12th Annual Champion Spark Plug 500
NASWINSTON
DateJune 13
NetworkESPN
Most driverKyle Petty
Most laps148
First driverKyle Petty
Most teamSABCO Racing
First teamSABCO Racing
Car42
Pole teamHendrick Motorsports
Pole driverKen Schrader
Pole time55.277
Avg138.005 miles per hour (222.098 km/h)
RadioMotor Racing Network
LocationLong Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway
Distance laps200
Scheduled laps200
Race nameChampion Spark Plug 500
Year1993
Season no30
Race no13
Course4.0 km
Course2.5 mi
Scheduled500 mi
Scheduled804.672 km
Distance804.672 km
Distance500 mi
AnnouncersBob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons

The 1993 Champion Spark Plug 500 was the 13th stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 12th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 13, 1993, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would manage to dominate the majority of the race to take his seventh career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader and Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The race was held at Pocono Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The track hosts one annual NASCAR Cup Series race, as well as O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series events. Until 2019, the track also hosted an IndyCar Series race.

Pocono Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.

Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.

Entry list

  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
DriverTeamMake
1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord
2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac
3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet
5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord
7Jimmy HensleyAK RacingFord
8Sterling MarlinStavola Brothers RacingFord
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord
12Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFord
14Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet
15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord
16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord
17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet
18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord
22Bobby Labonte (R)Bill Davis RacingFord
24Jeff Gordon (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
26Brett BodineKing RacingFord
27Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord
29Kerry TeagueLinro MotorsportsChevrolet
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac
32Jimmy HortonActive MotorsportsChevrolet
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet
40Kenny Wallace (R)SABCO RacingPontiac
41Phil ParsonsLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac
44Rick WilsonPetty EnterprisesPontiac
48Trevor BoysHylton MotorsportsPontiac
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingFord
53Graham TaylorJimmy Means RacingFord
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord
68Greg SacksTriStar MotorsportsFord
71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet
75Dick TrickleButch Mock MotorsportsFord
83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord
90Bobby Hillin Jr.Donlavey RacingFord
98Derrike CopeCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 11, at 3:00 PM 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 Saturday, June 12, at 10:30 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,[3] 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.

Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 55.277 and an average speed of 162.816 mph (262.027 km/h) in the first round.[4]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet55.277162.816
26Mark MartinRoush RacingFord55.373162.534
327Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord55.382162.508
424Jeff Gordon (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet55.589161.903
53Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet55.592161.894
626Brett BodineKing RacingFord55.666161.679
728Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord55.669161.670
842Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac55.713161.542
912Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFord55.765161.392
102Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac55.766161.389
1183Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord55.926160.927
125Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet55.978160.777
131Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord56.031160.625
1415Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord56.118160.376
1555Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord56.169160.231
1611Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord56.207160.122
174Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet56.211160.111
187Jimmy HensleyAK RacingFord56.221160.083
1990Bobby Hillin Jr.Donlavey RacingFord56.233160.048
2016Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord56.284159.903
Failed to lock in Round 1
2118Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet56.298159.864
2244Rick WilsonPetty EnterprisesPontiac56.319159.804
2322Bobby Labonte (R)Bill Davis RacingFord56.457159.413
2498Derrike CopeCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord56.495159.306
2521Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord56.570159.095
2633Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet56.670158.814
2730Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac56.693158.750
2841Phil ParsonsLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet56.694158.747
2968Greg SacksTriStar MotorsportsFord56.700158.730
3014Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet56.720158.674
3140Kenny Wallace (R)SABCO RacingPontiac56.767158.543
328Sterling MarlinStavola Brothers RacingFord56.806158.434
3371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet56.887158.208
3417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet57.012157.862
3575Dick TrickleButch Mock MotorsportsFord57.048157.762
3632Jimmy HortonActive MotorsportsChevrolet57.714155.941
3752Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingFord57.892155.462
3829Kerry TeagueLinro MotorsportsChevrolet59.365151.604
3948Trevor BoysHylton MotorsportsPontiac1:02.007145.145
4053Graham TaylorJimmy Means RacingFord1:03.651141.396
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings
1842Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac200148running185$44,960
2125Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2004running175$58,435
32633Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet2002running170$38,335
4912Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFord2000running160$31,410
51555Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord2001running160$24,040
6728Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord2006running155$24,115
72521Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord2003running151$17,165
8328Sterling MarlinStavola Brothers RacingFord2005running147$16,365
9125Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2001running143$15,765
101611Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord2000running134$22,015
1153Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20020running135$14,815
122244Rick WilsonPetty EnterprisesPontiac1990running127$11,365
13327Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord1990running124$13,865
142841Phil ParsonsLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet1990running121$10,465
153140Kenny Wallace (R)SABCO RacingPontiac1990running118$11,615
16131Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord1990running115$13,015
17187Jimmy HensleyAK RacingFord1990running112$17,465
182968Greg SacksTriStar MotorsportsFord1980running109$7,965
192118Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet1951running111$15,815
202322Bobby Labonte (R)Bill Davis RacingFord1940running103$10,490
212730Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac1900running100$12,060
223752Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingFord1881running102$7,310
233371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet1800engine94$8,210
241415Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord1730axle91$15,160
252016Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord1500transmission88$11,710
263829Kerry TeagueLinro MotorsportsChevrolet1350engine85$7,060
271183Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord1270rocker arm82$7,010
28424Jeff Gordon (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1130running79$8,535
29626Brett BodineKing RacingFord1090timing chain76$11,460
303417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet890engine73$16,660
3126Mark MartinRoush RacingFord857engine75$14,810
323014Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet830engine67$11,285
332498Derrike CopeCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord620clutch64$11,660
34174Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet580engine61$16,185
353948Trevor BoysHylton MotorsportsPontiac381vibration63$6,510
363575Dick TrickleButch Mock MotorsportsFord170engine55$6,435
373632Jimmy HortonActive MotorsportsChevrolet160engine52$6,360
381990Bobby Hillin Jr.Donlavey RacingFord40engine49$6,320
39102Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac40engine46$14,285
404053Graham TaylorJimmy Means RacingFord30handling43$6,210
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1Dale Earnhardt2,031
22Davey Allison1,806 (-225)
3Dale Jarrett1,784 (-247)
34Kyle Petty1,750 (–281)
35Rusty Wallace1,733 (–298)
6Morgan Shepherd1,719 (–312)
17Ken Schrader1,692 (–339)
38Geoff Bodine1,676 (–355)
29Jimmy Spencer1,637 (–394)
10Jeff Gordon1,570 (–461)
Official driver's standings
  • Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

  1. ^ Owen, Mike (June 14, 1993). "Petty cruises in Champion 500". Pottsville Republican. p. 12. Retrieved January 8, 2023. – via Newspapers.com
  2. ^ Higgins, Tom (June 14, 1993). "Free-spirit Petty NASCAR winner". The Gazette. p. 47. Retrieved January 8, 2023. – via Newspapers.com
  3. ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. June 11, 1993. p. 27. Retrieved January 8, 2023. – via Newspapers.com
  4. ^ Owen, Mike (June 12, 1993). "Schrader claims third pole". St. Lucie News Tribune. p. 34. Retrieved January 8, 2023. – via Newspapers.com