1983 Winston 500
Encyclopedia
The 1983 Winston 500 was a NASCAR
Winston Cup Series event that took place on May 1, 1983 at Talladega International Motor Speedway (now Talladega Superspeedway) in Talladega
, Alabama
, U.S.
) was more serious than today's broadcasts; telling people about the dangers of driving constantly at 185 miles per hour (297.7 km/h). Using the crude technology that was invested into driver safety back then, drivers had plenty of courage to complete the entire race. Only after Dale Earnhardt's death
would NASCAR start to improve their safety standards; leading up to the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow
.
Before the restrictor plate
s dramatically slowed down the cars, the restarts were considered to be fast and furious at what is now known as Talladega Superspeedway. There were 42 American
-born drivers on the grid, representing manufacturers including Pontiac
, Buick
, Chevrolet
, and Ford
. Cale Yarborough
qualified for the pole position
with a speed of 202.65 miles per hour (90.6 m/s). Richard Petty
defeated Benny Parsons
by two car lengths after three hours and fourteen minutes to earn his 197th career win. Seven cautions for 42 laps were witnessed by 110,000 spectators in addition to 27 different lead changes. The average speed of the race was 153.936 miles per hour (247.7 km/h). There was a major incident involving Phil Parsons
and ten other drivers. Two photographers managed to get Parsons out of the wreck before the vehicle exploded. The entire race purse was $361,820 ($ in today's money).
Dale Earnhardt
was driving a Ford Thunderbird
; an unexpected deviation from the Earnhardt family's Chevrolet
heritage. Lowell Cowell
would retire from NASCAR after this race.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Winston Cup Series event that took place on May 1, 1983 at Talladega International Motor Speedway (now Talladega Superspeedway) in Talladega
Talladega, Alabama
Talladega is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 15,143. The city is the county seat of Talladega County. Talladega is approximately 50 miles east of Birmingham, Alabama....
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, U.S.
Summary
The television coverage of this race (on NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
) was more serious than today's broadcasts; telling people about the dangers of driving constantly at 185 miles per hour (297.7 km/h). Using the crude technology that was invested into driver safety back then, drivers had plenty of courage to complete the entire race. Only after Dale Earnhardt's death
Death of Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt was an American race car driver who gained fame driving stock cars for NASCAR and winning seven championships. He was involved in a car accident during the last lap of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001. He was taken to Halifax Medical Center,...
would NASCAR start to improve their safety standards; leading up to the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow
Car of Tomorrow
The Car of Tomorrow, sometimes called CoT or "Car of Today", is the car style for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Larger and boxier than the design it replaced, the Car of Tomorrow is safer, costs less to maintain, and was intended to make for closer competition.The car was introduced in the 2007 Cup...
.
Before the restrictor plate
Restrictor plate
A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to limit top speed and thus increase safety, to provide equal level of...
s dramatically slowed down the cars, the restarts were considered to be fast and furious at what is now known as Talladega Superspeedway. There were 42 American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-born drivers on the grid, representing manufacturers including Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
, Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
, Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
, and Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough
William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...
qualified for the pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
with a speed of 202.65 miles per hour (90.6 m/s). Richard Petty
Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
defeated Benny Parsons
Benny Parsons
Benjamin Stewart Parsons was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst on TBS, ESPN, NBC and TNT...
by two car lengths after three hours and fourteen minutes to earn his 197th career win. Seven cautions for 42 laps were witnessed by 110,000 spectators in addition to 27 different lead changes. The average speed of the race was 153.936 miles per hour (247.7 km/h). There was a major incident involving Phil Parsons
Phil Parsons
Phil Parsons , is a former NASCAR driver and owner of MSRP Motorsports . He is also the younger brother of the late 1973 Winston Cup champion and former NBC/TNT commentator Benny Parsons. Years later, he returned to the Busch Series, where he enjoyed modest success...
and ten other drivers. Two photographers managed to get Parsons out of the wreck before the vehicle exploded. The entire race purse was $361,820 ($ in today's money).
Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
was driving a Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird
The Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...
; an unexpected deviation from the Earnhardt family's Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
heritage. Lowell Cowell
Lowell Cowell
Lowell Cowell is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. He would drive for Oldsmobile , Buick , and Chevrolet during his NASCAR career.-Summary:...
would retire from NASCAR after this race.
Top twenty finishers
- Richard Petty
- Benny Parsons
- Lake SpeedLake Speed-Background:Lake was named after the best friend of his father, Bob Lake. Lake's father Leland L. Speed took office as the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi in 1948, the same year that he was born. He started his racing career at the age of thirteen racing karts, much to the displeasure of his family...
- Harry GantHarry GantHarry Phil Gant is a retired American racecar driver best known for driving the #33 Skoal Bandit car on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit during the 1980s and 1990s.-Nicknames:...
- Bill ElliottBill ElliottWilliam Clyde "Bill" Elliott , also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville or Million Dollar Bill, is a part-time driver and former champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Elliott was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007. He won the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup...
- Terry LabonteTerry LabonteTerrance Lee Labonte is a semi-retired NASCAR driver who occasionally drives in the Sprint Cup Series when called upon and is a two-time Winston Cup and IROC champion. He currently drives the #32 U.S. Chrome Ford for FAS Lane Racing. Labonte was introduced to the sport through his father, who had...
- Jimmy MeansJimmy MeansJames "Jimmy" Means is a former Winston Cup/Nextel Cup owner/driver. Currently, he is an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Means Racing. He competed in NASCAR for eighteen years in mostly his own equipment, posting seventeen career top-tens...
- Ricky RuddRicky RuddRicky Rudd is a former American NASCAR driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and Nationwide Series driver Jason Rudd. Rudd is known as the "Iron Man" of NASCAR; holding the record for most consecutive starts in NASCAR racing. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, Rudd had made 788...
- Dave MarcisDave MarcisDave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...
- Bobby AllisonBobby AllisonRobert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....
- Joe RuttmanJoe RuttmanJoe Ruttman , is an American former racecar driver. He currently lives in Franklin, Tenn. He actively competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series and is a 13 time winner in the Truck Series, the seventh most wins by any driver in the Truck...
- Ken RaganKen RaganKen Ragan is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and the father of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Ragan. Ken made 50 Cup starts from 1982 to 1990, mostly for his brother Marvin, but also drove in the 1985 season for Roger Hamby. Ragan's best finish was an 11th place that he recorded at Talladega...
- Tommy GaleTommy GaleThomas "Tommy" Gale was an English footballer who played for Sheffield Wednesday and York City in the Football League.-Career:...
- Dick BrooksDick BrooksRichard "Dick" Brooks was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500...
- Neil BonnettNeil BonnettLawrence Neil Bonnett was a NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. The Alabama native currently ranks 35th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film Stroker Ace and the 1990 film Days of Thunder...
- Cecil GordonCecil GordonCecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....
- Morgan ShepherdMorgan ShepherdClay Morgan Shepherd has been a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver since 1977. He has also raced in the Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. He is a born again Christian who serves as a lay minister to the racing community...
- Dean Roper
- Lennie PondLennie PondLennie Pond is a former NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier....
- Ron BouchardRon BouchardRon Bouchard is a former NASCAR driver who was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His brother Ken Bouchard was the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.-Local driving career:...