| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 18 of 30 in the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1993 DieHard 500 program cover, featuring Ernie Irvan. | |||
| Date | July 25, 1993 | ||
| Official name | 25th Annual DieHard 500 | ||
| Location | Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway | ||
| 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 | 153.858 miles per hour (247.610 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 100,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson & Associates | ||
| Time | 49.772 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 59 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, Neil Bonnett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The 1993 DieHard 500 was the 18th stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 25th, 1993, before an audience of 100,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In one of the closest finishes in NASCAR Winston Cup Series history, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to best out a last-lap challenge against Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Ernie Irvan by 0.005 seconds at the finish line, with Earnhardt managing to extend his dominant driver's championship lead over the rest of the field with the victory.[1][2] The victory was Earnhardt's 59th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his sixth and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish third.
The race was marred by two separate major incidents throughout the race. On lap 70, a five-car incident featured Active Motorsports driver Jimmy Horton flipping over the protective outside wall in turn one, meant to keep cars within the track. While Horton wasn't seriously hurt, in the same accident, owner-driver and Birmingham, Alabama native Stanley Smith would suffer a basilar skull fracture and partial paralysis of the right side of his body after slamming his car into the turn one wall, spilling blood on most of his racing firesuit.[3][4] After being taken to a Birmingham hospital, Smith would recover for 40 days until he was eventually discharged.[5] The second major crash would occur on lap 132, when Neil Bonnett's car would go airborne, flip over the damaged car of Ted Musgrave, and smash into the protective catch-fence on the track's front-stretch that was meant to protect spectators. Nine fans would be injured due to the crash. Bonnett, making a one-off appearance since retiring in 1990, was uninjured and would eventually decide to commentate the rest of the race for CBS.[6]
- ^ Harris, Mike (July 26, 1993). "DieHard 500 turns tragic". Rocky Mount Telegram. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (July 26, 1993). "Earnhardt wins violent DieHard 500 by inches". Centre Daily Times. p. 17. Retrieved January 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (July 26, 1993). "Violent crashes overshadow race". Muncie Evening Press. p. 16. Retrieved January 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Pearce, Al (July 25, 1993). "Journeyman driver crashes at Talladega". Daily Press. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ Zenor, John (June 9, 2001). "Former Winston Cup driver Smith leaves horrid accident in past". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "Crash ruins Bonnett return". The Jackson Sun. July 26, 1993. p. 20. Retrieved January 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
