Random Recap: The 1988 Oakwood Homes 500
Welcome to Random Recaps, our new weekly feature at From The Marbles. In this space, we’ll recap a race from the past at the track the where Sprint Cup Series is racing next.
This week’s race is the 1988 Oakwood Homes 500. Need to know how Random Recap works? Click here.
Rusty Wallace took the lead from Brett Bodine with 12 laps to go to win the Oakwood Homes 500.
Bodine had grabbed the lead from Darrell Waltrip with 39 laps to go. However, Wallace closed in on him as the race wound down and made the winning pass as Bodine eventually fell to third behind Waltrip.
Points leader Bill Elliott finished fourth, minimizing the ground Wallace was able to make up in the standings. Wallace is now second to Elliott, 109 points behind with four races to go.
Wallace led 35 laps but his pass of Bodine was the first time he’d been in first since lap 70. 15 cars took turns leading the race for a total of 36 different lead changes.
The dominant car of the day, at least in terms of laps led, was Dale Earnhardt, who led 83. However, Earnhardt ended the race in 17th, six laps down.
10 cars finished the race on the lead lap. Sterling Marlin finished fifth, while Bobby Hillin, Jr., Ken Schrader, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin and Terry Labonte rounded out the top 10.
Epilogue: Wallace won three of the season’s remaining four races to give Elliott a run for the title. But while Wallace was racking up the wins, Elliott was finishing near the front too. He entered the final race of the year with a 79-point lead over Wallace. The 1989 champion won the final race of the year, but Elliott finished 11th and won the championship by 24 points.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
