1979 Coca-Cola 500
Race details[1]
Race 19 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1979 Coca-Cola 500 program cover, featuring Darrell Waltrip, winner of last year's race.
1979 Coca-Cola 500 program cover, featuring Darrell Waltrip, winner of last year's race.
Date July 30, 1979 (1979-July-30)
Official name Coca-Cola 500
Location Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (3.400 km)
Distance 200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km)
Weather Temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 2.9 miles per hour (4.7 km/h)
Average speed 115.207 miles per hour (185.408 km/h)
Attendance 40,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Race Hill Farm Team
Most laps led
Driver Darrell Waltrip Al Rudd Auto
Laps 62
Winner
No. 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network
Booth Announcers Jack Arute and Barney Hall
Turn Announcers Turn 1: Eli Gold
Turn 2: Dave Sutherland
Turn 3: Mike Joy
Pit Reporter: Ned Jarrett

The 1979 Coca-Cola 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 30, 1979, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

By the following season, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

During qualifying an unnamed driver dared James Hylton to turn the slowest lap he could while qualifying. Hylton turned in a blistering 45 mph average for the lap, and NASCAR officials promptly fined him $500.

Pocono Raceway, where the race was held.

Background

Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[3] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.[4]

Race report

While originally scheduled for July 29, 1979, it was postponed one day due to rain.[5] The race was run on Monday, so most of the NASCAR fans had to go work that day.

Two hundred laps were completed in four hours and twenty minutes.[2] Seven cautions flags slowed the race for 49 laps; Cale Yarborough eventually defeated Richard Petty under the race's final yellow flag.[2] This would result in Yarborough's third win of the year.[6] Forty thousand fans attended a live racing event where the average speed of the vehicles would be 115.207 miles per hour (185.408 km/h). None of the drivers on the starting grid were born in Wisconsin; which is still true in 2016.[2] Harry Gant qualified for the pole position with a speed of 148.711 miles per hour (239.327 km/h).[2] The majority of the vehicles involved in the race had Chevrolet as their manufacturer.[2] Steve Gray would make his NASCAR debut that resulted in a last-place finish.[2] He crashed on the very first lap of the race with Roger Hamby and Al Holbert; taking home only $1,305 in winnings ($5,262 when adjusted for inflation).[2][7]

Dale Earnhardt fractured both of his clavicles[6] by crashing into a wall on lap 98 of this race.[2] As a result, he had to miss the next four races (re-emerging at the 1979 running of the Capital City 400).

Darrell Waltrip's championship aspirations took a hit by pitting late in the race and losing the lead for good on lap 187 regulating him to a seventh-place finish while top rival for the championship Richard Petty finished in second place.[2] Had Darrell Waltrip finished ahead of rival Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip would have probably won the championship in 1979.

A freight train of cars ended up drafting and swapping positions for a majority of the event.[2] It took 62 starts, but Ricky Rudd finally collects his first lead-lap finish in Winston Cup, nevertheless managing to collect 20 top-10s prior to this event.[8]

Cale Yarborough would take home $21,465 in winnings for finishing first in the race ($86,549 when adjusted for inflation).[2] 56 lead changes were recorded in this race; a rarity outside Talladega Superspeedway and a definite record setter for Pocono Raceway.[9] All of the 39 drivers that qualified for the race were American-born men.[2]

Race results

Fin St # Driver Make Team/Owner Sponsor Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 211Cale YarboroughChevrolet Junior Johnson & AssociatesBusch20061running 180 $21465
2 1043Richard PettyChevrolet Petty EnterprisesSTP20017running 175 $15465
3 928Buddy BakerChevrolet Ranier-Lundy RacingW.I.N.2007running 170 $8490
4 527Benny ParsonsChevrolet M.C. Anderson RacingHarrisburg East Mall2000running 160 $7765
5 690Ricky RuddMercury Donlavey RacingTruxmore2000running 155 $6215
6 1572Joe MillikanChevrolet L. G. DeWittAppliance Wheels2000running 150 $7215
7 1822Darrell WaltripChevrolet Al Rudd AutoGatorade20062running 156 $2715
8 721Neil BonnettMercury Wood Brothers RacingPurolator2008running 147 $2815
9 415Bobby AllisonFord Bud Moore EngineeringHodgdon, Moore1991running 143 $5915
10 1630Tighe ScottBuick Walter BallardRuss Togs1980running 134 $4295
11 23 40 D.K. Ulrich Chevrolet D.K. Ulrich Midwestern Farm Lines 197 0 running 130 $3685
12 39 3 Richard Childress Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing CRC Chemicals 196 0 running 127 $3525
13 13 70 J. D. McDuffie Chevrolet J. D. McDuffie Bailey Excavating 196 0 running 124 $3305
14 17 25 Ronnie Thomas Chevrolet Don Robertson Stone's Cafeteria 196 0 running 121 $4095
15 1 47 Harry Gant Chevrolet Jack Beebe (owner) Race Hill Farm 195 1 running 123 $2915
16 20 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet Jimmy Means Racing Mr. Transmission 194 0 running 115 $2785
17 24 64 Tommy Gale Ford Elmo Langley Sunny King Ford & Honda 190 0 running 112 $2555
18 25 24 Cecil Gordon Oldsmobile Cecil Gordon 189 0 running 109 $2370
19 28 79 Frank Warren Dodge Frank Warren Native Tan 188 0 ignition 106 $2135
20 19 05 Dick Brooks Chevrolet Nelson Malloch Bearfinder 188 0 running 103 $1600
21 36 34 Steve Peles Chevrolet Steve Peles 187 0 running 100 $1180
22 21 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge Buddy Arrington Reid Trailer Sales 187 0 ignition 97 $2025
23 12 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Hagan Racing Stratagraph 184 0 running 94 $1980
24 29 63 Jocko Maggiacomo Oldsmobile Jocko Maggiacomo Shaw Motors 172 0 running 91 $1105
25 33 09 Nelson Oswald Chevrolet Nelson Oswald J & S Truck Service 168 0 engine 88 $1080
26 34 20 Rick Newsom Oldsmobile Rick Newsom MARS 166 0 running 85 $1055
27 32 01 Earle Canavan Dodge Earle Canavan Green's Auto Parts 140 0 engine 82 $1030
28 22 57 Dick May Ford Alfred McClure McClure Motors 103 0 engine 79 $1005
29 3 2 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Osterlund Racing Rod Osterlund 98 43 crash 81 $4680
30 35 61 Wayne Broome Oldsmobile Jim Norris (owner) Jim Norris 92 0 engine 73 $955
31 31 45 Baxter Price Chevrolet Baxter Price Iron Peddlers 88 0 engine 70 $1430
32 27 55 Wayne Watercutter Chevrolet Ward Racing Enterprises 48 0 crash 0 $905
33 38 48 James Hylton Chevrolet James Hylton Motorsports Palatine Automotive Parts 40 0 engine 64 $1380
34 11 12 Lennie Pond Oldsmobile Kennie Childers Kencoal Mining 15 0 steering 61 $850
35 14 87 Gary Balough Oldsmobile Billie Harvey Fast Lane Ltd. 9 0 clutch 58 $840
36 37 23 Louis Gatto Chevrolet L & J Automotive 5 0 ignition 55 $820
37 8 7 Al Holbert Chevrolet Al Holbert Holbert Porsche-Audi 1 0 crash 52 $1065
38 26 17 Roger Hamby Oldsmobile Roger Hamby Kings Inn 1 0 crash 49 $1310
39 30 19 Steve Gray Chevrolet Henley Gray Belden Asphalt 1 0 crash 46 $1305

Source: [10][11]

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Darrell Waltrip 3061 0
2 Increase Richard Petty 2852 -209
3 Increase Cale Yarborough 2850 -211
4 Decrease Bobby Allison 2845 -216
5 Dale Earnhardt 2588 -473
6 Benny Parsons 2557 -504
7 Joe Millikan 2471 -590
8 J.D. McDuffie 2263 -798
9 Richard Childress 2256 -805
10 Increase D.K. Ulrich 2197 -864

References

  1. ↑ "1979 Coca-Cola 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "1979 Coca-Cola 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  3. ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Pocono Raceway". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  5. ↑ "1979 Coca-Cola 500 race postponement information". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  6. 1 2 "Dale Earnhardt's injury evaluation/Yarborough's third win of season". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  7. ↑ "1979 Coca-Cola 500 information (third reference)". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
  8. ↑ "Driver Ricky Rudd's NASCAR Top-10 Results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  9. ↑ "By the Numbers: Pocono". NASCAR. Retrieved 2014-09-09.
  10. ↑ "1979 Coca-Cola 500". The Third Turn. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25.
  11. ↑ "1979 Coca-Cola 500 race results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28.
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