The 1990 Miller Genuine Draft 400 was the 22nd stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 9, 1990, in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Gambling on fuel strategy, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to defend the field in a final three-lap restart to the finish to take his 47th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his eighth victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and Hendrick Motorsports driver Darrell Waltrip would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMake1Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobile01Mickey GibbsGibbs RacingFord2D. K. UlrichU.S. RacingPontiac3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord8Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet11Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord12Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick13Kerry TeagueLinro MotorsportsBuick15Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord17Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet18Greg SacksHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19Chad LittleLittle RacingFord20Rob Moroso (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobile21Dale JarrettWood Brothers RacingFord25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Brett BodineKing RacingBuick27Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac56Ron EsauReno EnterprisesChevrolet57Jimmy SpencerOsterlund RacingPontiac66Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac70J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac90Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFord94Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile98Butch MillerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 7, 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 8, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 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.
Ernie Irvan, driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 22.524 and an average speed of in the first round. Two drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed14Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet22.524119.872230Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac22.548119.745325Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.577119.59147Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord22.590119.522566Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac22.600119.46963Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.612119.40676Mark MartinRoush RacingFord22.636119.279828Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord22.637119.274942Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac22.689119.0001011Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord22.728118.7961127Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac22.735118.760121Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobile22.741118.7281321Dale JarrettWood Brothers RacingFord22.794118.452145Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.814118.3481526Brett BodineKing RacingBuick22.817118.333169Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord22.839118.2191794Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile22.853118.1461815Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord22.871118.0531975Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile22.875118.0332010Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet22.900117.904Failed to lock in Round 12119Chad LittleLittle RacingFord22.925117.7752233Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile22.948117.6572371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet22.993117.4272452Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac23.019117.2942557Jimmy SpencerOsterlund RacingPontiac23.050117.1372643Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac23.066117.0552717Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.068117.0452801Mickey GibbsGibbs RacingFord23.093116.9192918Greg SacksHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.100116.883308Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick23.138116.6913112Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick23.299115.8853290Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFord23.323115.7663356Ron EsauReno EnterprisesChevrolet23.379115.4883498Butch MillerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet23.395115.409Provisionals3520Rob Moroso (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobile24.159111.760362D. K. UlrichU.S. RacingPontiac - -Failed to qualify3770J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac -* -*3813Kerry TeagueLinro MotorsportsBuick -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings163Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet400173running185$59,225276Mark MartinRoush RacingFord40031running175$30,55032717Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet4000running165$25,1074169Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord4000running160$16,95051127Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac40075running160$19,5256942Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac4000running150$11,8757566Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac4000running146$9,9008145Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3990running142$8,35091011Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord3990running138$10,85010325Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet39922running139$15,93011308Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick3990running130$7,4501214Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet39933running132$13,875133112Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick3990running124$5,35014230Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac3980running121$6,725152371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet3970running118$6,97516828Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord3960running115$9,55017121Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobile3960running112$6,100182452Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac3960running109$4,450193498Butch MillerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet3950running106$4,225201975Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile3940running103$6,325212643Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac3940running100$4,075223290Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFord3940running0$3,100232918Greg SacksHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3840running94$3,075241794Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile3830running91$5,225253356Ron EsauReno EnterprisesChevrolet3830running88$3,0502647Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord35466running90$5,905272557Jimmy SpencerOsterlund RacingPontiac3180running82$5,055283520Rob Moroso (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobile2730accident79$4,225291321Dale JarrettWood Brothers RacingFord2720accident76$4,355301815Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord2700engine73$5,100311526Brett BodineKing RacingBuick2420accident70$4,310322119Chad LittleLittle RacingFord2390accident67$3,48033362D. K. UlrichU.S. RacingPontiac1850engine64$4,265342801Mickey GibbsGibbs RacingFord1600accident61$2,805352010Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet1200engine58$7,355362233Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile120engine55$8,855Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mark Martin 3,344 2 Dale Earnhardt 3,328 (-16) 3 Geoff Bodine 3,120 (-224) 4 Rusty Wallace 2,952 (–392) 5 Bill Elliott 2,921 (–423) 1 6 Ricky Rudd 2,837 (–507) 1 7 Morgan Shepherd 2,768 (–576) 8 Kyle Petty 2,734 (–610) 1 9 Ken Schrader 2,719 (–625) 1 10 Ernie Irvan 2,673 (–671)Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References