1981 Busch 500

Race 22 of 31

Bristol
500 laps
Time of race: 3:08:44
Average speed of winner: 84.723 mph
Margin of victory: 1 lap under caution
Lead changes: 11 among 5 drivers
Cautions: 7 for 52 laps
Lap leaders: Waltrip 1-51, Shepherd 52-155, Waltrip 156, Allison 157-160, Rudd 161-250, Waltrip 251-252, Ruttman 253-300, Waltrip 301, Ruttman 302, Waltrip 303-416, Rudd 417-418, Waltrip 419-500

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	1	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer	110.818	500	6	251	running	18800	185
2	3	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Nelson		499	2	92	running	12375	175
3	16	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan	Elder		498	0	0	running	8800	165
4	6	Bobby Allison	28	Hardee's	Buick	Ranier	Wilson		497	1	4	running	7075	165
5	7	Ron Bouchard	47	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Jack Beebe			497	0	0	running	5670	155
6	8	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		497	0	0	running	6250	150
7	15	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing	Oldsmobile	Speed			493	0	0	running	4170	146
8	9	Tim Richmond	12	UNO	Oldsmobile	Childers			488	0	0	accident	1315	142
9	5	Dave Marcis	71	W.H. Bowlin	Buick	Marcis			487	0	0	running	3600	138
10	20	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			486	0	0	running	3780	134
11	2	Harry Gant	33	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham	Carter		485	0	0	running	3695	130
12	22	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			480	0	0	running	3035	127
13	23	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			479	0	0	running	2875	124
14	26	Lennie Pond	68	Bekaert	Buick	Pond			478	0	0	running	1000	121
15	25	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Honda	Ford	Langley			471	0	0	running	2615	118
16	28	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			464	0	0	running	2475	115
17	18	Joe Millikan	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		434	0	0	running	4965	112
18	21	Ronnie Thomas	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			392	0	0	running	2255	109
19	13	Morgan Shepherd	24	Gordon Racing	Buick	Cecil Gordon			339	1	104	rear end	1905	111
20	4	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King Ford-Honda	Ford	Donlavey			317	0	0	sway bar	2875	103
21	12	Joe Ruttman	2	J.D. Stacy Racing	Pontiac	Stacy	Inman		302	2	49	oil pan	5100	105
22	29	Rick Newsom	20	Newsom Racing	Chevrolet	Newsom			248	0	0	handling	635	97
23	24	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	99	Ulrich Racing	Buick	Ulrich			246	0	0	brake line	870	0
24	10	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		73	0	0	cylinder head	5060	91
25	17	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Buick	Bob Rogers			49	0	0	accident	595	88
26	27	Mike Potter	17	Kings Inn Daytona	Chevrolet	Hamby			32	0	0	steering	1130	0
27	14	Dale Earnhardt	3	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		31	0	0	accident	2620	82
28	11	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			28	0	0	transmission	860	79
29	30	Joel Stowe	08	Satterfield Racing	Pontiac	Satterfield			14	0	0	too slow	540	0
30	19	Cecil Gordon	40	Dixie Engineering	Buick	Ulrich			3	0	0	withdrew	530	73

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	3345	22	2	4	14	17
2	Darrell Waltrip	3295	22	6	8	13	16
3	Harry Gant	3072	22	1	0	10	14
4	Ricky Rudd	3004	22	2	0	12	14
5	Terry Labonte	2864	22	2	0	5	11
6	Richard Petty	2838	22	0	3	11	13
7	Dale Earnhardt	2828	22	0	0	7	12
8	Jody Ridley	2801	22	0	1	2	13
9	Benny Parsons	2657	22	0	2	9	10
10	Dave Marcis	2489	22	1	0	3	7
11	Kyle Petty	2457	22	0	0	1	8
12	Buddy Arrington	2365	22	0	0	0	5
13	Jimmy Means	2331	22	0	0	0	1
14	Morgan Shepherd	2289	20	1	1	3	8
15	J.D. McDuffie	2280	21	0	0	0	1
16	Tommy Gale	2216	21	0	0	0	0
17	Richard Childress	2144	20	0	0	1	1
18	Tim Richmond	2092	20	0	0	0	5
19	James Hylton	2074	21	0	0	0	0
20	Lake Speed	1965	18	0	0	0	6
21	Cecil Gordon	1917	22	0	0	0	0
22	Mike Alexander	1614	17	0	0	0	3
23	Cale Yarborough	1605	13	2	2	5	8
24	Ronnie Thomas	1601	17	0	0	0	0
25	Joe Millikan	1558	14	0	0	0	5