1979 Southern 500

Race 23 of 31

Darlington
367 laps
Time of race: 3:58:14
Average speed of winner: 126.259 mph
Margin of victory: 2 laps + 4 sec.
Lead changes: 18 among 7 drivers
Cautions: 9 for 52 laps
Lap leaders: B. Allison pole, D. Allison 1-26, B. Allison 27-62, Waltrip 63-83, D. Allison 84-116, B. Allison 117, Elliott 118-121, D. Allison 122-137, Waltrip 138-142, D. Allison 143-149, Waltrip 150-160, Baker 161, Elliott 162-163, Waltrip 164-165, Bonnett 166-167, Waltrip 168-230, Pearson 231-234, Waltrip 235-297, Pearson 298-367

Race notes: Finale for Ed Negre. Only start for Billy Smith.

Video links: Highlights (Part 1), Highlights (Part 2)

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	5	David Pearson	2	Osterlund	Chevrolet	Osterlund	Elder		367	2	74	running	29925	180
2	6	Bill Elliott	17	Kings Inn	Mercury	George Elliott			365	2	6	running	19235	175
3	16	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Chevrolet	Hagan			365	0	0	running	13460	165
4	10	Buddy Baker	28	W.I.N., Inc.	Chevrolet	Ranier	Wilson		365	1	1	running	7975	165
5	13	Benny Parsons	27	M.C. Anderson	Chevrolet	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		364	0	0	running	8915	155
6	19	Dave Marcis	71	Shoney's	Chevrolet	Marcis			362	0	0	running	5650	150
7	8	Dick Brooks	05	Dubis Corp.	Chevrolet	Malloch			361	0	0	running	4900	146
8	14	Ricky Rudd	90	Truxmore	Mercury	Donlavey			361	0	0	running	7105	142
9	4	Richard Petty	43	STP	Chevrolet	Petty	Inman		361	0	0	running	7800	138
10	1	Bobby Allison	15	Hodgdon/Moore	Ford	Moore	Moore	154.880	356	2	37	running	10950	139
11	3	Darrell Waltrip	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Buddy Parrott		355	6	165	running	12200	140
12	7	Harry Gant	47	Race Hill Farm	Chevrolet	Jack Beebe			352	0	0	running	4100	127
13	17	D.K. Ulrich	40	U.S. Army	Buick	Ulrich			350	0	0	running	5595	124
14	22	Buddy Arrington	67	Reid Trailer Sales	Dodge	Arrington			347	0	0	running	5375	121
15	12	Joe Millikan	72	Appliance Wheels	Chevrolet	L.G. DeWitt			347	0	0	running	7000	118
16	24	Jimmy Means	52	Mr. Transmission	Chevrolet	Means			345	0	0	running	5015	115
17	21	Chuck Bown	68	Kings Mountain	Buick	Testa			342	0	0	running	3100	112
18	38	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Chevrolet	McDuffie			341	0	0	running	4530	109
19	11	Cale Yarborough	11	Busch	Chevrolet	Johnson	Carter		336	0	0	running	8000	106
20	33	Ed Negre	8	Dick Brooks Honda	Chrysler	Negre			333	0	0	running	2850	103
21	30	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			332	0	0	running	3845	100
22	32	Frank Warren	79	Native Tan	Dodge	Frank Warren			331	0	0	running	3585	97
23	35	Baxter Price	45	Iron Peddlers	Chevrolet	Baxter Price			324	0	0	running	3300	94
24	28	Ronnie Thomas	25	Stone's Cafeteria	Chevrolet	Don Robertson			310	0	0	running	4215	91
25	15	Lennie Pond	19	Belden Asphalt	Chevrolet	Henley Gray			281	0	0	running	3280	88
26	31	Cecil Gordon	24	Gordon Racing	Oldsmobile	Cecil Gordon			246	0	0	running	2885	85
27	36	H.B. Bailey	36	Almeda Auto Parts	Pontiac	H.B. Bailey			244	0	0	overheating	1825	82
28	26	Jim Vandiver	9	Kings Inn	Chevrolet	Hamby	Elliott		240	0	0	running	1800	79
29	25	Richard Childress	3	CRC Chemicals	Chevrolet	Childress			224	0	0	piston	2200	76
30	20	Jack Ingram	12	Kencoal	Oldsmobile	Childers			206	0	0	engine	1650	73
31	2	Donnie Allison	1	Hawaiian Tropic	Chevrolet	Ellington	Pittman		195	4	82	cylinder head	4550	75
32	9	Neil Bonnett	21	Purolator	Mercury	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		185	1	2	steering	2150	72
33	39	Billy Smith	10	Tidewater Glass	Ford	Bill Champion			179	0	0	drive shaft	1575	64
34	23	Dick May	65	Spohn's Body Shop	Ford	Spohn			148	0	0	accident	1450	0
35	29	Tighe Scott	30	Russ Togs	Buick	Ballard	Hyde		133	0	0	accident	2400	58
36	18	Coo Coo Marlin	14	Cunningham-Kelley	Chevrolet	Cunningham-Kelley			112	0	0	engine	1300	55
37	40	Ralph Jones	98	Jones	Ford	Ralph Jones			83	0	0	valve	1275	52
38	27	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Chevrolet	Hylton			46	0	0	valve	1750	49
39	37	Earle Canavan	01	Canavan Racing	Dodge	Canavan			17	0	0	oil leak	1225	46
40	34	Ferrel Harris	96	Cronkite Racing	Ford	Cronkite			2	0	0	too slow	1260	0

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Darrell Waltrip	3672	23	4	7	16	17
2	Richard Petty	3510	23	1	3	17	19
3	Bobby Allison	3332	23	3	4	12	15
4	Cale Yarborough	3324	23	0	3	13	15
5	Benny Parsons	3155	23	1	0	13	16
6	Joe Millikan	2987	23	1	0	3	16
7	Richard Childress	2730	23	0	0	1	9
8	J.D. McDuffie	2709	23	0	0	1	7
9	Buddy Arrington	2657	23	0	0	1	5
10	Terry Labonte	2652	23	0	0	2	10
11	D.K. Ulrich	2609	23	0	0	0	2
12	Dale Earnhardt	2588	19	1	1	7	10
13	James Hylton	2536	22	0	0	0	5
14	Buddy Baker	2516	20	5	2	9	12
15	Ricky Rudd	2511	20	0	0	2	11
16	Frank Warren	2420	23	0	0	0	3
17	Ronnie Thomas	2126	22	0	0	0	1
18	Tommy Gale	2022	20	0	0	0	1
19	Cecil Gordon	1994	20	0	0	0	0
20	Dick Brooks	1965	20	0	0	1	6
21	Jimmy Means	1935	20	0	0	0	1
22	Donnie Allison	1825	15	1	0	4	7
23	Dave Marcis	1793	17	0	0	0	2
24	Baxter Price	1767	18	0	0	0	0
25	Harry Gant	1758	17	1	0	0	4