1989 Goodwrench 500

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The 1989 Goodwrench 500 was the second race of the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It took place on March 5, 1989, at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, a 1.017-mile high-banked oval. The race covered 492 laps, totaling 500.364 miles, with an attendance of about 44,300.

Rusty Wallace, driving the No. 27 Blue Max Racing Pontiac, won the pole with a lap of 24.606 seconds (148.793 mph). He pulled away on a final restart with six laps to go to secure his 11th career Cup win and his first victory of the season. Alan Kulwicki finished second, and Dale Earnhardt finished third.

Qualifying was intended to be in two rounds, but rain canceled the second round, so the lineup was set from the first round results; no cars failed to qualify.

Track background: North Carolina Motor Speedway opened in 1965 as a flat one-mile oval and was reconfigured in 1969 to a high-banked, D-shaped oval of over one mile. It later merged with Penske Motorsports and was renamed. The infield road course usage declined, and the site now hosts driving programs like the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.

Broadcast: The race was shown on ESPN with Bob Jenkins, Gary Nelson, and Ned Jarrett announcing, and MRN provided radio coverage.