1986 Daytona 500

1986 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 1 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1986 Daytona 500 program cover, featuring Bill Elliott.
Date	February 16, 1986
Official name	28th Annual Daytona 500
Location	Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed	148.124 miles per hour (238.382 km/h)
Attendance	125,000
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Time	43.894
Most laps led
Driver	Geoff Bodine	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	101
Winner
No. 5	Geoff Bodine	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, David Hobbs, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1986 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 16, 1986, before an audience of 125,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway.

In the final laps of the race, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine engaged in a battle for the victory. However, by the final lap, Earnhardt ran out of fuel, leading Bodine to cruise to an easy victory, having dominated for a majority of the race. The victory was Bodine's third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and his only Daytona 500 victory.^[1][2] Hagan Enterprises' Terry Labonte and Junior Johnson & Associates' Darrell Waltrip finished second and third, respectively.

Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying was set by the 1986 7-Eleven Twin 125s. The top two positions were set by qualifying speeds held for the Twin 125 Qualifiers held on Monday, February 10, with the top two qualifiers in the session earning the top two positions for the Daytona 500. The rest of the starting was set in the Twin 125 Qualifiers, held on Thursday, February 13, during two races.^[4] The top 14 finishers in the first race, excluding the pole position winner, set the inside row from rows two to 15, and the top 14 finishers in the second race, excluding the outside pole position winner, set the outside row from rows two to 15. The remaining non-qualifiers set positions 31-40 based on qualifying speeds from the first qualifying session held on Saturday. If needed, up to two extra provisionals were given to teams high enough in the previous season's owner's standings that did not qualify for the race by either qualifying speed or from the Twin 125 Qualifiers.

Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, won the pole, setting a time of 43.894 and an average speed of 205.039 miles per hour (329.978 km/h) in Monday's session.^[5]

20 drivers failed to qualify.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Geoff Bodine 185 2 Terry Labonte 175 (-10) 3 Darrell Waltrip 170 (-15) 4 Bobby Hillin Jr. 165 (–20) 5 Benny Parsons 155 (–30) 6 Ron Bouchard 150 (–35) 7 Rick Wilson 146 (–39) 8 Sterling Marlin 143 (–42) 9 Rusty Wallace 142 (–43) 10 Lake Speed 134 (–51) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.