1981 Daytona 500

Race 2 of 31

Daytona
200 laps
Time of race: 2:56:50
Average speed of winner: 169.651 mph
Margin of victory: 3.5 sec.
Lead changes: 49 among 9 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 18 laps
Lap leaders: B. Allison 1-3, Bonnett 4, B. Allison 5, Baker 6-7, B. Allison 8, Bonnett 9-11, B. Allison 12-14, Bonnett 15, Earnhardt 16, Bonnett 17-20, Rudd 21-28, B. Allison 29-30, Bonnett 31, B. Allison 32-36, Bonnett 37-38, B. Allison 39-50, Brooks 51, Earnhardt 52-54, B. Allison 55, Bonnett 56, B. Allison 57-69, Baker 70, Bonnett 71, B. Allison 72-75, Bonnett 76-77, B. Allison 78-83, Bonnett 84-85, B. Allison 86-92, Elliott 93-96, B. Allison 97-99, Bonnett 100, B. Allison 101-103, Bonnett 104, Baker 105, Bonnett 106-107, B. Allison 108-109, Bonnett 110, B. Allison 111-114, Bonnett 115-117, B. Allison 118-133, Pearson 134-136, B. Allison 137-142, Baker 143-145, B. Allison 146-154, Baker 155, B. Allison 156-164, Baker 165-166, B. Allison 167-173, Rudd 174, R. Petty 175-200

Race notes: Debut for Ronnie Sanders.

Video links: Entire race

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	8	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Inman		200	1	26	running	90575	180
2	1	Bobby Allison	28	Tuf-Lon	Pontiac	Ranier	Wilson	194.624	200	21	117	running	84050	180
3	5	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Oldsmobile	DiGard	Nelson		200	2	9	running	53115	170
4	6	Buddy Baker	1	UNO	Oldsmobile	Ellington	Pittman		200	6	10	running	35740	165
5	7	Dale Earnhardt	2	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Osterlund	Richert		200	2	4	running	37365	160
6	16	Bill Elliott	9	Mell-Gear Tuning Components	Ford	George Elliott	Elliott		199	1	4	running	30615	155
7	27	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			198	0	0	running	29665	146
8	29	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Oldsmobile	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		197	0	0	running	20325	142
9	34	Joe Millikan	75	RahMoc Racing	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		197	0	0	running	21500	138
10	35	Johnny Rutherford	98	Levi Garrett	Pontiac	Benfield	Buddy Parrott		195	0	0	running	17285	134
11	21	Bill Elswick	57	Performer Boats	Oldsmobile	RahMoc			195	0	0	running	14365	0
12	33	Donnie Allison	12	5 Racers Corp.	Oldsmobile	Childers			195	0	0	running	12660	127
13	22	Stan Barrett	22	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham			195	0	0	running	12870	124
14	13	Don Whittington	93	Smith Racing	Oldsmobile	Scott Smith			194	0	0	running	11585	121
15	15	Dave Marcis	71	Buck Stove/Hudson Chevrolet	Oldsmobile	Marcis			194	0	0	running	13225	118
16	38	Dick Brooks	41	Matthews Racing	Buick	Billy Matthews			193	1	1	running	7920	0
17	28	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			192	0	0	running	11835	112
18	17	Ronnie Sanders	19	Home Trend Realty	Buick	Henley Gray			191	0	0	running	7635	109
19	23	Glenn Jarrett	17	Tuf-Lon of Florida	Buick	Hamby			186	0	0	running	9830	106
20	39	Don Sprouse	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Oldsmobile	Bob Rogers			181	0	0	running	5900	103
21	26	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			179	0	0	running	7425	100
22	14	Geoff Bodine	23	Bahre Racing	Pontiac	Bahre			178	0	0	running	5260	97
23	31	Harry Gant	47	Race Hill Farm	Buick	Jack Beebe			175	0	0	running	6375	94
24	41	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			169	0	0	running	6205	91
25	37	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	86	Howard & Egerton Racing	Buick	Howard and Egerton			167	0	0	axle bearing	3835	88
26	20	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			159	0	0	running	10655	85
27	32	Lennie Pond	68	Burger King	Buick	Testa			155	0	0	oil pump	4600	82
28	19	Ronnie Thomas	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			151	0	0	clutch	5125	79
29	9	David Pearson	16	Halpern Enterprises	Chevrolet	Halpern			144	1	3	engine	4350	81
30	40	Tim Richmond	99	UNO	Buick	Ulrich			144	0	0	transmission	4690	73
31	4	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		135	0	0	overheating	13750	70
32	11	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			128	0	0	engine	3775	67
33	3	Neil Bonnett	21	Purolator	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		123	15	26	clutch	10625	69
34	25	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			123	0	0	piston	4530	61
35	10	A.J. Foyt	51	Gilmore/Valvoline	Oldsmobile	Foyt			120	0	0	valve	3750	58
36	2	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Elder		117	0	0	engine	20475	55
37	42	Cecil Gordon	24	Home Craft Homes	Buick	Cecil Gordon			116	0	0	running	3955	52
38	18	Richard Childress	3	Wachovia Carpet	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		110	0	0	valve	3825	49
39	24	Bruce Hill	7	Native Tan	Buick	Malloch			54	0	0	accident	3450	46
40	12	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph/Apache Stove	Buick	Hagan			47	0	0	engine	8775	43
41	36	Billie Harvey	31	Graf Lear Jets	Pontiac	Harvey			45	0	0	engine	2915	40
42	30	Blackie Wangerin	39	Wangerin/Clements Auto	Ford	Wangerin			17	0	0	accident	2750	37

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	365	2	1	1	2	2
2	Richard Petty	340	2	0	1	2	2
3	Dale Earnhardt	325	2	0	0	2	2
4	Jody Ridley	292	2	0	0	0	2
5	Ricky Rudd	281	2	0	0	1	1
6	Joe Millikan	267	2	0	0	0	1
7	Don Whittington	242	2	0	0	0	0
8	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	230	2	0	0	0	1
9	Buddy Arrington	223	2	0	0	0	1
10	Terry Labonte	218	2	0	0	1	1
11	Richard Childress	214	2	0	0	1	1
12	Harry Gant	212	2	0	0	0	0
13	Jimmy Means	209	2	0	0	0	0
14	Dave Marcis	202	2	0	0	0	0
15	James Hylton	191	2	0	0	0	0
16	Benny Parsons	185	2	0	0	0	0
17	J.D. McDuffie	185	2	0	0	0	0
18	Darrell Waltrip	172	2	1	0	0	0
19	Kyle Petty	170	2	0	0	0	0
20	Buddy Baker	165	1	0	0	1	1
21	Neil Bonnett	156	2	0	0	0	0
22	Bill Elliott	155	1	0	0	0	1
23	Jim Robinson	150	1	0	0	0	1
24	Tim Richmond	149	2	0	0	0	0
25	Cale Yarborough	142	1	0	0	0	1