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Date June 9, 1985 (1985-June-09) Official name Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 Course Permanent racing facility2.500 mi (3.400 km) Distance 200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km) Weather Warm with temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); average wind speeds of 5.5 miles per hour (8.9 km/h) | ||
The 1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 9, 1985, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
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Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.
Background
Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.
Summary
The temperatures of the racing event were constantly between 57 °F (14 °C) and 81 °F (27 °C). There was an extremely dry climate from the midnight before the race to the midnight after the race. Visibility for people driving to the racing event was a remarkable 7.8 miles (12.6 km).
Two hundred laps were completed in three hours and thirty-five minutes. Three cautions were given out for ten laps. Bill Elliott defeated Harry Gant by a time of 0.2 seconds in front of 62000 spectators. He gained the pole position with a speed of 152.563 miles per hour (245.526 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 138.974 miles per hour (223.657 km/h). Other notable drivers at this event were: Darrell Waltrip (currently a NASCAR on Fox announcer), Neil Bonnett, Ricky Rudd, Benny Parsons, Rusty Wallace, Richard Petty (son of Lee Petty), Kyle Petty (son of Richard Petty and the father of Adam Petty), and J.D. McDuffie. The majority of the vehicles in the field belonged to the Chevrolet brand of automobiles. Geoff Bodine almost won the race but a late pit stop cost him the victory; he ended up in fourth place. Steve Gray would retire after this race; his lone attempt to return to NASCAR for the 1985 running of the Summer 500 (now Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500) resulted in failure.
Local jeweler Tommy Van Scoy wanted to sponsor this race to get his son into NASCAR; but it didn't work out as planned. Van Scoy's son eventually inherited the jewelry business after his father retired eight years after this race. Ronnie Thomas (who was sponsored by the local country music radio station WXTU) would finish in last place by virtue of an engine problem on the first lap of the race. He would earn $1,175 in race winnings for his troubles on the track ($2,616.48 when adjusted for inflation). Dale Earnhardt would drop out of the race on lap 3 due to an engine problem.