| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 29 in the1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1991 Pontiac Excitement 400 program cover, with artwork by NASCAR artistSam Bass. | |||
| Date | February 24, 1991 | ||
| Official name | 37th Annual Pontiac Excitement 400 | ||
| Location | Richmond, Virginia,Richmond International Raceway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.75 miles (1.21 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Average speed | 105.937 miles per hour (170.489 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 51,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Robert Yates Racing | ||
| Time | 22.420 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 154 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier,Neil Bonnett,Ken Stabler | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The1991 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the secondstock car race of the1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, February 24, 1991, before an audience of 51,000 inRichmond, Virginia, atRichmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Battling to the finish,Richard Childress Racing driverDale Earnhardt would manage to defend againstHendrick Motorsports driverRicky Rudd in the final laps of the race to take his 49th careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Rudd andLeo Jackson Motorsports driverHarry Gant would finish second and third, respectively.
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km),D-shaped, asphalt racetrack located just outsideRichmond, Virginia inHenrico County. It hosts theMonster Energy NASCAR Cup Series andXfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCARCamping World Truck Series race, anIndyCar Series race, and twoUSAC sprint car races.
*Fired after first-round qualifying and replaced byBobby Hillin Jr. for the race.[3]
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, February 22, at 3:00 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, February 23, at 11:00 AMEST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 would be decided on time,[4] 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 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.
Davey Allison, driving forRobert Yates Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 22.420 and an average speed of 120.428 miles per hour (193.810 km/h) in the first round.[5]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
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| Previous race: 1991 Daytona 500 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1991 season | Next race: 1991 GM Goodwrench 500 |
