Warm with temperatures of 79.9°F (26.6°C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9km/h); exactly 0.31 inches (7.9mm) of rain and hail interrupted the race
Forty-five thousand fans would attend the event, interrupted by 0.31 inches or 7.9 millimetres of precipitation, shortened to the shortest race in what is now the Cup Series by percentage in Darlington history (51.50%, 189 laps, which is six laps more than an official race, which would be 184 laps), as the race was shortened because of impending darkness (Darlington did not add lights until the 2004 Southern 500).
Race report
There were 36 American-born drivers on the grid. A multiple-car crash where Ricky Rudd and Richard Petty collided in Turn 1 collected numerous cars, with Neil Bonnett never completing the first lap. David Pearson would earn his 105th win in the NASCAR Cup Series as he defeated Benny Parsons by three seconds, second all-time. Lake Speed would finish in the top ten only three races after his Cup Series debut. This would be the seventh Spring Darlington win for Pearson in addition to two victories in a row at Darlington for David Pearson. Hoss Ellington would receive his final NASCAR Winston Cup Series win for the #1 Hawaiian Tropic team.[3]
Most of the cars in this race were Chevrolets. The race took two hours and twenty-three minutes to complete. Almost the entire "top ten" grid were driving Chevrolet vehicles. Harry Gant would achieve his first top five finish; marking a precedence for more than 100 top five finishes. Winnings for this race varied from $21,340 for the winner ($78,913 when adjusted for inflation) to $1,800 for the last-place finisher ($6,656 when adjusted for inflation).[3] The total purse was $173,565 ($641,826 when adjusted for inflation).[4]
The 105th win was Pearson's last NASCAR Cup Series win, with him winning consecutive races at Darlington for his final two wins.[5]
Section reference:[3] Some details sourced from Universal Racing Network broadcast, archived at the Appalachian State University Belk Library in Boone, North Carolina.[7] Hank Schoolfield, who owned the Universal Racing Network, donated Universal Racing Network broadcasts from 1964 to 1982 to the school. The broadcasts are archived in MP3 format by the library.
Start of race: David Pearson was leading the racing grid as the green flag was waved. Richard Petty and Ricky Rudd collide in Turn 1. Terry Labonte, Buddy Baker, James Hylton, and Neil Bonnett are collected, Bonnett is out, first Safety Car of race, officially scored as starting on Lap 2 (safety car rules prior to September 2003 rule change allowed cars to race to line for caution flag, and official start of caution is at the start of Lap 2).
Lap 7: Restart
Lap 14: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from David Pearson.
Lap 27: Safety Car, Melvin Revis engine failure (scored on Lap 28). Leaders pit. Lennie Pond scored as leader because of car's position at scoring line (prior to 1993 adoption of transponder-based timing, leading laps were based on position of cars past scoring line and hand scoring by NASCAR).
Lap 29: Dave Marcis, who stayed out, scored as leader following pit stops.
Lap 32: Marcis pits on one to go before restart, Dale Earnhardt took over the lead before restart. David Pearson, who was in the No. 2 Rod Osterlund car that Earnhardt was driving in this race at the last Darlington race because of injury, passes Earnhardt and is officially scored leader on Lap 33.
Lap 34: Safety Car, Baxter Price engine failure (scored on Lap 35).
Lap 41: Restart with Pearson in lead.
Lap 86: Safety Car, Rain in Turn 1 and 2 (scored on Lap 87). Leaders pit, Lennie Pond took over the lead crossing scoring line for Lap 87.
Lap 87: Because of Pond's position in relation to scoring line, he is scored leader while pitting. Cale Yarborough scored leader on Lap 88 after pit stops.
Lap 90: Restart. Joe Milliken passes cars with a low line in Turn 1.
Lap 93: Safety Car, Rain (scored on Lap 94).
Lap 95: Restart. Yarborough keeps lead. Safety Car, Rain after less than one lap (scored as started on Lap 96). Parsons and Pearson race hard to reach scoring line.
Lap 102: Restart.
Lap 104: Safety Car, Rain. Engine failure for Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (scored on Lap 105).
Lap 107: Red Flag, Weather. Cars parked next to pit wall. Rain delay was two hours, 18 minutes for rain, hail, and subsequent track drying. Safety Car situation after track drying. Radio broadcast notes sunset is 1853 but with heavy clouds, darkness could cause NASCAR to call the race considerably earlier if daylight is lacking (the circuit did not install floodlights until the 2004 Southern 500).
Lap 119: NASCAR informs teams that they intend to restart in ten laps. Radio notes backstretch puddles.
Lap 122: Track drying continues, leaders make pit stops. Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
Lap 128: At 1750, NASCAR believes track is sufficiently dry for a restart with less than one hour before sunset. NASCAR will attempt to complete an official race by completing 56 laps before sunset, which would allow the race to reach official status on Lap 184 (half distance). However, if Safety Car situations continue to be called for incidents or debris, and the race fail to start Lap 185 before darkness, the race would continue Monday morning.
Lap 135: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
Lap 150: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
Lap 156: Dave Marcis engine failure. There is no oil or debris from observers, so the race can continue under green flag conditions.
Lap 158: David Pearson took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
Lap 179: NASCAR sends teams the indication ten laps will remain once the leader crosses the start-finish line. The race will end at the conclusion of Lap 189.
Prior to the 2024 season, NASCAR would announce if because of darkness or curfew, when they would shorten the race at their discretion. Starting in 2024, a time-certain finish rule is announced when necessary where the race concludes two laps after the time-certain finish is imposed. The rule was imposed for the first time at the Chicago Street Race, where a time-certain 19.20 CDT finish was imposed.
Lap 189: Chequered flag waves after 189 laps. David Pearson was pronounced the winner of the event.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
