1990 Coca-Cola 600
The 1990 Coca-Cola 600, the 31st running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on May 27, 1990 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 10th race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Rusty Wallace of Blue Max Racing won the race.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
| Date | May 27, 1990 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures averaging around 77.1 °F (25.1 °C); wind speeds up to 14.9 miles per hour (24.0 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 137.65 mph (221.53 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Laps | 306 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Eli Gold, Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, & Geoff Bodine | ||
Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and The Winston, as well as the Mello Yello 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI).
Summary
Rusty Wallace emerged from early season mediocrity to announce his return to dominance with a shootout win over Bill Elliott. Wallace led 306 of the 400 laps for his first win of the season, resuming his final lead on lap 310 when Geoff Bodine made a green-flag pit stop. A two-lap caution beginning on lap 297 set up the duel between Wallace and Elliott, who had regained a lap he lost early in the race.
On the day of the race, 0.65 inches of precipitation were recorded around the speedway; a significant amount for the Charlotte area during the month of May.[2]
Top 10 results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac |
| 2 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford |
| 3 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford |
| 4 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac |
| 5 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile |
| 6 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford |
| 7 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford |
| 8 | 15 | Morgan Shepherd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford |
| 9 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Chevrolet |
| 10 | 11 | Geoffrey Bodine | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford |
Race statistics
- Time of race: 4:21:32
- Average Speed: 137.65 miles per hour (221.53 km/h)
- Pole Speed: 173.963 miles per hour (279.966 km/h)
- Cautions: 11 for 48 laps
- Margin of Victory: 0.17 sec
- Lead changes: 15
- Percent of race run under caution: 12%
- Average green flag run: 29.3 laps
References
- Weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- "Charlotte NASCAR Climatology" (PDF). SERCC. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- Race statistics at Race Database