| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 29 of 29 in the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1990 Atlanta Journal 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | November 18, 1990 | ||
| Official name | 31st Annual Atlanta Journal 500 | ||
| Location | Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.522 mi (2.449 km) | ||
| Distance | 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km) | ||
| Average speed | 140.911 miles per hour (226.774 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 75,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Blue Max Racing | ||
| Time | 31.270 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | |
| Laps | 94 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 15 | Morgan Shepherd | Bud Moore Engineering | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The 1990 Atlanta Journal 500 was the 29th and final stock car race of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, November 18, 1990, before an audience of 75,000 in Hampton, Georgia, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.522 miles (2.449 km) permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 328 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Bud Moore Engineering driver Morgan Shepherd would manage to defend the field on the final 21-lap green flag stint of the race to take his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1][2][3][4]
In the driver's championship, Dale Earnhardt, after keeping his car within the lead pack throughout the race, was able to finish third and ahead of championship contender Mark Martin. Earnhardt was able to win his fourth NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship by a margin of 26 points, a margin that would not have existed if Martin had not been penalized at the 1990 Pontiac Excitement 400 where Martin had gotten penalized 46 points after the race.[5]
On lap 300 of the race, an accident would occur on pit road when Ricky Rudd locked up his car's brakes and spun into Bill Elliott's car while Elliott was pitting, with Rudd's car hitting numerous pit crew members of Elliott's team. One of the team members for Elliott, Mike Rich, would die due to a cardiac arrest caused by injuries sustained in the crash.[6]
