The1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300was the 12thstock car raceof the1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Seriesseason, the third race of the1991 NASCAR Winston West Seriesseason, and the third iteration of theevent.The race was held on Sunday, June 9, 1991, before an audience of 62,000 at the Grand Prix layout ofSears Point Raceway,a 2.52 miles (4.06 km) permanent road course layout. The race took the scheduled 74 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race,Robert Yates RacingdriverDavey Allison,with the assist of a late-race penalty on leaderRicky Rudd,would manage to comeback from a late-race spin to take his tenth careerNASCAR Winston Cup Seriesvictory and his second victory of the season.[1][2][3][4]To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Ricky Rudd andPenske Racing SouthdriverRusty Wallacewould finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 12 of 29 in the1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300 program cover, featuringJimmy Spencer. | |||
| Date | June 9, 1991 | ||
| Official name | 3rd Annual Banquet Frozen Foods 300 | ||
| Location | Sonoma, California,Sears Point Raceway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.52 mi (4.06 km) | ||
| Distance | 74 laps, 186.48 mi (300.11 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 74 laps, 186.48 mi (300.11 km) | ||
| Average speed | 72.97 miles per hour (117.43 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 62,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 1:40.095 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | |
| Laps | 45 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins,Ned Jarrett,Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
In what has been considered by NASCAR drivers and media as one of the most controversial rule callings in NASCAR history,Hendrick MotorsportsdriverRicky Ruddwas penalized after performing abump and runmaneuver on the final turn of the raceway with two laps to go in the race on leaderDavey Allison.After Rudd completed his final lap, Rudd was shown the black flag instead of the checkered flag, instead showing the checkered flag to Allison to signify that Allison had won the race. Rudd, who was initially given a drive-through penalty, was given a five-second time penalty for the move on Allison for not taking the drive-through penalty, moving Rudd to a second-place finish.[5]Rudd argued that he had both not known of the penalty and that he did not enough time to serve a penalty, who was given the black flag on the final lap of the race. According to NASCAR rules, a driver had three laps to serve their penalty.Dave Marcis,who was near the accident, would agree with Rudd, saying "How is Ricky supposed to know he got a black flag? He was up in Turn 2 or 3 by then."[6]According to NASCAR's vice president for Competition,Les Richter,the move that Rudd had made was "unnecessary and avoidable",[7]a decision that which both confused and angered Rudd and his team, saying that NASCAR had never made such a decision before for a bump and run maneuver.[8]
Immediately after the race, Rudd and Rudd's crew chief,Waddell Wilson,would protest the results of the race. Wilson was recorded byThe Charlotte Observerreporter Tom Higgins pleading to NASCAR presidentBill France Jr.to change the results, saying "Don't take this race away from us, Billy!... You told all [the drivers] in the drivers' meeting that on the last lap they were on their own!"[1]Rudd himself would compare the officiating ofNASCARofficials to theWorld Wrestling Federation,saying that "This is the best example of how NASCAR makes their own rules. NASCAR needs aFordin victory lane. "[9]Allison, the winner of the race, speaking in an article forThe Press Democratsaid "We feel like we deserve the victory, and we're going to savor it just like the rest of them."[10]
Background
edit
Sears Point Racewayis one of two road courses to holdNASCARraces, the other beingWatkins Glen International.The standard road course at Sears Point Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long;[11]the track was modified in 1998, addingthe Chute,which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.[12]In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn,4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).[13]
Entry list
edit- (R)denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 7, at 6:30 PMEST.Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, June 8, at 1:00 PMEST.As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-40 would be decided on time,[14]and 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; which was one for cars in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and two extra provisionals for the NASCAR Winston West Series. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Ricky Rudd,driving forHendrick Motorsports,would win the pole, setting a time of 1:40.095 and an average speed of 90.634 miles per hour (145.861 km/h) in the first round.[15][16]
Four drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
editStandings after the race
edit
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References
edit- ^abHiggins, Tom (June 10, 1991)."Allison gets victory; Rudd gets angry (Part 1)".The Charlotte Observer.p. 17.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Higgins, Tom (June 10, 1991)."Allison gets victory; Rudd gets angry (Part 2)".The Charlotte Observer.p. 19.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Ralph, Leef (June 10, 1991)."Allison gets a bump (Part 1)".The Press Democrat.p. 15.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Ralph, Leef (June 10, 1991)."Allison gets a bump (Part 2)".The Press Democrat.p. 19.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Harris, Mike (June 10, 1991)."Rough road for Rudd".The News Journal.p. 21.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Higgins, Tom (June 11, 1991)."Hard feelings linger after controversial NASCAR finish".The Modesto Bee.p. 9.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Trosky, Steve (June 10, 1991)."Allison handed Banquet 300 after Rudd's bumping incident".The Napa Valley Register.p. 12.RetrievedFebruary 18,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Sakkis, Tony (June 10, 1991)."Win exterminated by black flag".The San Francisco Examiner.p. 31.RetrievedFebruary 18,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Silver, Michael (June 10, 1991)."Rudd rips NASCAR decision (Part 1)".The Press Democrat.p. 15.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Silver, Michael (June 10, 1991)."Rudd rips NASCAR decision (Part 2)".The Press Democrat.p. 19.RetrievedFebruary 17,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^"Sears Point".www.gt-racing.co.uk.RetrievedNovember 13,2021.
- ^"Passing is tough in Chute | chronicle.augusta.com".June 7, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon June 7, 2011.RetrievedNovember 13,2021.
- ^"SEARS POINT BREAKS GROUND ON MODIFIED CHUTE - RacingWest".September 29, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon September 29, 2007.RetrievedNovember 13,2021.
- ^"NASCAR today".The Charlotte Observer.June 6, 1991. p. 39.RetrievedFebruary 18,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Higgins, Tom (June 8, 1991)."Rudd saving some for Sunday's race (Part 1)".The Charlotte Observer.p. 37.RetrievedFebruary 18,2023– viaNewspapers.com.
- ^Higgins, Tom (June 8, 1991)."Rudd saving some for Sunday's race (Part 2)".The Charlotte Observer.p. 39.RetrievedFebruary 18,2023– viaNewspapers.com.