1993 Food City 500


The 1993 Food City 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 4, 1993, in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would manage to dominate a majority of the race to take his 23rd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would finish second and third, respectively.
The race weekend was marred by the death of Alan Kulwicki, last year's champion. Kulwicki had died while traveling to Bristol Motor Speedway in an airplane crash on the evening of Thursday, April 1. As a result, his team would withdraw from the race.

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
1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFordSkoal
2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiacMiller Genuine Draft
3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench Service Plus
4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevroletKodak
5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevroletTide
6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordValvoline
7Alan Kulwicki*AK RacingFordHooters
8Sterling MarlinStavola Brothers RacingFordRaybestos
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser
12Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFordMeineke
14Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevroletKellogg's Frosted Flakes
15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft
16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFordKeystone
17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevroletWestern Auto
18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletInterstate Batteries
20Joe RuttmanMoroso RacingFordFINA
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo
22Bobby Labonte 'Bill Davis RacingFordMaxwell House
24Jeff Gordon 'Hendrick MotorsportsChevroletDuPont
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKodiak
26Brett BodineKing RacingFordQuaker State
27Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordMcDonald's
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacPennzoil
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevroletSkoal Bandit
40Kenny Wallace 'SABCO RacingPontiacDirt Devil
41Phil ParsonsLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevroletManheim Auctions
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacMello Yello
44Rick WilsonPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP
48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsPontiacRumple Furniture
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingFordNAPA Auto Parts
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFordUSAir, Jasper Engines & Transmissions
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFordCountry Time
71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletSouthwest Technical Group
75Dick TrickleButch Mock MotorsportsFordCarolina Pottery
83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFordPurex
90Bobby Hillin Jr.Donlavey RacingFordHeilig-Meyers
98Derrike CopeCale Yarborough MotorsportsFordBojangles

*Withdrew due to Kulwicki dying in a plane crash.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 2, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, April 3, at 10:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-32 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 were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske Racing South, would win the pole, setting a time of 15.866 and an average speed of in the first round.
Two drivers would fail to qualify.

Standings after the race

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