| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 28 of 29 in the1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1989 Autoworks 500 program cover. | |||
| Date | November 5, 1989 (1989-11-05) | ||
| Official name | 2nd Annual Autoworks 500 | ||
| Location | Avondale, Arizona,Phoenix International Raceway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1 miles (1.6 km) | ||
| Distance | 312 laps, 312 mi (502.115 km) | ||
| Average speed | 105.683 miles per hour (170.080 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 65,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 28.882 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | |
| Laps | 96 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins,Benny Parsons,Ned Jarrett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The1989 Autoworks 500 was the 28th and penultimatestock car race of the1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, the 11th and final race of the1989 NASCAR Winston West Series season, and the second iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, November 5, 1989, before an audience of 65,000 inAvondale, Arizona atPhoenix International Raceway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent low-bankedtri-oval race track. The race took the scheduled 312 laps to complete. Assisted by a late-race crash from the championship leader at the time,Rusty Wallace,Melling Racing driverBill Elliott would manage to take over control for the final 48 laps of the race to take his 32nd careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three,Junior Johnson & Associates driverTerry Labonte andRoush Racing driverMark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.
In theNASCAR Winston West Series championship race,Bill Schmitt was able to defeat competitorBill Sedgwick by 56 points to take his third career Winston West Series championship.[5]
Headed into the final race of the Winston Cup Series season, the1989 Atlanta Journal 500, three drivers were mathematically eligible to clinch the championship, withRusty Wallace leading the standings with 4,058 points,Mark Martin in second with 3,980 points, andDale Earnhardt in third with 3,979 points. Wallace, who came into the race leading then second-place Earnhardt by 109 points, had a poor finish due to a crash caused byStan Barrett, decreasing his lead by 31 points.[6] In order for Wallace to clinch the championship, Wallace would need an 18th place finish or better to earn his first Winston Cup Series title.[7]
Phoenix International Raceway – also known asPIR – is a one-mile, low-bankedtri-oval race track located inAvondale, Arizona. It is named after the nearby metropolitan area ofPhoenix. Themotorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts twoNASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted theIndyCar Series,CART,USAC and theRolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated byInternational Speedway Corporation.
The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km)road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51 mi (2.43 km) interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, November 2, at 5:30 PMEST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. 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 Saturday, November 3, at 2:00 PMEST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[8] 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; which was up to two for cars in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and up to two extra provisionals for the cars in the NASCAR Winston West Series.
Ken Schrader, driving forHendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 28.882 and an average speed of 124.645 miles per hour (200.597 km/h) in the first round.[9][10]
Seven drivers would fail to qualify.
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| Previous race: 1989 AC Delco 500 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1989 season | Next race: 1989 Atlanta Journal 500 |
| Previous race: 1989 Winston 200 | NASCAR Winston West Series 1989 season | Next race: 1990 Spears Manufacturing 400 |
