1986 Miller High Life 400


The 1986 Miller High Life 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that was held on February 23, 1986, at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.
Almost the entire grid was born in the United States of America; Canadian Trevor Boys was the only foreigner. Individual winnings for this event ranged from the winner's share of $37,880 to the last-place share of $2,515 ; the total prize purse stood at $225,435.

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond. The original track was paved in 1968. In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration.
The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway".

Race report

31 of 35 entered drivers qualified for this race. The drivers who failed to qualify were: Johnathan Lee Edwards, Alan Kulwicki, and Ronnie Thomas. Eddie Bierschwale would be the first car out of the race. Kyle Petty would defeat Joe Ruttman in his 1986 Ford Thunderbird, finishing under caution in front of twenty-five thousand fans. Earnhardt dominated the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1986 to 1995; and his third-place finish at this race proved that he could be dominant on almost any track during the 1980s and the 1990s.
Considered to be a classic short track race typical of the 1980s, it had a great finish as well as a first-time winner. Dale Earnhardt dominated the middle section of the race by leading for 128 laps, but crashed with Darrell Waltrip in the closing laps after a controversial fender-banging duel. NASCAR was more about raw skill, determination, and grit during the 1980s instead of luck-based strategies. Even if some of the changes made to NASCAR during the 21st century weren't implemented, the natural evolution of the sport would make it look vastly different compared to the 1980s. This race had no pit road speed, race back to the caution, and was still scored by hand.
Richard Childress was a minor figure in NASCAR history until Dale Earnhardt came along and provided him with this powerful performance to make him a dominant team owner in NASCAR. While Childress could finesse a car if he wanted, it just wasn't his style.
Terry Labonte came into the pits with what he thought was an engine failure and pulled the #44 Piedmont Airlines Oldsmobile behind the wall to retire it. A pit crew member checked the car and found a piece of metal was screwing with the ignition and one he removed it the car refired, running fine. Texas Terry jumped back in it, rejoined the race, and they still came away with a 15th-place finish at the end of the day. Doug Heveron was a late entry for this race but made the most of his one-off in Elmo Langley's signature #64 Ford. Heveron brought his T-Bird home 13th to match his career-best finish in Cup action. It was Petty's first Cup victory; it would be his only one on a short track.
After the race, Earnhardt had to pay a $3,000 fine plus a $10,000 security bond for the late-race incident involving himself and Darrell Waltrip. Earnhardt suffered a sore neck and blurred vision as a result of this incident. Geoffrey Bodine would lead the championship standings after this race with 332 points with Darrell Waltrip only two points behind him.
Notable crew chiefs in the race were Darrell Bryant, Kirk Shelmerdine, Robin Pemberton, Jeff Hammond, Tim Brewer, Bud Moore, Larry McReynolds, Dale Inman, Junie Donlavey among many others.

Qualifying results

Timeline

Section reference:
Section reference:
  1. Kyle Petty
  2. Joe Ruttman
  3. Dale Earnhardt
  4. Bobby Allison
  5. Darrell Waltrip*
  6. Bobby Hillin, Jr.
  7. Neil Bonnett
  8. Geoffrey Bodine*
  9. Dave Marcis
  10. Rusty Wallace
  11. Jimmy Means
  12. Davey Allison
  13. Doug Heveron
  14. Buddy Arrington
  15. Terry Labonte
  16. J.D. McDuffie
  17. Lake Speed
  18. Ron Bouchard
  19. Greg Sacks
  20. Richard Petty
  21. Bill Elliott
  22. Tim Richmond
  23. Ken Schrader
  24. Tommy Ellis
  25. Michael Waltrip*
  26. Trevor Boys*
  27. Kirk Bryant*
  28. Harry Gant*
  29. Phil Parsons*
  30. Ricky Rudd*
  31. Eddie Bierschwale*
* Driver failed to finish race

Standings after the race