The 1989 Autoworks 500 was the 28th and penultimate stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, the 11th and final race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston West Series season, and the second iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, November 5, 1989, before an audience of 65,000 in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent low-banked tri-oval race track. The race took the scheduled 312 laps to complete. Assisted by a late-race crash from the championship leader at the time, Rusty Wallace, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott would manage to take over control for the final 48 laps of the race to take his 32nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Terry Labonte and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.
In the NASCAR Winston West Series championship race, Bill Schmitt was able to defeat competitor Bill Sedgwick by 56 points to take his third career Winston West Series championship.
Headed into the final race of the Winston Cup Series season, the 1989 Atlanta Journal 500, three drivers were mathematically eligible to clinch the championship, with Rusty Wallace leading the standings with 4,058 points, Mark Martin in second with 3,980 points, and Dale Earnhardt in third with 3,979 points. Wallace, who came into the race leading then second-place Earnhardt by 109 points, had a poor finish due to a crash caused by Stan Barrett, decreasing his lead by 31 points. In order for Wallace to clinch the championship, Wallace would need an 18th place finish or better to earn his first Winston Cup Series title.
Background
Phoenix International Raceway – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It is named after the nearby metropolitan area of Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.
The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km) road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51 mi (2.43 km) interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMakeSponsor1Butch Miller (R)Miller RacingChevroletDinner Bell Foods2Ernie IrvanU.S. RacingPontiacKroger3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench Service Plus4Rick WilsonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobileKodak04Hershel McGriffMcGriff MotorsportsPontiacU. S. Bank5Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevroletLevi Garrett6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordStroh's Light7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFordZerex8Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuickMiller High Life08Rick McCrayMcCray RacingPontiacWarner W. Hodgdon9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFordCoors Light09Roy SmithMidgley RacingPontiacMidgley Racing10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingPontiacPurolator11Terry LabonteJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser15Brett BodineBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft16Larry Pearson (R)Pearson RacingBuickChattanooga Chew17Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevroletTide18Tommy EllisHendrick MotorsportsChevroletHardee's21Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo22St. James DavisSt. James RacingBuickSt. James Racing25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletFolgers26Ricky RuddKing RacingBuickQuaker State27Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiacKodiak28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline29Dale JarrettCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiacHardee's30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacCountry Time33Harry GantJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal Bandit38Duke HoenshellHoenshell RacingPontiacBautista Restoration40Joe RuttmanReno EnterprisesChevroletDinner Bell Foods42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacPeak Antifreeze43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP44Jim SauterGroup 44PontiacGroup 4446Greg SacksHendrick MotorsportsChevroletCity Chevrolet51Bobby HamiltonHendrick MotorsportsChevroletExxon52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacAlka-Seltzer55Phil ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal, Crown Central Petroleum57Hut Stricklin (R)Osterlund RacingPontiacHeinz62Ron EsauDouglas Smith RacingOldsmobileBaja Boats71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletLifebuoy73Bill SchmittSchmitt RacingChevroletRoss Stores75Morgan ShepherdRahMoc EnterprisesPontiacValvoline76Bill SedgwickSpears MotorsportsBuickSpears Manufacturing80Bob WalkerBob Walker RacingPontiacBayside Builders83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobileBull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce84Dick Trickle (R)Stavola Brothers RacingBuickMiller High Life88Jimmy Spencer (R)Baker–Schiff RacingPontiacCrisco89Rodney CombsMueller Brothers RacingPontiacEvinrude Outboard Motors90Stan BarrettDonlavey RacingFordV894Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobileSunoco99John KrebsKrebs RacingPontiacSkoal Bandit
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, November 2, at 5:30 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, November 3, at 2:00 PM 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; which was up to two for cars in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and up to two extra provisionals for the cars in the NASCAR Winston West Series.
Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 28.882 and an average speed of in the first round.
Seven drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.882124.645211Terry LabonteJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord28.902124.55937Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord28.965124.288410Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingPontiac28.994124.164551Bobby HamiltonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.012124.08766Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.048123.93373Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.053123.91185Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.058123.890927Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac29.061123.8771084Dick Trickle (R)Stavola Brothers RacingBuick29.061123.8771126Ricky RuddKing RacingBuick29.097123.7241216Larry Pearson (R)Pearson RacingBuick29.169123.419139Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord29.171123.4101428Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord29.192123.321154Rick WilsonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile29.213123.2331617Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.230123.1611775Morgan ShepherdRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac29.260123.0351833Harry GantJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile29.265123.0141994Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile29.284122.934201Butch Miller (R)Miller RacingChevrolet29.312122.817Failed to lock in Round 1212Ernie IrvanU.S. RacingPontiac29.330122.7412283Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobile29.360122.6162330Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac29.361122.6122421Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFord29.381122.5282515Brett BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord29.381122.5282643Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac29.413122.3952762Ron EsauDouglas Smith RacingOldsmobile29.423122.353288Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick29.427122.3372942Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac29.428122.3323046Greg SacksHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.434122.3083129Dale JarrettCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac29.468122.1663257Hut Stricklin (R)Osterlund RacingPontiac29.475122.1373371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet29.564121.7703488Jimmy Spencer (R)Baker–Schiff RacingPontiac29.628121.5073544Jim SauterGroup 44Pontiac29.629121.5033655Phil ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile29.651121.4123709Roy SmithMidgley RacingPontiac29.669121.3393876Bill SedgwickSpears MotorsportsBuick29.670121.3353940Joe RuttmanReno EnterprisesChevrolet29.671121.3314089Rodney CombsMueller Brothers RacingPontiac29.697121.224Winston Cup provisionals4152Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac29.726121.1064290Stan BarrettDonlavey RacingFord30.077119.693Winston West provisional4373Bill SchmittSchmitt RacingChevrolet29.989120.044Failed to qualify4418Tommy EllisHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*4504Hershel McGriffMcGriff MotorsportsPontiac -* -*4638Duke HoenshellHoenshell RacingPontiac -* -*4799John KrebsKrebs RacingPontiac -* -*4808Rick McCrayMcCray RacingPontiac -* -*4980Bob WalkerBob Walker RacingPontiac -* -*5022St. James DavisSt. James RacingBuick -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results