1983 Winston Western 500

Race details[1][2]
Race 30 of 30 in the1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1983 Winston Western 500 program cover
Date	November 20, 1983 (1983-11-20)
Official name	Winston Western 500
Location	Riverside International Raceway,Riverside, California
Course length	2.620 miles (4.345 km)
Distance	119 laps, 311.8 mi (501.7 km)
Weather	Temperatures of 64.9 °F (18.3 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed	95.859 miles per hour (154.270 km/h)
Attendance	24,000
Pole position
Driver	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson & Associates
Most laps led
Driver	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps	34
Winner
No. 9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network	WTBS
Announcers	Ken Squier,Cale Yarborough

The1983 Winston Western 500 was the thirtieth and final race of the 1983NASCARWinston Cup Seriesseason. It took place on November 20, 1983, atRiverside International Raceway inRiverside, California.

There were 42 drivers;^[3] 40 of them wereAmerican-born whileRoy Smith andTrevor Boys were born inCanada.

Ricky Rudd started on the front row (second place) but retired from the lead with a blown engine in his last outing for Richard Childress in the number 3 Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet.^[2]Dale Earnhardt would start his final NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in a Ford; bringing home Bud Moore's number 15 Wrangler Thunderbird with a top-5 finish.^[2] James "J.D." Stacy would mark his final race as an official NASCAR team owner at this race.^[2] Stacy came in with promises and a lot of cash but proved to be a charlatan. TheSterling Marlin andTrevor Boys battle for rookie of the year came down to the last race of the year with the Canadian Boys leading coming into the final race by approximately 16 points. Marlin came from behind to claim the honor after scoring a top-20 finish while mechanical problems in this final race doomed Boys' hopes.^[2]

Buddy Arrington was the 23rd-place finisher after dropping out of the race on lap 109 due to wheel issues in his Chrysler Cordoba. Sumner McKnight finished in 19th place after completing 114 of the regulation laps.^[2]

Bobby Allison secured his only Winston Cup Championship during the course of the race.

Jimmy Insolo, aWest Series driver, drove a second car for DiGard Racing (which fielded Bobby Allison), as astart and park entry to help Allison's team (a common practice for the lead team to have the backup car prepared for a second driver in case their lead car failed, the driver can be changed before the start). It was pulled after one lap. Joe Ruttman blew his engine on lap 12 while Bill Schmidt would also have a blown engine on lap 13. Rick McCray's engine would expire on lap 29. Meanwhile, ignition problems would take out Ron Esau on lap 32 at the same time Ricky Rudd suffered from a faulty engine. The ignition on Roy Smith's vehicle stopped working on lap 36 while the throttle on Jim Bown's vehicle gave out on lap 37. Between lap 38 and lap 61, four drivers were forced to exit the race due to engine concerns.^[2][3]

Bill Elliott passedBenny Parsons on the Lap 115 restart that took place on the backstretch, taking the lead before the final safety car was called during Lap 117 for rain, meaning the cars would race back to the line (prohibited starting in 2003) and finished the final two laps under the safety car for a win in front of 24,000 spectators for his first-ever Cup Series victory.^[2] This was Elliott's first Cup win.^[2] Bill Elliott won this race driving a 1982 Ford Thunderbird as opposed to the slicker 1983 model; the team used the older car on road courses and short tracks this season to save costs and due to a parts shortage from Ford for the newest model. Elliott's first Cup andsecond-tier series wins were on road courses, as his first second-tier race win was atWatkins Glen International in 1993. In August 2018, his sonChase Elliott also scored his first Cup win, again on a formerUnited States Grand Prix circuit, winning at Watkins Glen in 2018.

There were 13 lead changes and five caution flags for 26 laps;^[3] making the race last three hours and fifteen minutes.^[2] While the average speed of the race was 95.859 miles per hour (154.270 km/h),Darrell Waltrip qualified for thepole position with a speed of 116.782 miles per hour (187.942 km/h).^[2][3] The length of this race was 119 laps - the equivalent of 311.8 miles (501.8 km).^[2][3]

Jimmy Insolo,Doug Wheeler,Don Waterman,Pat Mintey, andRandy Becker would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing after this event.^[4]

Drivers who failed to qualify were:Bobby Hillin Jr. (#6),Dan Noble (#37),Tony Settember (#58),Harry Goularte (#17),Steve Pfeifer (#8),St. James Davis (#02),Mark Perry (#1) andBob Kennedy (#94).^[5]

This was the last race withoutRusty Wallace until the2006 Daytona 500.

Source:^[6][7]

Pos	Driver	Points	Difference
1	Bobby Allison	4667	0
2	Darrell Waltrip	4620	-47
3	Bill Elliott	4279	-388
4	Richard Petty	4025	-625
5	Terry Labonte	4004	-663
6	Neil Bonnett	4002	-665
7	Harry Gant	3790	-877
8	Dale Earnhardt	3732	-935
9	Ricky Rudd	3693	-974
10	Tim Richmond	3597	-1070

• Bold denotes the champion for the season.
• Source:^[2]

Chevrolet secured the title with a total of 15 wins and 20 poles over the thirty race season. Buick finished a distant second with 6 wins and 2 poles. Third place went to Ford with 4 wins and 1 pole. Pontiac was forth with 5 wins and 7 poles.

*Points scored by the manufacturers are not easily available but when they are found, will be added.

• 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• 1983 in sports in California
• NASCAR races at Riverside International Raceway

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