Official name Atlanta Journal 500 | ||
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Date November 19, 1989 (1989-November-19) Location Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km) Distance 328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km) Weather Cold with temperatures up to 60.1 °F (15.6 °C); wind speeds up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) | ||
The 1989 Atlanta Journal 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on November 19, 1989, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
Contents
Background
Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate track to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built with New Hampshire just under construction.
The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.
Summary
It took three hours and thirty-six minutes to complete this 328-lap event in front of 78,000 people. Dale Earnhardt managed to defeat Geoffrey Bodine by nearly 26 seconds. Eight drivers failed to qualify for this race; including Patty Moise and Tracy Leslie. There were four accidents and two debris-related incidents; causing 11% of the race to be run under a caution flag. The average duration of laps under the green flag were almost 42 laps. Grant Adcox crashed heavily on lap 198 of the event and died of major chest and head injuries, also suffering a heart attack as result of the crash. Upon investigation, it was determined that the severe impact had torn his improperly mounted racing seat away from its mount entirely, and this led to Adcox's death. It also led to new safety regulations on the way seats were mounted for the 1990 season.
Earnhardt was the well-deserved winner of $81,700 ($168,284.21 when adjusted for inflation) while last-place finisher Phil Parsons walked away with a meager ($8,742.66 when adjusted for inflation).
Rusty Wallace would clinch the championship in this race; despite becoming lazy early in the race and settling for a 15th-place finish.