1988 TranSouth 500

Race details
Race 5 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1988 TranSouth 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
Date	March 27, 1988
Official name	32nd Annual TranSouth 500
Location	Darlington, South Carolina, Darlington Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km)
Scheduled Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km)
Average speed	131.284 miles per hour (211.281 km/h)
Attendance	58,000
Pole position
Driver	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	30.233
Most laps led
Driver	Lake Speed	Speed Racing
Laps	178
Winner
No. 83	Lake Speed	Speed Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Gary Nelson
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1988 TranSouth 500 was the fifth stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 27, 1988, before an audience of 58,000 in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 367 laps to complete. In the late stages of the race, Lake Speed, driving for his owner-driver operation Speed Racing, would dominate the late stages of the race with Hoosier tires to score his first and only career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, AK Racing driver Alan Kulwicki and Ranier-Lundy Racing driver Davey Allison would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Darlington Raceway, the venue where the race was held.

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It 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 is effective at both ends.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. Pole qualifying for the race was held on Thursday, March 24, 1988. Per the NASCAR rules in 1988, a one-lap qualifying attempt was utilized. The top twenty cars in pole qualifying were locked into the starting field. The remainder of the cars could stand on their time, or make a new attempt in second-round qualifying. If a driver did decide to make an attempt, their first-round times would be scrubbed. Second-round qualifying was held Friday, March 25, 1988. The drivers that had qualified 1st–20th on Thursday were locked-in to those positions and did not have to re-qualify.^[2]

Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.233 and an average speed of 162.657 miles per hour (261.771 km/h).^[3]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Dale Earnhardt 758 1 2 Neil Bonnett 738 (-20) 1 3 Sterling Marlin 735 (-23) 1 4 Rusty Wallace 686 (–72) 1 5 Bobby Allison 685 (–73) 6 6 Bill Elliott 680 (–78) 1 7 Buddy Baker 676 (–82) 3 8 Darrell Waltrip 657 (–101) 2 9 Terry Labonte 637 (–121) 10 Bobby Hillin Jr. 628 (–130) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References