The 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 41st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 18th modern-era Cup season. It began February 12 and ended November 19. Rusty Wallace of Blue Max Racing won the championship. This was the first year that every Winston Cup race had flag to flag coverage, with almost all of them being televised live. The 1989 season marked the end of the first of two tire wars between Goodyear and Hoosier, with Hoosier leaving NASCAR shortly after Goodyear debuted their new radial tires. Also, 1989 was the first season without Bobby Allison, Benny Parsons, and Cale Yarborough.

1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Drivers

Complete schedule

Limited schedule

Schedule

Races

Busch Clash

The Busch Clash, an annual invitational event for all winners of the Busch Pole award from the previous season, was held February 12 at Daytona International Speedway. Ken Schrader drew for the pole. Top Ten Results

Gatorade 125s

The Gatorade 125s, a pair of qualifying races for the Daytona 500, were held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway. Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip won the poles for each event, respectively. Race One Top Ten Results Race Two Top Ten Results

Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 was held February 19th. Ken Schrader won the pole. Top Ten Results

Goodwrench 500

The Goodwrench 500 was held March 5 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Rusty Wallace won the pole. Top Ten Results

Motorcraft Quality Parts 500

The Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was held March 19 at Atlanta International Raceway. The No. 7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: #36-H. B. Baily, #69-Lee Raymond, #70-J. D. McDuffie, Rodney Combs, Rick Jeffrey

Pontiac Excitement 400

The Pontiac Excitement 400 was held March 26 at Richmond International Raceway. The No. 5 of Geoff Bodine won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 43-Richard Petty

TranSouth 500

The TranSouth 500 was held April 2 at Darlington Raceway. Mark Martin won the pole. Top Ten Results

Valleydale Meats 500

The Valleydale Meats 500 was held April 9 at Bristol International Raceway. Mark Martin won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: #40-Ben Hess, #43-Richard Petty, #52-Jimmy Means, #70-J. D. McDuffie, #71-Dave Marcis, Steve Seligman

First Union 400

The First Union 400 was held April 16 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Rusty Wallace won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 8-Bobby Hillin Jr., 43-Richard Petty, 55-Phil Parsons*, 70-J. D. McDuffie, 04-Bill Meacham, Jerry O'Neil, Kevin Evans, Mark Walbridge

Pannill Sweatshirts 500

The Pannill Sweatshirts 500 was held April 23 at Martinsville Speedway. The No. 5 of Geoff Bodine won the pole. Top Ten Results • This would mark the final race as well as race victory for the older Chevrolet Monte Carlo body style. The new Chevrolet Lumina would debut the next week at Talladega Superspeedway.

Winston 500

The Winston 500 was held May 7 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole. Top Ten Results

The Winston

The Winston, an annual all-star race for previous winners and champions along with the winner of the same day Winston Open, was held May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The No. 11 of Terry Labonte won the pole. Top Ten Results

Coca-Cola 600

The Coca-Cola 600 was held May 28 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The No. 7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results

Budweiser 500

The Budweiser 500 was held June 4 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole. Top Ten Results

Banquet Frozen Foods 300

The inaugural Banquet Frozen Foods 300 was held June 11 at Sears Point Raceway. Rusty Wallace won the pole. Top Ten Results

Miller High Life 500

The Miller High Life 500 was held June 18 at Pocono International Raceway. The No. 27 of Rusty Wallace won the pole. This race was one of the few races telecast on Pay Per View. Top Ten Results

Miller High Life 400 (Michigan)

The Miller High Life 400 was held June 25 at Michigan International Speedway. The No. 25 of Ken Schrader won the pole. Top Ten Results

Pepsi 400

The Pepsi 400 was held July 1 at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 6 of Mark Martin won the pole. Top Ten Results

AC Spark Plug 500

The AC Spark Plug 500 was held on July 23 at Pocono International Raceway. Ken Schrader won the pole. Top Ten Finishers

Talladega DieHard 500

The Talladega DieHard 500 was held July 30 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole. Top Ten Results

Budweiser at the Glen

The Budweiser at the Glen was held August 13 at Watkins Glen International. Morgan Shepherd won the pole. Top Ten Results

Champion Spark Plug 400

The Champion Spark Plug 400 was held August 20 at Michigan International Speedway. Geoff Bodine won the pole. Top Ten Results

Busch 500

The Busch 500 was held August 26 at Bristol International Raceway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 43-Richard Petty

Heinz Southern 500

The Heinz Southern 500 was held September 3 at Darlington Raceway. The No. 7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results

Miller High Life 400 (Richmond)

The Miller High Life 400 was held September 10 at Richmond International Raceway. The No. 9 of Bill Elliott won the pole. Top Ten Results

Peak Performance 500

The Peak Performance 500 was held September 17 at Dover Downs International Speedway. The No. 28 of Davey Allison won the pole. Top Ten Results

Goody's 500

The Goody's 500 was held September 24 at Martinsville Speedway. Dale Earnhardt started on the pole, which was actually won by Jimmy Hensley (as a substitute driver) as Earnhardt and others could not reach the track in time due to Hurricane Hugo, which affected the area. Top Ten Results

All Pro Auto Parts 500

The All Pro Auto Parts 500 was held October 8 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 14-A. J. Foyt*

Holly Farms 400

The Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway was originally scheduled for October 1, but rain forced the race to be postponed to October 15. Rain also cancelled qualifying so Dale Earnhardt who was leading the points at the time qualifying was cancelled on September 30th was awarded the pole per the current owners points at that time. Top Ten Results

AC Delco 500

The AC Delco 500 was held October 22 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results

Autoworks 500

The Autoworks 500 was held November 5 at Phoenix International Raceway. Ken Schrader won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 18-Tommy Ellis, 41-Danny Lawson, 89-Bob Howard, 35-Keith van Houten, 07-Mark Walbridge, 44-Jack Sellers, 19-Robert Sprague, 24-Butch Gilliland, 22-St. James Davis, 80-Bob Walker, 08-Rick McCray, 99-John Krebs, 38-Duke Hoenshell, 04-Hershel McGriff, 50-Rick Scribner

Atlanta Journal 500

The Atlanta Journal 500 was held November 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The No. 7 of Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results

Full Drivers' Championship

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by owner's points.

• – Most laps led.

Rookie of the Year

Dick Trickle was named the 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, despite entering the competition in the second week of the season, replacing Mike Alexander at Stavola Brothers Racing. The top runner-up was former Dash champion Hut Stricklin, driving for returning car owner Rod Osterlund. Two-time Busch champion Larry Pearson and former modified driver Jimmy Spencer were the only other candidates to make a full schedule, as Rick Mast, Ben Hess, Chad Little, Butch Miller, and Mickey Gibbs all ran part-time.