1983 Miller High Life 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 30 in the 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
|
|||
| Date | October 9, 1983 | ||
| Official name | Miller High Life 500 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.414 km) |
||
| Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures approaching 73 °F (23 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 139.998 miles per hour (225.305 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 118,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Blue Max Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Tim Richmond | Blue Max Racing | |
| Laps | 99 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Mizlou | ||
| Announcers |
Ken Squier Donnie Allison |
||
The 1983 Miller High Life 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on October 9, 1983.
The race was held in Concord, North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) quad-oval paved track. The race was the second to be held at the track during the 1983 Winston Cup Series, with the other being the 1983 World 600. Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner began building the track in 1959, and despite numerous delays, the track was finished in 1960 for the inaugural World 600.
There were 40 drivers at the grid; 39 of them were American while Trevor Boys was the only Canadian.Sterling Marlin would rack up a last-place finish due to an engine failure on lap 53 out of the 334 being raced that day.Richard Petty defeated Darrell Waltrip by 3.1 seconds in front of 118,000 spectators in a time of three hours and thirty-four minutes. There were 30 different lead changes and eight caution periods for 35 laps.Tim Richmond acquired the pole position with a top speed of 163.073 miles per hour (262.441 km/h) in qualifying while the average race speed was 139.998 miles per hour (225.305 km/h).J.D. McDuffie would fail to qualify for this race along with four other drivers.
Following the last caution flag and pit stops of the race, Darrell Waltrip, driving Junior Johnson's #11 Chevy led the race over Tim Richmond in the #27 Raymond Beadle Pontiac after the restart with 23 laps to go. Richard Petty was in third place. With less than ten laps to go Waltrip's car noticeably slowed and appeared to wiggle slightly exiting turn two and allowed Petty to duck below for the lead and race win. Cale Yarborough in the #28 Ranier Racing Chevy was two laps down and also passed Waltrip and was on Petty's rear bumper when the checkered flag fell. The race highlights are available to view on YouTube. No direct link is allowed.
...
Wikipedia