1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500

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1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500
Race details— [1] [2]
Race 13 of 28 in the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Pocono Raceway.svg
Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.
Date June 9, 1985 (1985-06-09)
Location Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.02336 km (2.5 miles)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); average wind speeds of 5.5 miles per hour (8.9 km/h)
Average speed 138.974 miles per hour (223.657 km/h)
Attendance 62,000 [3]
Pole position
Driver
 Melling Racing
Most laps led
Driver Geoff Bodine Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 154
Winner
No. 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Larry Nuber
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN [4]
Booth announcers Mike Joy and Barney Hall
Turn announcersTurn 1: Eli Gold
Turn 2: Mark Garrow
Turn 3: Dave Sotherland

The 1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 9, 1985, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Contents

Background

Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. [5] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. [6] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°. [6]

Race report

Two hundred laps were completed in three hours and thirty-five minutes. [3] [2] [7] There were three cautions for ten laps. [3] Because there were no caution flags until the 177th lap, the drivers of the race were considered to be the most skilled drivers of the mid-1980s. [3] Bill Elliott defeated Harry Gant by 0.2 seconds in front of 62000 spectators. [3] [7] He earned the pole position with a speed of 152.563 miles per hour (245.526 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 138.974 miles per hour (223.657 km/h). [3] [7]

Other notable drivers at this event were: Darrell Waltrip (currently a NASCAR on Fox announcer), Neil Bonnett, Ricky Rudd, Benny Parsons, Rusty Wallace, Richard Petty (son of Lee Petty), Kyle Petty (son of Richard Petty and the father of Adam Petty), and J.D. McDuffie. [3] [2] [7] The majority of the vehicles in the field were Chevrolet automobiles. [3] [2] [7] Geoff Bodine almost won the race but a late pit stop cost him the victory; he ended up in fourth place. [3] [2] [7] Steve Gray would retire after this race; his lone attempt to return to NASCAR for the 1985 running of the Summer 500 (now Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500) resulted in failing to qualify.

Phil Good was the sole representative for the Dodge brand for the race; he would qualify in 39th-place but would improve his position to 30th-place. Good could not continue the race after lap 105 due to an oil leak in his vehicle. [3]

Local jeweler Tommy Van Scoy wanted to sponsor this race to get his son into NASCAR; but it didn't work out as planned. Van Scoy's son eventually inherited the jewelry business after his father retired eight years after this race. Ronnie Thomas (who was sponsored by the local country music radio station WXTU) would finish in last place by virtue of an engine problem on the first lap of the race. [3] [2] [7] He would earn $1,175 in race winnings ($3,328.68 when adjusted for inflation). [8] Dale Earnhardt would drop out of the race on lap 3 due to an engine problem. [3] [2] [7]

Qualifying

GridNo.DriverManufacturer
19Bill ElliottFord
233Harry GantChevrolet
311Darrell WaltripChevrolet
43Dale EarnhardtChevrolet
55Geoffrey BodineChevrolet
644Terry LabonteChevrolet
755Benny ParsonsChevrolet
812Neil BonnettChevrolet
915Ricky RuddFord
1066Phil ParsonsChevrolet

Timeline

Section reference: [3]

Standings after the race

PosDriverPoints [3] Differential
1 Bill Elliott 19460
2 Terry Labonte 1894-52
3 Geoffrey Bodine 1865-81
4 Darrell Waltrip 1860-86
5 Ricky Rudd 1818-128
6 Harry Gant 1813-133
7 Bobby Allison 1789-157
8 Neil Bonnett 1781-165
9 Kyle Petty 1764-182
10 Lake Speed 1671-275

References

  1. ↑ "1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 racing information (second reference)". Driver Averages. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  4. ↑ "MRN Classic Race: 1985 van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 at Pocono".
  5. ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Pocono Raceway". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 racing information (fourth reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Last place winnings at the 1985 Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500". Everything Stock Car. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1985		Succeeded by
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