By Zane Miller
First round
(8) #44 Terry Labonte v. (1) #9 Bill Elliott
(7) #15 Ricky Rudd v. (2) #11 Darrell Waltrip
(6) #7 Kyle Petty v. (3) #12 Neil Bonnett
(5) #5 Geoffrey Bodine v. (4) #33 Harry Gant
In the playoff-opening race at Darlington, Bill Elliott conquered The Lady in Black, leading the final 44 laps on the way to the race win ahead of Terry Labonte in seventh. Ricky Rudd claimed the win over Darrell Waltrip, getting a sixth-place run while Waltrip battled to a disappointing 17th, as Neil Bonnett locked down a successful fourth-place finish to a 10th-place result from Kyle Petty. Capping off the playoff contenders, Harry Gant blew his engine near the end of the event, enabling Geoffrey Bodine to take the opening race with a third-place finish.
At Richmond, Waltrip evened up his series against Rudd with a race win after leading 84 laps, though Bonnett would be unable to do the same against Petty, as he came up just short with a ninth-place run to Petty’s eighth. Labonte grabbed the runner-up spot after leading the most laps of the day, with Elliott finishing two laps down in 12th to force a winner-take-all at Dover. Also being unable to pull off the sweep was Bodine, who ended up seventh while Gant staved off elimination by the skin of his teeth in sixth.
In Delaware’s state capital, Gant would take advantage of his second chance in dominating fashion, leading 216 laps on the way to victory by nearly lapping the field. While Elliott struggled to a 20th-place finish, Labonte was unable to take advantage, dropping out with a broken push rod to allow Elliott to live to see another day. The final series still up for grabs saw Waltrip come across the line as the only other driver still on the lead lap, as Rudd was eliminated in spite of a strong run in third.
Semifinal
(6) #7 Kyle Petty v. (1) #9 Bill Elliott
(4) #33 Harry Gant v. (2) #11 Darrell Waltrip
In the round-opening race at Martinsville, a hard-fought battle between Gant and Waltrip ended with Waltrip on top, as he took the second spot to Gant’s third. Meanwhile, Petty upset Elliott with a solid fifth-place run, while Elliott’s late-season struggles continued by finishing 33 laps down in 17th. The second race at North Wilkesboro saw Gant rebound in a major way from his loss on the Martinsville paper clip, leading nearly 300 laps on the way to victory by 14 seconds over runner-up Bodine, while Waltrip wound up 14th.
Meanwhile, Elliott’s title hopes were dashed on lap 118, when a transmission failure ended his race prematurely. Although Petty also suffered a mechanical failure of his own with a blown engine later in the event, it would still be enough to seal his spot in the championship final. This left the final championship spot open between Gant and Waltrip at Charlotte, though the fight would end anticlimactically as Gant suffered a terminal engine failure less than 100 laps from the finish. This paved the way for Waltrip to cruise to a fourth-place finish and, more importantly, take the final championship spot for a chance at his fourth career title.
Final
(6) #7 Kyle Petty v. (2) #11 Darrell Waltrip
In the third straight race in the Tarheel State, but first of the final round at Rockingham, Petty looked to do what his father was unable to do and win a championship under the playoff format, though this endeavor got off to a horrible start as he crashed just past the midway point and limped to a 31st-place finish, while Waltrip led the final 31 laps and captured the race win. Finally, in the second race in Atlanta, Petty’s championship hopes officially came crashing down on lap 270, as he was swept up in a wreck with Sammy Swindell, who was making his Cup debut. Waltrip’s race continued without incident, finishing third to claim his fourth Cup Series championship.
Darrell Waltrip’s stats for 1985 were three victories, 18 top-fives and 21 top-10s in 28 starts, as he won the actual championship in addition to the head-to-head title.
1985 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/1985-nascar-cup-series-season-recap
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