The 1986 Miller High Life 500 was the 13th stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the fifth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 8, 1986, before an audience of 50,000 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono International Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.[1]
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 13 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1986 Miller High Life 500 program cover, featuring Buddy Baker. | |||
| Date | June 8, 1986 | ||
| Official name | 5th Annual Miller High Life 500 | ||
| Location | Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono International Raceway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Average speed | 113.279 miles per hour (182.305 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 50,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 58.584 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Tim Richmond | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 97 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 25 | Tim Richmond | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | SETN | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Jerry Punch | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
In the final laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports' Tim Richmond gambled on fuel strategy, opting to run the final 36 laps under one tank of fuel. With four laps left, a crash involving several drivers, incliudng Buddy Arrington, Geoff Bodine, and Morgan Shepherd occurred. Due to a lengthy cleanup, the race finished under caution, securing Richmond's sixth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt and Ranier-Lundy Racing's Cale Yarborough finished second and third, respectively.[2][3]
Background edit
The race was held at Pocono International Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The track hosts two annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, as well as one Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series event. Until 2019, the track also hosted an IndyCar Series race.
Pocono International Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.
Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.
Entry list edit
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying edit
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Saturday, June 7, at 10:00 AM EST. Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round were guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, at 3:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 were decided on time,[4] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given.
Geoff Bodine, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 58.584 and an average speed of 153.625 miles per hour (247.235 km/h) in the first round.[5]
Jerry Ward, a United States Air Force lieutenant colonel and chaplain, was the only driver that failed to qualify.[5]
Full qualifying results edit
Race results edit
Standings after the race edit
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References edit
- ^ Jordan, Jack (June 9, 1986). "Rain Fails to Dampen Tim Richmond's Parade". Times Leader. p. 15. Retrieved January 9, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (June 9, 1986). "Richmond Tops Wreck-Marred 500 At Pocono". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 5B. Retrieved January 9, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Sernoffsky, Dan (June 9, 1986). "Richmond Takes Yellow, Checkered Flags". Lebanon Daily News. p. 11. Retrieved January 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Wasser, Scott (June 7, 1986). "Running of Miller 500 set Sunday". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. 1C, 8C. Retrieved January 9, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Higgins, Tom (June 8, 1986). "Bodine Leads Pack Today At Pocono". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 8B. Retrieved January 9, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
