The 1986 TranSouth 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 13, 1986, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took 367 laps.
In a race of attrition, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt held off Junior Johnson & Associates' Darrell Waltrip on the final restart with two laps left, completing a dominant performance where he led 335 of the total 367 laps. The victory was Earnhardt's 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, the Waltrip and Stavola Brothers Racing's Bobby Allison finished second and third, respectively.
Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near 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 of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, April 10, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round were 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, April 11, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 were decided on time,[3] 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.
Geoff Bodine, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 30.890 and an average speed of 159.197 mph (256.203 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Five drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 367 | 335 | running | 185 | $52,250 |
| 2 | 10 | 11 | Darrell Waltrip | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 367 | 13 | running | 175 | $31,600 |
| 3 | 12 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 366 | 1 | running | 170 | $13,355 |
| 4 | 5 | 12 | Neil Bonnett | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 366 | 0 | running | 160 | $16,480 |
| 5 | 2 | 25 | Tim Richmond | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 364 | 5 | running | 160 | $7,305 |
| 6 | 13 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 364 | 0 | running | 150 | $12,575 |
| 7 | 16 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 364 | 0 | running | 146 | $9,600 |
| 8 | 21 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 362 | 0 | running | 142 | $13,685 |
| 9 | 27 | 7 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 361 | 0 | running | 138 | $11,030 |
| 10 | 22 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 356 | 0 | running | 134 | $10,525 |
| 11 | 29 | 35 | Alan Kulwicki (R) | AK Racing | Ford | 344 | 0 | running | 130 | $3,900 |
| 12 | 28 | 36 | H. B. Bailey | Bailey Racing | Pontiac | 343 | 0 | running | 127 | $3,195 |
| 13 | 19 | 23 | Michael Waltrip (R) | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 340 | 0 | engine | 124 | $3,515 |
| 14 | 9 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 330 | 10 | running | 126 | $11,435 |
| 15 | 25 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 329 | 0 | running | 118 | $3,065 |
| 16 | 40 | 82 | Mark Stahl | Stahl Racing | Ford | 320 | 0 | running | 115 | $2,520 |
| 17 | 38 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | 319 | 0 | running | 112 | $6,585 |
| 18 | 37 | 64 | Connie Saylor | Langley Racing | Ford | 313 | 0 | running | 0 | $6,365 |
| 19 | 39 | 74 | Bobby Wawak | Wawak Racing | Buick | 300 | 0 | accident | 106 | $2,190 |
| 20 | 17 | 75 | Jody Ridley | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 292 | 0 | running | 103 | $6,585 |
| 21 | 6 | 26 | Joe Ruttman | King Racing | Buick | 285 | 0 | radiator | 100 | $1,995 |
| 22 | 23 | 28 | Cale Yarborough | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 267 | 0 | engine | 97 | $2,535 |
| 23 | 15 | 47 | Morgan Shepherd | Race Hill Farm Team | Buick | 234 | 0 | accident | 94 | $1,825 |
| 24 | 30 | 6 | Trevor Boys | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 227 | 0 | brakes | 91 | $5,575 |
| 25 | 31 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 212 | 0 | accident | 88 | $5,435 |
| 26 | 8 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 207 | 1 | accident | 90 | $9,605 |
| 27 | 35 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 201 | 1 | water pump | 87 | $4,965 |
| 28 | 3 | 55 | Benny Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 199 | 1 | engine | 84 | $1,580 |
| 29 | 32 | 18 | Tommy Ellis | Freedlander Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 197 | 0 | accident | 76 | $1,460 |
| 30 | 14 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Baker–Schiff Racing | Chevrolet | 149 | 0 | valve | 73 | $1,420 |
| 31 | 20 | 66 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Pontiac | 147 | 0 | accident | 70 | $1,380 |
| 32 | 11 | 44 | Terry Labonte | Hagan Enterprises | Oldsmobile | 146 | 0 | timing chain | 67 | $8,090 |
| 33 | 7 | 1 | Sterling Marlin | Ellington Racing | Chevrolet | 140 | 0 | engine | 64 | $1,300 |
| 34 | 33 | 94 | Eddie Bierschwale | Eller Racing | Pontiac | 130 | 0 | a-frame | 61 | $1,265 |
| 35 | 36 | 17 | Doug Heveron | Hamby Racing | Oldsmobile | 111 | 0 | engine | 58 | $4,440 |
| 36 | 34 | 48 | Ronnie Thomas | Hylton Motorsports | Chevrolet | 83 | 0 | engine | 55 | $4,250 |
| 37 | 24 | 98 | Ron Bouchard | Curb Racing | Pontiac | 65 | 0 | brakes | 52 | $3,950 |
| 38 | 18 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 42 | 0 | accident | 49 | $3,925 |
| 39 | 26 | 95 | Davey Allison | Sadler Brothers Racing | Chevrolet | 1 | 0 | accident | 46 | $1,195 |
| 40 | 1 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 | 0 | camshaft | 43 | $11,005 |
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ Higgins, Tom (April 14, 1986). "Earnhardt Holds Off Waltrip Run". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 5C. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Gilbert, Bill (April 14, 1986). "Earnhardt Humbles Darlington". Florence Morning News. pp. 7A. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Whitlock, Joe (April 10, 1986). "Drivers will try to tame Darlington Sunday". The Sun News. pp. 5B. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Higgins, Tom (April 11, 1986). "Bodine Charges To Darlington Qualifying Record". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 4C. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.