1988 Pannill Sweatshirts 500

1988 Pannill Sweatshirts 500

Race details[1][2]
Race 8 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
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)
Average speed	74.740 miles per hour (120.282 km/h)
Attendance	46,000
Pole position
Driver	Ricky Rudd	King Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	182
Winner
No. 3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	SETN
Announcers	Mike Joy Benny Parsons

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.

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.^[3] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short-track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.^[4] 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.^[4]

Race summary

It took three hours and twenty-eight minutes for the race to reach completion.^[2] 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.^[2]

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.^[2] Earnhardt's other victory within the entire 1988 Winston Cup Series season came at the 1988 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 near Atlanta, Georgia.^[5] The most dominant drivers in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during the 1980s were Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt.

Seven caution flags were given out during the race.^[2] 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).^[2] 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 ($611,071.05 when adjusted for inflation) collectively spread throughout the qualifying drivers.^[6]

Timeline

Section reference: ^[2]

• Start of race: Ricky Rudd started out the event with the pole position
• Lap 38: Harry Gant took over the lead from Ricky Rudd
• Lap 66: First caution of the event, ended on lap 75
• Lap 67: Terry Labonte took over the lead from Harry Gant
• Lap 68: Harry Gant took over the lead from Terry Labonte
• Lap 87: Second caution of the event, ended on lap 94
• Lap 206: Sterling Marlin took over the lead from Harry Gant
• Lap 246: Third caution of the event, ended on lap 251
• Lap 247: Buddy Baker took over the lead from Sterling Marlin
• Lap 248: Sterling Marlin took over the lead from Buddy Baker
• Lap 286: Fourth caution of the event, ended on lap 290
• Lap 287: Bobby Hillin, Jr. took over the lead from Sterling Marlin
• Lap 292: Sterling Marlin took over the lead from Bobby Hillin, Jr.
• Lap 312: Fifth caution of the event, ended on lap 318
• Lap 313: Bobby Hillin, Jr. took over the lead from Sterling Marlin
• Lap 319: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Bobby Hillin, Jr.
• Lap 393: Sixth caution of the event, ended on lap 396
• Lap 405: Seventh caution of the event, ended on lap 410
• Finish: Dale Earnhardt finished the event in first place

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Dale Earnhardt	1244	0
2	Sterling Marlin	1167	-77
3	Bill Elliott	1129	-115
4	Rusty Wallace	1127	-123
5	Terry Labonte	1097	-147
6	Bobby Allison	1085	-159
7	Neil Bonnett	1052	-192
8	Bobby Hillin, Jr.	1030	-214
9	Darrell Waltrip	1027	-217
10	Ken Schrader	1013	-231

References