1978 Delaware 500

1978 Delaware 500
Race details
Race 24 of 30 in the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Layout of Dover International Speedway
Date September 17, 1978
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)
WeatherTemperatures reaching a maximum of 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)[1]
Average speed 119.323 miles per hour (192.032 km/h)
Pole position
Driver J.D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering
Laps 267
Winner
No. 15
 Bobby Allison
 Bud Moore Engineering
Television in the United States
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.[2]

Summary

Five hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 1.000 mile (1.609 km).[2] The race took four hours, eleven minutes, and twenty seconds to complete.[2] Three cautions were given out by NASCAR for eighteen laps.[2] Thirty thousand stock car racing fans attended this live event.[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]).[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.[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.[2] J.D. McDuffie established the pole position[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 the Busch Clash (now the Sprint Unlimited);[4] Buddy Baker would ultimately win that race on February 1979. The Busch Clash consisted of a racing event with 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. Although McDuffie would never win a race with a Winston Cup Series vehicle, his best overall finish would come at the 1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 in Nashvile, Tennessee.[5]

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

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2]
1 Cale Yarborough 3867
2 Dave Marcis 3482
3 Benny Parsons 3479
4 Darrell Waltrip 3423
5 Bobby Allison 3361

References

  1. ↑ "1978 Delaware 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 "1978 Delaware 500 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  3. ↑ "Dover International Speedway - Racing Records". Dover International Speedway. Archived from the original on 15 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  4. ↑ "Old #70 - The J.D. McDuffie Story". CarolinaCountry.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  5. ↑ "J.D. McDuffie information". Legends of NASCAR. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
Preceded by
1978 Capital City 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1978 		Succeeded by
1978 Old Dominion 500