The 1993 Champion Spark Plug 400 was the 20th stock car race of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the eighth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 15, 1993, before an audience of 110,000 in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. Taking advantage of a blown engine on dominant driver Ricky Rudd's car, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would come to dominate the late stages of the race to take his ninth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Wood Brothers Racing driver Morgan Shepherd and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 20 of 30 in the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1993 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover, featuring Harry Gant. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | August 15, 1993 | ||
| Official name | 24th Annual Champion Spark Plug 400 | ||
| Location | Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Average speed | 144.564 miles per hour (232.653 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 110,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 39.834 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 86 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
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The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 13, at 3:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 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, August 14 at 10:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[3] 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; up to two provisionals were given. 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.
Ken Schrader, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 39.834 and an average speed of 180.750 miles per hour (290.889 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Ten drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
editStandings after the race
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References
edit- ^ Harris, Mike (August 16, 1993). "Martin captures second race in row". Kenosha News. p. 23. Retrieved January 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (August 16, 1993). "Martin wins second straight". The Anniston Star. p. 9. Retrieved January 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. August 14, 1993. p. 11. Retrieved January 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Harris, Mike (August 14, 1993). "Stock car record". The Town Talk. p. 12. Retrieved January 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
