The 1993 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 39th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 7, 1993, 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. At race's end, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 19th and eventual final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and owner-driver Alan Kulwicki 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 NASCAR Cup Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and the Truck Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord8Sterling MarlinStavola Brothers RacingFord11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord12Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFord14Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord22Bobby Labonte (R)Bill Davis RacingFord24Jeff Gordon (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Brett BodineKing RacingFord27Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac32Jimmy HortonActive MotorsportsChevrolet33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet40Kenny Wallace (R)SABCO RacingPontiac41Phil ParsonsLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac44Rick WilsonPetty EnterprisesPontiac45Rich BickleTerminal Trucking MotorsportsFord52Jimmy HensleyJimmy Means RacingFord55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord61Rick CarelliChesrown RacingChevrolet68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Dick TrickleButch Mock MotorsportsFord83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord90Bobby Hillin Jr.Donlavey RacingFord98Derrike CopeCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 4, 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, March 5, 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. 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.

Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 21.922 and an average speed of in the first round.

Three drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet21.922123.16421Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord21.942123.052321Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord21.976122.861426Brett BodineKing RacingFord21.982122.828517Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet21.986122.80567Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord22.007122.688742Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac22.048122.460824Jeff Gordon (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.063122.377918Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet22.067122.355104Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet22.090122.227113Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.092122.216126Mark MartinRoush RacingFord22.109122.122132Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac22.120122.0611428Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord22.124122.039155Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.133121.9901655Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord22.141121.9461798Derrike CopeCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord22.154121.8741844Rick WilsonPetty EnterprisesPontiac22.191121.6711914Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet22.192121.6652022Bobby Labonte (R)Joe Gibbs RacingFord22.254121.327Failed to lock in Round 12115Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord22.184121.7092216Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord22.267121.256238Sterling MarlinStavola Brothers RacingFord22.267121.2562412Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFord22.280121.1852511Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord22.288121.1412630Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac22.298121.0872775Dick TrickleButch Mock MotorsportsFord22.346120.8272841Phil ParsonsLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.350120.8052971Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet22.360120.7513090Bobby Hillin Jr.Donlavey RacingFord22.368120.7083183Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord22.414120.4603240Kenny Wallace (R)SABCO RacingPontiac22.419120.4343327Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord22.486120.0753433Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet22.495120.027Provisionals3568Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFord -* -*3652Jimmy HensleyJimmy Means RacingFord -* -*Failed to qualify3745Rich BickleTerminal Trucking MotorsportsFord -* -*3832Jimmy HortonActive MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*3961Rick CarelliChesrown RacingChevrolet -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings11428Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord400155running180$70,1252132Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac4000running170$31,550367Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord4000running165$39,2254918Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet4000running160$29,0505742Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac400168running165$21,6006824Jeff Gordon (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet4000running150$14,7007126Mark MartinRoush RacingFord4000running146$18,1508517Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet40051running147$18,10093433Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet4000running138$17,30010113Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet3990running134$17,00011104Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet3990running130$16,800122115Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord3991running132$13,300132412Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFord3980running124$12,85014321Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord39818running126$12,65015155Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3980running118$13,035162841Phil ParsonsLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet3980running115$9,275171655Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord3970running112$12,075183327Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord3960running109$11,825191798Derrike CopeCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord3960running106$11,50020125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3967running108$15,325212775Dick TrickleButch Mock MotorsportsFord3950running100$6,225223568Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFord3950running97$8,100232630Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac3940running94$10,975241914Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet3940running91$10,850251844Rick WilsonPetty EnterprisesPontiac3940running88$7,700263240Kenny Wallace (R)SABCO RacingPontiac3940running85$6,525272216Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord3930running82$7,600283090Bobby Hillin Jr.Donlavey RacingFord3920running79$5,975292022Bobby Labonte (R)Joe Gibbs RacingFord3820running76$5,950303183Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord3590running73$5,92031238Sterling MarlinStavola Brothers RacingFord3370running70$10,47532426Brett BodineKing RacingFord3270running67$10,445332511Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord2270engine64$16,260343652Jimmy HensleyJimmy Means RacingFord1900clutch61$5,8503521Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord680engine58$11,375362971Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet540engine55$7,350Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Dale Jarrett 490 1 2 Dale Earnhardt 489 (-1) 1 3 Mark Martin 456 (-34) 1 4 Geoff Bodine 445 (–45) 3 5 Rusty Wallace 422 (–68) 3 6 Alan Kulwicki 415 (–75) 2 7 Hut Stricklin 398 (–92) 10 8 Davey Allison 385 (–105) 3 9 Ted Musgrave 381 (–109) 6 10 Jeff Gordon 371 (–119)Official driver's standings

Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References