1991 Pepsi 400

1991 Pepsi 400

Race details
Race 15 of 29 in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1991 Pepsi 400 program cover.
Date	July 6, 1991
Official name	33rd Annual Pepsi 400
Location	Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Scheduled Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Average speed	159.116 miles per hour (256.072 km/h)
Attendance	80,000
Pole position
Driver	Sterling Marlin	Junior Johnson & Associates
Time	47.286
Most laps led
Driver	Ernie Irvan	Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Laps	85
Winner
No. 9	Bill Elliott	Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1991 Pepsi 400 was the 15th

On lap 120 of the race, owner-driver Darrell Waltrip, along with RahMoc Enterprises driver Joe Ruttman, would both be involved in a crash on the track's back straightaway. Waltrip and Ruttman would both slide into the infield grass, and Waltrip's car, after hitting a bump in the infield, would then proceed to go into a series of violent flips, destroying Waltrip's car. Waltrip was not seriously hurt.^[5][6]

Background

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 2, at 10:00 AM EST. 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 Friday, July 3, at 11:00 AM EST. 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.

Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 47.286 and an average speed of 190.331 miles per hour (306.308 km/h) in the first round.^[8][9]

Four drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 2,353 2 Ricky Rudd 2,207 (-146) 1 3 Ernie Irvan 2,139 (-214) 1 4 Ken Schrader 2,137 (–216) 1 5 Davey Allison 2,124 (–229) 3 6 Darrell Waltrip 2,060 (–293) 7 Harry Gant 2,000 (–353) 8 Mark Martin 1,985 (–368) 1 9 Michael Waltrip 1,852 (–501) 1 10 Sterling Marlin 1,841 (–512) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References