The 1989 Miller High Life 400 was the 22nd stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 10, 1989, before an audience of 60,000 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Gambling on fuel strategy, Blue Max Racing driver Rusty Wallace would manage to run the last 129 laps of the race on one tank of fuel to take his 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his sixth and final victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports driver Geoff Bodine would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 22 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1989 Miller Genuine Draft 400 program cover, featuring Bobby Allison. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | September 10, 1989 | ||
| Official name | 32nd Annual Miller High Life 400 | ||
| Location | Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.75 mi (1.21 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Average speed | 88.38 miles per hour (142.23 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 60,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Melling Racing | ||
| Time | 22.289 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Laps | 211 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Johnny Hayes, Chris Economaki | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
editRichmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, September 8, at 3:00 PM 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 Friday, September 9, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 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.
Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 22.289 and an average speed of 121.136 miles per hour (194.949 km/h) in the first round.[6][7]
Greg Sacks was the only driver to fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
edit| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 400 | 211 | running | 185 | $55,650 |
| 2 | 8 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 400 | 135 | running | 175 | $31,475 |
| 3 | 19 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 165 | $21,750 |
| 4 | 7 | 26 | Ricky Rudd | King Racing | Buick | 399 | 0 | running | 160 | $16,450 |
| 5 | 18 | 33 | Harry Gant | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 399 | 0 | running | 155 | $15,175 |
| 6 | 12 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 150 | $13,150 |
| 7 | 24 | 21 | Neil Bonnett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 146 | $9,475 |
| 8 | 21 | 84 | Dick Trickle (R) | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 398 | 0 | running | 142 | $9,425 |
| 9 | 22 | 57 | Hut Stricklin (R) | Osterlund Racing | Pontiac | 398 | 0 | running | 138 | $6,100 |
| 10 | 5 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 394 | 0 | running | 134 | $13,450 |
| 11 | 25 | 90 | Lennie Pond | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 394 | 0 | running | 130 | $3,475 |
| 12 | 4 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 391 | 7 | running | 132 | $8,425 |
| 13 | 31 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 383 | 0 | running | 124 | $9,132 |
| 14 | 23 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | 374 | 0 | running | 121 | $6,425 |
| 15 | 14 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 372 | 0 | running | 118 | $6,925 |
| 16 | 30 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 365 | 3 | running | 120 | $7,975 |
| 17 | 10 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 353 | 0 | running | 112 | $5,675 |
| 18 | 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 334 | 41 | drivetrain | 114 | $16,075 |
| 19 | 29 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 324 | 0 | fuel line | 106 | $2,775 |
| 20 | 16 | 16 | Larry Pearson (R) | Pearson Racing | Buick | 285 | 0 | crash | 103 | $4,900 |
| 21 | 2 | 51 | Butch Miller (R) | Miller Racing | Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | crash | 100 | $3,650 |
| 22 | 13 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 268 | 1 | crash | 102 | $5,205 |
| 23 | 9 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 265 | 0 | engine | 94 | $5,000 |
| 24 | 3 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 226 | 0 | crash | 91 | $7,675 |
| 25 | 15 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Pontiac | 202 | 0 | engine | 88 | $3,600 |
| 26 | 17 | 2 | Ernie Irvan | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 182 | 2 | engine | 90 | $3,275 |
| 27 | 34 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 165 | 0 | crash | 82 | $9,225 |
| 28 | 11 | 94 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 156 | 0 | engine | 79 | $4,670 |
| 29 | 27 | 88 | Jimmy Spencer (R) | Baker–Schiff Racing | Pontiac | 139 | 0 | crash | 76 | $4,615 |
| 30 | 36 | 40 | Darin Brassfield | Brassfield Racing | Chevrolet | 112 | 0 | rear end | 73 | $2,495 |
| 31 | 32 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | 110 | 0 | overheating | 70 | $2,365 |
| 32 | 20 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 76 | 0 | crash | 67 | $2,335 |
| 33 | 35 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 76 | 0 | clutch | 64 | $2,925 |
| 34 | 33 | 15 | Brett Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 35 | 0 | water pump | 61 | $3,675 |
| 35 | 26 | 29 | Dale Jarrett | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 17 | 0 | crash | 58 | $3,675 |
| 36 | 28 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 8 | 0 | crash | 55 | $3,675 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 37 | 48 | Greg Sacks | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
edit
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References
edit- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 11, 1989). "Wallace Defeats Elements (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 11, 1989). "Wallace Defeats Elements (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 17. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ King, Randy (September 11, 1989). "Wallace 'coasts' at Richmond (Part 1)". The Roanoke Times. p. 11. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ King, Randy (September 11, 1989). "Wallace 'coasts' at Richmond (Part 2)". The Roanoke Times. p. 17. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. September 8, 1989. p. 62. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 9, 1989). "Elliott To Start No. 1 At Richmond (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 33. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (September 9, 1989). "Elliott To Start No. 1 At Richmond (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 44. Retrieved May 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.