1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Previous:	1987	Next:	1989

The 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began February 7 and ended November 20. Bill Elliott of Melling Racing won the championship.

1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Drivers

Make	Team	No.	Driver	Crew Chief
Buick	Curb Racing	98	Brad Noffsinger (R)
	King Racing	26	Ricky Rudd	Larry McReynolds
	Stavola Brothers Racing	8	Bobby Hillin, Jr.
		12	Bobby Allison14	Jimmy Fennig
		12	Mike Alexander15	Jimmy Fennig
	Winkle Motorsports	97	Rodney Combs
Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	5	Geoff Bodine	Waddell Wilson
		17	Darrell Waltrip	Jeff Hammond
		25	Ken Schrader	Harry Hyde
	Junior Johnson & Associates	11	Terry Labonte	Tim Brewer
	Mach 1 Racing	33	Harry Gant	Travis Carter
	Marcis Auto Racing	71	Dave Marcis
	Richard Childress Racing	3	Dale Earnhardt	Kirk Shelmerdine
	Whitcomb Racing	10	Ken Bouchard (R)
Ford	AK Racing	7	Alan Kulwicki	Paul Andrews
	Bud Moore Engineering	15	Brett Bodine	Bud Moore
	Donlavey Racing	90	Benny Parsons	Doug Richert
	Melling Racing	9	Bill Elliott	Ernie Elliott
	Ranier-Lundy Racing	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates
	Roush Racing	6	Mark Martin	Robin Pemberton
	Shepherd Racing	57	Morgan Shepherd
	Testa Racing	68	Derrike Cope	Dave Fuge
	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Kyle Petty	Leonard Wood
Oldsmobile	B&B Racing	23	Eddie Bierschwale
	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	29	Cale Yarborough10	Elmo Langley
	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	29	Dale Jarrett19	Elmo Langley
	Hagan Racing	44	Sterling Marlin
	Jackson Brothers Motorsports	55	Phil Parsons	Andy Petree
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Rick Wilson	Tony Glover
	Speed Racing	83	Lake Speed	Darrell Bryant
Pontiac	Bahari Racing	30	Michael Waltrip	Mike Beam
	Baker-Schiff Racing	88	Greg Sacks	Joey Knuckles
	Blue Max Racing	27	Rusty Wallace	Barry Dodson
	Means Racing	52	Jimmy Means
	Petty Enterprises	43	Richard Petty	Dale Inman
	RahMoc Enterprises	75	Neil Bonnett	Bob Rahilly
	U.S. Racing	2	Ernie Irvan (R)	Bob Johnson

Busch Clash

The Busch Clash, an invitational event for all Busch Pole winners the previous season, was held February 7 at Daytona International Speedway. Geoffrey Bodine drew for the pole.

Top Ten Results

Tim Richmond was eligible to race in this event, but was without a ride.

Gatorade 125s

The Gatorade 125s, a pair of qualifying races for the Daytona 500, were held February 11 at Daytona International Speedway. Ken Schrader and Davey Allison won the poles for both races, respectively.

Race One: Top Ten Results

Race Two: Top Ten Results

Daytona 500

Pontiac Excitement 400

The Pontiac Excitement 400 was held February 21 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. The No. 97 of Morgan Shepherd won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 2-Ernie Irvan, 4-Rick Wilson, 25*-Ken Schrader,

Ken Schrader's team bought the No. 67 entry (normally driven by Buddy Arrington) in order to get Schrader into the race.

This was the last race on the old half-mile Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. After the race, workers got going to convert the track into a more modern-looking 3/4-mile oval.

A scoring error failed to show Bonnett was one lap down after making a green flag pit stop. A post-race protest filed by Ricky Rudd's car owner Kenny Bernstein did not resolve the NASCAR scoring error and Bonnett's win stood even though a review of the race tape showed Rudd should have won

Goodyear NASCAR 500k

The Goodyear NASCAR 500k was a non-points exhibition race held on February 28 at the Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne, Australia - the first NASCAR-style high-banked paved oval built outside of North America. It was also the first NASCAR sanctioned race outside of North America. Neil Bonnett won the pole.

Top Ten Results

The race had 32 starters - 24 American's, 7 Australian's and 1 New Zealander. Of the locals only Allan Grice had previously driven a NASCAR race having competed in the 1987 World 600. The 'visiting' American drivers were a mix of those from the Winston Cup and Winston West Series.

The Thunderdome, a 1.119 mi (1.801 km) track with 24° banking in the turns, was actually modelled on a scaled down version of the Charlotte Motor Speedway and was opened in 1987.

As the race was run in Australia where they use the Metric system, the '500' was actually 500 kilometers (310 miles), or around the same distance as a Busch Series race.

Bonnett's pole speed was 139.734 mp/h. The race's average speed over the 280 laps was 101.67 mp/h. 52 laps were run under caution.

Goodwrench 500

The Goodwrench 500 was held March 6 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

This Was Neil Bonnett's final Winston Cup Series win and also that for RahMoc Enterprises.

Motorcraft Quality Parts 500

The Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was held March 20 at Atlanta International Raceway. The No. 5 of Geoff Bodine won the pole.

Top Ten Results

TranSouth 500

The TranSouth 500 was held March 27 at Darlington Raceway. The No. 25 of Ken Schrader won the pole.

Top Ten Results

This was Lake Speed's only victory in the Winston Cup Series.

Valleydale Meats 500

The Valleydale Meats 500 was held April 10 at Bristol International Raceway. The No. 4 of Rick Wilson won the pole.

Top Ten Results

First Union 400

The First Union 400 was held April 17 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Terry Labonte won the pole. Labonte passed Dale Earnhardt with 10 laps to go when Earnhardt suffered a slow leak of air from his right rear tire.

Top Ten Results

Failed to Qualify: 00-Gary Brooks, 04-Bill Meacham, 09-Doug French, 20-Alan Russell, 31-Brad Teague, 46-Glenn Moffat, 67-Rick Jeffrey, 70-Jeff McDuffie, 78- Jay Sommers, 98-Brad Noffsinger

Pannill Sweatshirts 500

The Pannill Sweatshirts 500 was held April 24 at Martinsville Speedway. The No. 26 of Ricky Rudd won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 2-Ernie Irvan, 52-Jimmy Means

Winston 500

The Winston 500 was held May 1 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. The No. 28 of Davey Allison won the pole. During the race AJ Foyt had a series of incidents and penalties. He intentionally wrecked Alan Kulwicki, spun out on pit road out of anger, and drove through several pit stalls doing pass-through penalties, nearly hurting many pit crew members. For his actions Foyt was issued a 6-month ban from NASCAR (which was later reduced to 2 months following an appeal).

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 10-Ken Bouchard

This was Phil Parsons' only win in the Winston Cup Series.

Coca-Cola 600

The Coca-Cola 600 was held May 29 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Davey Allison won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Ricky Rudd was relieved during the race by Mike Alexander (Rudd had suffered injuries earlier in the season).

Rick Wilson led 107 laps before crashing due to tire failure.

Budweiser 500

The Budweiser 500 was held June 5 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Morgan Shepherd was subbing for Harry Gant, who had been injured during the Busch Grand National race the previous day.

Budweiser 400

The final Budweiser 400 was held June 12 at Riverside International Raceway. Ricky Rudd won the pole. It was the last NASCAR race held at Riverside before the track's closure.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 10-Ken Bouchard

Miller High Life 500

The Miller High Life 500 was held June 19 at Pocono Raceway. The No. 7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole. On the opening lap of this race, Bobby Allison suffered career-ending injuries when he spun and was T-boned by the No. 63 of Jocko Maggiacomo.

Top Ten Results

Miller High Life 400

The Miller High Life 400 was held June 26 at Michigan International Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Pepsi Firecracker 400

The Pepsi Firecracker 400 was held July 2 at Daytona International Speedway. Darrell Waltrip won the pole.

Top Ten Results

This was the first Pepsi Firecracker 400 run with restrictor plates since 1973, and was notable for a very close finish. Bill Elliott charged from 38th starting position, and nearly fell a lap down at one point. On the final lap, Elliott battled with Rick Wilson out of the final turn, with Elliott taking the win by 18 inches. The second place would be Wilson's best-career finish.

This race marked the final start at Daytona for Cale Yarborough. He was involved in a crash on the second lap, dropped out and finished 41st.

AC Spark Plug 500

The AC Spark Plug 500 was held July 24 at Pocono Raceway. Morgan Shepherd won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Morgan Shepherd drove the No. 75 in place of Neil Bonnett for this race and Talladega.
Harry Gant's first race back from injury.

Talladega DieHard 500

The Talladega DieHard 500 was held July 31 at Talladega Superspeedway. The No. 17 of Darrell Waltrip won the pole.

Top Ten Results

This was Ken Schrader's 1st career Winston Cup Series win and the final win for Harry Hyde.

The Budweiser at the Glen

The Budweiser at the Glen was held August 14 at Watkins Glen International Raceway. Geoff Bodine won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Morgan Shepherd was subbing for Buddy Baker, who had suffered a blood clot in his brain in a crash in the Coca-Cola 600 earlier in the season.

This was the best finish in the Winston Cup Series for Bob Clark's No. 31 Slender You Figure Salons team.

Champion Spark Plug 400

The Champion Spark Plug 400 was held August 21 at Michigan International Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Busch 500

The Busch 500 was held August 27 at Bristol International Raceway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 10-Ken Bouchard, 90-Benny Parsons

During practice on Friday, Rusty Wallace wrecked and barrel-rolled down the frontstretch, knocking him unconscious. ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch happened to be the first person on the scene and actually revived Wallace. Wallace would recover, and started the race Saturday night, but eventually turned the car over to a relief driver.

Southern 500

The Southern 500 was held September 4 at Darlington Raceway. Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Miller High Life 400

The Miller High Life 400 was held September 11 at Richmond International Raceway. Davey Allison won the pole. This race was the first on the new 3/4-mile Richmond International Raceway.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 68-Derrike Cope

Delaware 500

The Delaware 500 was held September 18 at Dover International Speedway. The No. 6 of Mark Martin won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Goody's 500

The Goody's 500 was held September 25 at Martinsville Speedway. Rusty Wallace won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 68-Derrike Cope

Oakwood Homes 500

The Oakwood Homes 500 was held October 9 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The No. 7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 2-Ernie Irvan

Holly Farms 400

The Holly Farms 400 was held October 16 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The event was originally scheduled for October 2, but two consecutive days of rain caused it to be rescheduled for October 16. Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 68-Derrike Cope

Greg Sacks subbed for the still recovering Buddy Baker.

AC Delco 500

The AC Delco 500 was held October 23 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Checker 500

The inaugural Checker 500 was held November 6 at Phoenix International Raceway. Geoff Bodine won the pole.

Top Ten Results

This was Alan Kulwicki's 1st career Winston Cup Series win. After taking the checked flag, Kulwicki turned the car clockwise around and completed what he eventually referred to as a "Polish Victory Lap." Kulwicki, himself a Polish American, wanted to be able to wave to the fans directly from his drivers side window.

Atlanta Journal 500

The Atlanta Journal 500 was held November 20 at Atlanta International Raceway. Rusty Wallace won the pole.

Top Ten Results

Failed to qualify: 10-Ken Bouchard

Bill Elliott finished 11th to clinch his first and only Winston Cup.
Cale Yarborough's and Benny Parsons's final career starts in the Winston Cup Series.

Final points standings

Bill Elliott – 4488
Rusty Wallace – 4464
Dale Earnhardt – 4256
Terry Labonte – 4007
Ken Schrader – 3858
Geoff Bodine – 3799
Darrell Waltrip – 3764
Davey Allison – 3631
Phil Parsons – 3630
Sterling Marlin – 3621
Ricky Rudd – 3547
Bobby Hillin, Jr. – 3446
Kyle Petty – 3296
Alan Kulwicki – 3176
Mark Martin – 3142
Neil Bonnett – 3040
Lake Speed – 2984
Michael Waltrip – 2949
Dave Marcis – 2854
Brett Bodine – 2828
Rick Wilson – 2762
Richard Petty – 2644
Dale Jarrett – 2622
Benny Parsons – 2559
Ken Bouchard – 2378
Ernie Irvan – 2319
Harry Gant – 2266
Morgan Shepherd – 2193
Buddy Baker – 2056
Jimmy Means – 2045
Derrike Cope – 1985
Mike Alexander – 1931
Bobby Allison – 1654
Eddie Bierschwale – 1481
Rodney Combs – 1468
Brad Noffsinger – 1316
Greg Sacks – 1237
Cale Yarborough – 940
Joe Ruttman – 803
Brad Teague – 802
Jimmy Horton – 647
A. J. Foyt – 523
H.B. Bailey – 478
Jim Sauter – 463
Chad Little – 405
Buddy Arrington – 352
Ken Ragan – 314
Dana Patten – 313
Rick Jeffrey – 307
Mickey Gibbs – 283

Rookie of the Year

Ken Bouchard defeated Ernie Irvan by 59 points to win the Rookie of the Year title in 1988, driving for Bob Whitcomb. Bouchard raced only eight more times in the Cup series over his career, while Irvan won fifteen races over the next twelve years. The only other contenders were USAC driver Brad Noffsinger and Jimmy Horton, both of whom ran part-time schedules that season.

External links

Winston Cup Standings and Statistics for 1988

1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Contents