1983 World 600


The 1983 World 600, the 24th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 29, 1983, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
During the early 1980s, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series was plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection.

Background

The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a quad-oval track located thirteen miles from Charlotte, North Carolina in Concord. The track sanctioned NASCAR Winston Cup Series events biannually during the 1983 season, with the other race being the Miller High Life 500. The track opened for the 1960 World 600, and was built by Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner.

Summary

This event took four hours, fifteen minutes, and fifty-one seconds to complete. Five cautions were waved for twenty-eight laps. Neil Bonnett defeated Richard Petty by a margin of 0.8 seconds in front of 137,000 people. Notable speeds for this race were: as the average speed and as the pole position speed. Bonnett had previously won the 1982 running of the same event and would repeat his success. However, he would never win another World 600 race after this one. Canadian driver Trevor Boys started in 33rd and finished in 20th during this race in his #48 Chevrolet. Total winnings for this race were $407,190.
Jimmy Means was in the top 10 in points after this race. He was ahead in the point standings of NASCAR legends such as Ricky Rudd, Dave Marcis, Tim Richmond, Geoff Bodine, Kyle Petty, and Dale Earnhardt.
Other notable racers included: Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte, and Cale Yarborough. Margaret Claud Padgett was the designated Miss Winston for this race in addition to every NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held from 1981 to 1985.
Drivers that failed to qualify were: Ronnie Thomas, Lennie Pond, Jody Ridley and Rick Baldwin.

Finishers

  1. Neil Bonnett
  2. Richard Petty
  3. Bobby Allison
  4. Darrell Waltrip
  5. Dale Earnhardt†
  6. Lake Speed
  7. Buddy Baker†
  8. Kyle Petty
  9. Morgan Shepherd
  10. Dave Marcis
  11. Bobby Hillin, Jr.
  12. Buddy Arrington
  13. Dean Combs
  14. Joe Ruttman
  15. Tommy Ellis
  16. Bill Elliott
  17. Ken Ragan
  18. Bobby Wawak†
  19. Sterling Marlin
  20. Trevor Boys
  21. Jim Vandiver
  22. H. B. Bailey†
  23. D. K. Ulrich
  24. Slick Johnson†
  25. Harry Gant
  26. J. D. McDuffie†
  27. Bob Senneker*
  28. Cale Yarborough*
  29. Mark Martin*
  30. Phillip Duffie*
  31. Rick Newsom
  32. Ricky Rudd
  33. Terry Labonte*
  34. Benny Parsons*†
  35. Tommy Gale*†
  36. Geoffrey Bodine*
  37. Dick Brooks*†
  38. Jimmy Means*
  39. David Pearson*
  40. Tim Richmond*†
  41. Ron Bouchard*†
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Standings after the race