1981 Mason-Dixon 500

Race 12 of 31

Dover
500 laps
Time of race: 4:17:18
Average speed of winner: 116.595 mph
Margin of victory: 22 sec.
Lead changes: 12 among 5 drivers
Cautions: 2 for 24 laps
Lap leaders: Pearson 1-41, Bonnett 42-57, Yarborough 58, Bonnett 59-83, Yarborough 84, Bonnett 85-99, Yarborough 100-103, R. Petty 104-106, Bonnett 107-190, Yarborough 191-195, Bonnett 196-459, Yarborough 460-480, Ridley 481-500

Race notes: Only win for Jody Ridley. Debut for Lowell Cowell. Finale for Elmo Langley.

Video links: Finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	11	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			500	1	20	running	22560	180
2	8	Bobby Allison	28	Five Racers	Buick	Ranier	Wilson		500	0	0	running	16725	170
3	14	Dale Earnhardt	2	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Osterlund	Richert		499	0	0	running	15125	165
4	18	D.K. Ulrich	99	UNO	Buick	Ulrich			491	0	0	running	7160	160
5	4	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Buick	DiGard	Nelson		490	0	0	running	9450	155
6	2	Morgan Shepherd	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		489	0	0	running	8625	150
7	19	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			488	0	0	running	4965	146
8	7	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan			486	0	0	running	7725	142
9	22	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			481	0	0	running	4280	138
10	6	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		480	5	32	engine	2925	139
11	17	Donnie Allison	77	Warren Fabricating	Oldsmobile	Rebhan			480	0	0	running	1900	130
12	5	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer		476	0	0	running	7240	127
13	3	Neil Bonnett	21	Purolator	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		459	5	404	engine	2560	134
14	30	Tommy Gale	40	Ulrich Racing	Buick	Ulrich			459	0	0	running	1620	121
15	23	Cecil Gordon	24	Buffalo Stampede	Buick	Cecil Gordon			458	0	0	running	3605	118
16	10	Harry Gant	33	Skoal Bandit	Chevrolet	Needham	Carter		448	0	0	engine	1350	115
17	24	Richard Childress	3	Nichols	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		412	0	0	engine	3215	112
18	25	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			379	0	0	wheel studs	3020	109
19	9	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		368	1	3	rear end	6570	111
20	16	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			342	0	0	engine	2240	103
21	20	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Oldsmobile	Bob Rogers			297	0	0	engine	900	100
22	32	Joe Fields	64	Richmond Printing	Buick	Joe Fields			254	0	0	overheating	2470	97
23	28	J.D. McDuffie	70	Golden Corral	Pontiac	McDuffie			161	0	0	engine	2235	94
24	27	Ronnie Thomas	25	Drummond Racing Ltd.	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			90	0	0	oil leak	1940	91
25	1	David Pearson	12	Kencoal	Oldsmobile	Childers		138.425	57	1	41	engine	2675	0
26	31	Junior Miller	79	Junior Miller Roofing	Oldsmobile	Junior Miller			46	0	0	oil pressure	1880	85
27	12	Ron Bouchard	47	Race Hill Farm	Buick	Jack Beebe			22	0	0	accident	1845	82
28	21	Lowell Cowell	17	Kings Inn Daytona	Chevrolet	Hamby			11	0	0	steering	1800	0
29	29	Elmo Langley	66	Lake Speed Racing	Oldsmobile	Speed			6	0	0	drive shaft	575	76
30	26	Bob Riley	94	Atlanta Int. Messenger	Buick				6	0	0	steering	550	0
31	13	Dave Marcis	71	Hudson Chevy/Transmissions Unlimited	Chevrolet	Marcis			1	0	0	accident	1040	70
32	15	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		1	0	0	accident	5980	67

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	1901	12	2	2	8	10
2	Ricky Rudd	1733	12	2	0	7	8
3	Darrell Waltrip	1694	12	2	4	7	7
4	Harry Gant	1571	12	0	0	4	6
5	Jody Ridley	1559	12	0	1	1	8
6	Dale Earnhardt	1554	12	0	0	4	7
7	Terry Labonte	1530	12	1	0	2	7
8	Richard Petty	1455	12	0	2	6	6
9	Benny Parsons	1402	12	0	1	5	5
10	Buddy Arrington	1373	12	0	0	0	4
11	Dave Marcis	1364	12	1	0	2	3
12	Morgan Shepherd	1321	10	1	1	3	7
13	Richard Childress	1311	12	0	0	1	1
14	Jimmy Means	1310	12	0	0	0	1
15	Tommy Gale	1241	11	0	0	0	0
16	Tim Richmond	1229	11	0	0	0	2
17	J.D. McDuffie	1219	12	0	0	0	1
18	Kyle Petty	1198	12	0	0	0	2
19	Joe Millikan	1135	10	0	0	0	4
20	James Hylton	1114	11	0	0	0	0
21	Cecil Gordon	1062	12	0	0	0	0
22	Ronnie Thomas	964	10	0	0	0	0
23	Lake Speed	962	9	0	0	0	3
24	Neil Bonnett	857	8	0	0	2	2
25	Mike Alexander	840	9	0	0	0	1