| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 28 in the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Bill Elliott in victory lane after winning the 1985 Winston 500 | |||
| Date | May 5, 1985 | ||
| Official name | Winston 500 | ||
| Location | Alabama International Motor Speedway, Talladega, Alabama | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.660 mi (4.280 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Very hot with temperatures of 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds of 4.1 miles per hour (6.6 km/h) | ||
| Average speed |
186.288 mph (299.801 km/h) 2 hours, 41 minutes, 04 seconds | ||
| Attendance | 122,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |
| Melling Racing | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Cale Yarborough | Ranier-Lundy Racing | |
| Laps | 97 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers |
Paul Page Bobby Unser | ||
The 1985 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 5, 1985, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama as race number 9 of 28 of the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.
Prior to this event, two-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip complained to NASCAR about how Bill Elliott was ruining the parity of the sport and he needed to be slowed down.[3] As a result, NASCAR raised the height of the Ford vehicles by half an inch.[3] The roof of the GM race cars was lowered by the same amount in order to improve their speed performance.[3]
- ^ 1985 Winston 500 weather conditions at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
racingreferencewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Elliott Was Awesome At Talladega In 1985 at GeorgiaRacingHistory.com