1991 AC Delco 500
The 1991 AC Delco 500 was the 27th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 17th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 20, 1991, before an audience of 57,700 in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 492 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would suffer a faulty final pit-stop on lap 452, leading towards Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison to take the lead for the final 17 laps of the race. The victory was Allison's 12th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Harry Gant and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1991 AC Delco 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | October 20, 1991 | ||
| Official name | 17th Annual AC Delco 500 | ||
| Location | Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.636 km) | ||
| Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 127.292 miles per hour (204.857 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 57,700 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | SABCO Racing | ||
| Time | 24.496 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | |
| Laps | 258 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TNN | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
With a 19-point increase over competitor Ricky Rudd in the driver's championship standings, Dale Earnhardt was considered the heavy favorite to win the championship, having a 157-point lead over Rudd.[5]
Background
North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.[6]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, October 17, at 2:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Friday, October 18, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[7] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Kyle Petty, driving for SABCO Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 24.496 and an average speed of 149.461 miles per hour (240.534 km/h) in the first round.[8][9]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 492 | 100 | running | 180 | $66,050 |
| 2 | 13 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 492 | 258 | running | 180 | $34,675 |
| 3 | 3 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 492 | 28 | running | 170 | $29,350 |
| 4 | 11 | 11 | Geoff Bodine | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 492 | 27 | running | 165 | $26,450 |
| 5 | 6 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 491 | 15 | running | 160 | $17,325 |
| 6 | 21 | 68 | Bobby Hamilton (R) | TriStar Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 490 | 0 | running | 150 | $11,650 |
| 7 | 4 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 490 | 0 | running | 146 | $19,250 |
| 8 | 24 | 22 | Sterling Marlin | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 490 | 0 | running | 142 | $10,000 |
| 9 | 1 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 490 | 64 | running | 143 | $22,950 |
| 10 | 12 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 490 | 0 | running | 134 | $18,500 |
| 11 | 9 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Pontiac | 489 | 0 | running | 130 | $9,000 |
| 12 | 5 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 489 | 0 | running | 127 | $13,800 |
| 13 | 30 | 12 | Hut Stricklin | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Buick | 486 | 0 | running | 124 | $11,000 |
| 14 | 29 | 24 | Jimmy Hensley | Team III Racing | Pontiac | 486 | 0 | running | 121 | $8,700 |
| 15 | 15 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Chevrolet | 485 | 0 | running | 118 | $15,050 |
| 16 | 31 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 485 | 0 | running | 115 | $9,700 |
| 17 | 19 | 15 | Morgan Shepherd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 485 | 0 | running | 112 | $22,400 |
| 18 | 27 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Oldsmobile | 485 | 0 | running | 109 | $8,900 |
| 19 | 18 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 484 | 0 | running | 106 | $11,000 |
| 20 | 25 | 8 | Rick Wilson | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 484 | 0 | running | 103 | $9,200 |
| 21 | 32 | 55 | Ted Musgrave (R) | U.S. Racing | Pontiac | 483 | 0 | running | 100 | $6,100 |
| 22 | 28 | 98 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Chevrolet | 482 | 0 | running | 97 | $7,650 |
| 23 | 33 | 19 | Chad Little | Little Racing | Ford | 481 | 0 | running | 94 | $6,025 |
| 24 | 23 | 66 | Randy LaJoie | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Pontiac | 479 | 0 | running | 91 | $7,300 |
| 25 | 8 | 21 | Dale Jarrett | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 479 | 0 | running | 88 | $7,275 |
| 26 | 7 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 479 | 0 | running | 85 | $7,050 |
| 27 | 26 | 75 | Joe Ruttman | RahMoc Enterprises | Chevrolet | 473 | 0 | running | 82 | $6,925 |
| 28 | 22 | 94 | Terry Labonte | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 471 | 0 | running | 79 | $6,850 |
| 29 | 14 | 47 | Greg Sacks | Close Racing | Oldsmobile | 470 | 0 | running | 76 | $4,200 |
| 30 | 20 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Buick | 401 | 0 | engine | 73 | $9,250 |
| 31 | 2 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 365 | 0 | accident | 70 | $12,700 |
| 32 | 17 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 362 | 0 | engine | 67 | $3,900 |
| 33 | 16 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 318 | 0 | engine | 64 | $10,750 |
| 34 | 34 | 20 | Ricky Craven | Moroso Racing | Oldsmobile | 221 | 0 | engine | 61 | $3,750 |
| 35 | 35 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 203 | 0 | ignition | 58 | $3,600 |
| 36 | 36 | 82 | Mark Stahl | Stahl Racing | Ford | 16 | 0 | handling | 55 | $3,525 |
| 37 | 39 | 35 | Keith Van Houten | Van Houten Racing | Pontiac | 13 | 0 | handling | 0 | $3,475 |
| 38 | 37 | 56 | Jerry Hill | Hill Motorsports | Pontiac | 13 | 0 | handling | 49 | $3,475 |
| 39 | 40 | 77 | Gary Brooks | Brooks Racing | Oldsmobile | 11 | 0 | handling | 46 | $3,425 |
| 40 | 38 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Motorsports | Buick | 7 | 0 | engine | 43 | $3,400 |
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- Higgins, Tom (October 21, 1991). "Allison out of Gant's reach at The Rock (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 9. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 21, 1991). "Allison out of Gant's reach at The Rock (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 13. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- McLaurin, Jim (October 21, 1991). "Allison turns Gant's late pit problem into win (Part 1)". The State. p. 17. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- McLaurin, Jim (October 21, 1991). "Allison turns Gant's late pit problem into win (Part 2)". The State. p. 23. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 21, 1991). "Earnhardt pads his lead". The Charlotte Observer. p. 13. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc". Fasttrackracing.com. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. October 17, 1991. p. 11. Retrieved March 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 18, 1991). "Pole keeps K. Petty rolling at 'The Rock' (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (October 18, 1991). "Pole keeps K. Petty rolling at 'The Rock' (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 21. Retrieved March 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.