1978 Capital City 400

1978 Capital City 400
Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 23 of 30 in the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Layout of Richmond Speedway
Date September 10, 1978 (1978-September-10)
Official name Capital City 400
Location Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.542 mi (0.872 km)
Distance 400 laps, 216.8 mi (348.9 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 95 °F (35 °C); wind speeds up to 17.26 miles per hour (27.78 km/h)
Average speed 79.568 miles per hour (128.052 km/h)
Attendance 18,000
Pole position
Driver
DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Neil Bonnett Osterlund Motorsports
Laps 276
Winner
No. 5 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1978 Capital City 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 10, 1978, at Richmond Fairgrounds (now Richmond Raceway) in Richmond, Virginia.

By 1980, 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.

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond.[5] The original track was paved in 1968.[6] In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration

The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway". The Strawberry Hill Races, which are a series of steeplechase horse races were formerly held the third Saturday of April at the Richmond Raceway Complex. In 2001, the races were moved to Colonial Downs in New Kent County, Virginia's first Thoroughbred racetrack.[7]

Summary

Four hundred laps were completed on an oval track spanning 0.546 miles (0.879 km) per lap for a grand total of 216.8 miles (348.9 km) of racing.[2] The race was completed within two hours and forty-three minutes of the first official green flag of the race.[2] Darrell Waltrip would end up defeating Bobby Allison (who drove a 1978 Ford Thunderbird) by only one second.[2][4] Neil Bonnett started chasing down Waltrip on pit road and slammed into Waltrip's vehicle; forcing Bill France, Jr. to put them on probation for the remainder of the year. The spectators were incredibly disgruntled after Darrell Waltrip's victory so Waltrip needed police protection in order to make it to the post-race interviews.[8]

When I passed Neil, I was on the inside and he was on the outside. It think it's pretty poor strategy when he doesn't move up. He actually cut into me.
— Darrell Waltrip

Eighteen thousand people were a live witness to five yellow flags being used for twenty-seven laps in addition to 16 lead changes by the drivers.[2] The pole position speed was acquired by Darrell Waltrip's Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a qualifying speed of 91.964 miles per hour (148.002 km/h) during his solo run.[2][4] Meanwhile, the average speed of the actual race would be 79.568 miles per hour (128.052 km/h).[2][4]

Ed Negre would receive the last-place finish for a brake problem acquired on lap 6 of the race.[2][3][4] The top prize of the race was $13,800 ($50,672.76 when adjusted for inflation) while last placed awarded the driver with a meager $300 ($1,101.58 when adjusted for inflation).[2][3][4] Cale Yarborough would retain his lead in the championship points after this race.[2][3] 30 drivers would attend this race; all of them were born in the United States of America.[2]

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet
2 15 Bobby Allison Ford
3 5 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet
4 29 Dave Dion Ford
5 43 Richard Petty Chevrolet
6 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet
7 90 Dick Brooks Ford
8 48 James Hylton Chevrolet
9 54 Lennie Pond Chevrolet
10 11 Cale Yarborough Oldsmobile

Top ten finishers

Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps led Points
1 1 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 400 65 180
2 2 15 Bobby Allison Ford 400 44 175
3 3 5 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet 400 276 175
4 10 11 Cale Yarborough Oldsmobile 399 0 160
5 7 90 Dick Brooks Oldsmobile 397 0 155
6 6 72 Benny Parsons Ford 397 0 150
7 13 92 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 392 0 146
8 12 70 J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet 391 0 142
9 11 2 Dave Marcis Chevrolet 388 1 143
10 14 17 Roger Hamby Chevrolet 388 0 134

Timeline

Championship standings

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Cale Yarborough 3692 0
2 Benny Parsons 3394 -298
3 Dave Marcis 3340 -352
4 Darrell Waltrip 3263 -429
5 Bobby Allison 3176 -516
6 Richard Petty 3074 -618
7 Increase Lennie Pond 2840 -852
8 Decrease Buddy Arrington 2839 -853
9 Dick Brooks 2798 -894
10 Richard Childress 2176 -976

References

  1. ↑ "1978 Capital City 400 weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "1978 Capital City 400 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "1978 Capital City 400 racing results". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1978 Capital City 400 racing results". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  5. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "Richmond International Raceway has hosted the NASCAR Winston Cup Series since 1953. Lee Petty won the first race that year. "
  6. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "The original track was paved in 1968."
  7. ↑ Strawberry Hill Races Traditions
  8. ↑ "Racing History Minute - September 10, 1978". Racers Reunion. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
Preceded by
1978 Southern 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1978 		Succeeded by
1978 Delaware 500
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