1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series (Start Your Engines!)

The 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Season was the 41st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 18th modern-era Cup season. It began February 12 and ended November 19. This was the first year that every Winston Cup race had flag-to-flag coverage, with almost all of them being televised live.

The 1989 season marked the end of the first of two tire wars between Goodyear and Hoosier, with Hoosier leaving NASCAR shortly after Goodyear debuted their new radial tires.

Also, 1989 was the first season without Benny Parsons or Cale Yarborough.

1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Drivers


Make	Team	No.	Driver	Crew Chief
Buick	David Pearson Racing	16	Larry Pearson (R)
	King Racing	26	Ricky Rudd	Larry MacReynolds
	Stavola Brothers Racing	8	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Harry Hyde
		12	Bobby Allison	Jimmy Fennig
		84	Dick Trickle (R)
Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	5	Geoffrey Bodine	Waddell Wilson
		17	Darrell Waltrip	Jeff Hammond
		25	Tim Richmond	Richard Broome
	Mach 1 Racing	66	Rick Mast (R)	Travis Carter
	Marcis Auto Racing	71	Dave Marcis
	Richard Childress Racing	3	Dale Earnhardt	Kirk Shelmerdine
	Whitcomb Racing	10	Derrike Cope	Buddy Parrott
Chrysler Dodge	Bahari Racing	30	Michael Waltrip	Mike Beam
	Donlavey Racing	90	Ken Schrader
	Hagan Racing	98	Sterling Marlin
	Jackson Brothers Motorsports	33	Harry Gant	Andy Petree
	Jackson Brothers Motorsports	55	Phil Parsons
	Kelman Racing	86	Ryan Kelman	Scott Searle
	Means Racing	52	Jimmy Means
	Pacific Coast Racing	60	Chloe Johnson (R)	Rodney Clay
	Pacific Coast Racing	80	Tim Johnson	Lyle White
	Petty Enterprises	43	Richard Petty	Dale Inman
	SABCO Racing	42	Kyle Petty	Gary Nelson
	Speed Racing	83	Lake Speed
Ford	AK Racing	7	Alan Kulwicki	Paul Andrews
	Bud Moore Engineering	15	Brett Bodine	Donnie Wingo
	Junior Johnson & Associates	11	Terry Labonte	Tim Brewer
	Melling Racing	9	Bill Elliott	Ernie Elliott
	RahMoc Enterprises	75	Morgan Shepherd	Bob Rahilly
	Robert Yates Racing	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates
	Roush Racing	6	Mark Martin	Robin Pemberton
	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Neil Bonnett	Leonard Wood
Oldsmobile	B & B Racing	23	Eddie Bierschwale
Oldsmobile	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Rick Wilson	Tony Glover
Pontiac	Baker-Schiff Racing	88	Jimmy Spencer	Dennis Conner
	Blue Max Racing	27	Rusty Wallace	Barry Dodson
	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	29	Dale Jarrett
	Kennedy Racing	03	Melvin Kennedy	Mark Cutter
	Osterlund Racing	57	Hut Stricklin (R)	Doug Richert
	U.S. Racing	2	Ernie Irvan	Bob Johnson
	Winkle Motorsports	48	Greg Sacks

Schedule


No.	Race title	Track	Date	TV
	Busch Clash	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 12	CBS
	Twin 125 Qualifiers		February 16
1	Daytona 500		February 19
2	Goodwrench 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham	March 5	ESPN
3	Motorcraft Quality Parts 500	Atlanta International Speedway, Hampton	March 19	ABC
4	Pontiac Excitement 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	March 26	TBS
5	TranSouth 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	April 2	ESPN
6	Valleydale Meats 500	Bristol International Raceway, Bristol	April 9
7	First Union 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	April 16
8	Pannill Sweatshirts 500	Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville	April 23
9	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400	Milwaukee Mile, West Allis	April 30	TBS
10	Winston 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega	May 7	ESPN
11	Diet Coke 500	Coca-Cola Superspeedway, Denver	May 14	CBS
	Winston Open	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	May 21	ABC
	The Winston		May 21	ABC
12	Coca-Cola 600		May 28	TBS
13	Budweiser 500	Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover	June 4	ESPN
14	Banquet Frozen Foods 300	Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma	June 11	ESPN
15	Miller High Life 500	Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond	June 18	Showtime
16	Miller High Life 400	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn	June 25	CBS
17	Pepsi 400	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	July 1	ESPN
18	Denver Post 400	Pikes Peak International Speedway, Fountain	July 9	CBS
19	AC Spark Plug 500	Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond	July 23	ESPN
20	Talladega DieHard 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega	July 30	CBS
21	Sprite 500	Coca-Cola Superspeedway, Denver	August 6	CBS
22	Budweiser At The Glen	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen	August 13	ESPN
23	Champion Spark Plug 400	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn	August 20
24	Busch 500	Bristol International Raceway, Bristol	August 26
25	Heinz Southern 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	September 3
26	Miller High Life 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	September 10	TBS
27	Peak Performance 500	Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover	September 17	ESPN
28	Goody's 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	September 24
29	Mountain Dew 400	Milwaukee Mile, West Allis	October 1
30	All Pro Parts 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	October 8	TBS
31	Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	October 15	ESPN
32	AC Delco 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham	October 22
33	Coor's 400	Pikes Peak International Speedway, Fountain	October 29
34	Autoworks 500	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale	November 5
35	Budweiser 400	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside	November 12
36	Atlanta Journal 500	Atlanta International Speedway, Hampton	November 19

Technical Changes

Following the introduction of the restrictor plate in 1988, all manufacturers made changes to their cars in 1989. The main change involved rounder, more compact bodies for better aero efficiency.

A few model changes also occurred. From the Daytona 500 through to the Pabst Blue Ribbon 400 at The Milwaukee Mile, Chevrolet continued using the old Monte Carlo SS, which lost the Aerocoupe moniker due to the Monte Carlos being rebuilt to stay competitive with the other rebodied cars. Starting with the Winston 500 at Talladega, the new Chevrolet Lumina debuted. Ricky Rudd’s #26 team for King Racing continued to use the old 1987 Buick LeSabre sheet metal at restrictor plate tracks due to being more aerodynamic than the current Buick Regal. All other Buick teams continued to use the normal Regal chassis at plate tracks. Stavola Brothers Racing tried to run a Buick Skyhawk, but decided to stick with the Regal.

During Preseason Testing in January 1989, Pacific Coast Racing discovered in the 1989 rulebook that Chrysler had gotten the Dodge Daytona approved for NASCAR competition. Owner Manny Brown quickly bought up some Dodge Daytona sheetmetal and had it installed on rookie Chloe Johnson's car, having Tim Johnson run a Chrysler LeBaron so they could compare the two models. After six laps, it was found the Daytona was running faster lap times than the LeBaron and easily outpacing it without any drafting help. Shortly thereafter, Tim's car was rebuilt as a Daytona, and together, the Johnson Twins ended the second day with the fastest lap times. This prompted every other Chrysler team to immediately purchase Dodge Daytona sheetmetal (Kelman Racing got its sheetmetal through PCR due to being a satellite team of the latter), and by the end of testing, all Chrysler teams had decided to run the Dodge Daytona at Daytona, Talladega, and Coca-Cola; Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca later revealed he had a NASCAR-legal version of the Dodge Daytona made specifically because he knew Pacific Coast Racing always scanned the eligible models section of the rulebook very carefully every year, and he badly wanted to promote the car.