1990 Valleydale Meats 500


The 1990 Valleydale Meats 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 30th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 8, 1990, before an audience of 57,800 in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would manage to best out Roush Racing driver Mark Martin by a margin of at the finish of the race to take his seventh career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ricky Rudd would finish third.

Background

The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

Entry list

' denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMakeSponsor
1Terry LabontePrecision Products RacingOldsmobileSkoal
2Rick MastU.S. RacingPontiacRaven Boats
3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench Service Plus
4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsOldsmobileKodak
5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevroletLevi Garrett
6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordFolgers
7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFordZerex
8Bobby Hillin Jr.Stavola Brothers RacingBuickSnickers
9Bill ElliottMelling RacingFordCoors Light
10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevroletPurolator Filters
11Geoff BodineJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser
12Mike AlexanderBobby Allison MotorsportsBuickRaybestos
15Morgan ShepherdBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft
16Larry PearsonPearson RacingBuickPearson Racing
17Darrell WaltripHendrick MotorsportsChevroletTide
19Chad LittleLittle RacingFordBull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce
20Rob Moroso 'Moroso RacingOldsmobileCrown Central Petroleum
21Dale JarrettWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKodiak
26Brett BodineKing RacingBuickQuaker State
27Rusty WallaceBlue Max RacingPontiacMiller Genuine Draft
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacCountry Time, Maxwell House
33Phil ParsonsLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal Bandit
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacPeak Antifreeze
43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacAlka-Seltzer
57Jimmy SpencerOsterlund RacingPontiacHeinz
66Dick TrickleCale Yarborough MotorsportsPontiacPhillips 66 TropArtic
70J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingPontiacRumple Furniture
71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletBig Apple Market
75Rick WilsonRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobileDinner Bell Foods
94Sterling MarlinHagan RacingOldsmobileSunoco
98Butch MillerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevroletFood City

Qualifying

Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, April 6, at 4:00 PM EST. However, due to rain, the first round was cancelled, and qualifying was condensed into one round, which was held on Saturday, April 7, at 1:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 1–30 would be decided on time, 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.
Ernie Irvan, driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 16.519 and an average speed of.
Two drivers would fail to qualify.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standingsNote: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.