnson | Sadler Brothers Racing | Chevrolet |
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| 47 | 36 | H. B. Bailey | Bailey Racing | Pontiac |
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| 48 | 93 | Charlie Baker | Salmon Racing | Chevrolet |
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| 49 | 24 | John McFadden | McFadden Racing | Pontiac |
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| 50 | 73 | Don Hume | Barkdoll Racing | Oldsmobile |
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| 51 | 0 | Delma Cowart | H. L. Waters Racing | Ford |
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| Official race results | |
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Standings after the race
- Drivers' Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|
| 1 | 1 | Darrell Waltrip | 1,479 |
| 1 | 2 | Geoff Bodine | 1,458 (-21) |
| 2 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | 1,430 (-49) |
| 4 | Alan Kulwicki | 1,375 (–104) |
| 3 | 5 | Sterling Marlin | 1,374 (–105) |
| 1 | 6 | Mark Martin | 1,368 (–111) |
| 2 | 7 | Rusty Wallace | 1,313 (–166) |
| 2 | 8 | Davey Allison | 1,291 (–188) |
| 4 | 9 | Ken Schrader | 1,238 (–241) |
| 4 | 10 | Bill Elliott | 1,211 (–268) |
| Official driver's standings | |
|---|
- Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
Notes and References
- News: Higgins . Tom . May 29, 1989 . Waltrip Runs Off With 5th 600 (Part 1) . 17 . . May 3, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . May 29, 1989 . Waltrip Runs Off With 5th 600 (Part 2) . 21 . . May 3, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Mulhern . Mike . May 29, 1989 . Wallace Streaks to 4th Victory of Season (Part 1) . 17 . . May 3, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Mulhern . Mike . May 29, 1989 . Wallace Streaks to 4th Victory of Season (Part 2) . 22 . . May 3, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: May 19, 1989 . Speedway Calendar . 16 . . May 3, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . May 25, 1989 . Kulwicki Quick On 600 Trigger (Part 1) . 47 . . May 3, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . May 25, 1989 . Kulwicki Quick On 600 Trigger (Part 2) . 52 . . May 3, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
