![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Bill_Elliott_Champion_1985.jpg/640px-Bill_Elliott_Champion_1985.jpg&w=640&q=50)
1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
40th season of NASCAR stock-car racing / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 40th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 17th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 7 at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 20 at the Atlanta International Speedway. Bill Elliott of Melling Racing won the championship.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Bill_Elliott_Champion_1985.jpg/640px-Bill_Elliott_Champion_1985.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Rusty_Wallace.jpg/640px-Rusty_Wallace.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/DaleEarnhardt1985PoconoWrangler.jpg/640px-DaleEarnhardt1985PoconoWrangler.jpg)
The 1988 season was notable for hosting the first of two NASCAR tire wars between Goodyear and Hoosier notably unless a team was under an exclusive tire contract teams were allowed to switch tire manufacturers from race to race so no team ran a full season on the same tire like in other motorsports where teams tend exclusively run one tire manufacturer during a tire war.[1]
1988 was the first season without NASCAR legend Tim Richmond since 1980.