The 1986 Summer 500 was the 16th stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 14th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 20, 1986, before an audience of 60,000 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race was shortened from its scheduled 200 laps to 150 laps due to a combination of rain, darkness, and fog.[1]
In the final laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Tim Richmond and Geoff Bodine engaged in a dogfight for the lead. As the two rubbed fenders throughout driving the last two turns, Bud Moore Engineering's Ricky Rudd was able to charge his way into the fray, and by the time all three drivers got out of the last turn, Rudd and Richmond were side-by-side for the lead. At the time, Richmond bested out Rudd by a foot, in the process managing to come back from a lap down to claim the victory. The victory was Richmond's eighth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Bodine finished third.[2][3]
Pocono International Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.
Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCarrace. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, March 14, at 10:00 AM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-40 meant to be determined later in the day at 3:00 PM EST.[4] However, due to rain, the first round was cancelled. As a result, qualifying was both delayed for almost four hours and condensed into one round for all starting grid spots in the race. 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 were given.[5]
Harry Gant, driving for Mach 1 Racing, won the pole, setting a time of 58.293 and an average speed of 154.392 miles per hour (248.470 km/h).[6]
