|| *Comments on the 1989 TranSouth 500:* View the most recent comment <#26> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. David Zellmer posted: 05.26.2004 - 6:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Money column for Mark Martin appears to be incorrect I have 2 sources that say 18,810 is the correct amount. 2. Darrell posted: 12.25.2005 - 3:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've heard of drivers earning more money then those who finished in front of them, but this is ridiculous! :D 3. Kevin posted: 08.14.2006 - 5:31 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The day that Harry got the monkey off his back 4. myself posted: 02.13.2007 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) In his victory lane interview, Handsome Harry uttered the words, "The Bandit is back!" How bout' Kulwicki....leading the points after this race! 5. Mr. Etc posted: 04.15.2007 - 9:05 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Harry Gant finishes 1st in the Jackson owned Olds. Phil Parsons finishes dead last in the Jackson owned Olds. 6. Bill posted: 08.15.2007 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell Waltrip got nailed pretty hard by a spinning Phil Parsons early in the race 7. chris o posted: 01.10.2013 - 7:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) greg sacks caused a pretty good accident later in the event with a blown engine, saw this accident it was cool 8. Henry posted: 10.12.2013 - 11:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe this is the race that caused the pits to close at every yellow and the era of the million dollar pit crews was ushered in. Talk about NASCAR cutting costs!! Poppycock to put it mildly. They don't need to race cars anymore they should only race pit crews with/because almost ALL races being decided in the pits. There are none so blind than those who will not see. Anybody notice Robert Yates was operating the jack for Davey Allison?? Talk about changes and not for the better. 9. WardBurtonfan posted: 11.20.2014 - 5:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Greg Sacks great top 5 run going all day until crash 15 laps from the end. Ever noticed how he always got out of the car always wearing sunglasses. Where would he keep these at durning the race? 10. RaceFanX posted: 11.29.2014 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harry Gant picks up his first victory at North Wilkesboro in the fall of 1985. This was Gant's only win of 1989 and the only one all year for a driver racing an Oldsmobile. The win was Gant's first in an Olds, all of his future victories (totaling half of his 18 Cup victories including this race) came driving for Lansing, Michigan brand. 11. myself posted: 04.09.2015 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Story of Greg Sacks' career, WardBurtonFan. Boat loads of crashes. 12. Chris posted: 12.27.2015 - 8:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell Waltrip started 7th, not 4th. 13. Ryan J posted: 02.20.2017 - 8:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cautions Caution 1: oil on track Caution 2: 15, 17, 55 accident turn 3 Caution 3: 27 spin turn 3 Caution 4: 34 spin turn 4 Caution 5: 57 spin turn 2 Caution 6: Debris on frontstretch Caution 7: 4, 8, 25, 42, 84, 88 accident turn 1 14. Maverick19 posted: 03.24.2017 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Not only was this Harry Gant's first win in 3 years, but it was also his first top 5 in 3 years. 15. Jimnsimforever posted: 12.17.2018 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Really it was closer to Harry Gants' first win in 4 years. He went 3 full Winston Cup seasons without winning, with tons of bad luck along the way. He won this one in April of the 1989 season and his last previous win had been in September of the 1985 season. Ironically during the 3 years he struggled in Winston Cup he was having enormous success during those years in Busch Series, running about half of the races in Busch each year during that time. 16. Altracing posted: 01.07.2019 - 8:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alan Kulwicki would take over the points lead for the first time in his career and wouldn't lead the standings again until he won the championship in the legendary final race of 1992 at Atlanta 17. Senninha posted: 11.07.2019 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) How did they just happen to have a random stuffed monkey for victory lane? 18. JSPorts posted: 11.07.2019 - 12:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Maybe because of Gant's situation? They could've been bringing it to the track, just in case. 19. Mile501 posted: 11.07.2019 - 3:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Although Gant had no top 5s during 1987 and 1988 (after accumulating 79 top 5s during the previous 7 seasons), it wasn't as if he wasn't competitive; his team was just plagued with mechanical issues. During those 2 seasons (58 races total), he missed 5 due to injury and had DNFs in 35 more, mostly due to engine failures and other mechanical issues. So he was only running at the finish in 18 of 58 races, and most of those were top 15 finishes. 20. BOBO83329521 posted: 04.02.2020 - 1:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First caution was for #10 Ken Bouchard leaking oil and spewing out smoke. Must remark, 1989 Darlington was FAR more competitive than 2019 Darlington. You could actually make passes rather easily in '89 as the groove was far wider at this track back then than it is now. Now, in turn 3 you can hardly run anywhere but against the wall, the only way to pass is to hope for a good run into 1 because even at the end of the race people are sore afraid of going side by side in 1! 21. BOBO83329521 posted: 04.03.2020 - 1:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some notes about this one -Dale Earnhardt was leading when he blew a tire and hit the wall along with the 66 just after Rusty Wallace's crash, no caution came out, and this crash would be the difference between Earnhardt and Rusty winning the '89 title. -There was a big scoring snafu on the fourth caution which came out in the midst of green flag pit stops. Harry Gant, the leader, had just came into the pits to complete the cycle, meanwhile, Greg Sacks and many others who had already pitted stayed out on track, there was a scoring issue here which led to Gant being scored the lone lead lap car, the error was fixed on the next caution and Sacks was able to regain his lap, as were several others. I thought the 2012 GEICO 400 was weird with the Almirola thing... -Some of the weirdest things. A big sunglasses wearing dog at the track, Benny Parsons' hat contest... Things we'd never see in modern NASCAR. -Some people may contest that Geoffrey Bodine led some laps under the fifth caution after NASCAR accidentally gave him too many wave arounds. However, based on the scoring marker NASCAR was attempting to revert to, Gant did lead these laps. -Rusty Wallace blew two tires on two separate occasions during this race and still finished in the top 10. Impressive, that's what wins titles. -Consider what FOX did to show the finish to the 2019 Martinsville fall truck race. They put their broadcast on audio and did not show video because there was an issue with the video. What did ESPN do here? Take the race off TV for TENNIS. -I checked this. The race went back green on lap 350, then 2 laps were run and then just as they crossed the finish line for that 2nd lap is when the Sacks crash occurred, so officially, the leader completed 2 green flag laps before Sacks spun. -Harry Gant wins Darlington and there is a last lap pass for second place after Alan Kulwicki, trying to fight off the 6 of Mark Martin on the restart, inadvertently held up second place Geoffrey Bodine and led Davey up to the back of the #5, who had attempted a pass for the lead the lap prior but had to back out of the gas because Kulwicki got loose while trying to unlap himself off Gant. 22. WardBurtonFan posted: 05.27.2020 - 12:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @20 That is the problem with the safer barrier. The track does need work in Turns 3-4 to create more racing. 23. possum posted: 05.27.2020 - 6:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @20 - it changes from year to year. Some years the groove at the narrow end (today's 3 & 4, the original 1 & 2) is right against the wall, some years it's lower. Some years the groove at the wide end is right in the middle all the way round, some years you clip the apron in the middle of the turns, and run right to the wall midway between 3 & 4. The one constant is that whereever the groove is, there's only one - the beauty of Darlington is that it challenges a driver to make a pass, to plan it out a lap and more in advance. Speaking of the groove at the wide end, in the early years when the track had a guardrail rather than a wall, there was a period when the groove was right against the guardrail in the middle of 3 & 4. The fastest cars would just brush the guardrail, gradually wearing away the paint on the right rear fender - the Darlington stripe (the less skilled drivers would eventually crush the fender in, not something to be proud of). 24. Rich posted: 09.09.2020 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons were the commentators. Dr. Jerry Punch and Jack Arute were the pit road reporters. 25. zuel660 posted: 12.17.2020 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @22 that's a problem with the SAFER barrier at Daytona, too...it basically took 1 whole groove out of the track. Yes, they're needed, but it's a shame the original wall coulldn't be reworked to allow the original dimensions of the track to remain. Perhaps those BGN wins kept Gant's head in the game, as his previous few seasons were simply awful. Anyhow, it was great to see Handsome Harry return to VL in the Cup Series here. 26. NEPAracefan posted: 04.27.2021 - 7:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the last race at Darlington with the iconic roof atop the entire then front straight grandstand. Only a small portion exiting turn 4 would remain for the '89 Southern 500. Also, the last non-short track race for the Monte Carlo. Huge win for Gant! This would be the start of a career resurgence that would peak in 1991 and 1992. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: