1991 Hanes 500

1991 Hanes 500
Race details
Race 8 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
	The 1991 Hanes 500 program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine.
Date	April 28, 1991
Official name	42nd Annual Hanes 500
Location	Martinsville, Virginia, Martinsville Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility; 0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance	500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Average speed	75.139 miles per hour (120.924 km/h)
Attendance	44,000
Pole position
Driver	Mark Martin;
Time	20.594
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt
Laps	251
Winner
No. 3	Dale Earnhardt
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1991 Hanes 500 was the eighth stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 28, 1991, before an audience of 44,000 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. With the assist of a late caution, on the final restart with 38 laps to go in the race, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to mount a late-race charge to the lead on the ensuing restart to take his 50th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.^[1]^[2]^[3] To fill out the top three, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty and owner-driver Darrell Waltrip would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

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.

#	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	Tyson Foods
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
34	Dick Trickle	AAG Racing	Buick	Allen's Glass
42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	Mello Yello
43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	STP
52	Jimmy Means	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
76	Bill Sedgwick	Spears Motorsports	Chevrolet	Spears Manufacturing
94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Oldsmobile	Sunoco
98	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Chevrolet	Banquet Foods

Qualifying

Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 27, at 3:00 PM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-30 meant to be determined the following day on Saturday, April 28.^[4] However, due to rain, the second round was cancelled. As a result, the rest of the starting lineup was set using the results from the first round. 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.^[5]

Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 20.594 and an average speed of 91.949 miles per hour (147.978 km/h).^[6]

Five drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	20.594	91.949
2	33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	20.647	91.713
3	25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	20.656	91.673
4	1	Rick Mast	Precision Products Racing	Oldsmobile	20.690	91.522
5	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Pontiac	20.725	91.368
6	19	Chad Little	Little Racing	Ford	20.787	91.095
7	21	Dale Jarrett	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	20.817	90.964
8	7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	20.840	90.864
9	4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	20.853	90.807
10	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	20.890	90.646
11	20	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	20.900	90.603
12	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	20.900	90.603
13	94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Oldsmobile	20.922	90.508
14	9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	20.945	90.408
15	26	Brett Bodine	King Racing	Buick	20.952	90.378
16	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	20.958	90.352
17	42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	20.969	90.305
18	11	Geoff Bodine	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	20.972	90.292
19	75	Joe Ruttman	RahMoc Enterprises	Oldsmobile	20.973	90.288
20	76	Bill Sedgwick	Spears Motorsports	Chevrolet	21.009	90.133
21	12	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Buick	21.027	90.056
22	5	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	21.030	90.043
23	22	Sterling Marlin	Hendrick Motorsports	Ford	21.050	89.957
24	34	Dick Trickle	AAG Racing	Buick	21.056	89.932
25	24	Mickey Gibbs	Team III Racing	Pontiac	21.065	89.893
26	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	21.115	89.680
27	66	Lake Speed	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Pontiac	21.123	89.646
28	98	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Chevrolet	21.126	89.634
29	30	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	21.148	89.540
30	55	Ted Musgrave (R)	U.S. Racing	Pontiac	21.212	89.270
Provisionals
31	15	Morgan Shepherd	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	21.254	89.094
32	8	Rick Wilson	Stavola Brothers Racing	Buick	21.225	89.216
Failed to qualify
33	10	Derrike Cope	Whitcomb Racing	Chevrolet	21.241	89.148
34	68	Bobby Hamilton (R)	TriStar Motorsports	Oldsmobile	21.255	89.090
35	71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	21.339	88.739
36	52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac	21.416	88.420
37	70	J. D. McDuffie	McDuffie Racing	Pontiac	-	-
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

Fin	St	#	Driver	Team	Make	Laps	Led	Status	Pts	Winnings
1	10	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	500	251	running	185	$63,600
2	17	42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	500	10	running	175	$29,625
3	16	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	500	0	running	165	$16,150
4	15	26	Brett Bodine	King Racing	Buick	500	0	running	160	$15,550
5	2	33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	499	129	running	160	$17,625
6	28	98	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Chevrolet	499	0	running	150	$12,350
7	29	30	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	499	0	running	146	$11,100
8	26	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	499	110	running	147	$16,350
9	8	7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	497	0	running	138	$12,500
10	21	12	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Buick	496	0	running	134	$13,000
11	22	5	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	496	0	running	130	$10,985
12	7	21	Dale Jarrett	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	495	0	running	127	$7,900
13	4	1	Rick Mast	Precision Products Racing	Oldsmobile	495	0	running	124	$8,200
14	12	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	495	0	running	121	$7,500
15	9	4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	491	0	running	118	$10,950
16	19	75	Joe Ruttman	RahMoc Enterprises	Oldsmobile	487	0	running	115	$7,200
17	11	20	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Moroso Racing	Oldsmobile	487	0	running	112	$5,400
18	27	66	Lake Speed	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Pontiac	487	0	running	109	$7,355
19	20	76	Bill Sedgwick	Spears Motorsports	Chevrolet	466	0	running	106	$3,700
20	18	11	Geoff Bodine	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	460	0	transmission	103	$12,000
21	5	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Pontiac	458	0	transmission	100	$3,750
22	32	8	Rick Wilson	Stavola Brothers Racing	Buick	453	0	running	97	$5,650
23	3	25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	444	0	running	94	$6,525
24	30	55	Ted Musgrave (R)	U.S. Racing	Pontiac	442	0	running	91	$5,175
25	25	24	Mickey Gibbs	Team III Racing	Pontiac	414	0	running	88	$3,250
26	14	9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	411	0	running	85	$9,750
27	6	19	Chad Little	Little Racing	Ford	408	0	running	82	$3,650
28	23	22	Sterling Marlin	Hendrick Motorsports	Ford	402	0	running	79	$2,900
29	1	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	293	0	overheating	76	$13,500
30	31	15	Morgan Shepherd	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	276	0	transmission	73	$9,450
31	13	94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Oldsmobile	126	0	overheating	70	$4,850
32	24	34	Dick Trickle	AAG Racing	Buick	12	0	overheating	67	$2,750
Failed to qualify
33		10	Derrike Cope	Whitcomb Racing	Chevrolet
34		68	Bobby Hamilton (R)	TriStar Motorsports	Oldsmobile
35		71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet
36		52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac
37		70	J. D. McDuffie	McDuffie Racing	Pontiac
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Ricky Rudd	1,233
	2	Dale Earnhardt	1,191 (-42)
	3	Ernie Irvan	1,111 (-122)
1	4	Darrell Waltrip	1,106 (–127)
3	5	Davey Allison	1,055 (–178)
3	6	Michael Waltrip	1,028 (–205)
3	7	Mark Martin	1,027 (–206)
2	8	Morgan Shepherd	1,011 (–222)
2	9	Ken Schrader	1,005 (–228)
2	10	Harry Gant	1,005 (–228)
Official driver's standings

Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

^ Higgins, Tom (April 29, 1991). "Pieces all fall into place for Earnhardt (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 21. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Higgins, Tom (April 29, 1991). "Pieces all fall into place for Earnhardt (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 23. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Harris, Mike (April 29, 1991). "Earnhardt claims 50th". The Clarksdale Press Register. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. April 26, 1991. p. 45. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Higgins, Tom (April 28, 1991). "Confident Bodine has longtime love affair with Martinsville track". The Charlotte Observer. p. 110. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Harris, Mike (April 27, 1991). "Martin says Martinsville pole puts team on track". Messenger-Inquirer. p. 31. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

Previous race: 1991 First Union 400	NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1991 season	Next race: 1991 Winston 500

[1] Higgins, Tom (April 29, 1991). "Pieces all fall into place for Earnhardt (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 21. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Higgins, Tom (April 29, 1991). "Pieces all fall into place for Earnhardt (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 23. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] Harris, Mike (April 29, 1991). "Earnhardt claims 50th". The Clarksdale Press Register. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. April 26, 1991. p. 45. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] Higgins, Tom (April 28, 1991). "Confident Bodine has longtime love affair with Martinsville track". The Charlotte Observer. p. 110. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] Harris, Mike (April 27, 1991). "Martin says Martinsville pole puts team on track". Messenger-Inquirer. p. 31. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

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