The 1986 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 36th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 20, 1986, before an audience of 29,500 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete.

By race's end, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt was able to hold off a late-race charge by Bud Moore Engineering's Ricky Rudd, securing his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine finished third.

The race was the first start for African-American driver Willy T. Ribbs, after previous failed attempts in the 1986 season. With the start, Ribbs became the sixth African-American driver to make a start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the first African-American driver since George Wiltshire in 1975.

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.

#DriverTeamMakeSponsor01Earle CanavanCanavan RacingPontiacGates Hydraulics3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletWrangler5Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevroletLevi Garrett6Trevor BoysU.S. RacingChevroletFinky's7Kyle PettyWood Brothers RacingFord7-Eleven8Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingChevroletMiller American9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFordCoors11Darrell WaltripJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevroletBudweiser12Neil BonnettJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevroletBudweiser15Ricky RuddBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft Quality Parts17Doug HeveronHamby RacingChevroletHesco Exhaust Systems22Bobby AllisonStavola Brothers RacingBuickMiller American23Michael Waltrip (R)Bahari RacingPontiacHawaiian Punch25Tim RichmondHendrick MotorsportsChevroletFolgers26Joe RuttmanKing RacingBuickQuaker State27Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiacAlugard30Willy T. RibbsDiGard MotorsportsPontiacRed Roof Inn33Harry GantMach 1 RacingChevroletSkoal Bandit35Alan Kulwicki (R)AK RacingFordQuincy's Steakhouse43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP44Terry LabonteHagan EnterprisesOldsmobilePiedmont Airlines48Morgan ShepherdHylton MotorsportsChevroletHemmelgarn & Sons52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacJimmy Means Racing64Rick BaldwinLangley RacingFordSunny King Ford67Buddy ArringtonArrington RacingFordPannill Sweatshirts70J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiacRumple Furniture71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingPontiacHelen Rae Special75Jody RidleyRahMoc EnterprisesFordNationwise Automotive81Chet Fillip (R)Fillip RacingFordCircle Bar Truck Corral85Bobby GerhartBobby Gerhart RacingChevroletBobby Gerhart Racing90Ken SchraderDonlavey RacingFordRed Baron Frozen Pizza94Eddie BierschwaleEller RacingPontiacKodak Film96Jerry BowmanJerry Bowman RacingFordJerry Bowman Racing98Ron BouchardCurb RacingPontiacValvoline

Qualifying Qualifying was done over two rounds of qualifying over two days. The first round was held on Friday, April 18, at 3:00p.m. EST, with each driver having one lap to set a time. In the first round, the first eight drivers in the round were guaranteed a starting spot within the top eight; however, their official starting positions were then determined by calculating the averages of their first round time and their second round time, with the second round being held on Saturday, April 19, at 3:00p.m. EST, with all drivers having one lap to set a time in the round. Drivers who did not lock into the race in the first round had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time, with all non-locked in drivers setting positions 9-30 based on speed. Depending on if teams 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.

Geoff Bodine, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting an average time of 20.014 and average speed of in his two runs.

Four drivers failed to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed15Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20.014112.419243Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac20.040112.273325Tim RichmondHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20.055112.191444Terry LabonteHagan EnterprisesOldsmobile20.108111.89553Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20.146111.685622Bobby AllisonStavola Brothers RacingBuick20.156111.627726Joe RuttmanKing RacingBuick20.224111.251812Neil BonnettJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet20.297110.851Failed to lock in Round 197Kyle PettyWood Brothers RacingFord20.213111.3151011Darrell WaltripJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet20.224111.2541190Ken SchraderDonlavey RacingFord20.231111.2151235Alan Kulwicki (R)AK RacingFord20.249111.117139Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord20.251111.1061415Ricky RuddBud Moore EngineeringFord20.252111.1001527Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac20.266111.0231633Harry GantMach 1 RacingChevrolet20.293110.8761775Jody RidleyRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac20.328110.6851898Ron BouchardCurb RacingPontiac20.354110.511198Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick20.371110.4512017Doug HeveronHamby RacingOldsmobile20.384110.3812171Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet20.390110.3482248Morgan ShepherdHylton MotorsportsChevrolet20.395110.3212381Chet Fillip (R)Fillip RacingFord20.446110.0462423Michael Waltrip (R)Bahari RacingPontiac20.491109.8042567Buddy ArringtonArrington RacingFord20.526109.6172670J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac20.567109.399276Trevor BoysU.S. RacingChevrolet20.611109.1652852Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac20.638109.0222930Willy T. RibbsDiGard MotorsportsChevrolet20.639109.0173064Rick BaldwinLangley RacingFord20.739108.491Failed to qualify3185Bobby GerhartBobby Gerhart RacingChevrolet -* -*3294Eddie BierschwaleEller RacingPontiac -* -*3396Jerry BowmanJerry Bowman RacingFord -* -*3401Earle CanavanCanavan RacingPontiac -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings153Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet400195running185$38,55021415Ricky RuddBud Moore EngineeringFord400102running175$20,075315Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet40090running170$17,41541011Darrell WaltripJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet4000running160$13,7505726Joe RuttmanKing RacingBuick4000running155$4,4156622Bobby AllisonStavola Brothers RacingBuick4000running150$6,86571633Harry GantMach 1 RacingChevrolet4001running151$10,360897Kyle PettyWood Brothers RacingFord4000running142$7,8159139Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord4000running138$9,710101527Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac3990running134$8,41011812Neil BonnettJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet3990running130$8,64012325Tim RichmondHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3980running127$5,18513198Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick3980running124$4,715141190Ken SchraderDonlavey RacingFord3980running121$5,450151775Jody RidleyRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac3970running118$4,535162017Doug HeveronHamby RacingOldsmobile3950running115$4,175171898Ron BouchardCurb RacingPontiac3950running112$4,040181235Alan Kulwicki (R)AK RacingFord3950running109$1,655192248Morgan ShepherdHylton MotorsportsChevrolet3940running106$3,880202852Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac3920running103$3,995212567Buddy ArringtonArrington RacingFord3900running100$3,515222930Willy T. RibbsDiGard MotorsportsChevrolet3870running97$1,010232381Chet Fillip (R)Fillip RacingFord3740running94$985243064Rick BaldwinLangley RacingFord3540running0$3,150252171Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet3460accident88$3,215262423Michael Waltrip (R)Bahari RacingPontiac3090engine85$91027444Terry LabonteHagan EnterprisesOldsmobile2561engine87$6,635282670J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac2510accident79$3,03029243Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac13111engine81$7,49530276Trevor BoysU.S. RacingChevrolet850accident73$2,335Failed to qualify3185Bobby GerhartBobby Gerhart RacingChevrolet3294Eddie BierschwaleEller RacingPontiac3396Jerry BowmanJerry Bowman RacingFord3401Earle CanavanCanavan RacingPontiacOfficial race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Darrell Waltrip 1,160 2 Dale Earnhardt 1,137 (-23) 3 Rusty Wallace 1,019 (-141) 1 4 Bill Elliott 970 (–190) 1 5 Terry Labonte 948 (–212) 6 Kyle Petty 927 (–233) 7 Tim Richmond 900 (–260) 8 Harry Gant 891 (–269) 2 9 Geoff Bodine 883 (–277) 10 Bobby Allison 876 (–284)Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References