1988 Pontiac Excitement 400
Network: TBS
Date and time: February 21, 1988, 1:00 PM
Format: Live
Length: 3 hours and 50 minutes (scheduled for 3 and a half hours)
The Pontiac Excitement 400 was shown live and flag-to-flag on TBS. It was billed as the "Richmond 400".
After a caution flag due to a crash by Geoff Bodine at lap 266, there was a scoring error, as NASCAR scoring incorrectly listed Darrell Waltrip as remaining the leader, when he had made a pit stop and was at the tail end of the lead lap, giving the lead to first Lake Speed and then Dale Earnhardt. TBS went along with the incorrect info and reported Waltrip as the leader, with the rest of the top 5 consisting of Alan Kulwicki, Ricky Rudd, Richard Petty, and Rusty Wallace. Soon after, Kulwicki was reported as a lap down (later 3 laps down), and they reported the top 5 as Waltrip, Rudd, Petty, Wallace, and Earnhardt. But then one lap before the restart, at lap 281, they realized they were in error and Waltrip, Wallace, Rudd, and Petty were actually at the tail end of the lead lap, and Earnhardt was leading. The top 5 was then correctly reported as Earnhardt, Lake Speed, Waltrip, Wallace, and Rudd.
In addition, at the end of the race, Neil Bonnett won, but TBS weren't sure if it was him or Ricky Rudd, because Kenny Bernstein, Rudd's car owner, thought he had won and Bonnett was at the tail end of the lead lap.
Due to 14 caution flags, the race ran long, and the coverage signed off around 4:50 PM instead of the planned 4:30 PM. This pre-empted an airing of The Andy Griffith Show.
Personnel:
Host: Dave Despain
Announcers: Ken Squier, Johnny Hayes
Pit reporters: Chris Economaki, Mark Allen
Goodyear Motor Racing Updates: Bob Varsha
Produced by MotorWeek Productions