1985 Summer 500

1985 Summer 500
Race details[1][2]
Race 16 of 28 in the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.
Date July 21, 1985 (1985-July-21)
Official name Summer 500
Location Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (3.400 km)
Distance 200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 86.0 °F (30.0 °C); wind speeds reaching 6.10 miles per hour (9.82 km/h)
Average speed 134.008 miles per hour (215.665 km/h)
Attendance 65,000[3]
Pole position
Driver
Junior Johnson & Associates
Most laps led
Driver Neil Bonnett Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 72
Winner
No. 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Larry Nuber

The 1985 Summer 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 21, 1985, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Background

Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[4] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[5] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.[5]

Summary

Temperatures for this race would hover between 62.1 °F (16.7 °C) and 86.0 °F (30.0 °C); while the average temperature was 74.1 °F (23.4 °C). Wind speeds would reach 6.10 miles per hour (9.82 km/h) for most of the day.[2] Visibility for the area was an at impressive 9.8 miles (15.8 km).[2] Two hundred laps were done on a paved track spanning 2.500 miles (4.023 km).[3][1][6]

The race took three hours and forty-two seconds to resolve itself with Bill Elliott defeating Neil Bonnett by five seconds.[3][1] Six cautions were given out by NASCAR officials for 24 laps.[3] Bill Elliott won the pole with a qualifying speed of 151.973 miles per hour (244.577 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 134.008 miles per hour (215.665 km/h).[3][1][7] Darrell Waltrip originally earned the pole position award but was stripped for using illegal fuel two weeks after the race was finished.[1] There were 40 drivers in the race;[1][7] 39 of them were American-born while Trevor Boys was born in Canada.[3] J.D. McDuffie would "earn" a last-place finish on lap 10 due to an engine problem.[3][1][6][7]

Bill Elliott's win for Melling Racing would earn him $44,025 in total winnings ($97,026.63 when adjusted for inflation) while last-place finisher McDuffie would walk away with a meager $2,675 for McDuffie Racing ($5,895.43 when adjusted for inflation).[1][6] The street version of the 1985 Thunderbird was a smaller car and more aerodynamic than the street 1985 Monte Carlo with its square rear window; the race versions also suffered from these advantages and disadvantages. Elliott's 1985 Thunderbird was the same size as the Thunderbird vehicles that Ricky Rudd, Kyle Petty and Cale Yarborough drove during the season. They all fit the 1985 Thunderbird NASCAR templates and were considered valid for Winston Cup Series racing throughout 1985.

Top twenty finishers

  1. Bill Elliott (No. 9)
  2. Neil Bonnett (No. 12)
  3. Darrell Waltrip (No. 11)
  4. Geoffrey Bodine (No. 5)
  5. Harry Gant (No. 33)
  6. Benny Parsons (No. 55)
  7. Kyle Petty (No. 7)
  8. Phil Parsons (No. 66)
  9. Ron Bouchard (No. 47)
  10. Buddy Baker (No. 88)
  11. Lake Speed (No. 75)
  12. Buddy Allison (No. 22)
  13. Lennie Pond (No. 17)
  14. Ricky Rudd (No. 15)
  15. Ken Schrader (No. 90)
  16. Clark Dwyer (No. 64)
  17. Eddie Bierschwale (No. 6)
  18. Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
  19. Doug Heveron (No. 51)
  20. Trevor Boys (No. 49)

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[3] Differential
1 Bill Elliott 2486 0
2 Darrell Waltrip 2375 -111
3 Geoffrey Bodine 2286 -200
4 Neil Bonnett 2240 -246
5 Ricky Rudd 2231 -255
6 Terry Labonte 2223 -263
7 Kyle Petty 2197 -289
8 Harry Gant 2184 -302
9 Bobby Allison 2180 -306
10 Lake Speed 1983 -503

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1985 Summer 500 racing information at Ultimate Racing History
  2. 1 2 3 1985 Summer 500 weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1985 Summer 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  4. ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Pocono Raceway". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 1985 Summer 500 information at Driver Averages
  7. 1 2 3 1985 Summer 500 information at Database Racing
Preceded by
1985 Pepsi Firecracker 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1985 		Succeeded by
1985 Talladega 500
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