The 1986 Atlanta Journal 500 was a Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) event held at Atlanta Motor Speedway on November 2, 1986. Dale Earnhardt led 162 of the 328 laps in route to a dominating one-lap, three-second victory over Richard Petty and the rest of the field. With his win, Earnhardt also clinched his second career championship, holding a 278-point lead on Darrell Waltrip (39th) following the event. Stats