The Winston
The second edition of The Winston, an all-start event for previous NASCAR winners, was held at Atlanta International Raceway on May 11.
This was the only time the race was run at Atlanta, and featured a 200-kilometer (83 lap) format, with a mandatory green flag pit stop. Because there were only nine race winners, the highest placed non-winner from the 1985 point standings was also invited.
Top Ten Results
- Bill Elliott
- Dale Earnhardt
- Harry Gant
- Darrell Waltrip
- Cale Yarborough
- Neil Bonnett
- Geoffrey Bodine
- Ricky Rudd
- Terry Labonte
- Greg Sacks
A non-winner's race, the Atlanta Invitational, was added, and was Benny Parsons' last NASCAR-sanctioned win in his career when he won the 100-lap, 152.2 mile race.
While only 18,500 attended the event, and only 23 cars featured (10 in The Winston, 13 in the Atlanta Invitational), the all-star weekend format of having a non-winners race and a winners race would be a permanent part of the weekend afterwards, although NASCAR made the non-winner's race the next year and afterwards a "last chance" race to make the winner's race.
Read more about this topic: 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series