1979 Atlanta 500

Race 5 of 31

Atlanta
328 laps
Time of race: 3:41:47
Average speed of winner: 135.136 mph
Margin of victory: 18 sec.
Lead changes: 29 among 6 drivers
Cautions: 5 for 42 laps
Lap leaders: Baker 1-2, B. Allison 3-29, Baker 30-41, B. Allison 42-47, Pearson 48, B. Allison 49-114, Yarborough 115-116, Baker 117, Watson 118-123, Yarborough 124-140, B. Allison 141, Yarborough 142, B. Allison 143-169, Yarborough 170-171, Baker 172-179, Pearson 180-195, Waltrip 196-198, Baker 199-220, B. Allison 221-242, Pearson 243-246, B. Allison 247-256, Pearson 257-261, Baker 262-263, Pearson 264-277, Baker 278, B. Allison 279-283, Pearson 284-285, Baker 286-301, B. Allison 302-304, Baker 305-328

Race notes: Debut for Keith Davis. Finale for Dave Watson.

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	1	Buddy Baker	28	Spectra	Oldsmobile	Ranier	Wilson	165.951	328	9	88	running	35975	180
2	2	Bobby Allison	15	Hodgdon/Moore	Ford	Moore	Moore		328	9	167	running	32875	180
3	6	Darrell Waltrip	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Buddy Parrott		328	1	3	running	15400	170
4	4	Cale Yarborough	11	Busch	Oldsmobile	Johnson	Carter		327	4	22	running	11725	165
5	3	Benny Parsons	27	Griffin's Marine	Chevrolet	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		327	0	0	running	5775	155
6	15	Dave Marcis	02	Shoney's	Chevrolet	Marcis			327	0	0	running	4775	150
7	14	Donnie Allison	1	Hawaiian Tropic	Chevrolet	Ellington	Pittman		326	0	0	running	7075	146
8	13	Joe Millikan	72	Appliance Wheels	Oldsmobile	L.G. DeWitt			326	0	0	running	8925	142
9	8	Ricky Rudd	90	Truxmore	Mercury	Donlavey			325	0	0	running	5720	138
10	12	Dick Brooks	05	Bearfinder	Oldsmobile	Malloch			325	0	0	running	3025	134
11	11	Richard Petty	43	STP	Oldsmobile	Petty	Inman		324	0	0	running	6025	130
12	17	Dale Earnhardt	2	Osterlund	Buick	Osterlund	Elder		321	0	0	running	4835	127
13	22	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Chevrolet	Hylton			321	0	0	running	4390	124
14	24	D.K. Ulrich	40	Airport Howard Johnson's	Buick	Ulrich			321	0	0	running	4155	121
15	16	Bruce Hill	50	Hill	Oldsmobile	Ballard			321	0	0	running	1825	118
16	9	Chuck Bown	68	Kings Mountain	Buick	Testa			315	0	0	running	1600	115
17	32	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Oldsmobile	McDuffie			314	0	0	running	3640	112
18	5	David Pearson	21	Purolator	Mercury	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		299	6	42	engine	1990	114
19	37	Baxter Price	45	Price Racing	Chevrolet	Baxter Price			295	0	0	running	3410	106
20	26	Richard Childress	3	CRC Chemicals	Oldsmobile	Childress			295	0	0	running	3295	103
21	23	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			282	0	0	running	2705	100
22	30	Frank Warren	79	Native Tan	Dodge	Frank Warren			273	0	0	engine	2470	97
23	29	Cecil Gordon	24	Gordon-Barnicle	Oldsmobile	Cecil Gordon			249	0	0	running	2285	94
24	27	Dick May	19	Belden Asphalt	Chevrolet	Henley Gray			221	0	0	overheating	2000	91
25	7	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Chevrolet	Hagan			211	0	0	engine	1965	88
26	36	Roger Hamby	17	Hamby/Ellis Automotive	Chevrolet	Hamby			172	0	0	accident	1880	85
27	35	Claude Ballot-Léna	6	JMS	Oldsmobile	G.C. Spencer			168	0	0	accident	950	0
28	34	Grant Adcox	41	Adcox-Kirby	Chevrolet	Adcox			133	0	0	accident	925	79
29	38	Buddy Arrington	67	Sam Dell	Dodge	Arrington			129	0	0	head gasket	1785	76
30	20	Blackie Wangerin	39	Wangerin	Mercury	Wangerin			126	0	0	transmission	875	73
31	31	Ralph Jones	98	Jones	Ford	Ralph Jones			126	0	0	clutch	1835	70
32	18	Dave Watson	37	Amsoil	Chevrolet	Phil Howard			123	1	6	withdrew	1075	72
33	25	Jimmy Means	52	Mr. Transmission	Chevrolet	Means			82	0	0	transmission	1315	64
34	39	Ronnie Thomas	25	1st National City Travelers Checks	Buick	Don Robertson			71	0	0	handling	2305	61
35	21	Geoff Bodine	47	Race Hill Farm	Oldsmobile	Jack Beebe			66	0	0	handling	795	58
36	10	Bill Elliott	9	Dahlonega Ford Sales	Mercury	George Elliott	Elliott		61	0	0	steering	765	0
37	28	Tighe Scott	30	Russ Togs	Buick	Ballard	Hyde		54	0	0	steering	1255	52
38	19	Coo Coo Marlin	14	Cunningham-Kelley	Chevrolet	Cunningham-Kelley			53	0	0	accident	745	49
39	33	John Kennedy	0	Avanti CB	Chevrolet				50	0	0	accident	735	46
40	40	Keith Davis	53	Davis	Chevrolet	Keith Davis			15	0	0	rear end	725	43

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Darrell Waltrip	807	5	0	1	4	4
2	Bobby Allison	791	5	2	1	3	3
3	Cale Yarborough	789	5	0	1	4	4
4	Donnie Allison	682	5	0	0	2	4
5	Joe Millikan	672	5	0	0	1	4
6	Benny Parsons	653	5	0	0	2	3
7	D.K. Ulrich	650	5	0	0	0	2
8	Dale Earnhardt	625	5	0	0	0	1
9	Richard Petty	599	5	0	1	2	2
10	Richard Childress	573	5	0	0	1	1
11	Dave Marcis	562	5	0	0	0	1
12	J.D. McDuffie	551	5	0	0	0	1
13	Frank Warren	551	5	0	0	0	2
14	Buddy Arrington	536	5	0	0	0	0
15	James Hylton	527	4	0	0	0	1
16	Dick Brooks	524	5	0	0	1	2
17	Terry Labonte	521	5	0	0	0	1
18	Buddy Baker	520	5	2	1	1	2
19	David Pearson	440	4	1	0	1	1
20	Ronnie Thomas	437	5	0	0	0	0
21	Dave Watson	413	4	0	0	0	1
22	Cecil Gordon	400	4	0	0	0	0
23	Ricky Rudd	399	4	0	0	0	1
24	Tighe Scott	362	3	0	0	1	2
25	Tommy Gale	321	3	0	0	0	0