• Buddy Baker wins the Daytona 500 with a record average speed of 177.602 mph, a mark that still stands today.

• Rusty Wallace enters his first Winston Cup race at Atlanta on March 16 and finishes second to Dale Earnhardt.

• David Pearson records his 105th and final Winston Cup victory with a triumph in the spring race at Darlington. It is Pearson's 10th Winston Cup win on the legendary egg-shaped oval.

• The season finale is run under clear Southern California skies at Ontario Motor Speedway. Benny Parsons wins the 500-miler after taking the lead with eight laps remaining. The magnificent racing palace is sold and torn down shortly after the conclusion of the event.

• Dale Earnhardt makes up a lap and finishes in fifth place to wrap up the Winston Cup championship by 19 points over Cale Yarborough. Earnhardt becomes the first and only driver to win the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year and the NWCS championship in successive seasons.