The 1988 Pannill Sweatshirts 500 was the eighth stock car race of the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 39th iteration of the event.

The race was held on Sunday, April 24, 1988, before an audience of 42,000 in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track.

At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series.

For this specific race, positions 21-30 would be decided on time,[5] 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 were given.

Ricky Rudd, driving for King Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 20.734 and an average speed of 91.328 miles per hour (146.978 km/h) in the first round.