The 1986 Motorcraft 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 27th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 16, 1986, before an audience of 71,800 in Hampton, Georgia, at Atlanta International Raceway, a 1.522 miles (2.449 km) permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway.

1986 Motorcraft 500
Race details
Race 4 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1986 Motorcraft 500 program cover, featuring Bill Elliott.
The 1986 Motorcraft 500 program cover, featuring Bill Elliott.
Date March 16, 1986
Official name 27th Annual Motorcraft 500
Location Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta International Raceway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km)
Scheduled Distance 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km)
Average speed 132.126 miles per hour (212.636 km/h)
Attendance 71,800
Pole position
Driver Richard Childress Racing
Time 32.096
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Laps 168
Winner
No. 47 Morgan Shepherd Race Hill Farm Team
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Jim Lampley, Sam Posey
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

Faced with a final restart with four laps left in the race, Race Hill Farm Team's Morgan Shepherd managed to hold off the dominant driver of the day, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt in what is considered at the time to be a major upset. The victory was Shepherd's second career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Earnhardt and Hagan Enterprises' Terry Labonte finished second and third, respectively.

Background

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The layout of Atlanta International Raceway, the circuit where the race was held.

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.522-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.

The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Entry list

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  • (R) - denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
0 Delma Cowart H. L. Waters Racing Chevrolet Heyward Grooms Construction, Carey Hillard's Restaurants
1 Sterling Marlin Ellington Racing Chevrolet Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce
2 Kirk Bryant Cliff Stewart Racing Pontiac Spectrum Furniture
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Wrangler
4 Rick Wilson Morgan–McClure Motorsports Oldsmobile Cap'n Coty's
5 Geoff Bodine Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Levi Garrett
6 Trevor Boys U.S. Racing Chevrolet U.S. Racing
7 Kyle Petty Wood Brothers Racing Ford 7-Eleven
8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Stavola Brothers Racing Chevrolet Miller American
9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford Coors
10 Greg Sacks DiGard Motorsports Pontiac TRW Automotive
11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet Budweiser
12 Neil Bonnett Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet Budweiser
14 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Racing Oldsmobile Copenhagen
15 Ricky Rudd Bud Moore Engineering Ford Motorcraft Quality Parts
17 Doug Heveron Hamby Racing Chevrolet Protecta Truck Bed Liner
18 Tommy Ellis Freedlander Motorsports Chevrolet Freedlander Financial
22 Bobby Allison Stavola Brothers Racing Buick Miller American
23 Michael Waltrip (R) Bahari Racing Pontiac Hawaiian Punch
25 Tim Richmond Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Folgers
26 Joe Ruttman King Racing Buick Quaker State
27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac Alugard
28 Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Racing Ford Hardee's
30 Willy T. Ribbs[a] DiGard Motorsports Ford Red Roof Inn
33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet Skoal Bandit
35 Alan Kulwicki (R) AK Racing Ford Quincy's Steakhouse
36 H. B. Bailey Bailey Racing Pontiac Almeda Auto Parts
38 Mike Laws Laws Racing Chevrolet Laws Racing
43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
44 Terry Labonte Hagan Enterprises Oldsmobile Piedmont Airlines
47 Morgan Shepherd Race Hill Farm Team Chevrolet Race Hill Farm Team
52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac Jimmy Means Racing
54 Slick Johnson[b] Gray Racing Chevrolet Gray Racing
55 Benny Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile Copenhagen
57 Jody Ridley RahMoc Enterprises Ford Nationwise Automotive
64 Pancho Carter Langley Racing Ford Kmart
65 Joe Booher Booher Racing Buick Booher Racing
66 Phil Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile Skoal
67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Ford Pannill Sweatshirts
71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Pontiac Helen Rae Special
74 Bobby Wawak Wawak Racing Chevrolet Superior Piping
75 Lake Speed RahMoc Enterprises Pontiac Nationwise Automotive
81 Chet Fillip (R) Fillip Racing Ford Circle Bar Truck Corral
82 Mark Stahl Stahl Racing Ford Auto Bell Car Wash
88 Buddy Baker Baker–Schiff Racing Oldsmobile Crisco
90 Ken Schrader Donlavey Racing Ford Red Baron Frozen Pizza
91 David Sosebee Sosebee Racing Chevrolet Sosebee Racing
94 Eddie Bierschwale Eller Racing Pontiac Kodak Film
98 Ron Bouchard Curb Racing Pontiac Valvoline

Qualifying

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Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, March 14, at 1:00 PM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-40 meant to be determined later in the day at 2:00 PM EST.[6] However, due to rain, the first round was cancelled. As a result, qualifying was both delayed for over two hours and condensed into one round for all starting grid spots in the race. 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.[7]

Dale Earnhardt, driving for Richard Childress Racing, won the pole, setting a time of 32.096 and an average speed of 170.713 miles per hour (274.736 km/h).[8]

Six drivers failed to qualify.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32.096 170.713
2 25 Tim Richmond Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32.198 170.172
3 47 Morgan Shepherd Race Hill Farm Team Buick 32.260 169.845
4 10 Greg Sacks DiGard Motorsports Chevrolet 32.290 169.687
5 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 32.317 169.545
6 28 Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Racing Ford 32.373 169.252
7 27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 32.382 169.205
8 5 Geoff Bodine Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 32.393 169.148
9 1 Sterling Marlin Ellington Racing Chevrolet 32.399 169.116
10 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet 32.422 168.996
11 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 32.431 168.949
12 44 Terry Labonte Hagan Enterprises Oldsmobile 32.464 168.778
13 4 Rick Wilson Morgan–McClure Motorsports Oldsmobile 32.474 168.726
14 88 Buddy Baker Baker–Schiff Racing Oldsmobile 32.494 168.622
15 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 32.521 168.482
16 55 Benny Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile 32.545 168.358
17 22 Bobby Allison Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 32.653 167.801
18 66 Phil Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile 32.670 167.713
19 12 Neil Bonnett Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 32.837 166.861
20 57 Jody Ridley RahMoc Enterprises Ford 32.852 166.784
21 75 Lake Speed RahMoc Enterprises Pontiac 32.860 166.744
22 14 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Racing Oldsmobile 32.954 166.268
23 15 Ricky Rudd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 32.981 166.132
24 90 Ken Schrader Donlavey Racing Ford 33.052 165.775
25 98 Ron Bouchard Curb Racing Pontiac 33.055 165.760
26 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Pontiac 33.077 165.650
27 67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Ford 33.081 165.630
28 26 Joe Ruttman King Racing Buick 33.154 165.265
29 64 Pancho Carter Langley Racing Ford 33.163 165.220
30 2 Kirk Bryant Cliff Stewart Racing Pontiac 33.206 165.006
31 23 Michael Waltrip (R) Bahari Racing Pontiac 33.277 164.654
32 35 Alan Kulwicki (R) AK Racing Ford 33.319 164.446
33 81 Chet Fillip (R) Fillip Racing Ford 33.504 163.539
34 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 33.516 163.480
35 17 Doug Heveron Hamby Racing Chevrolet 33.572 163.207
36 36 H. B. Bailey Bailey Racing Pontiac 33.592 163.110
37 54 Eddie Bierschwale Gray Racing Chevrolet 33.598 163.081
38 7 Kyle Petty Wood Brothers Racing Ford 33.646 162.848
39 6 Trevor Boys U.S. Racing Chevrolet 33.740 162.395
40 74 Bobby Wawak Wawak Racing Chevrolet 33.788 162.164
Provisionals
41 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Stavola Brothers Racing Buick -* -*
42 18 Tommy Ellis Freedlander Motorsports Chevrolet -* -*
Failed to qualify or withdrew
43 94 Eddie Bierschwale Eller Racing Pontiac -* -*
44 65 Joe Booher Booher Racing Buick -* -*
45 0 Delma Cowart H. L. Waters Racing Chevrolet -* -*
46 38 Mike Laws Laws Racing Chevrolet -* -*
47 91 David Sosebee Sosebee Racing Chevrolet -* -*
48 82 Mark Stahl Stahl Racing Ford -* -*
WD 30 Willy T. Ribbs DiGard Motorsports Ford - -
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 3 47 Morgan Shepherd Race Hill Farm Team Buick 328 97 running 180 $62,350
2 1 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 328 168 running 180 $51,300
3 12 44 Terry Labonte Hagan Enterprises Oldsmobile 328 0 running 165 $22,150
4 15 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 328 6 running 165 $24,075
5 5 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 328 2 running 160 $18,250
6 16 55 Benny Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile 328 0 running 150 $6,675
7 2 25 Tim Richmond Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 328 19 running 151 $5,925
8 7 27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 327 0 running 142 $12,930
9 17 22 Bobby Allison Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 327 0 running 138 $4,725
10 8 5 Geoff Bodine Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 327 0 running 134 $12,775
11 11 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 327 2 running 135 $8,220
12 10 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet 326 34 running 132 $17,025
13 42 18 Tommy Ellis Freedlander Motorsports Chevrolet 326 0 running 124 $3,225
14 32 35 Alan Kulwicki (R) AK Racing Ford 325 0 running 121 $3,525
15 14 88 Buddy Baker Baker–Schiff Racing Oldsmobile 325 0 running 118 $3,165
16 41 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 324 0 running 115 $6,900
17 22 14 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Racing Oldsmobile 322 0 running 112 $2,600
18 18 66 Phil Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile 322 0 running 109 $2,475
19 31 23 Michael Waltrip (R) Bahari Racing Pontiac 319 0 running 106 $2,775
20 27 67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Ford 317 0 running 103 $6,415
21 24 90 Ken Schrader Donlavey Racing Ford 314 0 accident 100 $7,580
22 21 75 Lake Speed RahMoc Enterprises Pontiac 313 0 running 97 $5,860
23 40 74 Bobby Wawak Wawak Racing Chevrolet 308 0 running 94 $1,925
24 39 6 Trevor Boys U.S. Racing Chevrolet 303 0 running 91 $5,500
25 4 10 Greg Sacks DiGard Motorsports Chevrolet 301 0 running 88 $8,825
26 23 15 Ricky Rudd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 301 0 running 85 $9,695
27 6 28 Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Racing Ford 300 0 oil line 82 $1,665
28 38 7 Kyle Petty Wood Brothers Racing Ford 289 0 running 79 $8,635
29 20 57 Jody Ridley RahMoc Enterprises Ford 268 0 valve 76 $1,605
30 37 54 Eddie Bierschwale Gray Racing Chevrolet 261 0 accident 73 $1,575
31 30 2 Kirk Bryant Cliff Stewart Racing Pontiac 254 0 accident 70 $5,465
32 9 1 Sterling Marlin Ellington Racing Chevrolet 220 0 valve 67 $1,525
33 26 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Pontiac 219 0 engine 64 $4,705
34 19 12 Neil Bonnett Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 206 0 accident 61 $9,880
35 35 17 Doug Heveron Hamby Racing Chevrolet 182 0 running 58 $4,510
36 33 81 Chet Fillip (R) Fillip Racing Ford 175 0 valve 55 $1,450
37 36 36 H. B. Bailey Bailey Racing Pontiac 174 0 steering 52 $1,435
38 29 64 Pancho Carter Langley Racing Ford 157 0 clutch 49 $4,195
39 13 4 Rick Wilson Morgan–McClure Motorsports Oldsmobile 149 0 valve 46 $1,405
40 25 98 Ron Bouchard Curb Racing Pontiac 140 0 clutch 43 $4,155
41 34 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 82 0 accident 40 $4,145
42 28 26 Joe Ruttman King Racing Buick 33 0 engine 37 $1,390
Failed to qualify or withdrew
43 94 Eddie Bierschwale Eller Racing Pontiac
44 65 Joe Booher Booher Racing Buick
45 0 Delma Cowart H. L. Waters Racing Chevrolet
46 38 Mike Laws Laws Racing Chevrolet
47 91 David Sosebee Sosebee Racing Chevrolet
48 82 Mark Stahl Stahl Racing Ford
WD 30 Willy T. Ribbs DiGard Motorsports Ford
Official race results

Standings after the race

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Notes

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  1. ^ Withdrew after Ribbs' car failed to arrive in time for a mandatory technical inspection despite a two-hour extension.[3] According to DiGard Motorsports, the team was stuck trying to repair the car that was supposed to race, which was wrecked by Ribbs during a test on February 27, 1986. The team was also struggling after the departure of master engine builder Robert Yates, who left the team on February 14.[4]
  2. ^ Driver changed to Eddie Bierschwale for the start of the race after Bierschwale and Kodak paid Johnson to drive Johnson's car when Bierschwale failed to qualify. Johnson later switched seats with Bierschwale during the race. As Bierschwale started the race, he is classified as the driver in the official results.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (March 17, 1986). "Shepherd Edges Earnhardt". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 3C. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  2. ^ Hinton, Ed (March 17, 1986). "With tears in his eyes, Shepherd wins Motorcraft". The Atlanta Journal. pp. 1D, 2D. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ Higgins, Tom (March 15, 1986). "Late Car Parking Ribbs At Atlanta". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 5C. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ Pearson, Harold (March 15, 1986). "Ribbs misses trials topped by Earnhardt". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. C1, C5. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ "MRN Classic Races - 1986 Motorcraft 500". Motor Racing Network (Podcast). NASCAR. March 16, 1986. Event occurs at 5:53. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  6. ^ "Motorcraft 500 Facts box". The Atlanta Journal. March 14, 1986. pp. 2D. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ Bean, Dave (March 15, 1986). "Earnhardt's Record Run Earns AIR Pole". Ledger-Enquirer. pp. B1. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ Higgins, Tom (March 15, 1986). "Earnhardt Nails Pole At Atlanta". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 5C. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  


Previous race:
1986 Goodwrench 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1986 season
Next race:
1986 Valleydale 500