1985 Winston 500
# 1985 Winston 500

The 1985 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 5, 1985, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama as race number 9 of 28 of the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.

Prior to this event, two-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip complained to NASCAR about how Bill Elliott was ruining the parity of the sport and he needed to be slowed down. As a result, NASCAR raised the height of the Ford vehicles by half an inch. The roof of the GM race cars was lowered by the same amount in order to improve their speed performance.

## Background

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.

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. Later in the season at the Southern 500, Elliott would go on to become the first Winston Million winner.

## Race report

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. 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; a record that stood until broken in the 1997 Winston 500 by Mark Martin.

More than 100,000 live spectators saw more than two and a half hours of racing with two cautions periods (lasting for only eight laps). This relatively clean race would see 28 different lead changes. Canadian driver Trevor Boys would finish in last place due to a problem with the engine on lap 6. Bosco Lowe and Dick Skillen would exit NASCAR after this race while Geoff Bodine would lose the championship points lead to Terry Labonte.

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 '85 Thunderbird's in general and Elliott in specific. They commented that they felt the shape of the rear of the car was the reason why the average NASCAR driver found it difficult to draft off of Elliott.

Early in the race, a broken oil fitting would put Elliott nearly two laps out of the lead before he managed a comeback. Elliott would return to the track and begin consistently running laps near 205 mph, making up the two laps lost without the aide of a yellow flag or the draft.

The Ford Thunderbirds placed 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.

## Full Results

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.

### Cautions

2 for 8 laps

| Start Lap | End Lap | # of laps | Reason |
| - | - | - | - |
| 160 | 163 | 4 | Geoffrey Bodine accident, turn 4 |
| 174 | 177 | 4 | Eddie Bierschwale accident, turn 4 |

### Lap Leader Breakdown

Lead changes: 28

| Driver | From Lap | To Lap | # of Laps |
| - | - | - | - |
| Cale Yarborough | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Kyle Petty | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Bill Elliott | 6 | 27 | 22 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 28 | 33 | 6 |
| Bill Elliott | 34 | 36 | 3 |
| Terry Labonte | 37 | 37 | 1 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 38 | 39 | 2 |
| Kyle Petty | 40 | 42 | 3 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 43 | 43 | 1 |
| Cale Yarborough | 44 | 47 | 4 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 48 | 48 | 1 |
| Richard Petty | 49 | 49 | 1 |
| Kyle Petty | 50 | 53 | 4 |
| Cale Yarborough | 54 | 70 | 17 |
| Neil Bonnett | 71 | 71 | 1 |
| Benny Parsons | 72 | 73 | 2 |
| Bobby Allison | 74 | 75 | 2 |
| Cale Yarborough | 76 | 102 | 27 |
| Bobby Allison | 103 | 103 | 1 |
| Darrell Waltrip | 104 | 104 | 1 |
| Terry Labonte | 105 | 105 | 1 |
| Cale Yarborough | 106 | 131 | 26 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 132 | 133 | 2 |
| Kyle Petty | 134 | 134 | 1 |
| Cale Yarborough | 135 | 144 | 10 |
| Bill Elliott | 145 | 159 | 15 |
| Cale Yarborough | 160 | 168 | 9 |
| Bill Elliott | 169 | 188 | 20 |

## Failed to qualify

| Name | Car # | Car manufacturer |
| - | - | - |
| Eldon Dotson | 96 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |
| Delma Cowart | 0 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |
| Slick Johnson | 05 | Ford Thunderbird |
| Blackie Wangerin | 39 | Ford Thunderbird |
| Craig Spetman | 08 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |
| Rick Newsom | 20 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |
| Ronnie Thomas | 41 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |
| Mike Potter | 68 | Ford Thunderbird |
| Steve Moore | 73 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |
| Mark Stahl | 82 | Ford Thunderbird |
| Ken Ragan (car was driven by Bosco Lowe) | 17 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |

## Standings after the race

| 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 |
