North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about 5 mi (8.0 km) east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625 mi (1.006 km) and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races, including the now-defunct ASA Late Model Series, USARacing Pro Cup Series, and PASS super late models, before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing and will host the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race and a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, with further renovations planned after the events.
The 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 41st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 18th modern-era Cup season. It began February 12 and ended November 19. Rusty Wallace of Blue Max Racing won the championship. This was the first year that every Winston Cup race had flag to flag coverage, with almost all of them being televised live.
The 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 40th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 17th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 7 at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 20 at the Atlanta International Speedway. Bill Elliott of Melling Racing won the championship.
The 1993 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 43rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 18, 1993, before an audience of 45,000 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would manage to pull away in the final one-fourth of the race to take his 24th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season. To fill out the top three, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1992 Champion Spark Plug 400 was the 19th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 16, 1992, before an audience of 95,000 in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. Depending on fuel mileage, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would manage to run the final 51 laps on one tank of fuel to take his 18th and final NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, owner-driver Darrell Waltrip and Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1990 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 40th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 22, 1990, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, King Racing driver Brett Bodine would benefit from a late race caution and pull away in the late stages of the race to take his first and only career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the podium, Hendrick Motorsports driver Darrell Waltrip and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1996 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 46th and to date, final iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 14, 1996, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would manage to take advantage of a late-race restart with 20 to go and pull away to take his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1995 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 45th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 9, 1995, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to dominate a majority of the race to take his 64th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1995 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the 27th stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 46th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 1, 1995, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1994 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 44th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 17, 1994, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In a late-race charge, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would make a pass for the lead with 30 to go and hold off the field to take his 12th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and his first win in 135 races, having not won since the 1989 DieHard 500. To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1994 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the 27th stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 45th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 2, 1994, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In a dominant performance, owner-driver Geoff Bodine would manage to lap the entire field at race's end to take his 18th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte and Precision Products Racing driver Rick Mast would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1993 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the 26th stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 44th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 3, 1993, before an audience of 45,500 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 29th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his eighth victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1992 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 4, 1992, before an audience of 44,000 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would manage to defend the field in the last 88 laps to take his 15th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. With the victory, Allison was able to grow his driver's championship points lead to 86 points. To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ricky Rudd would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1992 Mello Yello 500 was the 26th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 11, 1992, before an audience of 162,500 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to make a late-race pass on eventual second-place finisher, owner-driver Alan Kulwicki with 32 laps to go to take his seventh career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would finish third.
The 1991 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race took place over the days of Sunday, March 17 and Monday, March 18, 1991, due to rain delays that left only the first 47 laps of the race being run on Sunday. The race was held in Hampton, Georgia, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.522 miles (2.449 km) permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 328 laps to complete. Depending on fuel mileage, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would manage to stretch the final 65 laps of the race on one tank of fuel to take his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1991 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 21, 1991, before an audience of 41,500 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, owner-driver Darrell Waltrip would manage to get his car away from the chaotic nature of the race, leading the final 52 laps to take his 80th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Travis Carter Enterprises driver Jimmy Spencer would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 500 was the 16th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 19th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 21, 1991, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race was shortened from its scheduled 200 laps to 179 laps due to rain. In the final laps of the race, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would manage to conserve enough fuel to run until the last caution flag was given on lap 174. After the red flag was given out on lap 176, a two-hour rain delay would delay the restart. After the rain delay, NASCAR mandated that all drivers start their cars and run behind the pace car until lap 179, where NASCAR would declare the race official, handing Wallace the victory. The victory was Wallace's 20th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and Junior Johnson & Associates driver Geoff Bodine would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1991 Peak Antifreeze 500 was the 23rd stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 21st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 15, 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, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would manage to dominate a majority of the race, lapping the field to take his 15th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his fourth victory of the season, and his third straight victory. To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Geoff Bodine and Bud Moore Engineering driver Morgan Shepherd would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1991 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the 25th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 29, 1991, before an audience of 43,500 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, taking advantage of a brake failure of the dominant driver of the day, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would mount a late-race charge to the lead, passing Gant with nine laps to go in the race to take the victory, breaking Gant's streak of four consecutive victories. The victory was Earnhardt's 52nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Harry Gant and Bud Moore Engineering driver Morgan Shepherd would finish second and third, respectively.
The 1991 Mello Yello 500 was the 26th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 6, 1991, before an audience of 159,000 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Running on fumes, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Geoff Bodine would manage to run the final 76 laps of the race on one tank of fuel to take his 11th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison and owner-driver Alan Kulwicki would finish second and third, respectively.
