1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Season: Elliott's Eleven Wins and Waltrip's Title

Waltrip claimed his third championship in 1985 by 101 points over Bill Elliott. Elliott's eleven victories and the Winston Million bonus were not enough once a slump at Riverside cost him the title. The season was also the first in which every race was televised in some form.

Who won the 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup championship?

Darrell Waltrip, driving for Junior Johnson, took the 1985 title by 101 points over Bill Elliott, who was driving for Harry Melling. Waltrip won only three races to Elliott's eleven, which made the outcome one of the most unusual in the sport's history at that point.

Elliott's season was historic in its own right. He won eleven races and the Winston Million, but a transmission problem at Riverside dropped him to 31st in the final race. Waltrip, by contrast, finished seventh there, enough to take the championship.

It was the first season in which every race was broadcast on television in some form, which gave the championship a far larger audience than the one before.

Eleven wins and the Winston Million for Bill Elliott, yet Darrell Waltrip took the title by 101 points.

How did Bill Elliott dominate the first half of 1985?

Bill Elliott won the early races with a combination of speed and reliability that few drivers could match. He won the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 500 at Atlanta and the TranSouth 500 at Darlington, and he also won at Talladega and Dover as the spring went on.

Elliott's pole speed at Daytona was a track record of 205.114 mph, and he also won his qualifying race for the 500.

Elliott's season included a remarkable run of track victories. He won the Summer 500 at Pocono, the Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 and the Miller 400 at Michigan, and he added the Champion Spark Plug 400 in August. Those results gave him season sweeps at Pocono and Michigan, and he later completed sweeps at Darlington and Atlanta.

What was the Winston Million and how did Elliott chase it?

Elliott chased the Winston Million, a bonus for winning a set of major races, and he claimed the second leg by winning the Winston 500 at Talladega on May 5. Elliott had to make up two laps after a broken oil fitting forced an early pit stop, but he still took the win.

The Winston 500 had been the subject of a dispute before the race. Darrell Waltrip had complained to NASCAR that Elliott was ruining the balance of the sport, and NASCAR raised the height of the Ford cars by half an inch while the roof of the General Motors cars was lowered by the same amount.

At Charlotte the Coca-Cola 600 offered a chance at the first bonus, but Elliott finished 18th, 21 laps down. Waltrip won that race after a fuel gamble, and the crowd of 155,000 saw Elliott's chance slip away.

The Southern 500 at Darlington on September 1 gave Elliott another chance, and he won the race to claim the Winston Million. That result gave him a 206-point lead with eight races left in the season.

How did Waltrip close the gap in the autumn?

Waltrip began the autumn well behind Elliott, but he steadily closed the gap as Elliott struggled with a series of mid-pack finishes. At Dover in mid-September, Elliott finished 20th, 70 laps down, and Waltrip gained 67 points on the standings.

Elliott had another poor race at Martinsville, where he finished 17th, 33 laps down. Waltrip gained another 63 points, which left Elliott with a lead of just 23 points.

The turning point came at North Wilkesboro on September 29. Elliott finished 30th after retiring early, and Waltrip erased a 206-point deficit to take the lead by 30 points.

Waltrip's comeback continued at Rockingham, where he won the Nationwise 500 and led Elliott by 35 points with two races to go. The final two races would decide the title, and Elliott needed a strong finish to have any chance.

Why did Elliott lose the 1985 title at Riverside?

Elliott went into the finale at Riverside 20 points behind Waltrip, but early transmission problems took him out of contention. He finished 31st, and that result was decisive. Waltrip's seventh-place finish was enough to win the championship, and the gap between them at the end was 101 points.

Waltrip completed 99 laps before he finished seventh, which gained him 81 points on Elliott. That gave Waltrip the title by 101 points,

Under the Latford points system, it was the first time a driver winning ten or more races had lost the title through poor finishes in the closing stretch.

What happened to Richard Petty at the end of 1985?

The Winston Western 500 was the final race for Richard Petty while driving for Mike Curb. He took his number 43, with STP sponsorship, back to Petty Enterprises for 1986. That ended his time with Curb's team and returned the number to the Petty organisation.

Ricky Rudd won the Riverside finale, with Terry Labonte second, and Rudd's victory came in a race that was overshadowed by the championship battle. It was the last win of the season and closed a year of changing fortunes for several well-known drivers.

Rusty Wallace also ended his difficult season at Riverside with a 36th-place finish after engine failure, his twelfth retirement of the season.

Who else won races in the spring of 1985?

Neil Bonnett won the Carolina 500 on March 3 and the Northwestern Bank 400 on April 21, while Dale Earnhardt won the Miller High Life 400 at Richmond and the Valleydale 500 at Bristol. Harry Gant took the Sovran Bank 500 at Martinsville on April 28.

The Valleydale 500 was postponed by rain from March 31 to April 6. Earnhardt won despite losing power steering in his car during the race, a fact that made the result more notable.

Several poles did not translate into wins. Darrell Waltrip started first at Richmond and Terry Labonte started first at Carolina, but Earnhardt and Bonnett took those races, and Harry Gant won the pole at Bristol before finishing behind Earnhardt.

What made Elliott's track sweeps stand out?

Elliott won both Michigan races and both Pocono races in 1985, so he swept each track for the season. He took the Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 at Pocono in June and the Miller 400 at Michigan later that same month.

The Summer 500 at Pocono on July 21 gave Elliott his second Pocono win of the year. The Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan on August 11 was his second of four track sweeps, following the earlier Michigan win.

Elliott's 1985 pattern was remarkable. He also won at Darlington, where the Southern 500 carried the Winston Million, and he completed the Atlanta sweep with the Atlanta Journal 500 in November.

How did Dale Earnhardt finish his 1985 season at Bristol?

Dale Earnhardt swept both Bristol races in 1985, winning the Valleydale 500 in April and the Busch 500 in August. He started the August race from pole, and that double made him the second and final driver to achieve the sweep that season.

The Busch 500 was held on August 24, and Earnhardt's victory came after a pole start that set the tone for the afternoon. The Bristol double was a significant result in a year when Elliott dominated the wider calendar.

Which debut drivers appeared in 1985?

Davey Allison made his Winston Cup debut at Talladega in July, finishing tenth. Alan Kulwicki made his Winston Cup debut at Richmond in September and finished 19th, eight laps down. Michael Waltrip made his first Cup start at the Coca-Cola 600 and finished 28th.

Davey Allison's debut at Talladega came with him leading some laps during the race, and he finished tenth at the end of it.

Alan Kulwicki's debut came in Bill Terry's No. 32 Ford. He finished 19th, eight laps down, in a race that marked the start of his Winston Cup career.

Michael Waltrip's Coca-Cola 600 start ended with a transmission failure, which kept him from a better result. Sprint car driver Sammy Swindell made the first of his two career Cup starts at Atlanta and finished 30th after a crash.

The Atlanta Journal 500 began under caution because an earlier rainstorm had soaked the track, and the green flag did not come out until lap 6 was complete. Elliott's final win of the season came there on November 3, his eleventh of the year. Morgan Shepherd took his only top-five finish of 1985 in that race, driving for David Pearson's team.

What happened at Charlotte in late May?

The Winston, an all-star style race for past winners, was run on May 25 at Charlotte. Labonte won the pole as the defending champion, but Darrell Waltrip took the win, and his engine expired in spectacular fashion after the checkered flag.

That engine failure put Waltrip's participation in the next day's Coca-Cola 600 in doubt. He went on to win the 600 as well, gambling on fuel over the final 110 laps to secure the victory.

What were the key results of the 1985 season?