1981 National 500

Race 28 of 31

Charlotte
334 laps
Time of race: 4:15:52
Average speed of winner: 117.483 mph
Margin of victory: 31.8 sec.
Lead changes: 27 among 13 drivers
Cautions: 12 for 78 laps
Lap leaders: Waltrip pole, Yarborough 1-2, Gant 3, Bonnett 4-21, Bodine 22-32, Bonnett 33-63, Allison 64, Ridley 65, Bonnett 66-95, Ellis 96, Labonte 97-102, Waltrip 103-110, Bonnett 111-115, R. Petty 116-129, Bonnett 130, R. Petty 131, Richmond 132-138, Waltrip 139-140, Bonnett 141-190, Waltrip 191-193, Earnhardt 194-195, K. Petty 196-201, Waltrip 202-219, Allison 220, Waltrip 221-255, Richmond 256-258, Allison 259-273, Waltrip 274-334

Race notes: Finale for Jack Ingram.

Video links: Intro/Start

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	162.744	334	6	127	running	51600	180
2	17	Bobby Allison	28	Hardee's	Chevrolet	Ranier	Wilson		334	3	17	running	27400	175
3	8	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Nelson		334	0	0	running	29925	165
4	22	Tommy Ellis	55	Industrial Boilers	Chevrolet	Tommy Ellis			333	1	1	running	11400	0
5	30	Ron Bouchard	47	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Jack Beebe			332	0	0	running	12180	155
6	19	Rusty Wallace	72	Childs Tire	Buick	Childs			331	0	0	running	6750	150
7	14	Geoff Bodine	01	Zervakis Racing	Buick	Zervakis			331	1	11	running	7050	151
8	34	Morgan Shepherd	24	Washington Freightliners	Buick	Cecil Gordon			331	0	0	running	8195	142
9	18	Jack Ingram	13	Carolina Tool & Equipment	Ford	Hawkins			329	0	0	running	4400	138
10	33	Buddy Arrington	67	Kyle Petty's Boot Barn	Dodge	Arrington			328	0	0	running	7175	134
11	21	Connie Saylor	4	Apache Stove	Oldsmobile	G.C. Spencer			328	0	0	running	3850	130
12	37	Jimmy Means	8	Negre Racing	Dodge	Norman Negre			327	0	0	running	3750	127
13	25	Rick Wilson	62	Florida Equipment & Service	Oldsmobile	Rick Wilson			326	0	0	running	3650	124
14	41	D.K. Ulrich	99	Ulrich Racing	Buick	Ulrich			326	0	0	running	6115	121
15	13	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King Ford-Honda	Ford	Donlavey			326	1	1	running	7805	123
16	36	H.B. Bailey	36	Almeda Auto Parts	Pontiac	H.B. Bailey			324	0	0	running	3250	115
17	40	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			322	0	0	running	5835	112
18	5	Tim Richmond	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Buick	Bob Rogers			317	2	10	engine	5650	114
19	10	Joe Ruttman	2	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Stacy	Inman		276	0	0	engine	10050	106
20	15	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			259	1	6	accident	6475	108
21	23	Bob Senneker	6	J.D. Stacy Racing	Pontiac	Stacy			256	0	0	accident	1975	0
22	28	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			246	0	0	clutch	3890	97
23	6	Terry Labonte	44	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Hagan	Elder		234	1	6	engine	8375	99
24	11	Gary Balough	75	Chaparral Trailers	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		226	0	0	accident	4880	91
25	24	Dale Earnhardt	3	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		220	1	2	ignition	4920	93
26	26	Charlie Glotzbach	23	Oxford Speedway	Buick	Bahre			218	0	0	handling	1275	85
27	27	Johnny Rutherford	98	Levi Garrett	Buick	Benfield	Buddy Parrott		216	0	0	rod	1250	82
28	29	Sterling Marlin	14	Coors	Chevrolet	Marlin			193	0	0	clutch	1225	79
29	7	Neil Bonnett	21	Warner Hodgdon/National Engineering	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		190	6	135	rod bearing	12450	86
30	9	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		180	2	15	rod	9125	78
31	3	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		153	1	2	engine	2100	75
32	32	Ronnie Thomas	40	McWhirter Grading	Buick	Baxter Price			137	0	0	ignition	1075	67
33	16	Bill Elliott	9	Mell-Gear Tuning Components	Ford	George Elliott	Elliott		130	0	0	timing chain	1050	64
34	38	Lake Speed	66	Ronnie Steele	Buick	Speed			118	0	0	engine	2600	61
35	31	Joe Millikan	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		98	0	0	accident	5950	58
36	35	Bobby Wawak	94	Louise Smith Special	Buick	Wawak			66	0	0	valve	990	55
37	4	Buddy Baker	1	UNO	Buick	Ellington	Pittman		63	0	0	tie rod	1480	52
38	12	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		50	0	0	clutch	6925	49
39	39	John Anderson	38	Copper Kettle Marina	Buick	Satullo			41	0	0	engine	965	0
40	20	Dave Marcis	71	Norton Company	Buick	Marcis			19	0	0	engine	2515	43
41	2	Harry Gant	33	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham	Carter		4	1	1	crank shaft	8505	45

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Darrell Waltrip	4365	28	9	11	19	22
2	Bobby Allison	4307	28	2	4	18	23
3	Harry Gant	3788	28	2	0	12	16
4	Ricky Rudd	3785	28	3	0	14	17
5	Terry Labonte	3585	28	2	0	7	14
6	Dale Earnhardt	3584	28	0	0	8	15
7	Jody Ridley	3570	28	0	1	2	15
8	Richard Petty	3482	28	0	3	11	14
9	Dave Marcis	3206	28	1	0	4	9
10	Benny Parsons	3160	28	0	3	10	11
11	Kyle Petty	3084	28	0	0	1	9
12	Buddy Arrington	3060	28	0	0	0	7
13	Jimmy Means	2984	28	0	0	0	2
14	Morgan Shepherd	2983	26	1	1	3	10
15	Tommy Gale	2837	27	0	0	0	0
16	Tim Richmond	2794	26	0	0	0	6
17	J.D. McDuffie	2698	25	0	0	0	1
18	Lake Speed	2514	24	0	0	0	6
19	James Hylton	2453	25	0	0	0	0
20	Ron Bouchard	2287	19	1	1	5	11
21	Joe Millikan	2287	20	0	0	2	8
22	Cecil Gordon	2202	25	0	0	0	0
23	Richard Childress	2144	20	0	0	1	1
24	Neil Bonnett	2142	19	1	2	6	7
25	Ronnie Thomas	2138	23	0	0	0	0