1979 Dixie 500

Race 30 of 31

Atlanta
328 laps
Time of race: 3:33:46
Average speed of winner: 140.120 mph
Margin of victory: 1/2 car length
Lead changes: 25 among 7 drivers
Cautions: 5 for 29 laps
Lap leaders: Baker 1-3, Yarborough 4-46, Earnhardt 47-63, Waltrip 64-66, Parsons 67-119, Earnhardt 120-122, Waltrip 123-129, Yarborough 130-202, Earnhardt 203-214, Bonnett 215, Yarborough 216, Bonnett 217-218, Yarborough 219, Bonnett 220-225, Earnhardt 226-245, Bonnett 246-256, Earnhardt 257-262, Bonnett 263-266, B. Allison 267-269, Yarborough 270-283, Bonnett 284-308, Yarborough 309-310, Bonnett 311, Yarborough 312-313, Earnhardt 314-324, Bonnett 325-328

Race notes: Debut for Buck Simmons. Finale for Freddy Smith. Darrell Waltrip took the points lead from Richard Petty.

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	4	Neil Bonnett	21	Purolator	Mercury	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		328	8	54	running	20050	180
2	7	Dale Earnhardt	2	Osterlund	Chevrolet	Osterlund	Elder		328	6	69	running	16700	175
3	2	Cale Yarborough	11	Busch	Oldsmobile	Johnson	Carter		328	7	136	running	23150	175
4	3	Bobby Allison	15	Hodgdon/Moore	Ford	Moore	Moore		328	1	3	running	10200	165
5	14	Darrell Waltrip	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Buddy Parrott		327	2	10	running	9100	160
6	13	Richard Petty	43	STP	Chevrolet	Petty	Inman		327	0	0	running	8450	150
7	12	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Chevrolet	Hagan			325	0	0	running	6745	146
8	6	Ricky Rudd	90	Truxmore	Mercury	Donlavey			324	0	0	running	6285	142
9	10	Joe Millikan	72	Appliance Wheels	Chevrolet	L.G. DeWitt			321	0	0	running	6600	138
10	24	Jody Ridley	77	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Mercury	Donlavey			320	0	0	running	4000	134
11	17	Harry Gant	47	Race Hill Farm	Oldsmobile	Jack Beebe			320	0	0	running	2600	130
12	18	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Chevrolet	McDuffie			319	0	0	running	3915	127
13	33	Slick Johnson	51	Johnson	Chevrolet	J.D. Johnson			317	0	0	running	2000	124
14	26	Buck Simmons	12	Kencoal	Chevrolet	Childers			315	0	0	running	1850	121
15	22	Richard Childress	3	CRC Chemicals	Chevrolet	Childress			314	0	0	running	3605	118
16	21	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Chevrolet	Hylton			314	0	0	running	3395	115
17	31	Buddy Arrington	67	Reid Trailer Sales	Dodge	Arrington			314	0	0	running	3225	112
18	34	Freddy Smith	00	Pettys of Spartanburg	Chevrolet				313	0	0	running	1550	0
19	27	Jimmy Means	52	Mr. Transmission	Chevrolet	Means			312	0	0	running	2965	106
20	30	H.B. Bailey	36	Almeda Auto Parts	Pontiac	H.B. Bailey			307	0	0	running	1400	0
21	36	Frank Warren	79	Native Tan	Dodge	Frank Warren			297	0	0	running	2480	100
22	15	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			270	0	0	running	2220	97
23	11	Dave Marcis	71	Shoney's	Chevrolet	Marcis			266	0	0	engine	1100	94
24	16	John Anderson	08	Draime Race Engines	Chevrolet	Draime			256	0	0	engine	2025	91
25	19	D.K. Ulrich	40	Howard Johnson	Buick	Ulrich			245	0	0	engine	1985	88
26	39	Wayne Watercutter	55	Ward	Chevrolet	Ward			243	0	0	running	910	85
27	20	Grant Adcox	41	Adcox-Kirby	Buick	Adcox			236	0	0	oil leak	850	82
28	23	Ronnie Thomas	25	Stone's Cafeteria	Chevrolet	Don Robertson			212	0	0	engine	2665	79
29	5	Tighe Scott	30	Russ Togs	Buick	Ballard	Hyde		211	0	0	accident	1645	76
30	32	Ralph Jones	98	Jones	Ford	Ralph Jones			202	0	0	battery	720	73
31	8	Benny Parsons	27	Griffin's Marine	Chevrolet	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		193	1	53	engine	4400	75
32	37	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Dodge	Petty			176	0	0	engine	690	67
33	35	David Sosebee	81	Sosebee Racing	Chevrolet	David Sosebee			163	0	0	engine	680	64
34	28	Steve Pfeifer	17	Kings Inn	Chevrolet	Hamby			162	0	0	accident	1575	61
35	9	Donnie Allison	1	Hawaiian Tropic	Chevrolet	Ellington	Pittman		158	0	0	oil leak	660	58
36	38	John Rezek	31	RPM Enterprises	Oldsmobile				117	0	0	engine	640	0
37	40	Randy Ogden	18	Ogden Racing	Chevrolet	Randy Ogden			111	0	0	engine	630	0
38	41	Cecil Gordon	24	Gordon	Oldsmobile	Cecil Gordon			103	0	0	too slow	1505	49
39	1	Buddy Baker	28	W.I.N., Inc.	Chevrolet	Ranier	Wilson	164.813	88	1	3	engine	3360	51
40	25	Dick Brooks	05	Malloch	Chevrolet	Malloch			44	0	0	ignition	600	43
41	29	Dick May	0	Kennedy	Chevrolet	John Kennedy			4	0	0	valve	600	40

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Darrell Waltrip	4672	30	5	7	19	21
2	Richard Petty	4670	30	1	5	22	26
3	Bobby Allison	4458	30	3	5	17	21
4	Cale Yarborough	4434	30	0	4	18	21
5	Benny Parsons	4071	30	1	1	15	20
6	Joe Millikan	3887	30	1	0	5	20
7	Richard Childress	3620	30	0	0	1	11
8	Dale Earnhardt	3606	26	4	1	11	16
9	Ricky Rudd	3503	27	0	0	4	16
10	Terry Labonte	3491	30	0	0	2	13
11	Buddy Arrington	3483	30	0	0	1	7
12	D.K. Ulrich	3444	30	0	0	0	5
13	J.D. McDuffie	3403	30	0	0	1	7
14	James Hylton	3320	29	0	0	0	5
15	Frank Warren	3111	30	0	0	0	3
16	Buddy Baker	3084	25	7	3	11	14
17	Ronnie Thomas	2830	29	0	0	0	3
18	Tommy Gale	2734	27	0	0	0	1
19	Cecil Gordon	2646	27	0	0	0	0
20	Dave Marcis	2624	24	0	0	1	6
21	Jimmy Means	2575	27	0	0	0	1
22	Harry Gant	2561	24	1	0	0	5
23	Dick Brooks	2471	25	0	0	1	7
24	Donnie Allison	2378	19	1	0	7	10
25	Baxter Price	2364	24	0	0	0	0