1985 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series

Race #1 - Goody's 300

The NASCAR Busch Grand National Series made their 1st stop of the 1985 season in Daytona Beach, Florida, the site of the Daytona International Speedway for the Goody's 300.

Jimmy Hensley led the field to the Green Flag and would lead the first lap as just like previous event at this track the "big one" was the story of the day as four would strike during the race knocking out challengers like defending race winner Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Geoffrey Bodine and a host of many others, in fact by Lap 30 there were only seventeen cars left. Meanwhile up front the battle for the lead was the most fierce in series history as a record 58 lead changes happened during the 120 lap event as Tommy Ellis passed L.D. Ottinger on the last lap and scored the win.

Other Noticeables:
Tommy Ellis scored his 1st win of the year,
Ellis led 15 times for 25 laps, including the final 2 laps,
It was the 8th win of his career in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series and his first since 1984 at Richmond; 6 races ago,
Rusty Wallace(14th) and Jimmy Horton(30th) made their NASCAR Busch Grand National Series debuts,
Tommy Ellis, who finished 1st, is the points leader, leading L.D. Ottinger by 10 points

1.12-Tommy Ellis (25 laps led)
2.10-L.D. Ottinger (19 laps led)
3.84-Morgan Shepherd (47 laps led)
4.07-Alan Kulwicki (2 laps led)
5.78-Bob Shreeves
6.58-Merv Treichler-2 laps
7.47-Ron Bouchard-2 laps
8.82-Larry Walker-2 laps
9.70-Bosco Lowe-2 laps
10.3-Mike Porter-2 laps
11.23-Davey Allison-4 laps
12.22-Bobby Allison-4 laps (1 lap led)
13.00-Jimmy Hensley-5 laps (9 laps led)
14.66-Rusty Wallace-7 laps (7 laps led)
15.14-Ronnie Silver-10 laps
16.34-Joe Kelly-14 laps (Clutch)
17.51-Robert Ingram-54 laps (Accident) (3 laps led)
18.32-Dale Jarrett-96 laps (Accident) (7 laps led)
19.27-Sammy Swindell-98 laps (Accident)
20.17-Darrell Waltrip-111 laps (Accident)
21.21-Larry Pearson-111 laps (Accident)
22.45-Charlie Luck-111 laps (Accident)
23.11-Jack Ingram-111 laps (Accident)
24.73-Mike McLaughlin-112 laps (Accident)
25.43-Kenny Burks-112 laps (Accident)
26.65-Ken Bouchard-112 laps (Accident)
27.7-Joe Ruttman-112 laps (Accident)
28.52-Stuart Huffman-112 laps (Accident)
29.4-Joe Thurman-112 laps (Accident)
30.85-Jimmy Horton-113 laps (Accident)
31.5-Geoffrey Bodine-113 laps (Accident)
32.60-Ed Berrier-113 laps (Accident)
33.75-Brad Teague-113 laps (Accident)
34.8-Dale Earnhardt-113 laps (Accident)
35.80-Dick McCabe-117 laps (Accident)
36.04-Eddie Falk-117 laps (Accident)
37.79-Dickie Linville-118 laps (Accident)
38.2-Rick Mast-118 laps (Accident)
39.24-Glenn Jarrett-118 laps (Accident)
40.25-Mike Watts-119 laps (Accident)
41.6-Tommy Houston-119 laps (Accident)
42.28-Phil Parsons-119 laps (Accident)

Jimmy Hensley-1-6
Bobby Allison-7
Morgan Shepherd-8-9
Rusty Wallace-10-13
Dale Jarrett-14-18
L.D. Ottinger-19
Morgan Shepherd-20
L.D. Ottinger-21
Dale Jarrett-22-23
Robert Ingram-24-26
Morgan Shepherd-27
Tommy Ellis-28-29
Robert Ingram-30
Jimmy Hensley-31-33
Morgan Shepherd-34
Tommy Ellis-35
Morgan Shepherd-36-40
Rusty Wallace-41-43
Morgan Shepherd-44
Tommy Ellis-45
Morgan Shepherd-46
Robert Ingram-47
Morgan Shepherd-48
Tommy Ellis-49
Morgan Shepherd-50-54
L.D. Ottinger-55
Tommy Ellis-56
Morgan Shepherd-57
Tommy Ellis-58-59
L.D. Ottinger-60
Alan Kulwicki-61
L.D. Ottinger-62-63
Alan Kulwicki-64
Morgan Shepherd-65-70
L.D. Ottinger-71
Morgan Shepherd-72-73
Tommy Ellis-74
L.D. Ottinger-75
Tommy Ellis-76-77
L.D. Ottinger-78-80
Morgan Shepherd-81-82
Tommy Ellis-83
Morgan Shepherd-84
Tommy Ellis-85-86
Morgan Shepherd-87-93
Tommy Ellis-94
Morgan Shepherd-95
Tommy Ellis-96
L.D. Ottinger-97
Morgan Shepherd-98
L.D. Ottinger-99
Tommy Ellis-100-105
Morgan Shepherd-106-108
Tommy Ellis-109
Morgan Shepherd-110-113
L.D. Ottinger-114
Morgan Shepherd-115
L.D. Ottinger-116-118
Tommy Ellis-119-120

58 Lead Changes among 9 drivers

Caution Flags: 5 for 20 laps
Lap 2 (Cars #52, 24, 51, 25, 75, 2, 43, 34, 79, 5, 6, 85 and 60 Accident Backstretch),
Lap 8 (Cars #14, 4, 82, 65, 85, 5, 60, 75, 8, 7 and 52 Accident Turn 4),
Lap 14 (Car #78 Spin Frontstretch),
Lap 22 (Cars #27, 07, 22 and 47 Accident Frontstretch),
Lap 39 (Car #22 Spin Frontstretch)

Margin of Victory: 0.255 Seconds

Time of Race: 2 Hours, 10 Minutes and 24 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 2nd race of the season the Komfort Koach 200 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway.

Larry Pearson won the pole, with a time of 28.144 seconds, beating Geoffrey Bodine by 0.075 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Larry Pearson won his 1st pole of the year,
Pearson won his 1st career pole in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series in his 29th start,
Sam Ard, the winner of this event one year ago, is not entered in this event,
Tommy Ellis, who will be starting 24th, has a 10 point lead over L.D. Ottinger

1.21-Larry Pearson
2.5-Geoffrey Bodine
3.7-Joe Ruttman
4.8-Dale Earnhardt
5.24-Glenn Jarrett
6.10-L.D. Ottinger
7.44-Rick Mast
8.82-Larry Walker
9.39-Morgan Shepherd
10.45-Charlie Luck
11.75-Brad Teague
12.00-Jimmy Hensley
13.32-Dale Jarrett
14.6-Tommy Houston
15.4-Joe Thurman
16.14-Ronnie Silver
17.11-Jack Ingram
18.02-Kirk Bryant
19.55-Ed Berrier
20.51-Robert Ingram
21.2-Jeff Hensley
22.04-Eddie Falk
23.58-Merv Treichler
24.12-Tommy Ellis
25.22-Bobby Allison
26.73-Billy Hogan
27.99-Bubba Nissen
28.84-Billy Myers
29.29-John Linville
30.70-Bosco Lowe

Race #2 - Komfort Koach 200

The NASCAR Busch Grand National Series made their 2nd stop of the 1985 season in Rockingham, North Carolina, the site of the North Carolina Motor Speedway for the Komfort Koach 200.

Larry Pearson led the field to the Green Flag but it would be Geoffrey Bodine who would lead the first lap as the fans in attendance were given a great show as Bodine would have a race long battle with Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett before Bodine pulled away late before the unthinkable happened; Bodine's car suffered a broken piston, handing the lead over to Joe Ruttman. Ruttman would lead for a bit before Earnhardt took the lead back with twenty one laps to go. Having won this race in 1983 and choosing to miss this event one year prior, Earnhardt was able to keep Ruttman behind him for the remaining laps to score his fourth win of his busch career and his first of 1985.

Other Noticeables:
Dale Earnhardt scored his 1st win of the year,
Earnhardt led 3 times for 36 laps, including the final 21 laps,
It was the 4th win of his career in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series and his first since 1984 at Richmond; 29 races ago,
L.D. Ottinger, who finished 8th, is the new points leader, leading Ronnie Silver by 34 points

1.8-Dale Earnhardt (36 laps led)
2.7-Joe Ruttman (19 laps led)
3.24-Glenn Jarrett (2 laps led)
4.14-Ronnie Silver
5.32-Dale Jarrett (30 laps led)
6.4-Joe Thurman
7.6-Tommy Houston
8.10-L.D. Ottinger
9.00-Jimmy Hensley (7 laps led)
10.45-Charlie Luck
11.75-Brad Teague
12.11-Jack Ingram
13.84-Billy Myers-1 lap
14.04-Eddie Falk-1 lap
15.51-Robert Ingram-1 lap
16.44-Rick Mast-1 lap (1 lap led)
17.02-Kirk Bryant-1 lap
18.55-Ed Berrier-1 lap
19.22-Bobby Allison-1 lap
20.58-Merv Treichler-1 lap
21.70-Bosco Lowe-1 lap
22.2-Jeff Hensley-2 laps
23.21-Larry Pearson-2 laps
24.39-Morgan Shepherd-2 laps
25.29-John Linville-3 laps
26.82-Larry Walker-3 laps
27.12-Tommy Ellis-3 laps
28.5-Geoffrey Bodine-39 laps (Piston) (102 laps led)
29.73-Billy Hogan-97 laps (Gearbox)
30.99-Bubba Nissen-166 laps (Header)

Larry Pearson-Pole
Geoffrey Bodine-1-8
Dale Earnhardt-9-20
Jimmy Hensley-21-27
Rick Mast-28
Geoffrey Bodine-29-44
Dale Earnhardt-45-47
Geoffrey Bodine-48-62
Dale Jarrett-63-64
Geoffrey Bodine-65
Dale Jarrett-66-75
Geoffrey Bodine-76-82
Dale Jarrett-83-95
Geoffrey Bodine-96-98
Dale Jarrett-99-101
Geoffrey Bodine-102-135
Dale Jarrett-136-137
Glenn Jarrett-138-139
Geoffrey Bodine-140-157
Joe Ruttman-158-176
Dale Earnhardt-177-197

19 Lead Changes among 7 drivers

Caution Flags: 6 for 24 laps
Lap 11 (Car #29 Spin Turn 1),
Lap 19 (Car #70 Spin Frontstretch),
Lap 27 (Cars #12, 75, 70, 11 and 82 Spin Frontstretch),
Lap 64 (Car #2 Spin Turn 3),
Lap 158 (Cars #39 and 70 Spin Backstretch),
Lap 167 (Car #22 Spin Turn 3)

Margin of Victory: 0.406 Seconds

Time of Race: 2 Hours and 17 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 3rd race of the season the Mountain Dew 400 at the Hickory Motor Speedway.

Tommy Houston won the pole, with a time of 18.751 seconds, beating Larry Pearson by 0.087 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Tommy Houston won his 1st pole of the year,
Houston won his 10th career pole in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series and his first since Hickory; 14 races ago,
Houston, the winner of this event one year ago, will be starting 1st,
L.D. Ottinger, who will start 10th, has a 34 point lead over Ronnie Silver

1.6-Tommy Houston
2.21-Larry Pearson
3.32-Dale Jarrett
4.00-Jimmy Hensley
5.62-John Linville
6.1-Morgan Shepherd
7.04-Eddie Falk
8.14-Ronnie Silver
9.51-Robert Ingram
10.10-L.D. Ottinger
11.43-Dickie Linville
12.27-Bosco Lowe
13.98-Larry Pollard
14.82-Ralph Morris
15.11-Jack Ingram
16.2-Jeff Hensley
17.01-Dickie Boswell
18.75-Brad Teague
19.12-Tommy Ellis
20.4-Joe Thurman
21.45-Charlie Luck
22.22-Rick Mast
23.16-Jimmy Lawson
24.36-Joe Kelly

Did Not Qualify
25.85-Lowe Smith