The 1991 DieHard 500 was the 17th stock car race of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 28, 1991, before an audience of 95,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to fend off the field, leading the final 28 laps of the race to take his 51st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Melling Racing driver Bill Elliott and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.

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 in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a tri-oval.

Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord8Rick WilsonStavola Brothers RacingBuick9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet11Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord12Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick14Mike ChaseA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile15Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet19Chad LittleLittle RacingFord20Buddy BakerMoroso RacingOldsmobile21Dale JarrettWood Brothers RacingFord22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord24Dick TrickleTeam III RacingPontiac25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Brett BodineKing RacingBuick28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile41Larry PearsonLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Bobby Hillin Jr.SABCO RacingPontiac43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac47Greg SacksClose RacingOldsmobile49Stanley Smith (R)BS&S MotorsportsBuick51Jeff Purvis (R)Phoenix RacingOldsmobile52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac55Ted Musgrave (R)U.S. RacingPontiac59Mark GibsonGibson RacingPontiac66Lake SpeedCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac68Bobby Hamilton (R)TriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet73Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile75Joe RuttmanRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile90Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R)Donlavey RacingFord94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile95Eddie BierschwaleSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet98Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 24, at 4:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 15 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 Friday, July 25, at 4:30 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 16-40 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; 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.

Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, won the pole, setting a time of 49.853 and an average speed of in the first round.

Two drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed122Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord49.853192.08526Mark MartinRoush RacingFord49.896191.91934Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet49.964191.65843Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet50.138190.99359Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord50.140190.985619Chad LittleLittle RacingFord50.188190.803728Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord50.208190.72782Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac50.333190.253933Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile50.353190.177107Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord50.374190.0981111Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord50.501189.6201266Lake SpeedCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac50.541189.4701330Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac50.604189.2341417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet50.647189.0731512Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick50.822188.4221668Bobby Hamilton (R)TriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile50.878188.215171Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile50.885188.189185Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet50.919188.0631975Joe RuttmanRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile50.948187.9562043Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac51.012187.721Failed to lock in Round 12142Bobby Hillin Jr.SABCO RacingPontiac50.821188.4262215Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord51.082187.4632349Stanley Smith (R)BS&S MotorsportsBuick51.184187.0902424Dick TrickleTeam III RacingPontiac51.201187.0282525Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.243186.8742690Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R)Donlavey RacingFord51.299186.6702755Ted Musgrave (R)U.S. RacingPontiac51.328186.5652841Larry PearsonLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.346186.4992926Brett BodineKing RacingBuick51.396186.318308Rick WilsonStavola Brothers RacingBuick51.434186.1803114Mike ChaseA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile51.464186.0723273Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile51.478186.0213347Greg SacksClose RacingOldsmobile51.543185.7873420Buddy BakerMoroso RacingOldsmobile51.583185.6433594Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile51.629185.4773652Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac51.700185.2223710Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet51.706185.2013898Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet51.769184.9763995Eddie BierschwaleSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet51.795184.8834021Dale JarrettWood Brothers RacingFord51.799184.868Provisional4171Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet53.358179.467Failed to qualify4251Jeff Purvis (R)Phoenix RacingOldsmobile -* -*4359Mark GibsonGibson RacingPontiac -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings143Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet188101running185$88,670259Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord1881running175$51,185326Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1883running170$46,3904185Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1882running165$29,4005122Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord18833running160$27,075682Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac1881running155$16,25071330Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac1884running151$16,05084021Dale JarrettWood Brothers RacingFord1888running147$14,4009728Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord18812running143$19,120101975Joe RuttmanRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile1880running134$15,800112142Bobby Hillin Jr.SABCO RacingPontiac1880running130$16,33012619Chad LittleLittle RacingFord1887running132$8,250133420Buddy BakerMoroso RacingOldsmobile1880running124$9,930142215Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFord1880running121$14,860151417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet1881running123$10,13516107Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord1870running115$14,550172841Larry PearsonLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet1870running112$7,385182043Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac1870running109$10,880193347Greg SacksClose RacingOldsmobile1860running106$7,100202424Dick TrickleTeam III RacingPontiac1860running103$9,160214171Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet1860running100$9,980223273Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile1850running97$6,625233652Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac1850running94$6,370243594Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile1840running91$9,215253114Mike ChaseA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile1840running88$6,110262755Ted Musgrave (R)U.S. RacingPontiac1820running85$7,635273995Eddie BierschwaleSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet1810running82$5,86528171Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile16610crash84$8,645291512Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsBuick1505crash81$8,475301111Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord1500crash73$14,455312349Stanley Smith (R)BS&S MotorsportsBuick1470oil pressure70$5,985322926Brett BodineKing RacingBuick1460oil pressure67$8,2153334Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet1460crash64$13,645341668Bobby Hamilton (R)TriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile1300running61$5,400353710Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet1170oil pan58$13,755361266Lake SpeedCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac1090axle55$7,995373898Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet1020engine52$7,94538308Rick WilsonStavola Brothers RacingBuick1020crash49$7,89539933Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile900crash46$7,815402525Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet770valve43$7,150412690Wally Dallenbach Jr. (R)Donlavey RacingFord20crash40$5,150Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 2,635 2 Ricky Rudd 2,475 (-160) 1 3 Davey Allison 2,393 (-242) 1 4 Ernie Irvan 2,359 (–276) 1 5 Mark Martin 2,330 (–305) 1 6 Ken Schrader 2,279 (–356) 7 Darrell Waltrip 2,259 (–376) 1 8 Sterling Marlin 2,156 (–479) 1 9 Harry Gant 2,131 (–504) 10 Rusty Wallace 2,126 (–509)Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References