The 1991 Goody's 500 was the 24th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 43rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 22, 1991, in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would mount a late-race charge to the lead after being spun on lap 376 of the race. After passing for the lead on lap 454, Gant was able to defend the field for the final laps of the race to take his 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his fifth and final victory of the season, and his fourth straight victory.[1][2][3] To fill out the top three, King Racing driver Brett Bodine and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.

1991 Goody's 500
Race details
Race 24 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1991 Goody's 500 program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine.
The 1991 Goody's 500 program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine.
Date September 22, 1991
Official name 43rd Annual Goody's 500
Location Ridgeway, Virginia, Martinsville Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Average speed 74.535 miles per hour (119.952 km/h)
Attendance 46,000
Pole position
Driver Roush Racing
Time 20.324
Most laps led
Driver Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports
Laps 226
Winner
No. 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

With the victory, Gant, having won four out of the five races that occurred within the month of September of 1991, Gant would earn the nickname "Mr. September" by NASCAR media.[4]

Background

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The layout of Martinsville Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

Martinsville Speedway is an NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile Skoal
2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac Miller Genuine Draft
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Kodak
5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Tide
6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Folgers
7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford Hooters
8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick Snickers
9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford Coors Light
10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet Purolator Filters
11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Budweiser
12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick Raybestos
15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford Motorcraft
17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet Western Auto
19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford Tyson Foods
21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford Citgo
22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Maxwell House
24 Jimmy Hensley Team III Racing Pontiac Team III Racing
25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kodiak
26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick Quaker State
28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford Texaco, Havoline
30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac Pennzoil
33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile Skoal Bandit
42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac Mello Yello
43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac Alka-Seltzer
55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac Jasper Engines & Transmissions
66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac Phillips 66 TropArtic
68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile Country Time
71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet Big Apple Market
75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile Dinner Bell Foods
94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile Sunoco
98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet Banquet Foods

Qualifying

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Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 20, at 3:00 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 Saturday, September 21, at 12:30 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-30 would be decided on time,[5] 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 provisionals were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.

Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 20.324 and an average speed of 93.171 miles per hour (149.944 km/h) in the first round.[6][7]

Jimmy Means was the only driver to fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 20.324 93.171
2 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 20.329 93.148
3 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 20.389 92.874
4 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.393 92.855
5 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20.394 92.851
6 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 20.411 92.774
7 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 20.430 92.687
8 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 20.431 92.683
9 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.491 92.411
10 15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 20.519 92.285
11 68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile 20.525 92.258
12 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 20.547 92.159
13 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 20.551 92.142
14 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 20.555 92.124
15 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 20.572 92.047
16 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 20.594 91.949
17 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 20.608 91.887
18 24 Jimmy Hensley Team III Racing Pontiac 20.608 91.887
19 11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 20.621 91.829
20 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 20.653 91.686
Failed to lock in Round 1
21 98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 20.536 92.209
22 8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 20.644 91.726
23 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 20.644 91.726
24 19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford 20.673 91.598
25 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 20.674 91.593
26 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 20.678 91.576
27 66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 20.694 91.505
28 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 20.738 91.311
29 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 20.779 91.130
30 75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 20.855 90.798
Provisionals
31 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford -* -*
32 55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac -* -*
Failed to qualify
33 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac -* -*
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 12 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 500 226 running 185 $64,000
2 2 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Buick 500 59 running 175 $36,625
3 5 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 9 running 170 $30,350
4 13 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 500 62 running 165 $19,300
5 1 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 500 13 running 160 $24,575
6 26 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 500 0 running 150 $12,900
7 7 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 500 64 running 151 $11,500
8 4 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 2 running 147 $15,300
9 9 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 0 running 138 $10,700
10 18 24 Jimmy Hensley Team III Racing Pontiac 500 0 running 134 $11,300
11 10 15 Morgan Shepherd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 499 0 running 130 $12,135
12 8 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 499 0 running 127 $11,150
13 16 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 499 0 running 124 $8,150
14 31 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 499 0 running 121 $6,450
15 3 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 497 0 running 118 $7,900
16 14 12 Hut Stricklin Bobby Allison Motorsports Buick 497 1 running 120 $7,450
17 11 68 Bobby Hamilton (R) TriStar Motorsports Oldsmobile 497 0 running 112 $6,950
18 20 21 Dale Jarrett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 496 0 running 109 $6,755
19 23 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 495 0 running 106 $12,250
20 32 55 Ted Musgrave (R) U.S. Racing Pontiac 495 0 running 103 $6,025
21 28 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 492 1 running 105 $6,125
22 6 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 485 19 running 102 $9,550
23 19 11 Geoff Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 484 0 running 94 $11,050
24 24 19 Chad Little Little Racing Ford 480 8 running 96 $3,500
25 17 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 458 0 running 88 $5,650
26 22 8 Rick Wilson Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 447 0 running 85 $5,400
27 15 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 437 0 running 82 $9,950
28 21 98 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 429 36 running 84 $5,150
29 25 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 402 0 running 76 $10,350
30 29 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 348 0 crash 73 $4,500
31 30 75 Joe Ruttman RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 271 0 crash 70 $4,500
32 27 66 Lake Speed Cale Yarborough Motorsports Pontiac 239 0 brakes 67 $4,500
Failed to qualify
33 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac
Official race results

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (September 23, 1991). "It's not over yet: Gant wins 4th straight (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 9. Retrieved March 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  2. ^ Higgins, Tom (September 23, 1991). "It's not over yet: Gant wins 4th straight (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 11. Retrieved March 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ Pearce, Al (September 23, 1991). "Gant rallies to win 4th consecutive race". The Indianapolis Star. p. 34. Retrieved March 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ Albert, Zach (September 1, 2016). "Where have you gone, Mr. September?". NASCAR. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. September 25, 1992. p. 33. Retrieved February 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ Higgins, Tom (September 21, 1991). "Mark on pole at Martin-sville (Part 1)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved March 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  7. ^ Higgins, Tom (September 21, 1991). "Mark on pole at Martin-sville (Part 2)". The Charlotte Observer. p. 17. Retrieved March 8, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
Previous race:
1991 Peak Antifreeze 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1991 season
Next race:
1991 Tyson Holly Farms 400