The 1983 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on May 1, 1983, at Alabama International Motor Speedway (now Talladega Superspeedway) in Talladega, Alabama.
Background Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Monster Energy Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of , and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.
Qualifying
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 128Cale YarboroughRanier-Lundy RacingChevrolet 202.650 298Joe RuttmanBenfield RacingChevrolet 388Geoff BodineCliff Stewart RacingPontiac 43Ricky RuddRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 575Neil BonnettRahMoc EnterprisesChevrolet 69Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord200.318 744Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet 827Tim RichmondBlue Max RacingPontiac 966Phil ParsonsJohnny Hayes RacingPontiac 101Lake SpeedEllington RacingChevrolet198.479 1121Buddy BakerWood BrothersFord 1255Benny ParsonsJohnny Hayes RacingBuick198.076 1314AJ FoytAJ Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet 1411Darrell WaltripJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet 1543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac197.488 1616David PearsonBobby Hawkins RacingChevrolet 1715Dale EarnhardtBud Moore EngineeringFord 187Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac 1922Bobby AllisonDiGard MotorsportsBuick 2090Dick BrooksDonlavey RacingFord 2133Harry GantMach 1 RacingBuick196.338 2217Sterling MarlinHamby RacingChevrolet 2347Ron BouchardRace Hill Farm TeamBuick 2448Lennie PondHylton MotorsportsChevrolet 256Mark MartinUlrich RacingChevrolet 2610Clark DwyerHamby RacingChevrolet 272Morgan ShepherdJim Stacy RacingBuick 2824Cecil GordonGordon RacingChrysler 2984Jody RidleyRobert McEntyre RacingBuick 3089Dean RoperMueller BrothersPontiac 3164Tommy GaleLangley RacingFord 3271Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet 334Connie SaylorMorgan-McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile 3462Rick WilsonWilson RacingBuick 3596Rick BaldwinWill Cronkrite RacingBuick 3677Ken RaganBranch-Ragan RacingBuick 3776Lowell CowellPotter RacingOldsmobile 3873Steve MooreSteve Moore RacingPontiac 3999Philip DuffieDuffie RacingBuick 4067Buddy ArringtonArrington RacingChrysler 4152Jimmy MeansMeans RacingBuick 4241Ronnie ThomasThomas RacingPontiac
Race There were 42 American-born drivers on the grid, representing manufacturers Pontiac, Buick, Chevrolet, and Ford. Cale Yarborough qualified for the pole position with a speed of . Richard Petty defeated Benny Parsons by two car lengths after three hours and fourteen minutes to earn his 197th career win. Seven cautions for 42 laps were witnessed by 110,000 spectators in addition to 27 lead changes. The average speed of the race was . There was a major incident involving Phil Parsons and ten other drivers. Two photographers managed to get Parsons out of the wreck. The entire race purse was $361,820 ($ when adjusted for inflation).
Harry Gant finished 4th and took the points lead from Bobby Allison as a result of the 31-point swing. Neil Bonnett came in third in points and maintained that position although he lost ground as a result of the issues that left him with a 15th-place finish, seven laps down.
Dale Earnhardt was driving a Ford Thunderbird for team owner Bud Moore this year. Lowell Cowell would retire from NASCAR after this race.
Race results Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Points 11543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac188185 21255Benny ParsonsJohnny Hayes RacingBuick188175 3101Lake SpeedEllington RacingChevrolet188170 42133Harry GantMach 1 RacingBuick188165 569Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord188160 6744Terry Labonte Chevrolet 74152Jimmy Means Buick 8 3Ricky RuddRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 9 Dave Marcis 10 22Bobby AllisonDiGard Racing 11 Joe Ruttman 12 Ken Ragan 13 Tommy Gale 14 Dick Brooks 15 75Neil BonnettRahMoc Racing 16 Cecil Gordon 17 Morgan Shepherd 18 Dean Roper 19 Lennie Pond 20 Ron Bouchard 21 Geoff Bodine 22 Steve Moore 23 Buddy Arrington 24 15Dale EarnhardtBud Moore EngineeringFord 25 21Buddy Baker Wood Brothers RacingFord 26 Lowell Cowell 27 27Tim RichmondBlue Max RacingPontiac 28966Phil Parsons 29 28Cale YarboroughRanier RacingChevrolet 30187Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac7173 31 David Pearson 32 Jody Ridley 33 11Darrell WaltripJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet 34 14A.J. FoytA.J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile 35 Ronnie Thomas 36 Mark Martin 37 Rick Wilson 38 Philip Duffie 392610Clark DwyerHamby MotorsportsChevrolet3046 40334Connie SaylorMorgan-McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile2243 412217Sterling Marlin (R)Hamby MotorsportsPontiac2040 423596Rick Baldwin Buick737
Race summary Lead changes: 27 among different drivers Cautions/Laps: 7 for 43 Red flags: 0 Time of race: 3 hours, 14 minutes and 55 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television The television coverage of this race was (on NBC) on a tape-delayed broadcast.
NBC TelevisionBooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Paul PageColor-commentator: Johnny Rutherford
Radio
MRN RadioBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Barney HallAnnouncer: Mike Joy Turns 1 & 2: Eli Gold Backstretch: Dave DeSpain Turns 3 & 4: Dave Sutherland Ned JarrettJerry Punch
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points Differential 1 1 Harry Gant 1187 0 1 2 Bobby Allison 1171 -16 3 Neil Bonnett 1133 -54 4 Joe Ruttman 1116 -71 1 5 Bill Elliott 1093 -94 2 6 Richard Petty 1065 -122 2 7 Dick Brooks 1058 -129 1 8 Ricky Rudd 1013 -174 1 9 Terry Labonte 985 -202 4 10 Lake Speed 969 -218
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points
Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References