1986 Winston 500

1986 Winston 500

Race details
Race 9 of 29 in the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1986 Winston 500 program cover, featuring Bill Elliott.
Date	May 4, 1986
Official name	17th Annual Winston 500
Location	Lincoln, Alabama, Alabama International Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Average speed	157.698 miles per hour (253.790 km/h)
Attendance	130,000
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Time	45.121
Most laps led
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Laps	116
Winner
No. 22	Bobby Allison	Stavola Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Larry Nuber
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1986 Winston 500 was the ninth stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 17th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 4, 1986, before an audience of 130,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Alabama International Motor Speedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete.

In the final laps of the race, Stavola Brothers Racing's Bobby Allison made a late-race charge to the lead, passing with six laps left in the race. Allison then defended a last-lap move by Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt in the final turns of the race, securing his 82nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Earnhardt and owner-driver Buddy Baker finished second and third, respectively.^[1][2]

The race is notable for an incident in which a fan stole the pace car for the event, resulting in a short lived police chase occuring on the track. The fan was later arrested for the incident.^[3]