|| *Comments on the 1988 Atlanta Journal 500:* View the most recent comment <#54> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Michael Lindeen posted: 02.07.2005 - 6:36 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) The final race for Cale Yarbourough and he finished a very respectable 10th. 2. MASH_guy posted: 06.10.2005 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty's strong finish (4 wins in the final 5 races) wasn't enough to catch Bill Elliott for the title. Rusty would find himself in a similar situation to Bill's the following year, and also escape with the title. 3. JC posted: 07.30.2005 - 8:28 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) It was also Benny Parsons last race. 4. Steve posted: 05.17.2006 - 6:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Best career finish for former Busch Series veteran Mike Alexander. Last race for owner Hoss Ellington. 5. Anonymous posted: 08.16.2006 - 8:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, Gants last race for Hal Needham! 6. Beau posted: 01.20.2007 - 5:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) that was a crazy year 7. myself posted: 02.13.2007 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I was ticked @ ESPN after this race cause' Cale took a final parade lap by himself on the track & ESPN didn't show a single clip of it! 8. myself posted: 03.15.2007 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 88' was a unique year in that three past champions & Daytona 500 winners who are considered Nascar elite finished their careers: Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, & Bobby Allison. There would've been a 4th great driver retire after the close of 88', Buddy Baker, but he was lured back in from time to time for the next 4-5 years for a few races. 88' was Baker's last full season. 9. Dan posted: 03.25.2007 - 5:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's a shame that Buddy had to quit because of the brain tumor. I believe he would have finished in the top 10 in points in his final full season. 10. Destiny posted: 06.23.2007 - 5:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Benny and Cale made it in their last race. Benny got crashed and Cale had the last top ten since David Pearson and Dick Brooks on their last top ten. 11. RaceFanX posted: 01.07.2008 - 4:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last Cup race for Brad Noffsinger. Noffsinger would vanish off the NASCAR map for 10 years before reappearing for 5 races in the Busch series to drive a car sponsored by his former Cup owner Mike Curb 12. RaceFanX posted: 04.09.2008 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the last race for Mike Curb as a Cup series owner. The car owner who got King Richard victories #199 and 200 never had a top-5 without Petty at the wheel. He'd return with a Busch team for Stevie Reeves in 1996. 13. jp posted: 03.01.2009 - 3:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) baker retired of a Blood Clot in his brain. You'll know if you have a copy of NASCAR Chronicle. 14. The Real Thomas posted: 04.24.2009 - 7:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I always thought it was the blood clot, too. Buddy got it after being injured in a crash at Charlotte in 1988, though I don't remember which race it was - the 600 or the fall race? Brad Noffsinger came out of hiding to run those few Busch races as was said, but he also became the crew chief for the long gone #46 First Union Chevrolet owned by Felix Sabates in the mid-90s driven by Jeff Green and Wally Dallenbach. 15. jp posted: 07.27.2009 - 12:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In NASCAR Chronicle, it said the crash was at Talladega. So IDK...:I 16. James-O-Matic posted: 12.03.2009 - 4:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Alexander's best cup finish, 3rd. 17. myself posted: 06.01.2010 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sad race. 18. Stadler And Waldorf posted: 09.03.2010 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1989 Media Guide and Fieldon confirm that it was at Charlotte where Baker got caught up in a multi car wreck at lap 244. It was a few weeks later that the clot was discovered and he eventually ahd an operation in August to relieve the pressure. 19. Stadler And Waldorf posted: 09.03.2010 - 1:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last race for owner Harry Ranier who sold his stuff to Robert Yates who fronted in '89 with Davey driving the #28 Texaco 20. Matthew Lewis posted: 10.09.2010 - 1:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Coyle DNQ'ed the #50 Pontiac with associate sponsorship from Valvoline for the Dingman Brothers Racing Team in this race. He was rumored to attempt the 1989 Pepsi 400 at Daytona (the next race the team attempted after this one) for the Dingmans but they chose Jim Sauter to drive the car instead. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1989-06-15/sports/8906150236_1_mittiga-dingman-winston-cup-race 21. AnonymousEFR posted: 05.27.2011 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) A good race that was marred by a big wreck on lap 202 that dealt fatal injuries to veteran Grand Adcox. After his crash in the Snowball Derby in December, Alexander didn't really do much in NASCAR. He wrecked hard and broke his collarbone and several more. He didn't really recover. I think he still occasionally short track races, like many guys who want to keep racing after retirement from NASCAR, like Jimmy Horton, Rich Bickle, Red Farmer, and Hershel McGriff, who still attempts occasional West series races. He had a good run at Miller this year until crashing out. Anyway, Alexander was and is a very nice guy. 22. AnonymousEFR posted: 05.27.2011 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oops. Wrong year. 23. Evan posted: 09.01.2011 - 10:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace had a good shot at the title that year but couldn't overcome Bill Elliott who won his only title and Rusty used the loss as motivation and took things more conservative the next year and was consistent to beat Dale Earnhardt for teh 1989 title. Mike Alexander's 3rd place got him the main driver job for Allison, the next three years only to have the bottom fall out and losing his ride with Bobby Allison. Cale's last event went out with a repectable 10th as he'd return as an owner in the Phillips #66. At this point Cup racing was at a crossroads, old stars like Cale, Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker were easing into retirement or being forced into by injuries. Baker later became a TV broadcaster but ran some races the next few years. New faces like Davey Allison, Harry Gant, Rusty Wallace, and Dale Jarrett would come to the forefront in the next few years. 24. Matthew Sullivan posted: 10.28.2011 - 12:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe that Atlanta was paved between the Spring race and this one. It would account for the high attrition rate, 13 engine failures and only 20 of the 42 starters running at the finish. 25. 1995z71 posted: 02.07.2012 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was the last race for Mike Curb as a Cup series owner. UPDATE: In 2011 Mike Curb was listed as the car owner of Austin Dillon, in a 1-race deal. 26. Schroeder51 posted: 08.27.2013 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cautions: 1: #1 Dale Jarrett accident, turn 1 (Laps 7-12) 2: Competition caution (Laps 26-29) 3: Debris (Laps 55-59) 4. #43 Richard Petty accident, turn 2 (Laps 86-92) 5. #36 H. B. Bailey, oil on track (Laps 108-111) 6. #90 Benny Parsons accident (Laps 140-146) 7. #68 Derrike Cope, oil on track (Laps 170-174) 8. #33 Harry Gant accident, turn 4 (Laps 209-216) 9. #7 Alan Kulwicki, accident (Laps 252-260) 27. Doc posted: 11.30.2013 - 4:53 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Very respectable last stand for Cale. 28. 23andJoe posted: 03.23.2014 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Mader III was in the #20. #20 sponsor: Bahre Racing Pontiac (Dick Bahre) 29. Walleyewhacker posted: 11.28.2014 - 9:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, Rusty's average finish in Bill's Cup winning year of 1988 was 7.1, and that's a heck of a lot better than 1989 when Rusty slipped to a 10.3 average finish and won the Cup with the same amount of wins that he had in 1988. Bill beat Rusty with a staggering 6.6 average finish in 1988. 30. nascarman posted: 07.28.2016 - 8:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ update: Don Hume - Ford Charlie Baker - Chevy Alan Russell - Chevy Bill Meachum - Oldsmobile Joe Ruttman - Ford David Sosebee - Buick 31. kup posted: 11.15.2017 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) UPS: universal points system. Driver's UPoints = Miles / Aver.Finish 1988 UPS _ Driver = Miles / AF 1747 _ Bill Elliott 11529 / 6.6 1576 _ Rusty Wallace 11189 / 7.1 1287 _ Dale Earnhardt 11323 / 8.8 1022 _ Terry Labonte 11041 / 10.8 944 _ Ken Schrader 11041 / 11.7 813 _ Geoffrey Bodine 10565 / 13.0 799 _ Darrell Waltrip 10790 / 13.5 731 _ Bobby Hillin, Jr. 11186 / 15.3 726 _ Sterling Marlin 10387 / 14.3 720 _ Phil Parsons 10295 / 14.3 665 _ Ricky Rudd 10436 / 15.7 645 _ Davey Allison 9747 / 15.1 & TOTAL: UPS! 40 years 1949-1988: Richard Petty 7 in: '63, '64, '67, '71, '72, '75, '79. Lee Petty 5 in: '50, '52, '54, '58, '59. David Pearson 4 in: '66, '68, '69, '76. Cale Yarborough 3 in: '74, '77, '78. Bobby Allison 3 in: '81, '82, '83. Dale Earnhardt 3 in: '80, '86, '87. Buck Baker 2 in: '56, '57. Rex White 2 in: '60, '61. Bill Blair 1 in: '49. Fonty Flock 1 in: '51. Herb Thomas 1 in: '53. Tim Flock 1 in: '55. Joe Weatherly 1 in: '62. Ned Jarrett 1 in: '65. Bobby Isaac 1 in: '70. Benny Parsons 1 in: '73. Terry Labonte 1 in: '84. Darrell Waltrip 1 in: '85. Bill Elliott 1 in: '88. 32. Matthew Lewis posted: 12.03.2017 - 11:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jay Sommers drove (DNQ) the same car be used in the ARCA race-his own #78 Doe & Associates/Sommers Marine Chevrolet 33. RaceFanX posted: 05.09.2018 - 10:15 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was the last race for Piedmont Airlines as a NASCAR Cup series sponsor, ending the company's partnership with the sport that began in 1981 and picked up momentum during a two-year stay at Richard Childress's team before joining Billy Hagen's team in 1984 for an extended run that began with Terry Laborite taking their car to a championship. The Piedmont brand was in the process of being phased out at the time as USAir had bought the company was rebranding the regional airline as part of its USAir Express operations. Sterling Marlin brought the white-and-blue #44 Oldsmobile home with a top-15 run in its last race before the famous eighties entry was grounded for good. Marlin remained with the Hagen team for 1989 as the team picked up a new sponsorship from Sunoco and renumbered its car to #94 as part of the deal since Sunoco sold 94-octane gasoline. 34. Jimnsimforever posted: 12.15.2018 - 6:03 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I think I read in a different race post from this year someone say that it made Rusty mad that Bill was running really conservative since he only had to finish 18th to clinch the title (smart thing and right thing to do). After watching this race, heck, Rusty led the most laps and won the race, so he did everything he could. Bill could've been more conservative than he was, over half the field blew motors or wrecked. Bill Elliott could've run this last race around the very inside of the track with a #9 Coors moped and won the championship. 35. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.05.2019 - 2:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Update to the cautions: BP crashed in turn 1, backing the #90 car into the outside wall Kulwicki crashed coming off turn 4, blowing a tire and pancaking the wall hard 36. zuel660 posted: 08.12.2019 - 7:54 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) @34 I always thought it was ironic that Rusty criticized Bill for (wisely) running a conservative race to win the title, and then Rusty basically ran a conservative '89 finale to win the title as well. 37. FoMoCo posted: 08.12.2019 - 8:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As a Ford guy I remember Rusty's bitter words to this day pretty much "I did everything I could, led the most laps, and he just rode around." Hahaha 38. Joshua posted: 08.12.2019 - 9:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's Rusty Wallace for you. If you're in that position, you've earned the right to just "ride around" on the final week. Of course he did it the very next year to seal the deal over Earnhardt. 39. Chase9Fan posted: 03.04.2020 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty was a bit of a hot head early in his career for sure. Can't believe Bill and Rusty only won 1 title a piece. In back to back seasons. 40. wisconsinracefan posted: 03.04.2020 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There are multiple reasons for Rusty only having one cup title. Rusty left Blue Max Racing for Penske did play a factor and behind the scene stuff. The fact is when Roger started to field cup cars again, it was the first time since the early 1980s. That means Penske was a building a team when Rusty was at his peak and that meant could've been a title threat after his 1989 championship before his 10 win season in 1993. The 2nd reason with Rusty was he was not quite as well rounded as you like as a driver. Rusty was great at 2 mile ovals, Pocono, short tracks, 1 mile tracks, and road courses. While Rusty won 2 points races at Charlotte and another 2 points races at Atlanta, he was not known for his 1.5 mile track ability. I know Rusty almost won the 1999 Daytona 500, but he usually was not thought of a restrictor plate driver back in the 1990s. To top it off, Rusty was a solid Darlington driver that never won at Darlington. Out of the 2nd reason, the plate races cost Rusty the 1993 Championship. The 3rd problem was Earnhardt matched well against Rusty. Earnhardt and Rusty were considered 2 great short track drivers in the same era. Dale was the better 1.5 mile track driver of the 2. There is not much of a 1 mile track difference between the 2. Earnhardt really is in a different zip code at plate racing and Darlington. Earnhardt was an underrated road course racer in his era although Rusty was one of the best at it. Earnhardt was not as good as Rusty at Michigan or Pocono. 41. wisconsinracefan posted: 03.04.2020 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Elliott only having 1 cup championship is easy. There is a plenty of factors with Bill. Bill was known as a speedway driver, not a short track/road course driver at all and the points system NASCAR had exposed that. That was common knowledge that Darrell Waltrip even made mentioned it once during a NASCAR race. Bill's son Chase is a better road course driver between the 2. Part of that problem was the 9 team focused on big money races when Bill first became well known. That problem exposed Bill to Darrell Waltrip. Back in 1985, 8 out of 28 points races in cup were less than a mile. That is a Darrell Waltrip was a way better short track driver than Bill. Earnhardt also was a way better short tracks racer than Bill. The 2nd reason was Melling went downhill after 1988 and Junior Johnson was never quite the race organization it was before Darrell Waltrip left. Bill got close in 1992, but that was it. The problem was Junior Johnson never recovered from the 1992 championship loss to Alan Kulwicki and Junior had his divorce also. The fact is Junior Johnson was not quite into NASCAR as he once was after that divorce as a team owner. The 3rd reason is Bill made a huge mistake of being a driver/owner from 1995 to 2000. Bill had the chance to race for Yates and didn't. In that era, NASCAR increased the amount of 1.5 and 2 mile tracks. Those were going to be played in one of Bill Elliott's strength as a driver. Robert Yates had great engines for horsepower in those days and that would have been handy at places like Michigan, Pocono and Indy for Bill. 42. SweetRich posted: 03.05.2020 - 11:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Gary Nelson with Dick Berggren and Jerry Punch on pit road. 43. RaceFanX posted: 03.10.2020 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Neil Bonnett finishes 13th in his final outing in the Rahmoc #75 Valvoline Pontiac. For 1989 he tossed the keys to the #75 Grand Prix to Morgan Shepherd, who filled in for him during two races earlier in the season, and returned to race for the Wood Brothers in the famous #21 Ford after Kyle Petty left for the new SABCO outfit. Shepherd's first outing as the official driver of the #75 came just four weeks after this race as he drove it to victory in the NASCAR Christmas 500 exhibition race at the Calder Park Thunderdome; successfully following up on Bonnett's win in the Goodyear 500 down under earlier in the year. 44. RaceFanX posted: 03.11.2020 - 12:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Petty's last outing for the Wood Brothers before heading to SABCO ends with a blown engine. This race also marked the end of Petty's association with Ford that dated back to 1984 when he still raced for Petty Enterprises, from here on out Petty was solidly in the GM camp until he and the Pettys returned to Dodge when it reentered the sport in 2001. Petty only made one further Cup appearance in a Ford after this, filling in for the injured Jeremy Mayfield during the 2000 Brickyard 400. 45. DantheMan posted: 03.14.2020 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wisconsinracefan....Bill Elliott was known as a solid road racer his whole career. While he didn't win a ton of them (Dale Sr. one just as man, one) he had a lot of solid top 5 and 10 finishes. Short tracks are were he suffered more, particularly Martinsville where he finished right outside the top 10 a lot. He was solid at Bristol and okay at Richmond (after move to 3/4 oval), North Wilksboro, and Phoenix if we are counting Phoenix. I agree with most of your assessment of his championship failures though one should point out that Melling refused to put more money into the team as the team grew. Also, in 1985 and 1992, he lost the championship due to bad stretches of bad luck late in those seasons. Bill was going to compete for championships in 1993 and 1994 if Brewer stays on and Junior keeps his personal life out of his business. I agree 100% on going to his own team but his push for that was to continue the Elliott name with his nephew Casey, who unfortunately died of leukemia. Elliott probably lost around 10 races in that stretch he had the best car but something went wrong. He started of 1998 decent but that accident at Dega hurt him bad. He was never quite the same until 2000 where he showed some spark and of course made a nice comeback with EMS where once again he had 10 or so races he had the best car and circumstance took him from it. His ninth place finish in points in 2003, one of the most competitive on record, was really impressive at his age. So between the McDonald's and EMS years he could have had another 20 wins which would have made him around a 64 race winner. I have never seen another driver lose as many the way he did and hardly ever any of it was his fault. Throughout his career he had to have 40 races he had the best car, led the most or close to the most laps, but something broke, he was caught in someone's mess, a crew member messed up, circumstance after circumstance. It was like watching Dale Sr. lose the Daytona 500 in every way possible. When I think about what could have been with this career...it is sad in a way he will probably never get the full credit for how good he really was... Also worth a mention, he also kicked some major ass in dirt racing as he winded his career down. Also pretty solid considering he wasn't a guy that came from dirt and got into it late. 46. Dylan21222Penske posted: 05.13.2020 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) To date, this is the last time in the Cup Series a driver won both the Most Popular Driver Award and the Series Championship in the same season. 47. Chase9Fan posted: 07.26.2020 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 41. I don't think the 1.5 mile tracks cost Rusty titles, blown motors in 93/94 did. He had tons of mechanical failures and issues. 1994 was especially bad. 48. Chase9Fan posted: 07.26.2020 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is really the last season Richard Petty was even the least bit competitive. 49. Anthony2 posted: 07.26.2020 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1987 was Richard's last season of being competitive. 50. RaceFanX posted: 10.27.2020 - 10:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Awesome Bill from Dawsonville gets to win his lone Cup championship in from of the fans in his home state of Georgia that loved him so much. Bill Elliott came into this race leading the championship over Rusty Wallace by 79 points so he only needed to 18th or better to win it no matter what Rusty did. Elliott's team went for a conservative setup aiming to get that finish and it worked. Wallace did everything he could by leading the most laps and winning the race but Elliott's 11th, while ending his streak of 16 straight top-10s in a row, was enough to make the #9 Ford #1 in the points battle. 51. RaceFanX posted: 10.27.2020 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #1 Dale Jarrett- Bud Light / Port-A-Lube 52. Dylan21222Penske posted: 11.19.2020 - 1:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @46 - Until just now, in 2020, when it was accomplished by his son. 53. JSPorts posted: 11.19.2020 - 2:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pretty crazy that it took 32 years for this to happen again. The MPD won the championship 7 times in the first 34 years of the award, but only 2 times in the last 36. 54. Shawn posted: 12.29.2020 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Could Michael Waltrip have challenged for the win here? He could have as he was running 2nd late in the race, however he lost a ton of time on his last pitstop as he ran out of gas coming to pit lane and needing a long time to retire the car with ether, costing him 1 lap & a chance to win. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: