1989 NASCAR Cup Series Head-to-Head Playoff Results

Originally published on Oct. 8, 2024

By Zane Miller

First round

(8) #25 Ken Schrader v. (1) #3 Dale Earnhardt

(7) #11 Terry Labonte v. (2) #27 Rusty Wallace

(6) #6 Mark Martin v. (3) #9 Bill Elliott

(5) #28 Davey Allison v. (4) #17 Darrell Waltrip

Beginning the playoff schedule at Darlington, Dale Earnhardt scored his fifth career Cup victory at the South Carolina track, leading 153 laps in the process to go ahead of postseason adversary Ken Schrader. Meanwhile, Terry Labonte blew an engine to hand the opening victory to Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin claimed an impressive second-place run to beat out Bill Elliott in seventh. Both Davey Allison and Darrell Waltrip struggled throughout the afternoon, but Allison ultimately ended the day on top in 18^th to Waltrip’s 22^nd.

The next week’s race at Richmond separated the wheat from the chaff as three drivers were eliminated a week early. Wallace grabbed the race win after going virtually unchallenged in the second half of the event, while Labonte finished nine laps down in 12^th to conclude his championship bid. Similarly, Schrader crashed out near the midway point of the race, enabling Earnhardt to cruise on to the next round with a second-place result. While Martin had a less-than-stellar effort, finishing 17^th, it would still be enough as Elliott fell out with a broken drivetrain. The only series still up for grabs was the Allison-Waltrip battle as Waltrip kept his hopes alive with a sixth to Allison’s 10^th. Waltrip carried his good fortune into Dover, where he would be the beneficiary of Allison’s blown engine to advance into the semifinal.

Semifinal

(6) #6 Mark Martin v. (1) #3 Dale Earnhardt

(4) #17 Darrell Waltrip v. (2) #27 Rusty Wallace

The semifinal round opener at Martinsville saw an epic battle between Wallace and Waltrip, fresh off of their respective pit crews’ fight at the All-Star Race, as the pair traded the lead over and over again throughout the afternoon. There would be no post-race fisticuffs though, as Waltrip got by Wallace cleanly (with a little help from the lapped car of Earnhardt) to get the early jump in the series. Speaking of Earnhardt, he claimed an easy win over Martin after the latter suffered a blown engine, thus putting the underdog Martin into a major hole.

At Charlotte, Waltrip was the first domino to fall as he ran out of gas late in the event, turning what should have been a sure sweep into a winner-take-all at North Wilkesboro as Wallace slipped by the four-time champ in eighth. The race between Earnhardt and Martin was decided early after a rare mechanical gaffe from the #3 crew, as the camshaft broke just 13 laps in. Earnhardt was saddled with a last place finish, while Martin led 107 laps while playing with house money and finished a morale-boosting third.

Tensions were high at North Wilkesboro to say the least, best exemplified by what has become arguably the most controversial finish in Cup Series history. Determined not to let another mechanical failure cost their driver a shot at the championship, Earnhardt’s crew brought their best piece of the season, as Earnhardt started from the pole and held the lead for over three quarters of the event. The situation was grim for Martin, who was trapped in a side-by-side battle with Elliott for fifth with just six laps to go. However, a window of opportunity opened after a late accident between Schrader and Bobby Hillin Jr. brought out a caution.

While this helped close the gap significantly, Earnhardt was still the class of the field and held the lead through the restart. However, former teammate Ricky Rudd was hot on his heels, and was on the 3 car’s back bumper by the final lap. Instead of conceding the race win to ensure his spot in the finals, Earnhardt fought side-by-side with Rudd, which ended in the two cars colliding in turn one and spinning to the inside. Martin drove by the crash scene with no issues and finished second, while Earnhardt could only salvage a 10^th-place result after getting his car righted. Just like that, Earnhardt’s chance at his second championship had gone up in smoke, and Martin would face Wallace in the finals with Waltrip going several laps down in the event and Wallace avoiding the last-lap carnage to finish seventh.

Final

(6) #6 Mark Martin v. (2) #27 Rusty Wallace

Still riding the high of the massive upset in the semifinals, Martin did one spot better than North Wilkesboro and claimed his first career race win in the opening round of the finals at Rockingham. It could not have come at better time as Wallace finished not far behind in second, but instead would need a great showing at Phoenix to keep the title fight going.

It looked like this would be the case late in the going in the Arizona desert, as Wallace had jumped into the lead just after the halfway mark and had over 75 laps led with no signs of slowing down. However, with just 56 laps to go, Wallace was attempting to overtake the lapped car of Stan Barrett when Barrett suffered an inopportune brake failure, driving right through Wallace and sending both hard into the wall. Though Wallace was able to stay on track, his car was never the same and ended up in 16^th, while Martin made no mistake and came across the line in third to win his first career Cup Series title in what is widely regarded as the most exciting Cup Series playoff of all time.

Mark Martin’s stats for 1989 included one win, 14 top-fives and 18 top-10s in 29 starts, taking the third spot in the real-life standings behind real-life champ Rusty Wallace.