The 1989 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 39th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 16, 1989, before an audience of 36,000 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to dominate a majority of the race, leading 296 laps to take his 35th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, owner-driver Alan Kulwicki and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing.

Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMakeSponsor2Ernie IrvanU.S. RacingPontiacKroger3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench Service Plus4Rick WilsonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobileKodak5Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevroletLevi Garrett6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordStroh's Light7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFordZerex8Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuickMiller High Life9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFordCoors Light11Terry LabonteJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser15Brett BodineBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft16Larry Pearson (R)Pearson RacingBuickChattanooga Chew17Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevroletTide21Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo23Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobileB&B Racing25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletFolgers26Ricky RuddKing RacingBuickQuaker State27Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiacKodiak28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline29Dale JarrettCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiacHardee's30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacCountry Time31Jim SauterBob Clark MotorsportsPontiacBob Clark Motorsports33Harry GantJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal Bandit40Ben Hess (R)Hess RacingOldsmobileHess Racing43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacAlka-Seltzer55Phil ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal, Crown Central Petroleum57Hut Stricklin (R)Osterlund RacingPontiacHeinz60Rodney CombsCombs RacingChevroletCombs Racing66Rick Mast (R)Mach 1 RacingChevroletBanquet Foods70J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiacRumple Furniture71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletLifebuoy75Morgan ShepherdRahMoc EnterprisesPontiacValvoline83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobileBull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce84Dick Trickle (R)Stavola Brothers RacingBuickMiller High Life88Greg SacksBaker–Schiff RacingPontiacCrisco94Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobileSunoco

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 14, at 3:00 pm EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 10 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, April 15, at 12:15 pm EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 11-30 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.

Rusty Wallace, driving for Blue Max Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 19.357 and an average speed of in the first round.

Four drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed127Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac19.145117.52425Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.190117.24933Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet19.203117.16946Mark MartinRoush RacingFord19.254116.85959Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord19.273116.744694Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile19.285116.671711Terry LabonteJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord19.313116.502826Ricky RuddKing RacingBuick19.317116.478930Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac19.372116.1471084Dick Trickle (R)Stavola Brothers RacingBuick19.387116.057Failed to lock in Round 11121Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFord19.396116.0031266Rick Mast (R)Mach 1 RacingChevrolet19.400115.979137Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord19.405115.9491440Ben Hess (R)Hess RacingOldsmobile19.429115.8061517Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.453115.6631652Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac19.483115.4851728Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord19.492115.4321829Dale JarrettCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac19.513115.3081988Greg SacksBaker–Schiff RacingPontiac19.515115.2962015Brett BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord19.517115.2842183Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobile19.527115.2252231Jim SauterBob Clark MotorsportsPontiac19.538115.1602316Larry Pearson (R)Pearson RacingBuick19.548115.1012457Hut Stricklin (R)Osterlund RacingPontiac19.572114.9602575Morgan ShepherdRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac19.590114.8552671Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet19.597114.813274Rick WilsonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile19.634114.5972860Rodney CombsCombs RacingChevrolet19.634114.597292Ernie IrvanU.S. RacingPontiac19.707114.1733033Harry GantJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile19.775113.780Provisionals3125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.780113.7513223Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobile19.859113.299Failed to qualify338Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick19.784113.7283455Phil ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile19.823113.5053543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac20.029112.3373670J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac - -Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings133Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet400296running185$51,2252137Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord4000running170$25,575346Mark MartinRoush RacingFord4000running165$19,42541084Dick Trickle (R)Stavola Brothers RacingBuick4005running165$13,8005711Terry LabonteJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord4000running155$14,0256826Ricky RuddKing RacingBuick4000running150$7,475725Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet40019running151$9,20081517Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet40074running147$11,5059127Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac3996running143$16,85010292Ernie IrvanU.S. RacingPontiac3960running134$9,575111728Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord3950running130$9,495122860Phil ParsonsCombs RacingChevrolet3940running127$2,245131121Neil BonnettWood Brothers RacingFord3940running124$5,170143125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3940running121$7,840151440Ben Hess (R)Hess RacingOldsmobile3930running118$3,025162457Hut Stricklin (R)Osterlund RacingPontiac3900running115$2,120172575Morgan ShepherdRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac3900running112$9,695183223Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobile3880running109$3,395191829Dale JarrettCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiac3830running106$4,745202671Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet3760running103$5,545211988Greg SacksBaker–Schiff RacingPontiac3740running100$6,3502259Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord3670running97$11,250233033Harry GantJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile3290running94$6,025242316Larry Pearson (R)Pearson RacingBuick3230engine91$2,757251266Rick Mast (R)Mach 1 RacingChevrolet3210engine88$4,20026694Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobile3010camshaft85$3,975272183Lake SpeedSpeed RacingOldsmobile2970running82$3,875282015Brett BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord2750oil cooler79$4,57529930Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac2720crash76$3,77530274Rick WilsonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile2700crash73$3,225312231Jim SauterBob Clark MotorsportsPontiac1610brakes70$1,650321652Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac770rear end67$1,650Failed to qualify338Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick3455Phil ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile3543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac3670J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiacOfficial race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 3 1 Dale Earnhardt 1,054 1 2 Geoff Bodine 1,051 (-3) 3 Alan Kulwicki 1,045 (-9) 2 4 Rusty Wallace 1,024 (–30) 1 5 Darrell Waltrip 954 (–100) 1 6 Sterling Marlin 936 (–93) 7 Davey Allison 916 (–118) 1 8 Mark Martin 893 (–161) 4 9 Ricky Rudd 853 (–201) 5 10 Dick Trickle 831 (–223)Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

References