| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 18 of 30 in the1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1993 DieHard 500 program cover, featuringErnie Irvan. | |||
| Date | July 25, 1993 (1993-07-25) | ||
| Official name | 25th Annual DieHard 500 | ||
| Location | Lincoln, Alabama,Talladega Superspeedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.66 miles (4.281 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.801 km) | ||
| Average speed | 153.858 miles per hour (247.610 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 100,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson & Associates | ||
| Time | 49.772 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 59 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier,Ned Jarrett,Neil Bonnett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The1993 DieHard 500 was the 18thstock car race of the1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 25th iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, July 25, 1993, before an audience of 100,000 inLincoln, Alabama atTalladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shapedsuperspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In one of theclosest finishes in NASCAR Winston Cup Series history,Richard Childress Racing driverDale Earnhardt would manage to best out a last-lap challenge againstMorgan–McClure Motorsports driverErnie Irvan by 0.005 seconds at the finish line, with Earnhardt managing to extend his dominant driver's championship lead over the rest of the field with the victory.[1][2] The victory was Earnhardt's 59th careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his sixth and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three,Roush Racing driverMark Martin would finish third.
The race was marred by two separate major incidents throughout the race. On lap 70, a five-car incident featuredActive Motorsports driverJimmy Horton flipping over the protective outside wall in turn one, meant to keep cars within the track. While Horton wasn't seriously hurt, in the same accident, owner-driver andBirmingham, Alabama nativeStanley Smith would suffer abasilar skull fracture and partial paralysis of the right side of his body after slamming his car into the turn one wall, spilling blood on most of his racing firesuit.[3][4]
After being taken to a Birmingham hospital, Smith would recover for 40 days until he was eventually discharged.[5] The second major crash would occur on lap 132, whenNeil Bonnett's car would go airborne, flip over the damaged car ofTed Musgrave, and smash into the protective catch-fence on the track's front-stretch that was meant to protect spectators. Nine fans would be injured due to the crash. Bonnett, making a one-off appearance since retiring in 1990, was uninjured and would eventually decide to commentate the rest of the race for CBS.[6]
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known asAlabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is amotorsports complex located north ofTalladega, Alabama. It is located on the formerAnniston Air Force Base in the small city ofLincoln. The track is atri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by theInternational Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by theFrance family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts theNASCAR series such as theNASCAR Cup Series,Xfinity Series and theCamping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longestNASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like theDaytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 22, at 4:00 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, July 23, at 11:30 AMEST.
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,[7] 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; up to two provisionals were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Bill Elliott, driving forJunior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 49.772 and an average speed of 192.397 miles per hour (309.633 km/h) in the first round.[8]
Five drivers would fail to qualify.
The Diehard 500 was covered byCBS in the United States.Ken Squier, two-timeNASCAR Cup Series championNed Jarrett and1980 race winnerNeil Bonnett called the race from the broadcast booth, Bonnett was driving in this race and reported from the car in the race but returned to the booth after his accident.Mike Joy andDavid Hobbs handled pit road for the television side. This would be the last raceNeil Bonnett would call for CBS as he was scheduled to be with CBS for 1994 but was killed practicing for the1994 Daytona 500. Due to the one hour red flag caused by Bonnett flipping his car and damaging the fence, CBS left during the red flag to air some of their same day coverage of theTour de France but returned to Talladega to live coverage of the rest of the race.
| CBS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | |
| Lap-by-lap | Color-commentators | |
| Ken Squier | Ned Jarrett Neil Bonnett | Mike Joy David Hobbs |
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| Previous race: 1993 Miller Genuine Draft 500 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1993 season | Next race: 1993 The Bud at The Glen |
33°34′01″N86°03′58″W / 33.567°N 86.066°W /33.567; -86.066
