The 1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 was the 19th stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 20th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 20, 1989, before an audience of 80,000 in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Blue Max Racing driver Rusty Wallace would manage to dominate a majority of the race, leading 162 laps en route to his 15th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fifth victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, RahMoc Enterprises driver Morgan Shepherd and Jackson Bros. Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 19 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1989 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover. | |||
| Date | August 20, 1989 | ||
| Official name | 20th Annual Champion Spark Plug 400 | ||
| Location | Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Average speed | 157.704 miles per hour (253.800 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 80,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 40.968 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Laps | 162 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
editThe race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Saturday, August 19, at 11:30 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 Saturday, August 19, 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.
Geoff Bodine, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 40.968 and an average speed of 175.962 miles per hour (283.183 km/h) in the first round.[6][7]
Two drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
edit| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 200 | 162 | running | 185 | $67,900 |
| 2 | 7 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 200 | 7 | running | 175 | $38,975 |
| 3 | 21 | 33 | Harry Gant | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 200 | 4 | running | 170 | $28,425 |
| 4 | 26 | 57 | Hut Stricklin (R) | Osterlund Racing | Pontiac | 200 | 3 | running | 165 | $20,232 |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 2 | running | 160 | $23,750 |
| 6 | 18 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Pontiac | 200 | 1 | running | 155 | $15,375 |
| 7 | 11 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 200 | 0 | running | 146 | $17,150 |
| 8 | 16 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 200 | 0 | running | 142 | $15,050 |
| 9 | 4 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 200 | 2 | running | 143 | $13,075 |
| 10 | 3 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 200 | 9 | running | 139 | $14,700 |
| 11 | 6 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 199 | 3 | running | 135 | $13,400 |
| 12 | 29 | 88 | Jimmy Spencer (R) | Baker–Schiff Racing | Pontiac | 199 | 0 | running | 127 | $10,350 |
| 13 | 9 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 199 | 0 | running | 124 | $5,800 |
| 14 | 34 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 199 | 0 | running | 121 | $9,400 |
| 15 | 25 | 21 | Neil Bonnett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 198 | 0 | running | 118 | $9,600 |
| 16 | 36 | 16 | Larry Pearson (R) | Pearson Racing | Buick | 198 | 0 | running | 115 | $6,450 |
| 17 | 15 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 198 | 0 | running | 112 | $13,450 |
| 18 | 17 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 198 | 0 | running | 109 | $5,750 |
| 19 | 30 | 84 | Dick Trickle (R) | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 197 | 0 | running | 106 | $7,350 |
| 20 | 38 | 14 | Tracy Leslie | A. J. Foyt Racing | Oldsmobile | 197 | 0 | running | 103 | $4,875 |
| 21 | 23 | 83 | Joe Ruttman | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 197 | 0 | running | 0 | $6,825 |
| 22 | 31 | 51 | Butch Miller | Miller Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | 0 | running | 97 | $3,725 |
| 23 | 32 | 44 | Jim Sauter | Group 44 | Pontiac | 196 | 0 | running | 94 | $3,625 |
| 24 | 35 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 196 | 0 | running | 91 | $6,475 |
| 25 | 13 | 2 | Ernie Irvan | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 196 | 0 | running | 88 | $4,500 |
| 26 | 24 | 90 | Chad Little (R) | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 196 | 0 | running | 85 | $3,325 |
| 27 | 33 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 195 | 0 | running | 82 | $3,275 |
| 28 | 40 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Oldsmobile | 194 | 0 | running | 79 | $3,225 |
| 29 | 39 | 77 | Ken Ragan | Ragan Racing | Ford | 193 | 0 | running | 76 | $3,125 |
| 30 | 37 | 18 | Rick Jeffrey | TriStar Motorsports | Pontiac | 191 | 0 | running | 73 | $3,125 |
| 31 | 22 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 190 | 1 | running | 75 | $5,735 |
| 32 | 5 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 186 | 0 | engine | 67 | $5,645 |
| 33 | 20 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 177 | 0 | running | 64 | $5,580 |
| 34 | 10 | 94 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 172 | 0 | running | 61 | $5,490 |
| 35 | 28 | 48 | Greg Sacks | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | 158 | 0 | running | 58 | $2,815 |
| 36 | 12 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 128 | 0 | clutch | 55 | $5,425 |
| 37 | 19 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 119 | 6 | camshaft | 57 | $12,115 |
| 38 | 27 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 119 | 0 | rear end | 49 | $5,350 |
| 39 | 8 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 103 | 0 | engine | 46 | $13,585 |
| 40 | 14 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 69 | 0 | engine | 43 | $9,725 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 41 | 38 | Dick Johnson | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 42 | 49 | James Hylton | Hylton Motorsports | Buick | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
edit
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References
edit- ^ Higgins, Tom (August 21, 1989). "Crew Lifts Wallace To Victory (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (August 21, 1989). "Crew Lifts Wallace To Victory (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 18. Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Crowe, Steve (August 21, 1989). "Wallace wins MIS, points to season title (Part 1)". Detroit Free Press. p. 44. Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Crowe, Steve (August 21, 1989). "Wallace wins MIS, points to season title (Part 2)". Detroit Free Press. p. 51. Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. August 19, 1989. p. 19. Retrieved May 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (August 20, 1989). "Bodine Regains Form, Speeds To Pole Win (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 81. Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (August 20, 1989). "Bodine Regains Form, Speeds To Pole Win (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 90. Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.