02/28/1988 – Goodyear NASCAR 500 – Calder Park Thunderdome, Melbourne, Australia – Neil Bonnett won the first NASCAR Cup event held outside of North America, bringing home the victory – from the pole position – in a RahMoc Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2.
While this was a non-points event, it has a unique place not only in NASCAR history due to its geographic location, but also in Pontiac NASCAR history.
This was the only superspeedway event won by the 2+2, its other victories were on the road courses and the short tracks (and all by Rusty Wallace); ironically, it was for the superspeedways that the 2+2 was designed. The win in Australia is also unique in that it was the middle victory of a 3-race Cup sanctioned win streak that Bonnett was on. He won the bookend points races at the Richmond Fairgrounds and the North Carolina Motor Speedway in the new model Grand Prix (based on front-wheel drive GM W-body platform); a unique win for the modern era by winning multiple consecutive races with the same manufacturer, but different models.
“Racing is dangerous, but I’ve been in a lot worse situations as a pipe fitter.” – Neil Bonnett, 1946-1994
Pontiac Racing 