1979 Texas 400
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 14 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Layout of Texas World Speedway | |||
| Date | June 9, 1979 | ||
| Official name | Texas 400 | ||
| Location | Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.738 km) | ||
| Weather | Hot with temperatures approaching 90 °F (32 °C); wind speeds up to 11.8 miles per hour (19.0 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 156.216 miles per hour (251.405 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 11,500[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ranier Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Darrell Waltrip | DiGard Motorsports | |
| Laps | 155 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 88 | Darrell Waltrip | DiGard Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1979 Texas 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) race that took place on June 3, 1979, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.
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.
Summary
Two hundred laps took place on an oval track spanning 2.0 miles (3.2 km).[2] Darrell Waltrip won the race; beating Bobby Allison by 60 seconds.[2] Eleven thousand and five hundred fans would attend this live race with lasted more than two hours and thirty-three minutes.[2]
Waltrip's overall speed for the race was 156.216 miles per hour (251.405 km/h) while Buddy Baker achieved the pole position for the race with a speed of 167.903 miles per hour (270.214 km/h).[2] Total winnings for this race were $161,250 ($532,102.82 when considering inflation); Darrell would receive $21,750 of the total purse ($71,772.01 when considering inflation). Dale Earnhardt was Waltrip's top challenger before he crashed late in the race.[2]
Some of the more notable names to make an appearance here were: Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Cale Yarborough, Terry Labonte, Richard Petty, and J. D. McDuffie.[2] While Jim Hurlbert and John Rezek would make their NASCAR Cup Series debut, Billy Hagan would make his grand exit after this race along with three other drivers. Bill Meazel would make his only NASCAR appearance during this event.[3]
Qualifying
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | Buddy Baker | Chevrolet |
| 2 | 44 | Terry Labonte | Chevrolet |
| 3 | 2 | Dale Earnhardt | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 88 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet |
| 5 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Chevrolet |
| 6 | 15 | Bobby Allison | Ford |
| 7 | 90 | Ricky Rudd | Mercury |
| 8 | 27 | Benny Parsons | Chevrolet |
| 9 | 43 | Richard Petty | Chevrolet |
| 10 | 72 | Joe Millikan | Chevrolet |
Finishing order
- Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
- Bobby Allison (No. 15)
- Buddy Baker† (No. 28)
- Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
- Terry Labonte (No. 44)
- Richard Petty (No. 43)
- Richard Childress (No. 3)
- Joe Millikan (No. 72)
- Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
- James Hylton (No. 48)
- John Rezek (No. 31)
- Dale Earnhardt*† (No. 2)
- Bruce Hill (No. 50)
- J. D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
- D. K. Ulrich (No. 40)
- H. B. Bailey† (No. 36)
- Billy Hagan† (No. 19)
- Earle Canavan† (No. 01)
- Frank Warren (No. 79)
- Tommy Gale† (No. 64)
- Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
- Mike Potter (No. 76)
- Jimmy Means (No. 52)
- Jim Hurlbert (No. 96)
- Benny Parsons*† (No. 27)
- Ronnie Thomas* (No. 25)
- Baxter Price* (No. 45)
- Ricky Rudd* (No. 90)
- Mike Kempton (No. 69)
- Dick May*† (No. 09)
- Lennie Pond*† (No. 12)
- Bill Meazell* (No. 55)
- John Haver* (No. 58)
- Jimmy Finger* (No. 32)
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race
Timeline
- Start: Terry Labonte was leading the other drivers as the green flag was waved in the air
- Lap 5: Jimmy Finger managed to blow his vehicle's engine
- Lap 36: John Haver managed to blow his vehicle's engine
- Lap 46: Bill Meazel managed to blow his vehicle's engine
- Lap 70: Lennie Pond managed to blow his vehicle's engine
- Lap 113: Dick May managed to blow his vehicle's engine
- Lap 135: Ricky Rudd managed to blow his vehicle's engine
- Lap 139: Baxter Price's vehicle developed a problematic transmission
- Lap 140: The wheel on Ronnie Thomas' vehicle became non-functional
- Lap 143: The spindle on Benny Parsons' vehicle developed problems
- Lap 194: Caution due to Dale Earnhardt's accident on turn three; caution ended on lap 198
- Finish: Darrell Waltrip was officially declared the winner of the event
Standings after the race
| Pos | Driver | Points[2] | Differential |
|---|---|---|---|
1  |
Darrell Waltrip | 2251 | 0 |
| 2 |
Bobby Allison | 2183 | -68 |
| 3 |
Cale Yarborough | 2057 | -194 |
| 4 |
Richard Petty | 2037 | -214 |
| 5 |
Dale Earnhardt | 1888 | -363 |
6  |
Joe Millikan | 1872 | -379 |
7  |
Benny Parsons | 1837 | -414 |
| 8 |
Terry Labonte | 1736 | -515 |
| 9 |
Buddy Baker | 1704 | -547 |
| 10 |
D.K. Ulrich | 1700 | -551 |
References
- ↑ "1979 Texas 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "1979 Texas 400 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
- ↑ "Notable events at the 1979 Texas 400". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
| Preceded by 1979 World 600 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1979 |
Succeeded by 1979 NAPA Riverside 400 |