| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 7 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
The beginning of the Earnhardt family's winning dynasty in NASCAR |
|||
| Date | April 1, 1979 | ||
| Location | Bristol International Speedway (Bristol, Tennessee) | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.857 km) |
||
| Distance | 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Partly cloudy with a high around 54 °F (12 °C); wind at 3.57 miles per hour (5.75 km/h)[1] | ||
| Avg Speed | 91.033 miles per hour (146.503 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Buddy Baker | Harry Ranier | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Rod Osterlund | |
| Laps | 163 | ||
| Winner | |||
| 2 |
Dale Earnhardt |
Rod Osterlund | |
| Television | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1979 Southeastern 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on April 1, 1979 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the American community of Bristol, Tennessee.[2]
Five hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.533 miles (0.858 km) in only two hours and fifty-five minutes.[2] Six cautions were given out by NASCAR for 44 laps.[2] Twenty-six thousand people attended this live event to see Dale Earnhardt defeat Bobby Allison by a time of three seconds.[2][3]
The notable speeds were: 91.033 miles per hour (146.503 km/h) for the average speed[4] and 111.668 miles per hour (179.712 km/h) for the pole position speed achieved by Buddy Baker.[2] The other top ten finishers were: Darrell Waltrip (who would lose the race lead to Earnhardt with only 27 laps to go[5]), Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, Donnie Allison, Terry Labonte, Joe Millikan, James Hylton, and Ricky Rudd.[2] Chevrolet vehicles made up the majority of the 30-car racing grid.[2] Corporate sponsors for the drivers included: Gatorade, STP, Hawaiian Tropic, and Shoney's.[2] This race would be notable for starting the Earnhardt family's legacy of winning.
Many souvenirs were cheap back then with a Richard Petty hat costing $5 USD ($15.13 in today's money) and a ticket to the race costing $16 USD ($48.41 in today's money). The winner of the race would receive a purse of $19,800 ($59,910.03 in today's money).[6] Ralph Jones (a driver-owner) was the last-place finisher of this race; he was forced to end his participation in the race due to brake issues on lap 31.[2]