1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400 (September)

The 1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 9, 1990, at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. This race spanned 300 miles or 480 kilometres on a permanent oval track.

1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400
Race details[1][2]
Race 22 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Richmond Raceway
Date September 9, 1990 (1990-September-09)
Official name Miller Genuine Draft 400
Location Richmond Fairgrounds, Richmond, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.542 mi (0.872 km)
Distance 400 laps, 300.0 mi (480.9 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures of 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds of 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed 95.567 mph (153.800 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Laps 173
Winner
No. 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racin
Television in the United States
Network TBS
Announcers Ken Squier
Johnny Hayes
Chris Economaki

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond.[3] The original track was paved in 1968.[4] In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration

The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway".

Race report

There was a starting grid of 36 American-born drivers; J.D. McDuffie, Jack Pennington, and Kerry Teague failed to qualify for this race.[2] Harry Gant was credited as the last-place finisher after an engine failure at lap 12 of this 400-lap racing event. Jimmy Spencer was the last driver to finish the race; being 82 laps off the lead lap. Dale Earnhardt would defeat Mark Martin by 0.90 seconds in this three-hour race. Earnhardt's victory made him the first driver to win at Richmond on both the traditional layout and the contemporary layout.[2]

Chad Little hit the wall hard; forcing him out of the race after recording 239 laps. Brett Bodine also crashed into the wall around that time.[2] Rob Moroso, Greg Sacks, and Derrike Cope had to start at the back of the field because of going to backup cars after crashing in practice.[2] There was a red flag for about 30 minutes after the Jarrett/Moroso crash because Jarrett plowed into the inside retaining wall, which was still made of the old boiler plate at the time.[2] Crews had to repair the wall as Jarrett put a good dent into it.

Mark Martin was the fastest car toward the end of the race, after pitting for a splash and go to ensure he'd finish the race with enough fuel. He was tearing through the field up until the final restart. Earnhardt restarted first and Martin second, in the running order. NASCAR officials gave the one-to-go with 5 laps to go, and cars were three-wide trying to figure out where to restart, including the lapped cars. NASCAR did not wave off the restart; instead, they waved the green with four to go, and Earnhardt not only obviously jumped the start but the lapped and damaged #12 car being driven by Harry Gant in relief of Hut Stricklin was between the 3 and 6 in the outside lane. The only action that was taken because of this was the #12 was moved to the bottom car one lap down, instead of the first car one lap down.[2]

Several accidents and debris caused nine caution flags while Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt were showing off some fantastic side-by-side racing during the final 100 laps.[2] Ernie Irvan, Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin, and Ken Schrader would duke it out for supremacy during the opening 101 laps of the event.[2]

This was apparently Barry Dodson's last race as the crew chief for Rusty Wallace. Blue Max Racing was shutting down at the end of 1990, so Dodson left to work on building Team III Racing that he led in 1991.[5]

Ron Esau would retire from the NASCAR Cup Series after this race.[6] Earnhardt would walk away from this race taking home $59,225 ($115,901 when adjusted for inflation) while Harry Gant had to take home $8,855 ($17,329 when adjusted for inflation).[7]

Top 10 finishers
Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps led Points Time/Status
1 63Dale EarnhardtChevrolet4001731853:08:21
2 76Mark MartinFord40031175+0.85 seconds
3 2717Darrell WaltripChevrolet4000165Lead lap under green flag
4 169Bill ElliottFord4000160Lead lap under green flag
5 1127Rusty WallacePontiac40075160Lead lap under green flag
6 942Kyle PettyPontiac4000150Lead lap under green flag
7 566Dick TricklePontiac4000146Lead lap under green flag
8 145Ricky RuddChevrolet3990142+1 lap
9 1011Geoffrey BodineFord3990138+1 lap
10 325Ken SchraderChevrolet3992139+1 laps

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

  • Start of race: Ernie Irvan started the race with the pole position.
  • Lap 10: Caution due to Rusty Wallace spinning his vehicle into turn two, ended on lap 11.
  • Lap 12: Harry Gant noticed his engine reacted in an adverse manner, making him the last-place finisher.
  • Lap 33: Caution due to Jimmy Spencer's accident, ended on lap 35.
  • Lap 34: Alan Kulwicki took over the lead from Ernie Irvan.
  • Lap 77: Mark Martin took over the lead from Alan Kulwicki.
  • Lap 102: Ken Schrader took over the lead from Mark Martin.
  • Lap 120: Derrike Cope witnessed his engine acting strangely.
  • Lap 123: Caution due to Derrike Cope's engine problems, ended on lap 128.
  • Lap 147: Caution due to a four-car accident, ended on lap 156.
  • Lap 161: Mickey Gibbs had a terminal crash, forcing him to leave the race early.
  • Lap 164: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Rusty Wallace.
  • Lap 185: D.K. Ulrich saw his engine acting weird, forcing him to exit the event.
  • Lap 236: Caution for debris throughout the track, ended on lap 240.
  • Lap 237: Rusty Wallace took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt.
  • Lap 239: Chad Little had a terminal crash, ending his race weekend prematurely.
  • Lap 241: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Rusty Wallace.
  • Lap 245: Brett Bodine had a terminal crash along with four other drivers, causing him to retire to the pits.
  • Lap 270: Morgan Shepherd's engine died down on this lap, ending his hopes for a respectable finish.
  • Lap 276: Rob Moroso and Dale Jarrett had a terminal crash, making him the final DNF for the race.
  • Lap 277: Rusty Wallace took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt.
  • Lap 288: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Rusty Wallace.
  • Lap 304: Rusty Wallace took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt.
  • Lap 305: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Rusty Wallace.
  • Lap 311: Rusty Wallace took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt.
  • Lap 312: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Rusty Wallace.
  • Lap 329: Rusty Wallace took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt.
  • Lap 347: Mark Martin took over the lead from Rusty Wallace.
  • Lap 376: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Mark Martin.
  • Lap 396: Caution due to Ernie Irvan spinning his vehicle into turn four, ended on lap 397.
  • Finish: Dale Earnhardt was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race
Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Mark Martin 3344 0
2 Dale Earnhardt 3328 -16
3 Geoffrey Bodine 3120 -224
4 Rusty Wallace 2952 -392
5 Bill Elliott 2921 -423
6 Ricky Rudd 2837 -507
7 Kyle Petty 2768 -576
8 Morgan Shepherd 2734 -610
9 Ernie Irvan 2719 -625
10 Ken Schrader 2673 -671

References
  1. Weather information for the 1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400 race information at Racing Reference
  3. http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "Richmond International Raceway has hosted the NASCAR Winston Cup Series since 1953. Lee Petty won the first race that year. "
  4. http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "The original track was paved in 1968."
  5. Barry Dodson Crew Chief Statistics at Racing Reference
  6. 1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400 race information at Race Database
  7. 1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400 racing informnation at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by
1990 Heinz Southern 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1990		 Succeeded by
1990 Peak AntiFreeze 500
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