The 1985 The Winston, the inaugural running of the

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 ...

All-Star Race, was a

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

competition that took place on May 25, 1985. Held at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

, the 70-lap race was the second exhibition race in the

1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 37th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 14th modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Sunday, February 10 and ended on Sunday, November 17. Darrell Waltrip, dr ...

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 ...

Junior Johnson & Associates Junior Johnson & Associates (formerly Johnson Hodgdon Racing) was a NASCAR team that ran in the Winston Cup Series from 1953 to 1995. The team was run by former driver Junior Johnson and was best known for fielding cars for legendary talents such ...

won the race and . The race featured one two-tire

pit stop In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit la ...

between laps 30 and 40, and was held the day before the Coca-Cola World 600. Both Labonte and Gant won a purse bonus of for leading the twentieth and fiftieth lap of the race.

Background

The Winston was open to race winners from the 1984 season. The pole position was awarded to the defending Winston Cup champion while the rest of the field was determined by the total number of wins from last season, with driver's points used as the tiebreaker.

1985 The Winston drivers and eligibility

Race winners in 1984

*3-

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 ...

(2 wins) *5-

Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florida ...

(3 wins) *9-

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 ...

(3 wins) *11-

(7 wins) *15-

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was named ...

(1 win) *22-

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 ...

(2 wins) *27-

Tim Richmond Timothy Lee Richmond (June 7, 1955 – August 13, 1989) was an American race car driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in IndyCar racing before transferring to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one of the first drivers to change fro ...

(1 win) *28-

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

(3 wins, including the

1984 Daytona 500 The 1984 Daytona 500, the 26th running of the event, was held February 19, 1984, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Cale Yarborough, who won the pole, completed a lap of , officially breaking the barrier at Daytona. He ...

) *33-

Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...

(3 wins) *43-

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

(2 wins) *44-

Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A two ...

(2 wins, defending 1984 champion) *55-

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 ...

(1 win)

Race summary

The Winston was a 70-lap exhibition race with a combined purse of . The earnings were as follows: In addition, a purse bonus of was given to the drivers who led laps 20 and 55.

Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a two-door coupe that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. Deriving its name from the city in Monaco, the Monte Carlo was marketed as the first personal luxury car of the Chevr ...

drivers

and

led the field on the green flag. Despite having an advantage in aerodynamics, the

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...

drivers struggled to keep up with the Chevys, which were in the top five. By lap 8,

slipped out of the top five as

and

passed him while Waltrip and Labonte battled for the lead. On lap 14,

entered pit road and retired from the race due to engine failure, becoming the only DNF in the race. Labonte passed Waltrip on the start/finish line to lead lap 20 and earn before surrendering the lead back to Waltrip.

Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...

caught up with Waltrip before the two-tire pit stops began on lap 30. By lap 38, Gant took the lead from Waltrip and earned for leading lap 50. Gant dominated the race by leading 31 laps, but Waltrip regained momentum and took back the lead on lap 69 to win the race and just before his engine expired.

References

{{NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, state=collapsed Winston, The Winston, The NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR All-Star Race