The 1989 Atlanta Journal 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. ...

racing event that took place on November 19, 1989, at

Atlanta International Raceway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series s ...

Hampton, Georgia Hampton is a city in southwestern Henry County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,987, up from 3,857 at the 2000 census. By 2018 the estimated population was 7,922. "Hampton" mailing addresses outside t ...

. This was the first Cup race after the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

. Five of the most dominant drivers of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season were Dale Earnhardt (average finish 10th place), Rusty Wallace (average finish 10th place), Mark Martin (average finish 11th place), Darrell Waltrip (average finish 12th place), and Bill Elliott (average finish of 13th place).

Background

(now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate track to hold

races; the others are

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 ...

Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...

Homestead Miami Speedway Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway is a tri-oval race track in the Village West area near Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The IndyCar Series also held races at the venue until 2011 ...

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Before 2008 J ...

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a Oval track racing, oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nickna ...

, and

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

. However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built with New Hampshire just under construction. The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.

Race report

It took three hours and thirty-six minutes to complete this 328-lap event in front of 78,000 people.Race information for the ''1989 Atlanta Journal 500''
at Racing Reference

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 ...

managed to defeat

Geoffrey 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 ...

by nearly 26 seconds. Eight drivers failed to qualify for this race. There were four accidents and two debris-related incidents; causing 11% of the race to be run under a caution flag. The average duration of laps under the green flag was almost 42 laps.

Grant Adcox Herbert Grant Adcox (January 2, 1950 – November 19, 1989) was an American stockcar driver who died in a single-car accident in the 1989 Atlanta Journal 500 in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Career Adcox's Winston Cup Series career started in 1 ...

crashed heavily on lap 198 of the event and died of major chest and head injuries, also suffering a heart attack as result of the crash. Upon investigation, it was determined that the severe impact had torn his improperly mounted racing seat away from its mount entirely, and this led to Adcox's death. It also led to new safety regulations on the way seats were mounted for the 1990 season. Earnhardt was the winner of $81,700 ($ when adjusted for inflation) while last-place finisher

Phil Parsons Phillip Parsons (born June 21, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and current analyst for FOX NASCAR. He is the younger brother of the 1973 Winston Cup champion and former NBC/TNT commentator Benny Pars ...

walked away with $4,525 ($ when adjusted for inflation). Three drivers had a chance to win a championship:

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 ...

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

, and

. Earnhardt was the only one who had won a title (doing so three times, but his chances took a hit with a series of bad finishes in North Carolina), while Martin and Wallace were looking for their first. Wallace led Martin by 78 points while Earnhardt was a point behind Martin; Wallace needed to finish 18th or better to win the title. Earnhardt started 3rd, Wallace started 4th, while Martin started 20th. Ultimately, Earnhardt would essentially dominate wire-to-wire for the race, leading 294 of 328 laps to close out the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Dale Earnhardt led almost every lap with the exception of two runs which were led by other drivers on contrary pit strategies,

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

and

Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Trac ...

. Martin would finish 30th due to a blown engine, but he would finish 3rd in the final standings; over the next ten seasons, he would finish in the top five eight times.

would clinch the championship in this race with a 15th place finish despite losing laps and a flat tire that had put him in 33rd at one point in the race.. It was the first and only Winston Cup Series championship that Wallace would win. On an unrelated note, this was the last race for Hollywood director

Hal Needham Hal Brett Needham (March 6, 1931 – October 25, 2013) was an American stuntman, film director, actor, writer, and NASCAR team owner. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with actor Burt Reynolds, usually in films involving fast ...

Mach 1 Racing Mach 1 Racing was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team. It was owned by Hollywood stuntman Hal Needham and actor Burt Reynolds. The team made its debut in 1981, fielding the No. 22 Skoal Pontiac driven by Stan Barrett. Barrett ran ten races for t ...

team (the team was sold to

Travis Carter Travis Carter (born November 21, 1949) is a former car owner and crew chief in 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 fo ...

, who turned it into

Travis Carter Motorsports Travis Carter Enterprises (later known as Haas-Carter Motorsports, K Mart Racing, BelCar Motorsports and Richardson-Haas Motorsports) was a NASCAR and USAR Pro Cup team. It was mostly owned by former crew chief Travis Carter and Carl Haas. The ...

), as

Rick Mast Richard K. Mast (born March 4, 1957) is a former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series before retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College. Early and Busch career M ...

's #66 Chevy suffered a blown motor on lap 213. This race would also result in the last top-ten finish for

Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby an ...

. Drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Bill Meacham,

Eddie Bierschwale Eddie Bierschwale (born June 29, 1959) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver from San Antonio, Texas. He made his Cup debut in 1983 in a car owned by his father Don. In 1985 he got a full-season ride with D.K. Ulrich and stayed with the team unti ...

Tracy Leslie Tracy Leslie (born October 24, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last raced in the ARCA Racing Series against his son, Billy. He also raced in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series. Early care ...

J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

Jerry O'Neil Jerry O'Neil (born March 28, 1956) is an American retired NASCAR driver from Auburn, New York. He competed in 16 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races in his career between 1990 and 1993. His last start in Winston Cup was in 1993, at the second Charlo ...

Patty Moise Patricia Moise-Sawyer () is a former NASCAR driver. She drove in five Winston Cup races from 1987 to 1989, and 133 Busch Series races from 1986 to 1998. She is the wife of former fellow NASCAR driver Elton Sawyer. Racing career Moise began raci ...

Norm Benning Norm Benning Jr. (born January 16, 1952) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Silverado for his team, Norm Benning Raci ...

, and

Jimmy Means James Means (born May 29, 1950) is a retired American racing driver and owner, who competed in the Winston Cup Series as an owner-driver. He is currently an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Jimmy Means Racing. He compet ...

Top ten finishers

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Alan Kulwicki started the race with the pole position but quickly lost it to Ken Schrader * Lap 2: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Ken Schrader before losing it to Davey Allison on lap 53 * Lap 13: Caution due to Rodney Coombs' accident, ended on lap 15 * Lap 56: Dick Trickle took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip before losing it to Ricky Rudd on lap 85 * Lap 59: Caution due to a three-car accident, ended on lap 64 * Lap 84: Caution due to debris on the backstretch, ended on lap 87 * Lap 89: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Ken Schrader before losing it back to Ken Schrader on lap 141 * Lap 146: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Ken Schrader before losing it to Sterling Marlin on lap 228 * Lap 172: Caution due to Rob Moroso's accident, ended on lap 176 * Lap 204: Caution due to Grant Adcox's accident, ended on lap 214 * Lap 227: Caution due to Mark Martin spilling oil on the track, ended on lap 232 * Finish: Dale Earnhardt was officially declared the winner of the event

Standings after the race

References

{{S-end

Atlanta Journal 500 The Ambetter Health 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. William Byron is the defending race winner. This race was originally Atlanta's second race of the season and was run as a late- ...

NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway