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1991 Budweiser 500

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1991 Budweiser 500
Race details
Race 11 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1991 Budweiser 500 program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine.
The 1991 Budweiser 500 program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine.
Date June 2, 1991
Official name 23rd Annual Budweiser 500
Location Dover, Delaware, Dover Downs International Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1 mi (1.6 km)
Distance 500 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed 120.152 miles per hour (193.366 km/h)
Attendance 77,000
Pole position
Driver Bahari Racing
Time 25.106
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Laps 187
Winner
No. 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network TNN
Announcers Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Phil Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

The 1991 Budweiser 500 was the 11th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 31, 1991, before an audience of 77,000 in Dover, Delaware at Dover Downs International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader, after making a late-race pass for the lead with 78 laps to go in the race, would manage to hold onto the lead for the rest of the race to take his fourth and to date, final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1][2][3] To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

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The layout of Dover Downs International Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

Entry list

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  • (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
12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick Raybestos
14 Bobby Labonte Labonte Motorsports Oldsmobile Slim Jim
15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford Motorcraft
17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet Western Auto
19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford Labatt's
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
42 Kenny Wallace SABCO Racing Pontiac Mello Yello
43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
45 Billy Fulcher Fulcher Racing Oldsmobile Fulcher Racing
52 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac Alka-Seltzer
55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac U.S. Racing
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
75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile Dinner Bell Foods
94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile Sunoco
97 Tommy Ellis Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Budweiser
98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet Banquet Foods

Qualifying

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Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, May 31, at 3:00 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, June 1, at 11:30 AM 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,[4] 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 provisionals 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.

Michael Waltrip, driving for Bahari Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 25.106 and an average speed of 143.392 miles per hour (230.767 km/h) in the first round.[5][6]

Billy Fulcher was the only driver to fail to qualify after his qualifying speed was determined to be too slow to run the race.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 25.106 143.392
2 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 25.212 142.789
3 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 25.219 142.750
4 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 25.237 142.648
5 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 25.241 142.625
6 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 25.257 142.535
7 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 25.268 142.473
8 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 25.298 142.304
9 8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 25.324 142.158
10 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 25.335 142.096
11 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 25.337 142.085
12 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 25.354 141.989
13 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 25.357 141.972
14 98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 25.370 141.900
15 42 Kenny Wallace SABCO Racing Pontiac 25.403 141.716
16 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 25.407 141.693
17 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 25.510 141.121
18 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 25.538 140.966
19 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 25.554 140.878
20 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 25.565 140.818
Failed to lock in Round 1
21 15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 25.455 141.426
22 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 25.554 140.878
23 66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 25.595 140.652
24 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 25.656 140.318
25 55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac 25.692 140.121
26 97 Tommy Ellis Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 25.741 139.855
27 75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 25.816 139.448
28 24 Mickey Gibbs Team III Racing Pontiac 25.855 139.238
29 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 25.864 139.190
30 52 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 25.892 139.039
31 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 25.899 139.002
32 68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile 25.908 138.953
33 14 Bobby Labonte Labonte Motorsports Oldsmobile 25.952 138.718
34 19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford 26.117 137.841
35 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac 26.582 135.430
Failed to qualify
36 45 Billy Fulcher Fulcher Racing Oldsmobile 31.259 115.167
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 19 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 89 running 180 $64,800
2 10 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 187 running 180 $44,275
3 7 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 500 45 running 170 $28,800
4 6 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 500 40 running 165 $21,750
5 5 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 500 79 running 160 $23,325
6 12 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 500 0 running 150 $13,950
7 18 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 499 10 running 151 $10,900
8 21 15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 498 24 running 147 $15,700
9 2 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 498 11 running 143 $9,950
10 13 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 497 0 running 134 $18,000
11 32 68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile 495 0 running 130 $9,050
12 27 75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 494 0 running 127 $9,700
13 17 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 494 0 running 124 $13,600
14 4 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 494 0 running 121 $12,300
15 22 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 494 0 running 118 $7,350
16 11 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 494 0 running 115 $13,450
17 31 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 494 0 running 112 $6,050
18 25 55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac 494 0 running 109 $5,985
19 30 52 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 491 0 running 106 $4,550
20 3 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 491 0 running 103 $8,600
21 26 97 Tommy Ellis Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 491 0 running 100 $4,450
22 23 66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 491 0 running 97 $7,350
23 29 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 487 0 running 94 $7,200
24 8 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 483 0 running 91 $7,050
25 9 8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 480 0 running 88 $7,050
26 15 42 Kenny Wallace SABCO Racing Pontiac 478 0 running 85 $11,200
27 24 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 399 0 crash 82 $12,550
28 14 98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 369 0 crash 79 $6,775
29 34 19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford 337 0 engine 76 $4,050
30 28 24 Mickey Gibbs Team III Racing Pontiac 303 0 steering 73 $4,650
31 35 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac 245 0 crash 70 $3,950
32 1 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 186 15 engine 72 $10,025
33 16 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 133 0 camshaft 64 $6,450
34 33 14 Bobby Labonte Labonte Motorsports Oldsmobile 88 0 engine 61 $3,800
35 20 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 18 0 crash 58 $5,600
Failed to qualify
36 45 Billy Fulcher Fulcher Racing Oldsmobile
Official race results

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (June 3, 1991). "Schrader moves up a spot, gets victory at Dover (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 21. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ Higgins, Tom (June 3, 1991). "Schrader moves up a spot, gets victory at Dover (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 25. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ Owen, Mike (June 3, 1991). "Dover Doesn't Owe Schrader Anything After Good Six Years". The Scranton Times-Tribune. p. 19. Retrieved February 16, 2023. Open access icon
  4. ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. May 31, 1991. p. 42. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ Higgins, Tom (June 1, 1991). "A pole, at long last (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 25. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ Higgins, Tom (June 1, 1991). "A pole, at long last (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 29. Retrieved February 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
Previous race:
1991 Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1991 season
Next race:
1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300