1990 GM Goodwrench 500

1990 GM Goodwrench 500

Race details
Race 3 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1990 GM Goodwrench 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
Date	March 4, 1990
Official name	25th Annual GM Goodwrench 500
Location	Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.637 km)
Distance	492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km)
Scheduled Distance	492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km)
Average speed	122.864 miles per hour (197.730 km/h)
Attendance	52,700
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing
Time	24.613
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing
Laps	433
Winner
No. 42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1990 GM Goodwrench 500 was the third stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 4, 1990, before an audience of 52,700 in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. At race's end, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would manage to dominate a majority of the race to take his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.^[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Geoff Bodine and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would finish second and third, respectively.

Terri O'Connell,^[a] driving a second car for Donlavey Racing, is credited with being the only openly transgender driver to ever race in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series to date, finishing last in a 38-car field.^[5]

North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, March 1, at 2:30 PM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-40 meant to be determined the following day on Friday, March 2.^[6] However, due to rain, the second round was cancelled. As a result, the rest of the starting lineup was set using the results from the first round. 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.^[7][8]

Kyle Petty, driving for SABCO Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 24.613 and an average speed of 148.751 miles per hour (239.392 km/h) in the first round.^[9][10]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 474 2 2 Rusty Wallace 466 (-8) 3 3 Morgan Shepherd 426 (-48) 2 4 Ricky Rudd 410 (–64) 11 5 Kyle Petty 406 (–68) 1 6 Jimmy Spencer 403 (–71) 4 7 Bill Elliott 399 (–75) 2 8 Darrell Waltrip 398 (–76) 4 9 Sterling Marlin 395 (–79) 9 10 Geoff Bodine 387 (–87) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.