41°03′19″N75°30′41″W / 41.05539°N 75.51152°W /41.05539; -75.51152

1983 Like Cola 500

Race details[1]
Race 18 of 30 in the1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1983 Like Cola 500 program cover
Date	July 24, 1983 (1983-07-24)
Official name	Like Cola 500
Location	Pocono International Raceway,Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2.500 miles (3.400 km)
Distance	200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km)
Weather	Mild with temperatures of 75.9 °F (24.4 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed	114.818 mph (184.782 km/h)
Attendance	65,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Tim Richmond	Blue Max Racing
Time	59.218 seconds
Most laps led
Driver	Bobby Allison	DiGard Motorsports
Laps	56
Winner
No. 27	Tim Richmond	Blue Max Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Mizlou
Announcers	Ken Squier Buddy Baker

The1983 Like Cola 500, the 10th running of theevent, was aNASCARWinston Cup Series racing event held on July 24, 1983, atPocono International Raceway inLong Pond, Pennsylvania.

Like Cola, the sponsor of the race, was an unsuccessfulcolasoft drink that was distributed and sold through theUnited States of America from 1982 to approximately 1985.

During the early 1980s, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series was plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Pocono Raceway is one of sixsuperspeedways to holdNASCAR races; the others areDaytona International Speedway,Michigan International Speedway,Auto Club Speedway,Indianapolis Motor Speedway andTalladega Superspeedway.^[3] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.^[4] 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°.^[4]

Out of the 42 drivers who tried to qualify for this event; 40 managed to qualify.John Callis andJimmy Walker are the two drivers who failed to qualify for the race.^[2] John Callis would never return to NASCAR after failing to qualify for this race. With the exception ofCanadian-bornTrevor Boys, the grid was born in theUnited States of America.^[2]Clark Dwyer managed to receive the last-place finish due to anoil pressure issue on lap 6 in this 200-lap extravaganza.^[2]Pontiac andBuick vehicles made up the majority of the racing grid.^[2]Bobby Wawak would be the lowest-finishing driver to complete the event whileMorgan Shepherd's attempt at a "top ten" finish would be sabotaged by a problematic engine on lap 193.^[2]

WhileTim Richmond andDarrell Waltrip would dominate the opening laps of this event, the closing laps would seeBill Elliott,Dave Marcis and Tim Richmond exchange the first-place position during the closing laps.^[2] Richmond would eventually best Waltrip by almost two seconds in front of a live audience of 65,000 spectators driving in a usedPontiac LeMans machine as opposed to the newerPontiac Grand Prix model.^[2] Other notable drivers in this event includedKyle Petty,J.D. McDuffie,Sterling Marlin,Benny Parsons andBuddy Arrington.^[2]Bobby Gerhart andGlenn Jarrett managed to collide into each other in a manner that would rip the entire rear end off of Gerhart's vehicle on lap 25.^[2]

The average speeds for this vehicles in this event was 114.818 miles per hour (184.782 km/h) while pole position winner Tim Richmond was practically sailing through the turns at speeds up to 151.981 miles per hour (244.590 km/h) during the solo qualifying runs.^[2] Individual race earnings varied from the winner's portion of $27,430 ($86,597 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's portion of $1,100 ($3,473 when adjusted for inflation). NASCAR officials authorized a grand total of $246,500 to be awarded to all qualifying drivers for this racing event ($778,209 when adjusted for inflation).^[5] After this event, the racing never got super-competitive at Pocono Raceway until theJuly 1995 running of the Miller Genuine Draft 500.

Glenn Jarrett would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing after racing here.^[6] Notable crew chiefs who were in attendance for this race wereDarrell Bryant,Joey Arrington,Elmo Langley,Dale Inman,Robin Pemberton,Bud Moore andKirk Shelmerdine.^[7]

The most dominant drivers in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during the 1980s were Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Bobby Allison, and Dale Earnhardt. During the early 1980s, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series was plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection.

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Bobby Allison	2804	0
2	Darrell Waltrip	2602	-202
3	Bill Elliott	2535	-269
4	Harry Gant	2523	-281
5	Richard Petty	2439	-365
6	Neil Bonnett	2425	-379
7	Terry Labonte	2221	-583
8	Joe Ruttman	2208	-596
9	Ricky Rudd	2188	-616
10	Dale Earnhardt	2124	-680

• 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• 1983 in sports in Pennsylvania
• NASCAR races at Pocono Raceway

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