# 1985 Southern 500

The 1985 Southern 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on September 1, 1985, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. It was race number 20 of 28 of the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Bill Elliott made history by winning the race and with it the Winston Million bonus; it was then the richest single race payday in motorsports history.

## Background

Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, altered to accommodate the resident landowner who didn’t want his nearby minnow pond disturbed. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.
The track is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval. The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees. The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees. Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.
Darlington has something of a legendary quality among drivers and older fans; this is probably due to its long track length relative to other NASCAR speedways of its era and hence the first venue where many of them became cognizant of the truly high speeds that stock cars could achieve on a long track. The track allegedly earned the moniker The Lady in Black because the night before the race the track maintenance crew would cover the entire track with fresh asphalt sealant, in the early years of the speedway, thus making the racing surface dark black. Darlington is also known as "The Track Too Tough to Tame" because drivers can run lap after lap without a problem and then bounce off of the wall the following lap. Racers will frequently explain that they have to race the racetrack, not their competition. Drivers hitting the wall are considered to have received their "Darlington Stripe" thanks to the missing paint on the right side of the car.

## Race summary

Dale Earnhardt had the dominant car of the race but on lap 317 he spun which not only brought out the caution flag but also damaged his engine which led to him dropping out of the race. Cale Yarborough led until his car started billowing smoke from his power steering leading to one of the race's last caution flags leaving Bill Elliott in the lead and claiming the Winston Million.
This race was the first start for Pancho Carter and the last Cup race for NASCAR Busch Series legend Tommy Houston.

## Full results
### Failed to qualify

Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:
| Driver | Car no. | Car Make |
| Jonathan Lee Edwards | | |
| Ferrel Harris | | |
| Rick Newsom | | |
| Connie Saylor | | |
| Bobby Wawak | | |
| J.D. McDuffie | 70 | Chevrolet Monte Carlo |

### Box score

| Fin. | Grid | Car no. | Driver | Car Make | Status | Laps | Laps Led | Points |
| 1 | 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Ford Thunderbird | 4:08:02 | 367 | 100 | 180 (5) |
| 2 | 22 | 28 | Cale Yarborough | Ford Thunderbird | -.6 seconds | 367 | 25 | 175 (5) |
| 3 | 17 | 5 | Geoffrey Bodine | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Running | 367 | 5 | 170 (5) |
| 4 | 21 | 12 | Neil Bonnett | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -1 lap | 366 | 0 | 160 |
| 5 | 19 | 47 | Ron Bouchard | Buick Regal | -1 lap | 366 | 1 | 160 (5) |
| 6 | 11 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Ford Thunderbird | -1 lap | 366 | 0 | 150 |
| 7 | 9 | 44 | Terry Labonte | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -2 laps | 365 | 0 | 146 |
| 8 | 3 | 55 | Benny Parsons | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -2 laps | 365 | 0 | 142 |
| 9 | 4 | 4 | Joe Ruttman | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -3 laps | 364 | 0 | 138 |
| 10 | 25 | 7 | Kyle Petty | Ford Thunderbird | -3 laps | 364 | 0 | 134 |
| 11 | 8 | 27 | Tim Richmond | Pontiac Grand Prix | -3 laps | 364 | 0 | 130 |
| 12 | 24 | 43 | Richard Petty | Pontiac Grand Prix | -3 laps | 364 | 0 | 127 |
| 13 | 20 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -5 laps | 362 | 1 | 129 (5) |
| 14 | 32 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Ford Thunderbird | -5 laps | 362 | 0 | 121 |
| 15 | 16 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Oldsmobile | Engine | 358 | 2 | 123 (5) |
| 16 | 18 | 75 | Lake Speed | Pontiac Grand Prix | -9 laps | 358 | 0 | 115 |
| 17 | 7 | 11 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -12 laps | 355 | 0 | 112 |
| 18 | 33 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Ford Thunderbird | -14 laps | 353 | 0 | 109 |
| 19 | 5 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Engine | 349 | 147 | 116 (10) |
| 20 | 39 | 17 | Ken Ragan | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -18 laps | 349 | 0 | 103 |
| 21 | 6 | 33 | Harry Gant | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Engine | 336 | 84 | 105 (5) |
| 22 | 29 | 1 | Pancho Carter | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | -31 laps | 336 | 0 | 97 |
| 23 | 27 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Vibration | 271 | 2 | 99 (5) |
| 24 | 35 | 23 | Michael Waltrip | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Engine | 266 | 0 | 91 |
| 25 | 26 | 14 | A.J. Foyt | Oldsmobile | Brakes | 248 | 0 | 88 |
| 26 | 37 | 64 | Clark Dwyer | Ford Thunderbird | Crash | 237 | 0 | 85 |
| 27 | 36 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Camshaft | 236 | 0 | 82 |
| 28 | 40 | 68 | Mike Potter | Ford Thunderbird | Engine | 186 | 0 | 79 |
| 29 | 38 | 51 | Slick Johnson | Ford Thunderbird | Oil pressure | 184 | 0 | 76 |
| 30 | 23 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Ford Thunderbird | Engine | 162 | 0 | 73 |
| 31 | 30 | 49 | Trevor Boys | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Crash | 134 | 0 | 70 |
| 32 | 34 | 6 | Eddie Bierschwale | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Engine | 108 | 0 | 67 |
| 33 | 12 | 18 | Tommy Ellis | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Transmission | 101 | 0 | 64 |
| 34 | 31 | 36 | H.B. Bailey | Pontiac Grand Prix | Crash | 94 | 0 | 61 |
| 35 | 10 | 77 | Greg Sacks | Buick Regal | Crash | 60 | 0 | 58 |
| 36 | 28 | 32 | Tommy Houston | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Engine | 47 | 0 | 55 |
| 37 | 15 | 16 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Engine | 22 | 0 | 52 |
| 38 | 14 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Pontiac Grand Prix | Crash | 21 | 0 | 49 |
| 39 | 13 | 66 | Phil Parsons | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Crash | 21 | 0 | 46 |
| 40 | 2 | 21 | David Pearson | Ford Thunderbird | Engine | 17 | 0 | 43 |
| Source: |||||||||
(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap (10) Indicates 10 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap & leading the most laps

### Cautions

Cautions: 14 for 70 laps
| From Lap | To Lap | Total laps | Reason |
| 23 | 30 | 8 | Car #'s 2 & 66, accident turn 4 |
| 36 | 39 | 4 | Rain |
| 61 | 64 | 4 | Debris |
| 100 | 107 | 8 | Car # 36, accident turn 2 |
| 148 | 154 | 7 | Car # 49, accident |
| 169 | 173 | 5 | Oil on track |
| 189 | 193 | 5 | Car # 51, Accident |
| 267 | 271 | 5 | Car # 64, accident frontstretch |
| 294 | 297 | 4 | Debris, backstretch |
| 318 | 322 | 5 | Car # 3, spun turn 4 |
| 325 | 329 | 5 | Car # 28 smoking |
| 333 | 334 | 2 | Debris |
| 338 | 341 | 4 | Oil on track |
| 351 | 354 | 4 | Debris |

### Lap leaders

| Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Total Laps |
| Bill Elliott | 1 | 14 | 14 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 15 | 23 | 9 |
| Buddy Baker | 24 | 24 | 1 |
| Dave Marcis | 25 | 26 | 2 |
| Geoffrey Bodine | 27 | 31 | 5 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 32 | 61 | 30 |
| Bobby Hillin, Jr. | 62 | 62 | 1 |
| Bill Elliott | 63 | 100 | 38 |
| Harry Gant | 101 | 115 | 15 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 116 | 148 | 33 |
| Ron Bouchard | 149 | 149 | 1 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 150 | 155 | 6 |
| Harry Gant | 156 | 169 | 14 |
| Buddy Baker | 170 | 170 | 1 |
| Harry Gant | 171 | 190 | 20 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 191 | 259 | 69 |
| Harry Gant | 260 | 294 | 35 |
| Cale Yarborough | 295 | 318 | 24 |
| Bill Elliott | 319 | 322 | 4 |
| Cale Yarborough | 323 | 323 | 1 |
| Bill Elliott | 324 | 367 | 44 |
| Source: ||||

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points | Difference |
| 1 | Bill Elliott | 3176 | 0 |
| 2 | Darrell Waltrip | 2970 | -206 |
| 3 | Neil Bonnett | 2880 | -296 |
| 4 | Harry Gant | 2760 | -416 |
| 5 | Geoffrey Bodine | 2742 | -434 |
| 6 | Kyle Petty | 2699 | -477 |
| 7 | Ricky Rudd | 2698 | -478 |
| 8 | Terry Labonte | 2634 | -542 |
| 9 | Bobby Allison | 2497 | -679 |
| 10 | Lake Speed | 2494 | -682 |