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Date April 24, 1988 (1988-April-24) Official name Pannill Sweatshirts 500 Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia, U.S. Course Permanent racing facility
0.525 mi (0.844 km) Distance 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km) Weather Warm with temperatures approaching 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 18.1 miles per hour (29.1 km/h) | ||
The 1988 Pannill Sweatshirts 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) race that took place on April 24, 1988, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, United States.
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Dale Earnhardt would personally take his 13-year-old son Dale Jr. to finish lane in order to show him off to the NASCAR Cup Series world that would end up admiring him after the elder Dale Earnhardt was killed at the 2001 Daytona 500 in a crash.
Background
Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short-track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long. The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.
Race summary
It took three hours and twenty-eight minutes for the race to reach completion. Notable speeds were: 74.740 miles per hour (120.282 km/h) as the average speed and 91.328 miles per hour (146.978 km/h) as the pole position speed. Forty six thousand fans would watch Dale Earnhardt in his #3 Chevrolet Monte Carlo defeat Sterling Marlin in his #44 Oldsmobile Cutlass by almost two seconds. Earnhardt's other victory within the entire 1988 Winston Cup Series season came at the 1988 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 near Atlanta, Georgia.
Seven caution flags were given out during the race. Other notable drivers in the race included Bill Elliott (still racing on a part-time basis), Dale Jarrett (retired since 2008), Kyle Petty (retired since 2009), Ricky Rudd (retired since 2006), and Michael Waltrip (still racing on a part-time basis). This race would also be notorious for being the event where Richard Petty would receive one of his final last place finishes of his career. In reality, Petty would receive his 15th and final "last place" finish at the 1989 Holly Farms 400 race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Ernie Irvan (in his #2 vehicle) and Jimmy Means (in his #52 vehicle) both failed to qualify for the race.
Total winnings for this race were $295,315 ($598,025.34 when adjusted for inflation) collectively spread throughout the qualifying drivers.