1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Recap

by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide
1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings

Dale Earnhardt claimed his fifth NASCAR Winston Cup champ­ion­ship in 1991, finishing comfortably ahead of runner-up Ricky Rudd. Earn­hardt won four races along the way to the title and finished 195 points ahead of Rudd in the final point tally.

Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR driver and winner of the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup championship
1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Dale Earnhardt

Earnhardt assumed command of the points race in early May and never trailed again. Rudd managed to cling to second place in the points standings despite only one win and nine top-five finishes in the 29-race season.

Ageless Harry Gant provided the most fireworks during the season, ­winning four races in a row during the month of September. The 51-year-old Gant won five races for the year and had six more top-five finishes than Rudd, but he finished a distant fourth in the title race, more than 100 points behind runner-up Rudd.

Davey Allison finished third in the points on the strength of five victories and Ernie Irvan rounded out the top five with two wins. Check out the final results for the rest of the field when you explore the following standings chart.

1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings

Rank Driver
Points
Wins
Earnings
1 Dale Earnhardt
4,287 4 $2,416,685
2 Ricky Rudd
4,092
1 1,093,765
3 Davey Allison
4,088 5
1,712,924
4 Harry Gant
3,985 5
1,194,033
5 Ernie Irvan
3,925 2 1,079,017
6 Mark Martin
3,914 1
1,039,991
7 Sterling Marlin
3,839 0
633,690
8 Darrell Waltrip
3,711 2
604,854
9 Ken Schrader
3,690 2
772,434
10 Rusty Wallace
3,582 2
502,073
11 Bill Elliott
3,535
1
705,605
12 Morgan Shepherd
3,438
0
521,147
13 Alan Kulwicki
3,354
1
595,614
14 Geoff Bodine
3,277
1
625,256
15 Michael Waltrip
3,254
0
440,812
16 Hut Stricklin
3,199
0
426,254
17 Dale Jarrett
3,124
1
444,256
18 Terry Labonte
3,024
0
348,898
19 Brett Bodine
2,980
0
376,220
20 Joe Ruttman
2,938
0
361,661
21 Rick Mast
2,918
0
344,020
22 Bobby Hamilton 2,915
0
259,105
23 Ted Musgrave
2,841
0
200,910
24 Richard Petty
2,817
0
268,035
25 Jimmy Spencer
2,790
0
283,620
26 Rick Wilson
2,723
0
241,375
27 Chad Little
2,678
0
184,190
28 Derrike Cope
2,516
0
419,380
29 Dave Marcis
2,374
0
219,760
30 Bobby Hillin, Jr.
2,317
0
251,645
31 Kyle Petty
2,078
1
413,727
32 Lake Speed
1,742
0
149,300
33 Jimmy Means
1,562
0
111,210
34 Mickey Gibbs
1,401
0
100,360
35 Dick Trickle
1,258
0
129,125
36 Stanley Smith
893
0
56,915
37 Larry Pearson
848
0
56,570
38 Wally Dallenbach, Jr. 803
0
54,020
39 Greg Sacks
791
0
84,215
40 Buddy Baker 552
0
58,060
41 Jimmy Hensley
488
0
32,125
42 Eddie Bierschwale
431
0
55,025
43 Jim Sauter
423
0
47,395
44 Kenny Wallace
412
0
58,325
45 Jeff Purvis
399
0
42,910
46 Phil Barkdoll
364
0
41,655
47 Mike Chase
356
0
22,700
48 J.D. McDuffie 335
0
19,795
49 Bill Sedgwick
324
0
15,150
50 Randy LaJoie 304
0
23,875

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