1981 American 500

Race 29 of 31

Rockingham
492 laps
Time of race: 4:39:32
Average speed of winner: 107.399 mph
Margin of victory: 2 car lengths
Lead changes: 33 among 11 drivers
Cautions: 12 for 97 laps
Lap leaders: Waltrip 1-3, Gant 4-21, Rudd 22-37, Marcis 38-39, Elliott 40-43, Gant 44-56, Ruttman 57, R. Petty 58, Baker 59, Shepherd 60-84, Gant 85-92, Allison 93, Earnhardt 94-107, Elliott 108, Earnhardt 109-110, Gant 111-175, Baker 176, Elliott 177-188, Gant 189-209, Waltrip 210-284, R. Petty 285, Waltrip 286-300, Ruttman 301, Waltrip 302-309, R. Petty 310-384, Waltrip 385-387, Allison 388-398, R. Petty 399-413, Ruttman 414, Waltrip 415-460, Allison 461-473, Waltrip 474-480, Allison 481-486, Waltrip 487-492

Race notes: Debut for Don Hume.

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	138.164	492	8	163	running	23410	185
2	14	Bobby Allison	28	Hardee's	Buick	Ranier	Wilson		492	4	31	running	17100	175
3	2	Harry Gant	33	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham	Carter		492	5	125	running	10160	170
4	12	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		492	4	92	running	10400	165
5	16	Joe Ruttman	2	J.D. Stacy Racing	Pontiac	Stacy	Inman	139.151	492	3	3	running	9700	160
6	24	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		491	0	0	running	8750	150
7	10	Terry Labonte	44	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Hagan	Elder		490	0	0	running	8350	146
8	22	Bill Elliott	9	Mell-Gear Tuning Components	Ford	George Elliott	Elliott		490	3	17	running	3000	147
9	5	Dale Earnhardt	3	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		489	2	16	running	7360	143
10	19	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			487	0	0	running	6190	134
11	37	Ron Bouchard	47	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Jack Beebe			485	0	0	running	4730	130
12	26	Dave Marcis	71	J.D. Stacy Racing	Chevrolet	Marcis			483	1	2	running	4270	132
13	27	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford	Ford	Langley			475	0	0	running	3980	124
14	31	Buddy Arrington	67	Petty's Boot Barn	Dodge	Arrington			470	0	0	running	3740	121
15	34	Cecil Gordon	24	Washington Freightliners	Buick	Cecil Gordon			457	0	0	running	3530	118
16	4	Buddy Baker	1	UNO	Buick	Ellington	Pittman		445	2	2	rear end	1425	120
17	32	D.K. Ulrich	99	Ulrich Racing	Buick	Ulrich			435	0	0	engine	3220	112
18	3	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Nelson		434	1	16	running	7000	114
19	17	Joe Millikan	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		425	0	0	running	6100	106
20	36	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			404	0	0	running	2760	103
21	23	Dick Brooks	13	Carolina Tool & Equipment	Ford	Hawkins			379	0	0	valve	825	0
22	13	Tim Richmond	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Buick	Bob Rogers			334	0	0	accident	800	97
23	35	Joe Fields	92	Richmond Printing	Buick	Joe Fields			262	0	0	accident	775	0
24	29	John Anderson	17	Kings Inn	Buick	Hamby			226	0	0	track bar	2290	0
25	8	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	David Anderson		214	0	0	accident	1225	88
26	25	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			214	0	0	push rod	2230	85
27	15	Morgan Shepherd	96	Levi Garrett	Buick	Benfield			205	1	25	accident	675	87
28	28	Chuck Bown	16	Rose Auto Wrecking	Buick				193	0	0	engine	650	79
29	11	Johnny Rutherford	98	Levi Garrett	Buick	Benfield	Buddy Parrott		172	0	0	accident	625	76
30	30	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			165	0	0	engine	2130	73
31	18	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing	Oldsmobile	Speed			162	0	0	engine	2125	70
32	21	Gary Balough	75	A. Ferraiuolo & Sons	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		117	0	0	accident	1395	67
33	33	Don Hume	40	Newton Oil & Gas	Buick	Ulrich			101	0	0	accident	590	0
34	7	Dean Combs	77	Captains Table	Buick	Sanderson			89	0	0	accident	585	0
35	9	Neil Bonnett	21	Hodgdon/National Engineering	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		55	0	0	accident	1080	58
36	20	Lennie Pond	68	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Pond			54	0	0	accident	575	55
37	6	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			19	0	0	engine	870	52

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Darrell Waltrip	4550	29	10	12	20	23
2	Bobby Allison	4482	29	2	4	19	24
3	Harry Gant	3958	29	2	0	13	17
4	Ricky Rudd	3899	29	3	0	14	17
5	Terry Labonte	3731	29	2	0	7	15
6	Dale Earnhardt	3727	29	0	0	8	16
7	Jody Ridley	3704	29	0	1	2	16
8	Richard Petty	3647	29	0	3	12	15
9	Dave Marcis	3338	29	1	0	4	9
10	Benny Parsons	3310	29	0	3	10	12
11	Buddy Arrington	3181	29	0	0	0	7
12	Kyle Petty	3136	29	0	0	1	9
13	Jimmy Means	3087	29	0	0	0	2
14	Morgan Shepherd	3070	27	1	1	3	10
15	Tommy Gale	2961	28	0	0	0	0
16	Tim Richmond	2891	27	0	0	0	6
17	J.D. McDuffie	2771	26	0	0	0	1
18	Lake Speed	2584	25	0	0	0	6
19	James Hylton	2538	26	0	0	0	0
20	Ron Bouchard	2417	20	1	1	5	11
21	Joe Millikan	2393	21	0	0	2	8
22	Cecil Gordon	2320	26	0	0	0	0
23	Neil Bonnett	2200	20	1	2	6	7
24	Richard Childress	2144	20	0	0	1	1
25	Ronnie Thomas	2138	23	0	0	0	0