1986 Talladega 500

1986 Talladega 500

Race details
Race 17 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1986 Talladega 500 program cover, featuring Cale Yarborough.
Date	July 27, 1986
Official name	18th Annual Talladega 500
Location	Lincoln, Alabama, Alabama International Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Average speed	151.522 miles per hour (243.851 km/h)
Attendance	105,000
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Time	45.817
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	54
Winner
No. 8	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Stavola Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1986 Talladega 500 was the 17th stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 18th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 27, 1986, before an audience of 105,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Alabama International Motor Speedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete.^[1]

In a race plagued by high temperatures, by the final laps of the race, few cars remained. Of the ones that did, a battle for the lead between Stavola Brothers Racing's Bobby Hillin Jr., Hendrick Motorsports' Tim Richmond, and Ricky Rudd, who at the time was replaced by Rusty Wallace, was created that stretched out into the final lap of the race. At the finish, Hillin Jr. was able to defend the two, securing his only career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his only win of the season, and at the time, the record for the youngest driver to win in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. To fill out the top three, Richmond and Rudd finished second and third, respectively.^[2][3]

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 24, at 2:00 PM 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.^[4] 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 Friday, July 25, 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 provisionals were given.^[5]

Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, won the pole, setting a time of 45.817 and an average speed of 209.005 miles per hour (336.361 km/h) in the first round.^[6]

Four drivers failed to qualify.^[7]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 2,585 2 Darrell Waltrip 2,424 (-161) 3 Tim Richmond 2,400 (-185) 4 Bobby Allison 2,327 (–258) 5 Ricky Rudd 2,293 (–292) 6 Bill Elliott 2,182 (–403) 7 Rusty Wallace 2,138 (–447) 8 Terry Labonte 2,063 (–522) 1 9 Harry Gant 2,060 (–525) 2 10 Bobby Hillin Jr. 2,059 (–526) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.