1986 Daytona 500

The 1986 Daytona 500, the 28th running of the event, was held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. it was the first race of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup season. Defending race winner Bill Elliott won the pole for the second year in a row, and outside pole sitter Geoffrey Bodine won the race and led 101 laps, including the final 34.

1986 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 1 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of Daytona International Speedway.
Date	February 16, 1986 (1986-02-16)
Location	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 71.1 °F (21.7 °C); wind speeds approaching 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Average speed	148.124 mph (238.382 km/h)
Attendance	140,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott 43.8941 seconds 205.039 mph (329.978 km/h)	Melling Racing
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Duel 2 Winner	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Geoffrey Bodine	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	101
Winner
No. 5	Geoffrey Bodine	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Host: Chris Economaki Lap-by-Lap: Ken Squier Driver analyst: David Hobbs Driver analyst: Ned Jarrett Pit Reporter: Chris Economaki Pit Reporter: Mike Joy
Nielsen Ratings	8.4/22 (10.3 million viewers)

Race Recap

On lap 116, a major accident (such crashes are now known as "The Big One") in turn 4 involved several cars, including some contenders for the win. 1980 winner Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett (already several laps down after earlier problems), defending race winner Bill Elliott, Tommy Ellis, Harry Gant, Kyle Petty, Joe Ruttman, Lake Speed, & four-time 500 winner Cale Yarborough were involved in the crash, but Elliott, Ellis, Petty, and Speed were able to continue the race.

Geoff Bodine won this race on fuel mileage after engaging in a long feud with Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was forced to pit for gas with three laps to go, then blew the engine leaving the pits. This allowed Bodine to cruise to victory by a margin of over 11 seconds. It was the first of many hard luck finishes for Dale Earnhardt that would last until the 1998 race.

Prior to the race, the drivers paid tribute to the astronauts who were killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which was several miles away from the track 19 days ago. They would do so again for the 2003 Daytona 500, which took place two weeks after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Results

Box Score

[3]

Finish	Grid	Car no.	Driver	Car Make	Laps	Status	Laps Led	Points
1	2	5	Geoffrey Bodine	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	200	3:22:32	101	185 (10)
2	5	44	Terry Labonte	Oldsmobile Delta 88	200	-11.26 seconds	5	175 (5)
3	6	11	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	200	Flagged	3	170 (5)
4	25	8	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	200	Flagged	1	165 (5)
5	31	55	Benny Parsons (W)	Oldsmobile Delta 88	199	Flagged		155
6	14	98	Ron Bouchard	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	199	Flagged		150
7	16	4	Rick Wilson	Oldsmobile Delta 88	199	Flagged		146
8	9	27	Rusty Wallace	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	199	Flagged		142
9	8	1	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	198	Engine	6	143 (5)
10	36	75	Lake Speed	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	198	Flagged		134
11	22	15	Ricky Rudd	Ford Thunderbird	198	Flagged		130
12	33	27	Jody Ridley	Ford Thunderbird	198	Flagged		127
13	1	9	Bill Elliott (W)	Ford Thunderbird	198	Flagged	2	129 (5)
14	4	3	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	197	Engine	34	126 (5)
15	34	17	Doug Heveron	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	197	Flagged		118
16	7	7	Kyle Petty	Ford Thunderbird	195	Flagged		115
17	28	42	Dick Trickle	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	194	Flagged		112
18	19	6	Trevor Boys	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	191	Flagged		109
19	21	18	Tommy Ellis	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	189	Flagged	3	111 (5)
20	37	25	Tim Richmond	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	188	Flagged	7	108 (5)
21	38	77	Ken Ragan	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	184	Flagged		100
22	39	47	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	181	Flagged		97
23	35	67	Buddy Arrington	Ford Thunderbird	177	Engine		94
24	18	66	Phil Parsons	Oldsmobile Delta 88	174	Flagged		91
25	27	89	Jim Sauter (R)	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	138	Clutch		88
26	17	88	Buddy Baker (W)	Oldsmobile Delta 88	119	Crash		85
27	13	28	Cale Yarborough (W)	Ford Thunderbird	116	Crash	5	87 (5)
28	40	26	Joe Ruttman	Buick LeSabre	115	Crash		79
29	20	14	A.J. Foyt (W)	Oldsmobile Delta 88	113	Engine	1	81 (5)
30	15	33	Harry Gant	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	103	Crash		73
31	30	54	Eddie Bierschwale	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	100	Engine		70
32	12	12	Neil Bonnett	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	100	Crash	32	72 (5)
33	41	90	Ken Schrader	Ford Thunderbird	91	Engine		64
34	29	64	Pancho Carter (R)	Ford Thunderbird	79	Crash		61
35	26	10	Greg Sacks	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	76	Clutch		58
36	10	43	Richard Petty (W)	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	63	Crash		55
37	24	02	Mark Martin	Ford Thunderbird	51	Engine		52
38	11	71	Dave Marcis	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	47	Engine		49
39	42	52	Jimmy Means	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	38	Engine		46
40	23	21	Larry Pearson (R)	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	29	Engine		43
41	32	2	Kirk Bryant (R)	Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2	24	Crash		40
42	3	22	Bobby Allison (W)	Buick LeSabre	21	Engine		37

(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap
(10) Indicates 10 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap & leading the most laps
(W) denotes former Daytona 500 winner
(R) denotes series rookie

Cautions

8 for 46 laps

From Lap	To Lap	Number of laps	Reason
26	30	5	Car #2 accident, turn 2
64	75	12	Car #43 accident, turn 2
83	88	6	Car #'s 7 & 64 accident, turn 2
94	97	4	Car #90 engine
102	105	4	Car #54 engine
110	112	3	Car #47 stalled at pit exit
117	125	9	Car #'s 7, 9, 12, 18, 26, 28, 33, 75, 88 accident, turn 4
130	132	3	debris

Lap Leader Breakdown

Lead changes: 27

Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Number of Laps
Bill Elliott	1	2	2
Geoffrey Bodine	3	10	14
Dale Earnhardt	11	24	14
Geoffrey Bodine	25	26	2
A.J. Foyt	27	27	1
Dale Earnhardt	28	31	4
Geoffrey Bodine	32	41	10
Dale Earnhardt	42	42	1
Neil Bonnett	43	74	32
Geoffrey Bodine	75	81	7
Tommy Ellis	82	82	1
Cale Yarborough	83	83	1
Geoffrey Bodine	84	92	9
Cale Yarborough	93	94	2
Sterling Marlin	95	100	6
Bobby Hillin Jr.	101	101	1
Tim Richmond	102	108	7
Cale Yarborough	109	110	2
Tommy Ellis	111	112	2
Dale Earnhardt	113	117	5
Darrell Waltrip	118	118	1
Geoffrey Bodine	119	135	17
Dale Earnhardt	136	144	9
Geoffrey Bodine	145	158	14
Dale Earnhardt	159	159	1
Terry Labonte	160	164	5
Darrell Waltrip	165	166	2
Geoffrey Bodine	167	200	34

Failed to qualify

• 0-Delma Cowart
• 19-Bob Park
• 23-Michael Waltrip (R)
• 29-Grant Adcox
• 35-Alan Kulwicki (R)
• 39-Blackie Wangerin
• 48-Ron Esau (R)
• 49-Ferdin Wallace (R)
• 53-Donny Paul (R)
• 54-Slick Johnson
• 60-Dick Skillen
• 70-J. D. McDuffie
• 73-Phil Barkdoll (R)
• 74-Bobby Wawak
• 76-Clark Dwyer
• 81-Chet Fillip (R)
• 82-Mark Stahl (R)
• 95-Davey Allison (R)
• 99-Connie Saylor
• 07-Randy LaJoie (R)[2]

(R) Denotes series rookie.

Notes

• This was the first Daytona 500 that did not have some type of Chrysler car in the field (Dodge or Plymouth) since the Mirada, Imperial, and Cordoba were aged out at the end of the 1985 season.[2]
• First Daytona 500 starts: Eddie Bierschwale and Larry Pearson.[2]
• Only Daytona 500 starts: Tommy Ellis, Pancho Carter, and Kirk Bryant.[2]
• Last Daytona 500 starts: Jody Ridley, Doug Heveron, and Buddy Arrington.[2]

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Difference
1	Geoffrey Bodine	185	0
2	Terry Labonte	175	-10
3	Darrell Waltrip	170	-15
4	Bobby Hillin Jr.	165	-20
5	Benny Parsons	155	-30
6	Ron Bouchard	150	-35
7	Rick Wilson	146	-39
8	Sterling Marlin	143	-42
9	Rusty Wallace	142	-43
10	Lake Speed	134	-51

References

1. "Weather of the 1986 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
2. "1986 Daytona 500". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
3. "1986 DAYTONA 500 Results". daytonainternationalspeedway.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2011-02-27.

Preceded by 1985 Winston Western 500	NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1985-86	Succeeded by 1986 Miller High Life 400