| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 29 in the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1988 Coca-Cola 600 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Bobby Allison, and Cale Yarborough. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | May 29, 1988 | ||
| Official name | 29th Annual Coca-Cola 600 | ||
| Location | Concord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||
| Average speed | 124.46 miles per hour (200.30 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 165,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ranier-Lundy Racing | ||
| Time | 31.107 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | |
| Laps | 106 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Johnny Hayes | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Performance Racing Network | ||
The 1988 Coca-Cola 600 was the tenth stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 29th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 29, 1988, before an audience of 165,000 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. On the final restart with nine laps left in the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Darrell Waltrip would manage to fend off the field to take his 72nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1][2][3][4] To fill out the top three, Blue Max Racing driver Rusty Wallace and owner-driver Alan Kulwicki would finish second and third, respectively.
The race was marred by a series of tire failures that had lasted throughout the entire race. With almost every starter for the race deciding to run tires made by Hoosier Racing Tire (with Dave Marcis being the only exception, deciding to instead run tires made by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company), numerous drivers suffered tire blowouts. Notable drivers who suffered tire blowouts include Harry Gant, Neil Bonnett, and Rick Wilson, all of whom had to be hospitalized after their accidents. Marcis did not suffer any tire failures, but still failed to finish after Sterling Marlin also suffered a tire failure and collected Marcis in the process.[5] The increased amount of tire blowouts was blamed on an increase of both track temperature and higher speeds than Hoosier had expected, according to the company's CEO, Bob Newton.[6]
