The 1983 Winston Western 500 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

race that took place on November 20, 1983, at

Riverside International Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside ...

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

Qualifying

Race recap

There were 42 drivers;''1983 Winston Western 500''
racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet 40 of them were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born while Roy Smith and

Trevor Boys Trevor Boys (born November 3, 1957) is a Canadian race car driver. He raced in 102 Winston Cup races from 1982 to 1993, posting two top-ten finishes, and ran six races in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2003, his best finish a 22nd at Memphis Motors ...

were born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Ricky Rudd started on the front row but retired from the lead with a blown engine in his last outing for Richard Childress in the #3 Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet.

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

would start his final NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in a Ford; bringing home Bud Moore's #15 Wrangler Thunderbird with a top-5 finish. James "J.D." Stacy would mark his final race as an official NASCAR team owner at this race. Stacy came in with promises and a lot of cash but proved to be a charlatan. The

Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...

and

battle for rookie of the year came down to the last race of the year with the Canadian Boys leading coming into the final race by approximately 16 points. Marlin came from behind to claim the honor after scoring a top-20 finish while mechanical problems in this final race doomed Boys' hopes.

Buddy Arrington Buddy Rogers Arrington (July 26, 1938 – August 2, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. Racing career Arrington has the second-most starts without a win, and finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1 ...

was the 23rd place finisher after dropping out of the race on lap 109 due to wheel issues in his Chrysler Cordoba. Sumner McKnight finished in 19th place after completing 114 of the regulation laps.

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...

secured his only Winston Cup Championship during the course of the race.

Jimmy Insolo Jimmy Insolo (born February 4, 1943) is a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race driver whose career spanned from 1970 to 1983. Career Insolo began his career at Saugus Speedway, where he became one of the top drivers at the track. In addition to his W ...

quit the race on the first lap due to team issues. Joe Ruttman blew his engine on lap 12 while Bill Schmidt would ruin his engine on lap 13. Rick McCray's engine would stop working on lap 29. Meanwhile, ignition problems would take out Ron Esau on lap 32 at the same time Ricky Rudd suffered from a faulty engine. The ignition on Roy Smith's vehicle stopped working on lap 36 while the throttle on Jim Bown's vehicle gave out on lap 37. Between lap 38 and lap 61, four drivers were forced to exit the race due to engine concerns.

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

defeated

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, and ...

under the final caution flag in front of 24,000 spectators for his first-ever Cup Series victory. The race concluded under caution because of a rain shower. This was Elliott's first Cup win. Just under 35 years later his son

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

Elliott also scored his first Cup win, also on a road course, winning at Watkins Glen in 2018. Bill Elliott won this race driving a 1982 Ford Thunderbird as opposed to the slicker 1983 model; the team used the older car on road courses and short tracks this season. There were 13 lead changes and five caution flags for 26 laps; making the race last three hours and fifteen minutes. While the average speed of the race was ,

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...

qualified for the

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

with a speed of . The length of this race was 119 laps - the equivalent of .

Doug Wheeler Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...

Don Waterman ''Don Waterman'' is a retired NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Winston Cup Series race car driver whose career spanned from 1980 to 1983.

, Pat Mintey, and Randy Becker would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing after this event. Drivers who failed to qualify were:

Bobby Hillin Jr. Robert "Bobby" Keith Hillin Jr. (born June 5, 1964) is an American stock car racing driver. He is a former competitor in NASCAR's Winston Cup and Busch Series, and once held the record for being the youngest driver ever to win a Winston Cup Serie ...

(#6),

Dan Noble Dan Noble, also known as Daniel Dyson, (1846-?) was an England, English gentleman thief, gentleman burglar, confidence trick, confidence man, thief, sneak thief and pickpocket active in the United States during the mid-to late 19th century. One ...

(#37),

Tony Settember Anthony Frank Settember (July 10, 1926 – May 4, 2014) was a racing driver and engineer from the United States. He was born in Manila, Philippines. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 21, 1962. He ...

(#58),

Harry Goularte Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

(#17), Steve Pfeifer (#8), St. James Davis (#02), Mark Perry (#1) and

Bob Kennedy Robert Daniel Kennedy (August 18, 1920 – April 7, 2005) was a right fielder/third baseman, manager and executive in Major League Baseball. From 1939 to 1957, Kennedy played for the Chicago White Sox (1939–42, 1946–48, 1955–56, 1957), Cle ...

(#94).Qualifying information
at Racing Reference This was the last race without

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

until the

2006 Daytona 500 The 2006 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The 48th running of the event, it was held on February 19, 2006, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway before a crowd of 200,000 spe ...

Results

Standings after the race

References

{{NASCAR on TBS

Winston Western 500 The Winston Western 500 was an annual NASCAR Winston Cup race held at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, United States, in January, and then in later years, November. From 1963 to 1981, the race was held in January and was ...

NASCAR races at Riverside International Raceway