| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Official Name: | 33rd Annual Pepsi 400 |
| Caption: | The 1991 Pepsi 400 program cover. |
| Date: | July 6 |
| Avg: | 159.116mph |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Race No: | 15 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 160 |
| Course Km: | 4.0 |
| Distance Laps: | 160 |
| Distance Km: | 643.737 |
| Course Mi: | 2.5 |
| Scheduled Km: | 643.737 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 400 |
| Race Name: | Pepsi 400 |
| Location: | Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | ESPN |
| First Team: | Melling Racing |
| First Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Pole Team: | Junior Johnson & Associates |
| Most Team: | Morgan-McClure Motorsports |
| Pole Driver: | Sterling Marlin |
| Most Driver: | Ernie Irvan |
| Most Laps: | 85 |
| Car: | 9 |
| Year: | 1991 |
| Distance Mi: | 400 |
| Pole Time: | 47.286 |
| Attendance: | 80,000 |
The 1991 Pepsi 400 was the 15th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 6, 1991, before an audience of 80,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 160 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott would manage to mount a late-race charge to the lead, passing for the lead with 13 to go to take his 34th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1] [2] [3] [4] To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Geoff Bodine and Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would finish second and third, respectively.
On lap 120 of the race, owner-driver Darrell Waltrip, along with RahMoc Enterprises driver Joe Ruttman, would both be involved in a crash on the track's back straightaway. Waltrip and Ruttman would both slide into the infield grass, and Waltrip's car, after hitting a bump in the infield, would then proceed to go into a series of violent flips, destroying Waltrip's car. Waltrip was not seriously hurt.[5] [6]
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 2, at 10:00 AM 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 3, at 11:00 AM 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,[7] 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 provisionals were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 47.286 and an average speed of 190.331mph in the first round.[8] [9]
Four drivers would fail to qualify.
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Earnhardt | 2,353 | |||||||
| 2 | Ricky Rudd | 2,207 (-146) | |||||||
| 1 | 3 | Ernie Irvan | 2,139 (-214) | ||||||
| 1 | 4 | Ken Schrader | 2,137 (–216) | ||||||
| 1 | 5 | Davey Allison | 2,124 (–229) | ||||||
| 3 | 6 | Darrell Waltrip | 2,060 (–293) | ||||||
| 7 | Harry Gant | 2,000 (–353) | |||||||
| 8 | Mark Martin | 1,985 (–368) | |||||||
| 1 | 9 | Michael Waltrip | 1,852 (–501) | ||||||
| 1 | 10 | Sterling Marlin | 1,841 (–512) | ||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||