Eighth race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1986 Sovran Bank 500 was the eighth stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, April 27, 1986, before an audience of 38,500 in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway , a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete.[ 2]
In a race of attrition, Bud Moore Engineering 's Ricky Rudd took advantage of numerous mechanical failures given to other drivers during the race, lapping the field and leading the final 149 laps. The victory was Rudd's fifth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, King Racing 's Joe Ruttman and Hagan Enterprises ' Terry Labonte finished second and third, respectively.[ 3] [ 4]
Background
The layout of Martinsville Speedway , the venue where the race was held. Martinsville Speedway is an NASCAR -owned stock car racing track located in Henry County , in Ridgeway, Virginia , just to the south of Martinsville . At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series . The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles . It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, April 24, at 1:30 PM EST . Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 10 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 25, at 1:30 PM EST . As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 11-30 were decided on time,[ 5]
Tim Richmond , driving for Hendrick Motorsports , won the pole, setting a time of 20.893 and an average speed of 90.716 miles per hour (145.993 km/h) in the first round.[ 6]
Two drivers failed to qualify.[ 7]
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
4
15
Ricky Rudd
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
500
163
running
185
$40,850
2
10
26
Joe Ruttman
King Racing
Buick
499
0
running
170
$17,325
3
7
44
Terry Labonte
Hagan Enterprises
Oldsmobile
496
0
running
165
$17,125
4
16
35
Alan Kulwicki (R)
AK Racing
Ford
496
0
running
160
$8,350
5
12
7
Kyle Petty
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
496
0
running
155
$11,050
6
23
8
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
495
0
running
150
$7,680
7
20
90
Ken Schrader
Donlavey Racing
Ford
493
0
running
146
$7,830
8
11
22
Bobby Allison
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
492
0
running
142
$6,710
9
17
79
Derrike Cope
Razore Racing
Ford
489
0
running
138
$2,350
10
13
75
Jody Ridley
RahMoc Enterprises
Pontiac
487
0
running
134
$6,620
11
25
23
Michael Waltrip (R)
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
484
0
running
130
$2,070
12
31
52
Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means Racing
Pontiac
479
0
running
127
$5,000
13
30
48
Jerry Cranmer
Hylton Motorsports
Chevrolet
465
0
running
124
$4,790
14
28
6
Trevor Boys
U.S. Racing
Chevrolet
465
0
running
121
$4,580
15
24
67
Buddy Arrington
Arrington Racing
Ford
464
0
engine
118
$6,120
16
19
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
463
0
running
115
$4,245
17
6
5
Geoff Bodine
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
455
1
engine
117
$7,280
18
29
70
J. D. McDuffie
McDuffie Racing
Pontiac
429
0
running
109
$4,035
19
21
94
Morgan Shepherd
Eller Racing
Pontiac
381
0
running
106
$1,525
20
1
25
Tim Richmond
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
372
13
running
108
$7,440
21
3
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
347
102
engine
105
$9,915
22
27
19
Mike Skinner
Zanworth Racing Team
Pontiac
344
0
running
97
$1,205
23
22
64
Jimmy Hensley
Langley Racing
Ford
326
0
oil pressure
94
$3,375
24
14
18
Tommy Ellis
Freedlander Motorsports
Chevrolet
301
36
engine
96
$1,185
25
15
33
Harry Gant
Mach 1 Racing
Chevrolet
292
83
engine
93
$9,075
26
18
12
Neil Bonnett
Junior Johnson & Associates
Chevrolet
267
5
engine
90
$8,265
27
2
11
Darrell Waltrip
Junior Johnson & Associates
Chevrolet
241
97
engine
87
$12,155
28
8
43
Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
202
0
axle
79
$3,315
29
26
17
Doug Heveron
Hamby Racing
Chevrolet
78
0
fan belt
76
$3,295
30
5
27
Rusty Wallace
Blue Max Racing
Pontiac
56
0
engine
73
$7,125
31
9
9
Bill Elliott
Melling Racing
Ford
42
0
engine
70
$9,025
Failed to qualify
32
41
Ronnie Thomas
Ronnie Thomas Racing
Chevrolet
33
87
Bryan Baker
Buck Baker Racing
Oldsmobile
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Bogaczyk, Jack (April 24, 1986). "Live TV a dead issue at speedway – for now" . The Roanoke Times D2 . Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com . ^ Owens, Mike (April 28, 1986). "Rudd 'Survives' To Win At Martinsville" . Statesville Record & Landmark . Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com . ^ Higgins, Tom (April 28, 1986). "Rudd Wins Martinsville Scorcher" . The Charlotte Observer 4D . Retrieved December 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com . ^ King, Randy (April 28, 1986). "Cool Rudd breezes to victory" . The Roanoke Times B5 . Retrieved December 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Martinsville Speedway Hosts Winston Cup Series Sunday" . Statesville Record & Landmark . Retrieved December 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .^ Higgins, Tom (April 25, 1986). "Richmond Takes Pole At Martinsville" . The Charlotte Observer . Retrieved December 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com . ^ King, Randy (April 26, 1986). "Allison has top speed on 2nd day" . The Roanoke Times B4 . Retrieved December 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races
