| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Date: | November 4 |
| Caption: | The 1990 Checker 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. |
| Pole Team: | Blue Max Racing |
| First Team: | Richard Childress Racing |
| First Driver: | Dale Earnhardt |
| Most Team: | Richard Childress Racing |
| Most Driver: | Dale Earnhardt |
| Most Laps: | 262 |
| Pole Driver: | Rusty Wallace |
| Network: | ESPN |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett |
| Car: | 3 |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Avg: | 96.786mph |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Location: | Avondale, Arizona, Phoenix International Raceway |
| Race No: | 28 |
| Scheduled Km: | 502.115 |
| Distance Km: | 502.115 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 312 |
| Distance Laps: | 312 |
| Course Km: | 1.6 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 312 |
| Course Mi: | 1 |
| Official Name: | 3rd Annual Checker 500 |
| Race Name: | Checker 500 |
| Year: | 1990 |
| Pole Time: | 28.929 |
| Distance Mi: | 312 |
| Attendance: | 75,000 |
The 1990 Checker 500 was the 28th and penultimate stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, the ninth and final race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston West Series season, and the third iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, November 4, 1990, before an audience of 75,000 in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent low-banked tri-oval race track. The race took the scheduled 312 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to dominate the majority of the race, leading 262 laps of the race en route to his 48th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his ninth and final victory of the season.[1] [2] [3] [4]
With the victory and a poor finish from championship contender in the driver's championship, Mark Martin, Earnhardt would manage to take the driver's championship lead, leading Martin by six points heading into the final race of the season, the 1990 Atlanta Journal 500.[5] [6]
Phoenix International Raceway – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It is named after the nearby metropolitan area of Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.
The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km) road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51 mi (2.43 km) interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, November 2, at 5:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 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, November 3, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-40 would be decided on time,[7] 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; which was up to two for cars in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and up to two extra provisionals for the cars in the NASCAR Winston West Series.
Rusty Wallace, driving for Blue Max Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 28.929 and an average speed of 124.443mph in the first round.[8] [9]
Six drivers would fail to qualify.
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Dale Earnhardt | 4,260 | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | Mark Martin | 4,254 (-6) | ||||||
| 3 | Bill Elliott | 3,871 (-389) | |||||||
| 4 | Geoff Bodine | 3,842 (–418) | |||||||
| 5 | Rusty Wallace | 3,533 (–727) | |||||||
| 2 | 6 | Morgan Shepherd | 3,509 (–751) | ||||||
| 7 | Ricky Rudd | 3,486 (–774) | |||||||
| 2 | 8 | Kyle Petty | 3,461 (–799) | ||||||
| 1 | 9 | Alan Kulwicki | 3,452 (–808) | ||||||
| 1 | 10 | Ernie Irvan | 3,447 (–813) | ||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||