The 1988 Delaware 500 was the 23rd stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 18th iteration of the event.

Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969.

In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series.

For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[3] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two provisionals were given.

Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 24.312 and an average speed of 148.075 miles per hour (238.304 km/h) in the first round.