1978 Firecracker 400

Race 16 of 30

Daytona
160 laps
Time of race: 2:35:30
Average speed of winner: 154.340 mph
Margin of victory: 3 car lengths
Lead changes: 29 among 10 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 21 laps
Lap leaders: Yarborough pole, Baker 1-2, Waltrip 3, Yarborough 4-8, Parsons 9-18, Baker 19, Waltrip 20-32, D. Allison 33, B. Allison 34-37, Petty 38-39, Marcis 40-42, Pond 43-44, Yarborough 45-68, B. Allison 69-72, Petty 73-74, Yarborough 75-77, Pearson 78, Parsons 79, Yarborough 80-84, Pearson 85-86, Yarborough 87-89, Marcis 90, Yarborough 91-92, Pearson 93-96, Yarborough 97-104, Pearson 105-113, Yarborough 114-117, Pearson 118-136, Yarborough 137-138, Pearson 139-160

Race notes: Debut for Paul Fess. Finale for Raymond Williams.

Video links: Finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	3	David Pearson	21	Purolator	Mercury	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		160	6	57	running	13525	185
2	1	Cale Yarborough	11	1st National City Travelers Checks	Oldsmobile	Johnson	Carter	186.803	160	9	56	running	16450	175
3	8	Darrell Waltrip	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Buddy Parrott		159	2	14	running	11450	170
4	7	Richard Petty	43	STP	Dodge	Petty	Inman		159	2	4	running	10250	165
5	14	Lennie Pond	54	W.I.N.	Chevrolet	Ranier	Wilson		158	1	2	running	7050	160
6	9	Dave Marcis	2	Shoney's	Chevrolet	Osterlund	Livengood		158	2	4	running	6390	155
7	28	Dale Earnhardt	96	Cardinal Tractor	Ford	Cronkite			157	0	0	running	3990	146
8	33	Ferrel Harris	81	Autowize	Chevrolet	Robert Gee			157	0	0	running	3390	0
9	23	Bill Elliott	9	Dahlonega Ford Sales	Mercury	George Elliott	Elliott		157	0	0	running	3190	138
10	22	Tighe Scott	30	Russ Togs	Oldsmobile	Ballard			156	0	0	running	5020	134
11	36	Janet Guthrie	68	Kelly Girl	Chevrolet	Ferreri			154	0	0	running	4710	130
12	20	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Chevrolet	McDuffie			153	0	0	running	4500	127
13	40	Jimmy Means	52	Means Racing	Chevrolet	Means			152	0	0	running	4280	124
14	34	Joe Frasson	18	Frasson Racing	Chevrolet	Frasson			152	0	0	running	2490	121
15	29	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			152	0	0	running	3820	118
16	30	Dick May	19	Belden Asphalt	Chevrolet	Henley Gray			151	0	0	running	3310	115
17	26	Frank Warren	79	Native Tan	Dodge	Frank Warren			151	0	0	running	2950	112
18	37	Satch Worley	47	Race Hill Farm	Oldsmobile	Jack Beebe			150	0	0	running	1790	109
19	35	D.K. Ulrich	40	Ulrich	Chevrolet	Ulrich			149	0	0	running	2590	106
20	31	Baxter Price	45	Price Racing	Chevrolet	Baxter Price			146	0	0	running	2305	103
21	25	Ricky Rudd	22	1st National City Travelers Checks	Buick	Al Rudd			143	0	0	crank pulley	2970	100
22	18	Grant Adcox	41	Krystal	Chevrolet	Adcox			142	0	0	engine	1290	97
23	15	Neil Bonnett	5	Armor-All	Chevrolet	Stacy			140	0	0	clutch	4440	94
24	19	Richard Childress	3	Kansas Jack	Oldsmobile	Childress			136	0	0	running	1835	91
25	38	Ronnie Thomas	25	Louise Smith	Chevrolet	Don Robertson			129	0	0	running	2290	88
26	2	Benny Parsons	72	1st National City Travelers Checks	Oldsmobile	L.G. DeWitt	Elder		92	2	11	engine	5465	90
27	10	Bobby Allison	15	Norris Industries	Ford	Moore	Moore		75	2	8	accident	4940	87
28	32	Paul Fess	82	Lasky Construction	Chevrolet				75	0	0	transmission	835	0
29	21	Raymond Williams	16	Thundercraft Boats	Buick	Bobby Reeves			74	0	0	valve	1290	76
30	12	Al Holbert	48	Southland Industries	Oldsmobile	Hylton	Shelmerdine		69	0	0	engine	1555	73
31	16	Blackie Wangerin	39	Wangerin	Mercury	Wangerin			61	0	0	engine	1030	70
32	39	Cecil Gordon	24	Transmissions Unlimited	Chevrolet	Cecil Gordon			57	0	0	engine	1505	67
33	13	Donnie Allison	1	Hawaiian Tropic	Chevrolet	Ellington	Pittman		55	1	1	steering	980	69
34	24	Buddy Arrington	67	Rossmeyer	Dodge	Arrington			55	0	0	engine	1455	61
35	27	Claude Ballot-Léna	49	Lady & Son	Dodge	G.C. Spencer			45	0	0	oil cooler	1005	0
36	11	Dick Brooks	90	Truxmore	Mercury	Donlavey			35	0	0	throttle linkage	1425	55
37	4	Buddy Baker	27	Olympic Tan	Oldsmobile	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		28	2	3	cylinder head	1620	57
38	6	Coo Coo Marlin	14	Cunningham-Kelley	Chevrolet	Cunningham-Kelley			22	0	0	valve	915	49
39	5	Skip Manning	92	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan			9	0	0	accident	1460	46
40	17	Bruce Hill	05	Bearfinder	Oldsmobile	Clary			9	0	0	accident	905	43

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Cale Yarborough	2537	16	4	4	12	12
2	Benny Parsons	2405	16	1	3	10	11
3	Dave Marcis	2383	16	0	0	9	13
4	Richard Petty	2192	16	0	0	7	10
5	Darrell Waltrip	2142	16	0	4	7	8
6	Lennie Pond	2126	15	2	0	9	11
7	Bobby Allison	2118	16	1	2	5	9
8	Buddy Arrington	1962	16	0	0	1	4
9	Richard Childress	1929	16	0	0	0	8
10	D.K. Ulrich	1842	16	0	0	0	2
11	Dick Brooks	1819	16	0	0	2	6
12	Tighe Scott	1734	16	0	0	0	4
13	Neil Bonnett	1724	16	3	0	4	7
14	Frank Warren	1657	16	0	0	0	0
15	Skip Manning	1616	14	0	0	1	4
16	J.D. McDuffie	1547	16	0	0	0	1
17	David Pearson	1537	12	4	3	6	6
18	Cecil Gordon	1520	15	0	0	0	1
19	Jimmy Means	1426	14	0	0	0	2
20	Dick May	1415	14	0	0	0	0
21	Ronnie Thomas	1364	14	0	0	0	0
22	Tommy Gale	1324	13	0	0	0	0
23	Baxter Price	1251	12	0	0	0	0
24	Roger Hamby	1143	12	0	0	0	0
25	Buddy Baker	1076	9	1	0	1	5