1991 Winston 500

The 1991 Winston 500 was the ninth stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 22nd iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, May 5, 1991, but was delayed to Monday, May 6, due to rain.^[1] The race was held before an audience of 105,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. Running on a fuel strategy, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would manage to drive the last 56 laps of the race on one tank of fuel to take his 12th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.^[2][3]

1991 Winston 500

Race details
Race 9 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1991 Winston 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
Date	May 6, 1991
Official name	22nd Annual Winston 500
Location	Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Average speed	165.62 miles per hour (266.54 km/h)
Attendance	105,000
Pole position
Driver	Ernie Irvan	Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Time	49.061
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	112
Winner
No. 33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

On lap 72 of the race, a 20-car crash would occur when Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Ernie Irvan's car hit both Kyle Petty and Mark Martin's cars, causing a chain reaction crash in the field. In the crash, Kyle Petty would suffer a broken left femur, causing Petty to miss the next several races due to his injury.^[4] Irvan would take most of the blame for causing the crash by drivers, with many of the drivers involved in the crash claiming that Irvan had been "out of control" for the entire race leading up to that point.^[5][6]

Background

The layout of Talladega Superspeedway, the venue where the race was held.

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

#	Driver	Team	Make	Sponsor
1	Rick Mast	Precision Products Racing	Oldsmobile	Skoal
2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Pontiac	Miller Genuine Draft
3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	Kodak
5	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Tide
6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	Folgers
7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	Hooters
8	Rick Wilson	Stavola Brothers Racing	Buick	Snickers
9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	Coors Light
10	Derrike Cope	Whitcomb Racing	Chevrolet	Purolator Filters
11	Geoff Bodine	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	Budweiser
12	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Buick	Raybestos
15	Morgan Shepherd	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	Motorcraft
17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	Western Auto
19	Chad Little	Little Racing	Ford	Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce
20	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	Rob Moroso Memorial
21	Dale Jarrett	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	Citgo
22	Sterling Marlin	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	Maxwell House
24	Mickey Gibbs	Team III Racing	Pontiac	Team III Racing
25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Kodiak
26	Brett Bodine	King Racing	Buick	Quaker State
28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	Texaco, Havoline
30	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	Pennzoil
33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	Skoal Bandit
41	Larry Pearson	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	Mello Yello
43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	STP
47	Greg Sacks	Close Racing	Oldsmobile	Kanawha Insurance
49	Stanley Smith (R)	BS&S Motorsports	Buick	Interstate Batteries
51	Jeff Purvis (R)	Phoenix Racing	Oldsmobile	Phoenix Construction
52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac	Alka-Seltzer
53	Donny Paul	Paul Racing	Chevrolet	Paul Racing
55	Ted Musgrave (R)	U.S. Racing	Pontiac	U.S. Racing
59	Mark Gibson	Gibson Racing	Pontiac	Gibson Racing
65	Dave Mader III	Bahre Racing	Pontiac	Jasper Engines & Transmissions
66	Lake Speed	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Pontiac	Phillips 66 TropArtic
68	Bobby Hamilton (R)	TriStar Motorsports	Oldsmobile	Country Time
70	J. D. McDuffie	McDuffie Racing	Pontiac	Rumple Furniture
71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	Big Apple Market
73	Phil Barkdoll	Barkdoll Racing	Oldsmobile	Barkdoll Racing
75	Joe Ruttman	RahMoc Enterprises	Oldsmobile	Dinner Bell Foods
77	Ken Ragan	Branch-Ragan Racing	Ford	Jasper Engines & Transmissions
88	Buddy Baker	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	Dipetane
90	Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R)	Donlavey Racing	Ford	Ford Motorsport Sportswear
94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Oldsmobile	Sunoco
98	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Chevrolet	Banquet Foods

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, May 2, at 4:30 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 Saturday, May 3, at 4:30 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.

Ernie Irvan, driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 49.061 and an average speed of 195.186 miles per hour (314.121 km/h) in the first round.^[8]

Five drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.061	195.186
2	33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	49.117	194.963
3	42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	49.145	194.852
4	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	49.423	193.756
5	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.441	193.685
6	5	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.538	193.306
7	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Pontiac	49.555	193.240
8	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	49.576	193.158
9	9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	49.650	192.870
10	66	Lake Speed	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Pontiac	49.652	192.862
11	11	Geoff Bodine	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	49.662	192.823
12	12	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Buick	49.674	192.777
13	1	Rick Mast	Precision Products Racing	Oldsmobile	49.687	192.726
14	68	Bobby Hamilton (R)	TriStar Motorsports	Oldsmobile	49.699	192.680
15	7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	49.703	192.664
16	26	Brett Bodine	King Racing	Buick	49.734	192.544
17	19	Chad Little	Little Racing	Ford	49.753	192.471
18	25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.765	192.424
19	22	Sterling Marlin	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	49.778	192.374
20	30	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	49.786	192.343
Failed to lock in Round 1
21	24	Mickey Gibbs	Team III Racing	Pontiac	49.793	192.316
22	21	Dale Jarrett	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	49.842	192.127
23	10	Derrike Cope	Whitcomb Racing	Chevrolet	49.898	191.911
24	94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Oldsmobile	49.922	191.819
25	47	Greg Sacks	Close Racing	Oldsmobile	49.931	191.785
26	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	49.950	191.712
27	73	Phil Barkdoll	Barkdoll Racing	Oldsmobile	49.996	191.535
28	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	50.050	191.329
29	98	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Chevrolet	50.102	191.130
30	8	Rick Wilson	Stavola Brothers Racing	Buick	50.126	191.039
31	49	Stanley Smith (R)	BS&S Motorsports	Buick	50.151	190.943
32	90	Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R)	Donlavey Racing	Ford	50.212	190.711
33	15	Morgan Shepherd	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	50.230	190.643
34	75	Joe Ruttman	RahMoc Enterprises	Oldsmobile	50.310	190.340
35	20	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	50.492	189.654
36	52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac	50.519	189.552
37	88	Buddy Baker	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	50.626	189.152
38	55	Ted Musgrave (R)	U.S. Racing	Pontiac	50.772	188.608
39	51	Jeff Purvis (R)	Phoenix Racing	Oldsmobile	50.901	188.130
40	41	Larry Pearson	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.982	187.831
Provisional
41	71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	51.445	186.141
Failed to qualify
42	59	Mark Gibson	Gibson Racing	Pontiac	-*	-*
43	70	J. D. McDuffie	McDuffie Racing	Pontiac	-*	-*
44	77	Ken Ragan	Branch-Ragan Racing	Ford	-*	-*
45	65	Dave Mader III	Bahre Racing	Pontiac	-*	-*
46	53	Donny Paul	Paul Racing	Chevrolet	-*	-*
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

Fin	St	#	Driver	Team	Make	Laps	Led	Status	Pts	Winnings
1	2	33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	188	18	running	180	$81,950
2	5	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	6	running	175	$47,400
3	8	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	112	running	175	$56,100
4	19	22	Sterling Marlin	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	188	4	running	165	$25,450
5	20	30	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	188	3	running	160	$25,800
6	11	11	Geoff Bodine	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	188	0	running	150	$25,350
7	18	25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	13	running	151	$19,150
8	9	9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	188	0	running	142	$21,500
9	29	98	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Chevrolet	188	0	running	138	$17,300
10	13	1	Rick Mast	Precision Products Racing	Oldsmobile	187	0	running	134	$17,650
11	16	26	Brett Bodine	King Racing	Buick	187	0	running	130	$13,670
12	14	68	Bobby Hamilton (R)	TriStar Motorsports	Oldsmobile	186	0	running	127	$10,040
13	6	5	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	186	2	running	129	$15,860
14	33	15	Morgan Shepherd	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	186	0	running	121	$15,480
15	21	24	Mickey Gibbs	Team III Racing	Pontiac	186	0	running	118	$8,700
16	38	55	Ted Musgrave (R)	U.S. Racing	Pontiac	186	1	running	120	$9,860
17	35	20	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	184	0	running	112	$8,965
18	41	71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	184	0	running	109	$10,155
19	27	73	Phil Barkdoll	Barkdoll Racing	Oldsmobile	183	0	running	106	$6,665
20	36	52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac	180	0	running	103	$8,555
21	31	49	Stanley Smith (R)	BS&S Motorsports	Buick	168	0	running	100	$6,140
22	4	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	164	2	running	102	$14,720
23	12	12	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Buick	157	0	running	94	$8,910
24	28	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	151	0	running	91	$15,305
25	30	8	Rick Wilson	Stavola Brothers Racing	Buick	149	0	running	88	$8,775
26	7	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Pontiac	146	0	running	85	$5,645
27	15	7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	136	0	running	82	$12,590
28	23	10	Derrike Cope	Whitcomb Racing	Chevrolet	118	0	engine	79	$13,935
29	34	75	Joe Ruttman	RahMoc Enterprises	Oldsmobile	116	0	running	76	$8,330
30	39	51	Jeff Purvis (R)	Phoenix Racing	Oldsmobile	94	0	hub	73	$5,425
31	10	66	Lake Speed	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Pontiac	79	0	crash	70	$8,045
32	1	4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	71	18	crash	72	$15,740
33	3	42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	70	9	crash	69	$14,410
34	32	90	Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R)	Donlavey Racing	Ford	70	0	crash	61	$5,180
35	22	21	Dale Jarrett	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	70	0	crash	58	$7,850
36	37	88	Buddy Baker	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	70	0	crash	55	$5,120
37	24	94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Oldsmobile	70	0	crash	52	$7,715
38	17	19	Chad Little	Little Racing	Ford	70	0	crash	49	$5,635
39	25	47	Greg Sacks	Close Racing	Oldsmobile	39	0	piston	46	$5,555
40	26	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	2	0	crash	43	$5,500
41	40	41	Larry Pearson	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2	0	crash	40	$4,900
Failed to qualify
42		59	Mark Gibson	Gibson Racing	Pontiac
43		70	J. D. McDuffie	McDuffie Racing	Pontiac
44		77	Ken Ragan	Branch-Ragan Racing	Ford
45		65	Dave Mader III	Bahre Racing	Pontiac
46		53	Donny Paul	Paul Racing	Chevrolet
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Dale Earnhardt 1,366 1 2 Ricky Rudd 1,362 (-4) 1 3 Darrell Waltrip 1,281 (-85) 2 4 Michael Waltrip 1,188 (–178) 5 5 Harry Gant 1,185 (–181) 3 6 Ernie Irvan 1,183 (–183) 2 7 Davey Allison 1,157 (–209) 1 8 Ken Schrader 1,156 (–210) 1 9 Morgan Shepherd 1,132 (–234) 3 10 Mark Martin 1,118 (–248) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

1. Higgins, Tom (May 6, 1991). "Talladega weather moves race to today". The Charlotte Observer. p. 27. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Crowe, Steve (May 7, 1991). "Gant luck goes good in marred 500". Sun-News. p. 9. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Newberry, Paul (May 7, 1991). "Gant 'coasts' to victory in rain-delayed Winston 500". The Citizens' Voice. p. 55. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Cosen, Mike; Sims, Tommy (May 7, 1991). "Martin finds flipping over not to his liking". Alabama Journal. p. 15. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Higgins, Tom (May 7, 1991). "'Out of control' Irvan draws blame for causing wild crash at Talladega". The Charlotte Observer. p. 23. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Pearson, Harold (May 7, 1991). "Racers find quick cause for pileup". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. 32. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. May 2, 1991. p. 29. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Higgins, Tom (May 3, 1991). "Irvan ready to step closer to $1 million". The Charlotte Observer. p. 38. Retrieved February 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

Previous race: 1991 Hanes 500

NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1991 season

Next race: 1991 Coca-Cola 600