Official name Holly Farms 400 | ||
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Date October 15, 1989 (1989-October-15) Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.005 km) Distance 400 laps, 250 mi (402 km) Weather Warm with temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) | ||
The 1989 Holly Farms 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) race that took place on October 15, 1989, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Contents
Summary
The race was scheduled for October 1, but rain persisted and a two-week postponement resulted. This race is memorable for a last-lap incident between leader Dale Earnhardt and second-place driver Ricky Rudd.
There were no time trials because the inclement weather on the race track washed out qualifying, so the field lined up according to the Winston Cup Series owners' points standings prior to Charlotte. Four hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.625 miles (1.006 km). The race featured 11 cautions for 60 laps, the final yellow waved for a spin by Bobby Hillin in Turn 2. No serious accidents occurred, although an accident involving both Richard and Kyle Petty and Hut Stricklin saw The King get his right-side wheels in the air, but at a reduced speed. Dale Earnhardt was the clear dominator, as only Mark Martin (51 laps) led more than 5 laps. The final restart was on Lap 398, as Earnhardt led Rudd, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, and Martin to the green. Hillin spun again in Turn 1, but left the scene quickly without prompting a yellow flag. Rudd pressured Earnhardt relentlessly, and as Dale got loose exiting Turn 4 coming to the white flag, Rudd got alongside the #3. As they entered Turn 1 Earnhardt tried to keep a tight line through the corner, while in the outside line, and as he came closer to the ideal line Rudd's car appeared to push slightly, and the ensuing contact spun both drivers around. This handed the lead to a surprised but elated Bodine, who won his 7th Winston Cup race (all for Hendrick Motorsports).
Richard Petty would get his 15th (and final) last place finish here (in a Pontiac car) with his son finishing only slightly ahead of him in 31st place. Thirty-four thousand people would attend a race where Geoffrey Bodine (in his Chevrolet Lumina) would defeat Mark Martin (in his Ford Thunderbird) by a margin of three seconds. Darrell Waltrip and Kyle Petty would eventually get 16 last-place finishes each that would allow them to surpass Richard Petty on the "all-time last place finishers' list."
The points leader before and after this race was Rusty Wallace; he had to only finish 18th or better to win the title so his driving style for the race was extremely conservative. Everyone was eligible for NASCAR Winston Cup points back then; with the first-place winner receiving 180 points and the last-place finisher receiving a meager 67 points.
Finishing order
* Driver failed to finish race
† Driver is deceased