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1989 TranSouth 500

Race details
Race 5 of 29 in the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1989 TranSouth 500 program cover, featuring Lake Speed.
Date	April 2, 1989
Official name	33rd Annual TranSouth 500
Location	Darlington, South Carolina, Darlington Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km)
Scheduled Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km)
Average speed	115.475 miles per hour (185.839 km/h)
Attendance	45,000
Pole position
Driver	Mark Martin	Roush Racing
Time	30.523
Most laps led
Driver	Harry Gant	Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Laps	179
Winner
No. 33	Harry Gant	Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1989 TranSouth 500 was the fifth stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 2, 1989, before an audience of 45,000 in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 367 laps to complete. At race's end, Jackson Bros. Motorsports driver Harry Gant would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 10th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his only victory of the season, and his first victory in 90 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races. To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison and Hendrick Motorsports driver Geoff Bodine would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, March 30, at 2:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be 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 Friday, March 31, at 10:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time, 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.

Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.523 and an average speed of 161.111 miles per hour (259.283 km/h) in the first round.

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Alan Kulwicki 767 1 2 Dale Earnhardt 749 (-18) 2 3 Geoff Bodine 730 (-37) 4 Sterling Marlin 728 (–39) 1 5 Rusty Wallace 701 (–66) 1 6 Rick Wilson 651 (–116) 4 7 Darrell Waltrip 637 (–130) 4 8 Davey Allison 621 (–146) 9 Michael Waltrip 597 (–170) 1 10 Lake Speed 586 (–181) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

1. Higgins, Tom (April 3, 1989). "Who Says Gant Can't? (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 23. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Higgins, Tom (April 3, 1989). "Who Says Gant Can't? (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 25. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. King, Randy (April 3, 1989). "For win-starved Gant, 'it's been awhile' (Part 1)". The Roanoke Times. p. 12. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. King, Randy (April 3, 1989). "For win-starved Gant, 'it's been awhile' (Part 2)". The Roanoke Times. p. 14. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. March 30, 1989. p. 47. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Higgins, Tom (March 31, 1989). "Martin Leads Ford Domination At Darlington (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 39. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Higgins, Tom (March 31, 1989). "Martin Leads Ford Domination At Darlington (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 44. Retrieved April 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

• 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway
• April 1989 sports events in the United States
• 1989 in sports in South Carolina