The 1986 Miller American 400 was the 14th stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 18th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 15, 1986, before an audience of 80,000 in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.
In the late laps of the race, Melling Racing's Bill Elliott, who had been a non-contender throughout most of the race, made a late race surge to contest with the leader, Mach 1 Racing's Harry Gant. The two fought for the lead for around 50 laps until lap 195, when Elliott passed Gant and managed to hold off Gant the rest of the way to secure the victory. The victory was Elliott's 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine finished third.
During the race's qualifying session, Rick Baldwin, replacing the injured Buddy Arrington, was involved in a crash at the track's first turn during his qualifying lap. Baldwin's car spun, hitting the outside wall on the driver's side. As a result of the crash, Baldwin suffered head injuries that induced him into an 11-year coma that he did not recover from, dying on June 12, 1997. The incident was the first fatal accident in over a year in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series since Terry Schoonover at the 1984 Atlanta Journal 500.
Background
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMakeSponsor3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletWrangler4Rick WilsonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobileKodak5Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevroletLevi Garrett6D. K. UlrichU.S. RacingChevroletU.S. Racing7Kyle PettyWood Brothers RacingFord7-Eleven8Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingChevroletMiller American08Butch MillerThroop RacingChevroletClassic Chevrolet9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFordCoors11Darrell WaltripJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevroletBudweiser12Neil BonnettJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevroletBudweiser15Ricky RuddBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft Quality Parts17Pancho CarterHamby RacingChevroletKmart18Tommy EllisFreedlander MotorsportsChevroletFreedlander Financial22Bobby AllisonStavola Brothers RacingBuickMiller American23Michael Waltrip (R)Bahari RacingPontiacHawaiian Punch25Tim RichmondHendrick MotorsportsChevroletFolgers26Joe RuttmanKing RacingBuickQuaker State27Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiacAlugard28Cale YarboroughRanier-Lundy RacingFordHardee's30Willy T. RibbsDiGard MotorsportsChevroletRed Roof Inn33Harry GantMach 1 RacingChevroletSkoal Bandit35Alan Kulwicki (R)AK RacingFordQuincy's Steakhouse38Mike LawsLaws RacingChevroletLaws Racing43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP44Terry LabonteHagan EnterprisesOldsmobilePiedmont Airlines47Morgan ShepherdRace Hill Farm TeamChevroletRace Hill Farm Team48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsChevroletHylton Motorsports52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacJimmy Means Racing55Benny ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobileCopenhagen64Eddie BierschwaleLangley RacingFordSunny King Ford66Phil ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal67Rick BaldwinArrington RacingFordPannill Sweatshirts68Jerry HoldenHolden RacingFordHolden Racing70J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiacRumple Furniture71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingPontiacHelen Rae Special74Bobby WawakWawak RacingChevroletWawak Racing75Jody RidleyRahMoc EnterprisesPontiacNationwise Automotive79Derrike CopeRazore RacingFordPeterbilt80Gary FedewaBurke RacingChevroletBurke Racing81Chet Fillip (R)Fillip RacingFordCircle Bar Truck Corral82Mark StahlStahl RacingFordAuto Bell Car Wash88Buddy BakerBaker–Schiff RacingOldsmobileCrisco89Jim SauterMueller Brothers RacingPontiacEvinrude Outboard Motors90Ken SchraderDonlavey RacingFordRed Baron Frozen Pizza92Jonathan Lee EdwardsEdwards RacingBuickEdwards Racing98Ron BouchardCurb RacingPontiacValvoline
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Saturday, June 14, at 11:30 AM EST. Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round were 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, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 were 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.
Tim Richmond, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 41.853 and an average speed of in the first round.
Five drivers failed to qualify.
Crashes of Rick Baldwin and Mark Stahl After Ricky Rudd made his qualifying lap, Rick Baldwin was scheduled to make his qualifying lap. Baldwin was tapped by owner-driver Buddy Arrington to qualify the car after Arrington suffered a concussion at the previous race, the 1986 Miller High Life 500. Arrington, if Baldwin had made the race, to start the race, then hand over driving duties to Baldwin so that Arrington could obtain driver's championship points for the race. Heading into the first turn of his qualifying lap, according to Detroit Free Press writer Charlie Vincent, "the car took control of the man and his fate. The car spun, slamming back-end into the wall, then the front end whipped around, smashing the driver's side of the car into the concrete... in an instant, he lost consciousness." After Baldwin wrecked, driver Mark Stahl also crashed in the first turn of his qualifying lap, suffering an ankle injury. Both drivers failed to qualify for the race. In the aftermath of Baldwin's incident, Baldwin was transported to the W. A. Foote Memorial Hospital in Jackson, Michigan where he was diagnosed with multiple head and neck injuries. Baldwin remained in a coma for 11 years, never fully recovering from his injuries and dying on June 12, 1997.
Responses from the NASCAR community to the accident displayed sympathy for Baldwin. Arrington, who fielded the car for his independent team that was running Ford products after being a Chrysler team even without factory support (the Arrington family continued to be associated with Chrysler, Daimler AG during their NASCAR days, and the new Chrysler LLC when current owners Fiat ended NASCAR support) stated, "I feel really bad about what happened. What else can I say?... He's a good kid." Corpus Christi Caller-Times writer Emil Tagliabue remarked Baldwin as chasing the dream to join the "clan of good ol' boys", stating, "There are those whom fate somehow seems to mock usually with no apparent good reason. Rick Baldwin is one of those."
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed125Tim RichmondHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet41.853172.031255Benny ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile42.015171.367333Harry GantMach 1 RacingChevrolet42.078171.11145Geoff BodineHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet42.155170.798522Bobby AllisonStavola Brothers RacingBuick42.176170.713647Morgan ShepherdRace Hill Farm TeamBuick42.213170.564727Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiac42.245170.43489Bill ElliottMelling RacingFord42.255170.394944Terry LabonteHagan EnterprisesOldsmobile42.305170.193104Rick WilsonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobile42.337170.064113Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet42.344170.036128Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuick42.537169.2641326Joe RuttmanKing RacingBuick42.574169.1171488Buddy BakerBaker–Schiff RacingOldsmobile42.593169.0421543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac42.632168.8871611Darrell WaltripJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet42.708168.5871775Jody RidleyRahMoc EnterprisesPontiac42.722168.5311815Ricky RuddBud Moore EngineeringFord42.730168.5001918Tommy EllisFreedlander MotorsportsChevrolet42.751168.4172012Neil BonnettJunior Johnson & AssociatesChevrolet42.843168.055Failed to lock in Round 12166Phil ParsonsJackson Bros. MotorsportsOldsmobile42.474169.5152217Pancho CarterHamby RacingChevrolet42.586169.0702371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingPontiac42.768168.3502490Ken SchraderDonlavey RacingFord42.806168.2012598Ron BouchardCurb RacingPontiac42.922167.7462681Chet Fillip (R)Fillip RacingFord42.979167.5242779Derrike CopeRazore RacingFord42.980167.5202828Cale YarboroughCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord42.996167.4572908Butch MillerThroop RacingChevrolet43.020167.364306D. K. UlrichU.S. RacingChevrolet43.036167.302317Kyle PettyWood Brothers RacingFord43.088167.1003235Alan Kulwicki (R)AK RacingFord43.100167.0533389Jim SauterMueller Brothers RacingPontiac43.137166.9103464Eddie BierschwaleLangley RacingFord43.301166.2783538Mike LawsLaws RacingChevrolet43.343166.1173623Michael Waltrip (R)Bahari RacingPontiac43.424165.8073730Willy T. RibbsDiGard MotorsportsChevrolet43.425165.8033874Bobby WawakWawak RacingChevrolet43.450165.7083970J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiac43.534165.3884080Gary FedewaBurke RacingChevrolet43.802164.376Provisional4148James HyltonHylton MotorsportsChevrolet44.388162.206Failed to qualify4292Jonathan Lee EdwardsEdwards RacingChevrolet44.396162.1774352Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac -* -*4468Jerry HoldenHolden RacingFord -* -*4567Rick BaldwinArrington RacingFord - -4682Mark StahlStahl RacingFord - -Official starting lineup
Race results