1978 Delaware 500

1978 Delaware 500
Race details
Race 24 of 30 in the 1978 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date September 17, 1978 (1978-September-17)
Location Dover International Speedway (Dover, Delaware)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.000 mi (1.609 km)
Distance 500 laps, 500.0 mi (804.6 km)
Avg Speed 119.323 miles per hour (192.032 km/h)
Pole position
Driver J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Bud Moore
Laps 267
Winner
15
 Bobby Allison
 Bud Moore
Television
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1978 Delaware 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) racing event that took place on September 17, 1978 at Dover Downs International Speedway (now Dover International Speedway) in the American community of Dover, Delaware.[1][2]

Summary

Five hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 1.000 mile (1.609 km).[1][2] The race took four hours, eleven minutes, and twenty seconds to complete.[1][2] Three cautions were given out by NASCAR for eighteen laps.[1][2] Bobby Allison (sponsored by Norris Industries) defeated Cale Yarborough (sponsored by 1st National City Travelers Checks - which is now a part of Citibank) by 11½ seconds.[1][2] Notable speeds were: 119.323 miles per hour (192.032 km/h) for the average speed and 135.480 miles per hour (218.034 km/h) for the pole position speed (accomplished by J.D. McDuffie[3]).[1][2] Thirty thousand stock car racing fans attended this live event.[1][2] Other notable names in the event included: Darrell Waltrip (now a NASCAR on Fox broadcaster), Richard Childress (now the owner of Richard Childress Racing), Richard Petty, and J.D. McDuffie.[1][2]

J.D. McDuffie established the pole position[1][2] while using tires manufactured by the McCreary Tire Company. This pole position start also got him a guaranteed ride in the first running of what is now called the Budweiser Shootout;[4] Buddy Baker would ultimately win that race on February 1979. The Budweiser Shootout rules at the time were: The race consisted of a single twenty-lap (50-mile) green flag sprint with no pit stops required. Jabe Thomas would retire from NASCAR after this race. Bobby Allison would gain his 50th career Winston Cup Series victory from this race.

Finishing order

  1. Bobby Allison (defeated Ned Jarrett by one car length)
  2. Cale Yarborough
  3. Buddy Baker (highest finishing Chevrolet vehicle)
  4. David Pearson
  5. Darrell Waltrip
  6. Dick Brooks†
  7. Lennie Pond
  8. Dave Marcis
  9. Donnie Allison
  10. Dick May†
  11. Ronnie Thomas
  12. Richard Childress
  13. Al Holbert†
  14. Cecil Gordon
  15. Ed Negre (highest finishing Dodge vehicle)
  16. Earle Canavan
  17. Tommy Gale
  18. Roger Hamby
  19. Nestor Peles
  20. Gary Myers*
  21. Frank Warren
  22. Buddy Arrington
  23. Baxter Price
  24. Nelson Oswald*
  25. Tighe Scott*
  26. Benny Parsons*†
  27. Richard Petty*
  28. Dave Dion*
  29. Neil Bonnett*†
  30. Ralph Jones*
  31. Joey Arrington*
  32. Jimmy Means*
  33. J.D. McDuffie*†
  34. James Hylton*
  35. Louis Gatto*
  36. Ferrel Harris*† (only Chrysler entry of the entire race)
  37. Jabe Thomas*

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "1978 Delaware 500 racing results". Racing Reference. http://racing-reference.info/race?id=1978-24&series=W. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "1978 Delaware 500 racing results (second reference)". Stat Sheet. http://statsheet.com/nascar/races/1978-09-17-delaware-500. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
  3. ^ "Dover International Speedway - Racing Records". Dover International Speedway. http://www.doverspeedway.com/track/records.php. Retrieved 2011-01-08. 
  4. ^ "Old #70 - The J.D. McDuffie Story". CarolinaCountry.com. http://www.carolinacountry.com/StoryPages/ourstories/jdmcduffie/Old7012.09.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-08. 
Preceded by
1978 Capital City 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1978		 Succeeded by
1978 Old Dominion 500