1990 Daytona 500

May 2023 First race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series NASWINSTON 32nd Annual Daytona 500 1990 Daytona 500 program cover and logo.jpg The 1990 Daytona 500 program cover, featuring Darrell Waltrip. February 18 165.761 mph km/h 29 1 2.5 200 804.672 4.0 Daytona 500 Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway Ken Squier, Chris Economaki, Ned Jarrett Motor Racing Network CBS Whitcomb Racing Derrike Cope Hendrick Motorsports Richard Childress Racing Ken Schrader Dale Earnhardt 155 10 1990 500 45.798 150,000 The 1990 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 18, 1990, in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. On the final lap of the race, Whitcomb Racing driver Derrike Cope would manage to take advantage of a misfortunate Dale Earnhardt, when Earnhardt suffered a flat tire on the final turn of the race, allowing Cope to take the lead. The victory was Cope's first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.Higgins Tom February 19, 1990 Cope Capitalizes At Daytona (Part 1) 21 The Charlotte Observer https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-cope-captializes/124454535/ May 12, 2023 Newspapers.com Higgins Tom February 19, 1990 Cope Capitalizes At Daytona (Part 2) 25 The Charlotte Observer https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-cope-captializes/124454575/ May 12, 2023 Newspapers.com Coble Don February 19, 1990 Cope shocks Daytona 500 (Part 1) 19 Florida Today https://www.newspapers.com/article/florida-today-cope-shocks-daytona-500-p/124455134/ May 12, 2023 Newspapers.com Coble Don February 19, 1990 Cope shocks Daytona 500 (Part 2) 20 Florida Today https://www.newspapers.com/article/florida-today-cope-shocks-daytona-500-p/124455166/ May 12, 2023 Newspapers.com To fill out the top three, Precision Products Racing driver Terry Labonte and Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott would finish second and third, respectively. Background thumb|The layout of Daytona International Speedway, the venue where the race was held. Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees. Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. #DriverTeamMake0Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord1Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobile01Mickey GibbsGibbs RacingFord2Eddie BierschwaleU.S. RacingPontiac02Rich BickleBickle RacingOldsmobile3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Phil ParsonsMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord8Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet11Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord12Mike AlexanderBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick13Mike PotterMansion MotorsportsChevrolet14A. J. FoytA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile15Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord16Larry PearsonPearson RacingBuick17Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19Chad LittleLittle RacingFord20Rob Moroso (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobile21Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFord25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Brett BodineKing RacingBuick27Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord29Joe BooherBooher RacingPontiac30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac32Joe RuttmanCalCar MotorsportsPontiac33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile34Charlie GlotzbachAAG RacingPontiac35Bill VenturiniVenturini MotorsportsChevrolet37Dennis LangstonLangston MotorsportsFord39Blackie WangerinWangerin RacingFord42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Jim SauterGroup 44Pontiac47Jack Pennington (R)Close RacingOldsmobile48Trevor BoysLusty RacingBuick52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac53Jerry O'Neil (R)Aroneck RacingOldsmobile57Jimmy SpencerOsterlund RacingPontiac59Mark GibsonCoHo RacingPontiac66Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac68Hut StricklinTriStar MotorsportsChevrolet70J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet72Stan BarrettBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile73Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile75Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile77Ken RaganRagan RacingFord80Jimmy HortonS&H RacingFord82Mark StahlStahl RacingFord83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobile85Bobby GerhartBobby Gerhart RacingChevrolet89Rodney CombsMueller Brothers RacingPontiac90Ernie IrvanDonlavey RacingFord94Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile96Philip DuffieDuffie RacingBuick98Butch MillerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet Qualifying Qualifying was set by the 1990 Twin 125 Qualifiers. The top two positions were set by qualifying speeds held for the Twin 125 Qualifiers held on Saturday, February 10, with the top two qualifiers in the session earning the top two positions for the Daytona 500. The rest of the starting was set in the Twin 125 Qualifiers, held on Thursday, February 15 during two races. The top 14 finishers in the first race, excluding the pole position winner, would set the inside row from rows two to 15, and the top 14 finishers in the second race, excluding the outside pole position winner, would set the outside row from rows two to 15. The remaining non-qualifiers would set positions 31-40 based on qualifying speeds from the first qualifying session held on Saturday. If needed, up to two extra provisionals were given to teams high enough in the previous season's owner's standings that did not qualify for the race by either qualifying speed or from the Twin 125 Qualifiers. Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 45.798 and an average speed of 196.515 mph km/h in Saturday's session.Higgins Tom February 11, 1990 Schrader Flies To Daytona Pole (Part 1) 87 The Charlotte Observer https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-schrader-flies-to/124455966/ May 12, 2023 Newspapers.com Higgins Tom February 11, 1990 Schrader Flies To Daytona Pole (Part 2) 98 The Charlotte Observer https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-schrader-flies-to/124456006/ May 12, 2023 Newspapers.com 19 drivers would fail to qualify. Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeReason125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletQualified on pole23Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletQualified on outside pole311Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordFirst in Twin 125 #149Bill ElliottMelling RacingFordSecond in Twin 125 #2533Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobileSecond in Twin 125 #1657Jimmy SpencerOsterlund RacingPontiacThird in Twin 125 #276Mark MartinRoush RacingFordThird in Twin 125 #184Phil ParsonsMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobileFourth in Twin 125 #2917Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevroletFourth in Twin 125 #1108Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuickFifth in Twin 125 #21143Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacFifth in Twin 125 #11210Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevroletSixth in Twin 125 #21314A. J. FoytA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobileSixth in Twin 125 #11483Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobileSeventh in Twin 125 #21512Mike AlexanderBobby Allison MotorsportsBuickEighth in Twin 125 #11628Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordEighth in Twin 125 #21798Butch MillerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevroletNinth in Twin 125 #11890Ernie IrvanDonlavey RacingFordNinth in Twin 125 #2195Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevroletTenth in Twin 125 #1201Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobileTenth in Twin 125 #22194Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile11th in Twin 125 #12242Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac11th in Twin 125 #22347Jack Pennington (R)Close RacingOldsmobile12th in Twin 125 #12430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac12th in Twin 125 #2257Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord13th in Twin 125 #12616Larry PearsonPearson RacingBuick13th in Twin 125 #22732Joe RuttmanCalCar MotorsportsPontiac14th in Twin 125 #12875Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile14th in Twin 125 #22902Rich BickleBickle RacingOldsmobile15th in Twin 125 #13015Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord15th in Twin 125 #23121Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFordSpeed provisional (194.523)3266Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiacSpeed provisional (193.536)3326Brett BodineKing RacingBuickSpeed provisional (193.473)3468Hut StricklinTriStar MotorsportsChevroletSpeed provisional (193.175)3573Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobileSpeed provisional (192.761)3620Rob Moroso (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobileSpeed provisional (192.394)3752Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacSpeed provisional (192.217)3827Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiacSpeed provisional (190.267)3953Jerry O'Neil (R)Aroneck RacingOldsmobileSpeed provisional (189.601)4080Jimmy HortonS&H RacingFordSpeed provisional (189.601)412Eddie BierschwaleU.S. RacingOldsmobileOwner's points provisional4271Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletOwner's points provisionalFailed to qualify4372Stan BarrettBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile16th in Twin 125 #14435Bill VenturiniVenturini MotorsportsChevrolet17th in Twin 125 #24544Jim SauterGroup 44Pontiac17th in Twin 125 #14601Mickey GibbsGibbs RacingFord19th in Twin 125 #24719Chad LittleLittle RacingFord22nd in Twin 125 #14848Trevor BoysLusty RacingBuick21st in Twin 125 #24985Bobby GerhartBobby Gerhart RacingChevrolet23rd in Twin 125 #15037Dennis LangstonLangston MotorsportsFord23rd in Twin 125 #25113Mike PotterMansion MotorsportsChevrolet24th in Twin 125 #1520Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord24th in Twin 125 #25396Philip DuffieDuffie RacingBuick25th in Twin 125 #15470J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac25th in Twin 125 #25577Ken RaganRagan RacingFord26th in Twin 125 #15682Mark StahlStahl RacingFord26th in Twin 125 #25759Mark GibsonCoHo RacingPontiac30th in Twin 125 #15834Charlie GlotzbachAAG RacingPontiac27th in Twin 125 #25939Blackie WangerinWangerin RacingFord28th in Twin 125 #26089Rodney CombsMueller Brothers RacingPontiac30th in Twin 125 #26129Joe BooherBooher RacingPontiac31st in Twin 125 #2Official Twin 125 Qualifiers resultsOfficial starting lineup Race review On the Busch Pole for the third year in a row, Ken Schrader quickly passed several cars at the start after beginning the race in his backup car due to a crash at the end of his Twin 125 qualifier.http://www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/history/races/02/02/90daytona500/index.html The 1990 Daytona 500 July 28, 2003 NASCAR.com; Turner Entertainment Digital Network July 27, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090630020412/http://www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/history/races/02/02/90daytona500/index.html June 30, 2009 dead By the first caution flag, Schrader had driven up to second place. Geoff Bodine led the first lap of the race and the season. Two cars used to create film footage for the upcoming movie Days of Thunder, driven by Bobby Hamilton and Tommy Ellis, started the race in the last row, completing 100 miles before parking. Those cars were not listed in the official race results. On Lap 27, Richard Petty (who started a promising 11th) spun ahead of Phil Parsons while running 13th. The spin left him with all four tires flat, meaning The King would need a wrecker to take him to the pits for new tires, and he would finish well down the order in 34th. During the yellow, Davey Allison (running 6th) pitted with the leaders and hit the pit wall. This was unnoticed by the television broadcast for several minutes; no injuries were reported but Mike Joy confirmed left front toe damage. On Lap 43, an accident occurred between the tri-oval and Turn 1 involving Mike Alexander, Alan Kulwicki (who would continue), Phil Parsons, and 1989 NASCAR Busch Series champion and Winston Cup rookie Rob Moroso. Moroso said he touched Phil Parsons' left rear with his own right front after Parsons came down on him, and Parsons explained that he was attempting a pass on A. J. Foyt. After 58 laps, Schrader's run to the front was halted by an engine failure. Shortly after halfway, 1972 winner A. J. Foyt quit after experiencing a bizarre problem: In a mid-race interview with CBS's David Hobbs, Foyt claimed he had become intoxicated by fumes produced by his new racing helmet."1990 Daytona 500" Dale Earnhardt dominated the race. He led 155 of the 200 laps, relinquishing the lead briefly to Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Derrike Cope, Davey Allison, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, and Bobby Hillin Jr. Daytona 500 rookies Jimmy Spencer and Jack Pennington led yellow flag laps early in the race. Dale Earnhardt had the race in his grasp with a lead of more than 40 seconds with ten laps to go. On lap 193, Rick Wilson's car was experiencing engine trouble, and was reported to be leaking oil on the track. Geoff Bodine's car spun between turns 1 and 2, possibly due to the oil, which brought out the third and final caution of the day. Most of the leaders - including Earnhardt - ducked into the pits for tires and fuel. Earnhardt took on four fresh tires, as did Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd and others. Geoff Bodine was able to change his flat-spotted tires and get back in the race, but not before he fell a lap down. Derrike Cope and Bobby Hillin Jr., however, stayed out during the caution, and cycled up to the front of the field. Cope's crew chief Buddy Parrott made the call to not pit and instead stay out on old tires, gambling on track position. Seven cars were on the lead lap for the final restart. The top five were Derrike Cope, Bobby Hillin Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, and Bill Elliott. As the cars were lining up for the restart, Earnhardt complained that Hillin bumped his left-rear fender. The green came back out with five laps to go. Earnhardt, with drafting help from Geoff Bodine, quickly dispatched of both Hillin and Cope simultaneously going into turn three. Earnhardt pulled out to a slight lead, with Cope (on old tires) tucking into second. Labonte passed Hillin for third. Rick Wilson's sputtering engine finally let go, and a piece of the metal bell housing broke off and tumbled to a stop on the backstretch unnoticed. The white flag came out as the top four cars (Earnhardt, Cope, Labonte, Elliott) had broken away from the main draft. Going down the backstretch, with less than half a lap to go, Earnhardt ran over the bell housing debris and shredded the right rear tire. He held the wheel straight, let off the throttle and his car climbed up the banking of turn three. The pieces of the bell housing flew through the air, and ended up imbedded in Ricky Rudd's radiator. Spanaway, Washington's Derrike Cope dove under Earnhardt to shockingly take the lead in turn three. With only one turn remaining, Cope held off a last second challenge by Labonte and won his first ever Winston Cup victory. His previous best career finish was a 6th place at Charlotte in 1989. Earnhardt would manage to limp around to the finish line, and placed 5th. His crew later took the shredded tire and hung it on the wall of the race shop using the loss as motivation to win the 1990 Winston Cup championship. Meanwhile, Cope would become an overnight sensation appearing on The Late Show a week or so later to talk about his big win. Although it is considered one of the biggest upsets in NASCAR history, the ratings did not quite show it, as it drew a 7.3, the lowest in Daytona 500 history. Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings11210Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet2005running180$188,1502201Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobile2007running175$117,800349Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord2001running170$114,1004195Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2001running165$77,050523Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet200155running165$109,3256108Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick2004running155$63,22573827Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac2000running146$59,68282430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac1990running142$46,2009311Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord1998running143$80,950103015Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord1990running134$44,125113121Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFord1990running130$38,400123266Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac1990running127$36,200131890Ernie IrvanDonlavey RacingFord1990running124$31,45514917Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1990running121$49,34015657Jimmy SpencerOsterlund RacingPontiac1994running123$41,050161483Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobile1993running120$29,930173326Brett BodineKing RacingBuick1990running112$27,16018533Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile1991running114$58,990192194Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile1980running106$26,070201628Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord1982running108$31,9352176Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1983running105$39,955221798Butch MillerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet1980running97$22,100234271Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet1970running94$22,995242242Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac1960handling91$21,640252347Jack Pennington (R)Close RacingOldsmobile1966running93$20,935262732Joe RuttmanCalCar MotorsportsPontiac1960running85$22,950272616Larry PearsonPearson RacingBuick1950running82$22,275282902Rich BickleBickle RacingOldsmobile1950running79$19,120293752Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac1950running76$19,090302875Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile1930engine73$21,260313953Jerry O'Neil (R)Aroneck RacingOldsmobile1930running70$17,80532412Eddie BierschwaleU.S. RacingOldsmobile1910running67$20,125333468Hut StricklinTriStar MotorsportsChevrolet1900running64$18,195341143Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac1830running61$22,84035257Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord1800running58$19,835361314A. J. FoytA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile1150quit55$18,380374080Jimmy HortonS&H RacingFord1080drivetrain52$16,800383620Rob Moroso (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobile820accident49$15,595393573Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile640engine46$15,61040125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet580engine43$34,900411512Mike AlexanderBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick420accident40$17,7504284Phil ParsonsMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile410accident37$25,100Official race results Standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 Derrike Cope 180 10px 2 Terry Labonte 175 (-5) 10px 3 Bill Elliott 170 (-10) 10px 4 Ricky Rudd 165 (–15) 10px 5 Dale Earnhardt 165 (–15) 10px 6 Bobby Hillin Jr. 155 (–25) 10px 7 Rusty Wallace 146 (–34) 10px 8 Geoff Bodine 143 (–37) 10px 9 Rusty Wallace 142 (–38) 10px 10 Morgan Shepherd 134 (–46)Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings. References 1989 Atlanta Journal 500 1990 Pontiac Excitement 400 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Daytona 500 Daytona 500 Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway Daytona 500