1985 Winston 500

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 miles (4.28 km), and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.[4]

Bill Elliott dominated the early part of the 1985 season, including winning the Daytona 500, the first race of the Winston Million promotion. The Winston 500 was the second.

There were 40 drivers who qualified for this race with 1 driver withdrawing (Greg Sacks due to a blown engine); the pole position winner was Bill Elliott who qualified at a then-track record speed of 209.398 miles per hour (336.993 km/h) in a Ford Thunderbird.[3][2][5] He would go on to beat Kyle Petty by nearly two seconds at a then-record average speed of 186.288 miles per hour (299.801 km/h) for the race;[2][5] even though the record would broken at the 1997 Winston 500 by Mark Martin.

Some of the drivers were complaining (most notably Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip) about how it was difficult to draft off the back end of the Thunderbirds in 1985 and especially Elliott where he had more speed that year. They commented that they felt the shape of the back end of the car was the reason why the average NASCAR driver could hardly draft off of Elliott. Tires were less efficient on the vehicles in this race as opposed to the current compound of tires that NASCAR uses and cars wore down more dramatically over the period of a race. Drivers actually drove stock cars that they tried to make more competitive.

Early in the race, a broken oil fitting would put Elliott nearly two laps out of the lead before he managed his comeback. Elliott would return to the track and begin consistently running laps near 205 mph. He would make up the two laps lost due to the broken oil fitting without the aide of a yellow flag or the draft.[6] Later in the season at the Southern 500, Elliott would go on to become the first Winston Million winner.[7]

More than 100,000 live spectators would see more than two and a half hours of racing with two cautions periods (lasting for only eight laps).[2] This relatively clean race would see 28 different lead changes.[2][5] Canadian driver Trevor Boys would finish in last place due to a problem with the engine on lap 6.[2][5] Bosco Lowe and Dick Skillen would exit NASCAR after this race while Geoff Bodine would lose the championship points lead to Terry Labonte.[5] The cars being used for NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing back then were closer to the production models and no common templates were used.

The Ford Thunderbirds place 1-2-3 with Kyle Petty beating Cale Yarborough in a photo finish for second place behind Elliott. The Ford trio were the only drivers to finish on the lead lap.[2][5] Bill Elliott, despite leading the NASCAR Winston Cup Series with 11 wins on superspeedways, would end up losing the championship that year to Darrell Waltrip.[8]

Waltrip commented that was difficult all year to compete with Elliott and that he had to make up a lot of ground on the short tracks to beat Elliott in the standings. Ultimately, that's what he did.

[9] Average speed: 186.288 mph (299.801 km/h)
Pole speed: 209.398 mph (336.993 km/h)
Attendance: 122,000

Box Score

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Laps led	Points	Time/Status
1	1	9	Bill Elliott	Ford Thunderbird	188	60	180*	2:41:04
2	4	7	Kyle Petty	Ford Thunderbird	188	9	175*	-1.72 seconds
3	2	28	Cale Yarborough	Ford Thunderbird	188	97	175**	Flagged
4	17	22	Bobby Allison	Buick Regal	187	3	165*	-1 lap
5	15	15	Ricky Rudd	Ford Thunderbird	187		155	-1 lap
6	32	88	Buddy Baker	Oldsmobile Cutlass	185		150	-3 laps
7	3	44	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	185	2	151*	-3 laps
8	18	71	Dave Marcis	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	185		142	-3 laps
9	7	8	Bobby Hillin, Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	184		138	-4 laps
10	20	75	Lake Speed	Pontiac Grand Prix	183		134	-5 laps
11	14	5	Geoffrey Bodine	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	182		130	-6 laps
12	24	52	Jimmy Means	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	181		127	-7 Laps
13	22	38	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	180		124	-8 Laps
14	28	67	Buddy Arrington	Ford Thunderbird	175		121	-13 Laps
15	38	70	J.D. McDuffie	Pontiac Grand Prix	174		118	-14 Laps
16	27	27	Tim Richmond	Pontiac Grand Prix	171		115	-17 Laps
17	37	17	Bosco Lowe	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	171			-17 Laps
18	39	79	Dick Skillen	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	167		109	-21 Laps
19	31	6	Eddie Bierschwale	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	161		106	Engine
20	21	90	Ken Schrader	Ford Thunderbird	159		103	-29 Laps
21	13	3	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	155	12	105*	Engine
22	26	99	Connie Saylor	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	155		97	Ignition
23	29	64	Clark Dwyer	Ford Thunderbird	150		94	Ignition
24	5	11	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	137	1	96*	Piston
25	10	95	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	113		88	Engine
26	12	12	Neil Bonnett	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	106	1	90*	Water Leak
27	9	43	Richard Petty	Pontiac Grand Prix	94	1	87*	Valve
28	19	47	Ron Bouchard	Buick Regal	85		79	Suspension
29	16	55	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	74	2	81*	Driveshaft
30	6	4	Joe Ruttman	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	70		73	Transmission
31	23	84	Mike Alexander	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	70		70	Engine
32	34	74	Bobby Wawak	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	61		67	Wheel
33	36	49	Don Hume	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	35		64	Vibration
34	11	66	Phil Parsons	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	33		61	Wheel Bearing
35	33	00	Phil Barkdoll	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	33		58	Engine
36	8	21	David Pearson	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	26		55	Carburetor
37	35	2	Rusty Wallace	Pontiac Grand Prix	7		52	Engine
38	25	33	Harry Gant	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	7		49	Engine
39	30	98	Trevor Boys	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	6		46	Engine
WD	40	51	Greg Sacks	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	0			Withdrawn due to Engine Failure

* - Includes 5 bonus points for leading at least 1 lap.
** - Includes additional 5 bonus points for leading the most laps.

Pos	Driver	Points	Differential
1	Terry Labonte	1355	0
2	Geoffrey Bodine	1343	-12
3	Bill Elliott	1312	-43
4	Neil Bonnett	1279	-76
5	Ricky Rudd	1228	-127
6	Lake Speed	1215	-140
7	Darrell Waltrip	1208	-147
8	Kyle Petty	1197	-158
9	Bobby Allison	1187	-168
10	Dale Earnhardt	1150	-205

[10]