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1983 Like Cola 500

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Coordinates: 41°03′19″N 75°30′41″W / 41.05539°N 75.51152°W / 41.05539; -75.51152
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41°03′19″N 75°30′41″W / 41.05539°N 75.51152°W / 41.05539; -75.51152

1983 Like Cola 500
Race details[1]
Race 18 of 30 in the 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.
Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.
Date July 24, 1983 (1983-July-24)
Official name Like Cola 500
Location Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (3.400 km)
Distance 200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 75.9 °F (24.4 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed 114.818 mph (184.782 km/h)
Attendance 65,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Blue Max Racing
Time 59.218 seconds
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison DiGard Motorsports
Laps 56
Winner
No. 27 Tim Richmond Blue Max Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Larry Nuber

The 1983 Like Cola 500, the 10th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on July 24, 1983, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Like Cola, the sponsor of the race, was an unsuccessful cola soft drink that was distributed and sold through the United States of America from 1982 to approximately 1985.

During the early 1980s, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series was plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Background

Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[3] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.[4]

Race report

Out of the 42 drivers who tried to qualify for this event; 40 managed to qualify. John Callis and Jimmy Walker are the two drivers who failed to qualify for the race.[2] John Callis would never return to NASCAR after failing to qualify for this race. With the exception of Canadian-born Trevor Boys, the grid was born in the United States of America.[2] Clark Dwyer managed to receive the last-place finish due to an oil pressure issue on lap 6 in this 200-lap extravaganza.[2] Pontiac and Buick vehicles made up the majority of the racing grid.[2] Bobby Wawak would be the lowest-finishing driver to complete the event while Morgan Shepherd's attempt at a "top ten" finish would be sabotaged by a problematic engine on lap 193.[2]

While Tim Richmond and Darrell Waltrip would dominate the opening laps of this event, the closing laps would see Bill Elliott, Dave Marcis and Tim Richmond exchange the first-place position during the closing laps.[2] Richmond would eventually best Waltrip by almost two seconds in front of a live audience of 65,000 spectators driving in a used Pontiac LeMans machine as opposed to the newer Pontiac Grand Prix model.[2] Other notable drivers in this event included Kyle Petty, J.D. McDuffie, Sterling Marlin, Benny Parsons and Buddy Arrington.[2] Bobby Gerhart and Glenn Jarrett managed to collide into each other in a manner that would rip the entire rear end off of Gerhart's vehicle on lap 25.[2]

The average speeds for this vehicles in this event was 114.818 miles per hour (184.782 km/h) while pole position winner Tim Richmond was practically sailing through the turns at speeds up to 151.981 miles per hour (244.590 km/h) during the solo qualifying runs.[2] Individual race earnings varied from the winner's portion of $27,430 ($83,912 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's portion of $1,100 ($3,365 when adjusted for inflation). NASCAR officials authorized a grand total of $246,500 to be awarded to all qualifying drivers for this racing event ($754,078 when adjusted for inflation).[5] After this event, the racing never got super-competitive at Pocono Raceway until the July 1995 running of the Miller Genuine Draft 500.

Glenn Jarrett would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing after racing here.[6] Notable crew chiefs who were in attendance for this race were Darrell Bryant, Joey Arrington, Elmo Langley, Dale Inman, Robin Pemberton, Bud Moore and Kirk Shelmerdine.[7]

The most dominant drivers in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during the 1980s were Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Bobby Allison, and Dale Earnhardt. During the early 1980s, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series was plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection.

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Speed[8] Qualifying time[8] Owner
1 27 Tim Richmond Pontiac 151.981 59.218 Raymond Beadle
2 33 Harry Gant Buick 150.809 59.678 Hal Needham
3 11 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 150.499 59.801 Junior Johnson
4 75 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet 150.471 59.812 RahMoc Enterprises
5 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 150.461 59.816 Billy Hagan
6 3 Ricky Rudd Chevrolet 149.778 1:00.089 Richard Childress
7 55 Benny Parsons Chevrolet 149.358 1:00.258 Johnny Hayes
8 9 Bill Elliott Ford 149.293 1:00.284 Harry Melling
9 43 Richard Petty Pontiac 148.984 1:00.409 Petty Enterprises
10 15 Dale Earnhardt Ford 148.733 1:00.511 Bud Moore
11 88 Geoff Bodine Pontiac 148.692 1:00.528
12 22 Bobby Allison Buick 148.588 1:00.570
13 98 Joe Ruttman Buick 148.446 1:00.628
14 7 Kyle Petty Pontiac 148.432 1:00.634
15 47 Ron Bouchard Buick 147.614 1:00.970
16 90 Dick Brooks Ford 147.196 1:01.143
17 48 Trevor Boys Chevrolet 147.150 1:01.162
18 2 Morgan Shepherd Buick 147.020 1:01.216
19 71 Dave Marcis Chevrolet 146.000 1:01.644
20 17 Sterling Marlin Pontiac 145.337 1:01.925
21 5 Greg Sacks Chevrolet 147.481 1:01.025
22 8 Bobby Hillin, Jr. Buick 144.550 1:02.262
23 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge 144.316 1:02.363
24 64 Tommy Gale Ford 143.938 1:02.527
25 74 Bobby Wawak Buick 143.816 1:02.580
26 19 Bobby Gerhart Buick 143.239 1:02.832
27 02 D.K. Ulrich Pontiac 143.087 1:02.899
28 52 Jimmy Means Pontiac 142.939 1:02.964
29 18 Slick Johnson Buick 142.898 1:02.982
30 6 Al Elmore Buick 142.360 1:03.220
31 76 Mike Potter Oldsmobile 142.333 1:03.232
32 60 Bob Riley Pontiac 142.310 1:03.242
33 41 Ronnie Thomas Pontiac 142.265 1:03.262
34 10 Clark Dwyer Chevrolet 142.135 1:03.320
35 65 Glenn Jarrett Ford 141.936 1:03.409
36 24 Cecil Gordon Chrysler 141.168 1:03.754
37 58 Jerry Bowman Ford 141.015 1:03.823
38 63 Jocko Maggiacomo Oldsmobile 140.988 1:03.835
39 70 J.D. McDuffie Pontiac 140.974 1:03.923
40 13 Dick May Buick 139.392 1:04.566

Race

Pos[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps led Status
1 27 Tim Richmond Pontiac 200 39 Running
2 11 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 200 50 Running
3 22 Bobby Allison Buick 200 56 Running
4 75 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet 200 25 Running
5 33 Harry Gant Buick 200 15 Running
6 9 Bill Elliott Ford 200 2 Running
7 3 Ricky Rudd Chevrolet 200 0 Running
8 71 Dave Marcis Chevrolet 200 3 Running
9 98 Joe Ruttman Buick 200 0 Running
10 43 Richard Petty Pontiac 200 5 Running
11 7 Kyle Petty Pontiac 199 0 Running
12 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 199 2 Running
13 47 Ron Bouchard Buick 198 0 Running
14 48 Trevor Boys Chevrolet 197 0 Running
15 90 Dick Brooks Ford 196 0 Running
16 8 Bobby Hillin, Jr. Buick 196 0 Running
17 02 D.K. Ulrich Pontiac 195 0 Running
18 17 Sterling Marlin Pontiac 195 0 Running
19 2 Morgan Shepherd Buick 193 0 Engine failure
20 41 Ronnie Thomas Pontiac 193 1 Running
21 76 Mike Potter Oldsmobile 192 0 Running
22 6 Al Elmore Buick 191 0 Running
23 24 Cecil Gordon Chrysler 189 0 Running
24 64
25 70
26 63
27 74
28 58
29 5
30 15 Dale Earnhardt Ford 71 0 Engine failure
31 55 Benny Parsons Chevrolet 71 2 Engine failure
32 67
33 13 Dick May Buick 34 0 Read end
34 19
35 52
36 65
37 18
38 60
39 88 Geoff Bodine Pontiac 7 0 Engine failure
40 10

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Bobby Allison 2804 0
2 Darrell Waltrip 2602 -202
3 Bill Elliott 2535 -269
4 Harry Gant 2523 -281
5 Richard Petty 2439 -365
6 Neil Bonnett 2425 -379
7 Terry Labonte 2221 -583
8 Joe Ruttman 2208 -596
9 Increase Ricky Rudd 2188 -616
10 Decrease Dale Earnhardt 2124 -680

References

  1. ^ Weather information for the 1983 Like Cola 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 1983 Like Cola 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Pocono Raceway". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  5. ^ Winnings information for the 1983 Like Cola 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  6. ^ 1983 Like Cola 500 racing information at Race Database
  7. ^ 1983 Like Cola 500 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  8. ^ a b Additional qualifying information for the 1983 Like Cola 500 at Racing Reference
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1983 		Succeeded by
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