1985 Winston 500

Auto race held at Talladega Superspeedway in 1985 February 2025 CUST Race 9 of 28 in the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season Winston 500 1985 Winston 500 weather conditions at The Old Farmers' Almanac 1985 05 5 1985 9 28 Elliott1985Winston500Win.PNG Bill Elliott in victory lane after winning the 1985 Winston 500 Temperatures of 81 F C; wind speeds of 4.1 mph km/h Winston 500 Alabama International Motor Speedway, Talladega, Alabama 2.660 4.280 188 500.1 804.8 186.288 mph km/h on2 hours, 41 minutes, 04 seconds 122,000 Bill Elliott45.7311 seconds209.398 mph km/h on Melling Racing Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Racing 97 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing NBC Paul PageBobby Unser The 1985 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race 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. 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 mi km, and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com/This-Is-Talladega/Track-Facts.aspx Track Facts Talladega Superspeedway November 1, 2012 talladegasuperspeedway.com April 27, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20121101080016/http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com/This-Is-Talladega/Track-Facts.aspx November 1, 2012 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.Bill Elliott https://www.carsandracingstuff.com/library/e/elliottbill.php May 8, 2007 The Crittenden Automotive Library 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 mph km/h in a Ford Thunderbird.Elliott Was Awesome At Talladega In 1985 at GeorgiaRacingHistory.com1985 Winston 500 at Racing Reference1985 Winston 500 at Race Database He would go on to beat Kyle Petty by nearly two seconds at a then-record average speed of 186.288 mph 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.1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Recap https://web.archive.org/web/20111028231655/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/season-recaps/1980s/1985-nascar.htm 2011-10-28 at Auto.Howstuffworks.com 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 https://www.racing-reference.info/race/1985_Winston_500/W Race Results Average speed: 186.288 mph km/h onPole speed: 209.398 mph km/h onAttendance: 122,000 Box Score Pos Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Laps Number of laps completed Lapsled Number of laps led Points Number of points earned towards championship standings 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 Canada Trevor Boys Chevrolet Monte Carlo 6 46 Engine WD 40 51 Greg Sacks Chevrolet Monte Carlo 0 Withdrawn dueto 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 StartLapEndLap# oflapsReason 160 163 4 Geoffrey Bodine accident, turn 4 174 177 4 Eddie Bierschwale accident, turn 4 Lap Leader Breakdown Lead changes: 28 DriverFromLapToLap# ofLaps 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 10px Lake Speed 1215 -140 7 Darrell Waltrip 1208 -147 8 Kyle Petty 1197 -158 9 Bobby Allison 1187 -168 10 Dale Earnhardt 1150 -205 References 1985 Sovran Bank 500 1985 Budweiser 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1985 1984 1986 Winston 500 races 1985 Winston 500 Winston 500 Category:NASCAR races at Talladega Superspeedway