Speedweeks & the Daytona 500 is getting closer. I’m ready.
Pondering more ‘How fast could Daytona be?’ possibilites (thanks Marc [Full Throttle] for the Rusty Wallace insight), I’ve come along some interesting 200 mph qualifying runs information.
Cotton Owens Garage has the original press release posted along with some more pictures of Buddy Baker’s 200 mph breaking speed test at Talladega Superspeedway on March 24, 1970.
Baker was the first person to eclipse the 200 mph mark. His fastest lap during that testing session in his winged Dodge Daytona was 200.447 mph. Five months later, along came the restrictor plate for races at Talladega.
It was 12 years later that Benny Parsons became the first NASCAR driver to top the 200 mph mark in an official qualifying run. His Pontiac won the pole for the Winston 500 at Talladega on May 2, 1982 with a speed of 200.176 mph.
Come 1986, qualifying laps in excess of 200 mph were becoming the norm. Bill Elliott (aka ‘The Fastest Man Alive’) won the pole for the 1986 Winston 500 at Talladega with a speed of 212.229 mph. The following year, Elliott hit the all-time NASCAR Winston Cup qualifying record of 212.809 mph at Talladega. (He hit 210.364 mph at Daytona that year as well.)
But, by summer of 1987, NASCAR imposed smaller carburetor’s on all cars. Since the beginning of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup season, carburetor restrictor plates have been required at Daytona and Talladega. A 200 mph qualifying lap hasn’t been posted since.
A total of 58 NASCAR drivers have turned in official qualifying laps above the 200 mph barrier. Cale Yarborough leds all drivers with 15 official runs over 200 mph. Bill Elliott has 14. Terry Labonte has 13. Dale Earnhardt has 11 and Benny Parsons has 10.
| Top 30 Qualifying Speeds in NASCAR Winston Cup History | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Driver | Qualifying Speed | Race | Track |
| 1 | Bill Elliott | 212.809 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 2 | Bill Elliott | 212.229 | 1986 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 3 | Bobby Allison | 211.797 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 4 | Davey Allison | 210.610 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 5 | Darrell Waltrip | 210.471 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 6 | Bill Elliott | 210.364 | 1987 Daytona 500 | Daytona |
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt | 210.360 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 8 | Kyle Petty | 210.346 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 9 | Sterling Marlin | 210.194 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 10 | Terry Labonte | 210.101 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 11 | Phil Parsons | 209.963 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| Lake Speed | 209.963 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega | |
| 13 | Geoff Bodine | 209.710 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 14 | Buddy Baker | 209.701 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 15 | Bill Elliott | 209.398 | 1985 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 16 | Bobby Allison | 209.274 | 1986 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 17 | Davey Allison | 209.084 | 1987 Daytona 500 | Daytona |
| 18 | Bill Elliott | 209.005 | 1986 Talladega 500 | Talladega |
| 19 | Ron Bouchard | 208.910 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 20 | Rusty Wallace | 208.251 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 21 | Ken Schrader | 208.227 | 1987 Daytona 500 | Daytona |
| 22 | Geoff Bodine | 208.169 | 1986 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 23 | Ken Schrader | 208.160 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 24 | Bobby Hillin, Jr. | 208.142 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 25 | Ricky Rudd | 208.138 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 26 | Cale Yarborough | 208.092 | 1986 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| Cale Yarborough | 208.092 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega | |
| 28 | Dale Earnhardt | 208.052 | 1986 Talladega 500 | Talladega |
| 29 | Morgan Shepherd | 207.831 | 1987 Winston 500 | Talladega |
| 30 | Bobby Allison | 207.795 | 1987 Daytona 500 | Daytona |