1985 Summer 500

1985 Summer 500
Race details
Race 16 of 28 in the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season


Date July 21, 1985 (1985-July-21)
Location Pocono International Raceway (Long Pond, Pennsylvania)
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (3.400 km)
Distance 200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 86.0 °F (30.0 °C); wind speeds reaching 6.10 miles per hour (9.82 km/h)[1]
Average speed 134.008 miles per hour (215.665 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates
Most laps led
Driver Neil Bonnett Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 72
Winner
9
 Bill Elliott
 Melling Racing
U.S. Television
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Larry Nuber

The 1985 Summer 500 is a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 21, 1985 at Pocono International Raceway in the American community of Long Pond, Pennsylvania.[2][3]

Temperatures for this race would hover between 62.1 °F (16.7 °C) and 86.0 °F (30.0 °C); while the average temperature was 74.1 °F (23.4 °C).[1] Wind speeds would reach 6.10 miles per hour (9.82 km/h) for most of the day.[1] Visibility for the area was an at impressive 9.8 miles (15.8 km).[1] Two hundred laps were done on a paved track spanning 2.500 miles (4.023 km).[2][3][4] The race took three hours and forty-two seconds to resolve itself with Bill Elliott defeating Neil Bonnett by five seconds.[2][3] Six cautions were given out by NASCAR officials for 24 laps.[2] Bill Elliott won the pole with a qualifying speed of 151.973 miles per hour (244.577 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 134.008 miles per hour (215.665 km/h).[2][3][5] Darrell Waltrip originally earned the pole position award but was stripped for using illegal fuel two weeks after the race was finished.[3] There were 40 drivers in the race;[3][5] 39 of them were American-born while Trevor Boys was born in Canada.[2]J.D. McDuffie would "earn" a last-place finish on lap 10 due to an engine problem.[2][3][4][5]

Bill Elliott's win for Melling Racing would earn him $44,025 in total winnings ($93,975.39 in today's money) while last-place finisher McDuffie would walk away with a meager $2,675 for McDuffie Racing ($5,710.03 in today's money).[3][4]

Top twenty finishers

  1. Bill Elliott
  2. Neil Bonnett
  3. Darrell Waltrip
  4. Geoffrey Bodine
  5. Harry Gant
  6. Benny Parsons
  7. Kyle Petty
  8. Phil Parsons
  9. Ron Bouchard
  10. Buddy Baker
  11. Lake Speed
  12. Buddy Allison
  13. Lennie Pond
  14. Ricky Rudd
  15. Ken Schrader
  16. Clark Dwyer
  17. Eddie Bierschwale
  18. Buddy Arrington
  19. Doug Heveron
  20. Trevor Boys
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References

  1. ^ a b c d 1985 Summer 500 weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 1985 Summer 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h 1985 Summer 500 racing information at Ultimate Racing History
  4. ^ a b c 1985 Summer 500 information at Driver Averages
  5. ^ a b c 1985 Summer 500 information at Database Racing
Preceded by
1985 Pepsi Firecracker 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1985		 Succeeded by
1985 Talladega 500
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Last modified on 8 April 2013, at 06:46