1988 Southern 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1988 Southern 500
Name of Track:	Darlington Raceway
Date:	September 4th

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina.

Looks Like An Egg

It was the first superspeedway built with NASCAR racing in mind and is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

Largest Field of Racers

Darlington has an interesting history. When the 1.366 mile long track first opened over a half-century ago, it was not uncommon for there to be 80 or more entrants in a race; this was curtailed over the years as NASCAR adopted a more uniform set of guidelines with regard to the number of cars which could qualify for a race.

Flip-Flop

In recent years the track has been reconfigured; what was the front stretch is now the back stretch, and the turns have been renumbered accordingly. Seating has been increased to approximately 60,000; it has been limited by the proximity of a railroad track to the facility, a highway behind the back stretch, and the still-present pond.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

1988 Southern 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1988 Southern 500, in order of finishing place.

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	Bill Elliott	9	1	$75,800	367	running	Coors
2	Rusty Wallace	27	5	$38,850	367	running	Kodiak
3	Dale Earnhardt	3	2	$31,375	367	running	GM Goodwrench
4	Darrell Waltrip	17	6	$19,850	367	running	Tide
5	Sterling Marlin	44	12	$21,130	367	running	Piedmont Airlines
6	Phil Parsons	55	21	$12,950	366	running	Crown Petroleum
7	Geoffrey Bodine	5	4	$11,310	366	running	Levi Garrett
8	Terry Labonte	11	23	$13,260	366	running	Budweiser
9	Davey Allison	28	15	$15,105	366	running	Havoline
10	Ricky Rudd	26	29	$13,130	366	running	Quaker State
11	Ken Schrader	25	25	$10,980	366	running	Folger's Coffee
12	Lake Speed	83	11	$6,815	366	running	Wynn's
13	Benny Parsons	90	27	$19,305	365	running	Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
14	Mike Alexander	12	30	$11,495	365	running	Miller High Life
15	Alan Kulwicki	7	3	$8,735	365	running	Zerex
16	Neil Bonnett	75	24	$11,195	364	running	Valvoline
17	Brett Bodine	15	8	$12,635	363	running	Crisco
18	Ken Bouchard	10	36	$6,240	360	running	Whitcomb Racing
19	Mark Martin	6	7	$5,040	358	running	Stroh's Light
20	Ernie Irvan	2	17	$4,985	358	running	Kroger
21	Rodney Combs	97	13	$3,320	357	running	GM Tech Team
22	Dave Marcis	71	38	$6,320	355	running	Lifebuoy
25	Michael Waltrip	30	14	$5,955	343	running	Country Time Lemonade
26	Eddie Bierschwale	23	33	$2,815	340	running	Wayne Paging
27	H.B. Bailey	36	34	$2,725	340	running	Almeda Auto Parts
28	Kyle Petty	21	35	$9,630	337	running	Citgo
29	Philip Duffie	32	39	$2,540	332	running	Bob Beard
30	Bobby Hillin, Jr.	8	16	$0	317	oil press	Miller High Life
32	Rick Mast	88	22	$5,530	305	running	Red Baron Frozen Pizza
33	Richard Petty	43	26	$4,925	266	engine	STP
34	Dale Jarrett	29	18	$2,850	239	engine	Hardee's
35	Derrike Cope	68	31	$4,755	203	crash	Purolator Filters
36	Randy Baker	87	37	$2,055	135	engine	Sony Magnetic Products
37	Jimmy Horton	80	40	$2,005	114	engine	S & H Racing
38	Rick Wilson	4	19	$2,580	82	engine	Kodak Film
39	Morgan Shepherd	57	10	$1,910	53	engine	Heinz Ketchup
40	Harry Gant	33	9	$4,450	50	engine	Skoal Bandit