1981 Coca-Cola 500

Race 5 of 31

Atlanta
328 laps
Time of race: 3:44:10
Average speed of winner: 133.619 mph
Margin of victory: 33 sec.
Lead changes: 23 among 10 drivers
Cautions: 5 for 39 laps
Lap leaders: Labonte pole, Gant 1-22, Childress 23, Parsons 24, Pearson 25-28, Waltrip 29-54, R. Petty 55-79, Waltrip 80-85, B. Allison 86-89, Gant 90, R. Petty 91-99, Bonnett 100-118, Yarborough 119-122, Bonnett 123-139, Gant 140-166, Parsons 167-169, Bonnett 170-217, Yarborough 218, Gant 219-238, Yarborough 239-247, Gant 248-259, Yarborough 260-269, Gant 270-281, Yarborough 282-328

Race notes: First pole for Terry Labonte. Bobby Allison took the points lead from Richard Petty.

Video links: Marcis flip

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	17	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		328	5	71	running	28950	180
2	2	Harry Gant	47	Race Hill Farm	Buick	Jack Beebe			328	6	94	running	32705	180
3	5	Dale Earnhardt	2	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Osterlund	Richert		327	0	0	running	19400	165
4	30	Bobby Allison	28	Tuf-Lon	Pontiac	Ranier	Wilson		327	1	4	running	14415	165
5	13	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		326	2	4	running	11975	160
6	7	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			326	0	0	running	9680	150
7	15	A.J. Foyt	51	Gilmore/Valvoline	Oldsmobile	Foyt			325	0	0	running	4425	146
8	20	Morgan Shepherd	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		325	0	0	running	4765	142
9	10	Bill Elliott	9	Mell-Gear Tuning Components	Ford	George Elliott	Elliott		323	0	0	running	3705	138
10	25	Joe Ruttman	6	5 Racers Corp.	Buick	Stacy			322	0	0	running	3485	134
11	31	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			321	0	0	running	5380	130
12	33	Johnny Rutherford	98	Levi Garrett	Pontiac	Benfield	Buddy Parrott		321	0	0	running	2575	127
13	35	Bill Elswick	57	Performance Boats	Buick	RahMoc			317	0	0	running	2445	0
14	26	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			316	0	0	running	4880	121
15	12	Joe Millikan	75	RahMoc Racing	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		315	0	0	fuel pump	4630	118
16	27	Stan Barrett	22	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham			315	0	0	running	1885	0
17	8	Richard Childress	3	Downey's Auto Parts	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		311	1	1	running	4160	117
18	32	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Honda	Ford	Langley			310	0	0	running	3940	109
19	1	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan		162.940	308	0	0	running	9155	106
20	39	Rick Newsom	20	City	Chevrolet	Newsom			294	0	0	running	1725	103
21	41	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			282	0	0	running	3250	100
22	16	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Buick	DiGard	Nelson	163.509	280	0	0	running	7760	97
23	36	Bruce Hill	7	Hill Racing	Buick	Bruce Hill			275	0	0	running	2990	94
24	34	Dick May	79	Miller Roofing	Oldsmobile	Junior Miller			267	0	0	oil pump	2805	91
25	22	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			254	0	0	engine	2510	88
26	19	Tim Richmond	99	UNO	Buick	Ulrich			241	0	0	accident	2420	85
27	28	Dave Marcis	71	Bowlin Coal	Oldsmobile	Marcis			238	0	0	accident	2635	82
28	4	Neil Bonnett	21	Purolator	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		234	3	84	water pump	1605	84
29	23	Donnie Allison	12	The 5 Racers	Oldsmobile	Childers			189	0	0	engine	1080	0
30	40	Steve Spencer	17	Kings Inn Daytona	Buick	Hamby			170	0	0	oil pump	2290	0
31	42	Ronnie Thomas	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			159	0	0	clutch	1510	70
32	6	David Pearson	16	Halpern Enterprises	Chevrolet	Halpern			153	1	4	cracked head	1000	0
33	18	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Buick	Bob Rogers			139	0	0	engine	990	64
34	29	Slick Johnson	53	Johnson Racing	Chevrolet	J.D. Johnson			138	0	0	camshaft	980	61
35	21	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing	Buick	Speed			133	0	0	oil pump	970	58
36	11	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer		131	2	32	engine	6390	60
37	37	Cecil Gordon	24	Gordon Racing	Buick	Cecil Gordon			124	0	0	engine	1430	52
38	14	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		113	2	34	engine	6370	54
39	24	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	86	Howard & Egerton Racing	Buick	Howard and Egerton			97	0	0	accident	910	46
40	3	Buddy Baker	1	UNO	Oldsmobile	Ellington	Pittman		86	0	0	engine	900	43
41	9	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			17	0	0	engine	900	40
42	38	Bobby Wawak	94	Smith Special	Pontiac	Wawak			10	0	0	piston	900	37

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	779	5	1	1	3	4
2	Richard Petty	734	5	0	1	4	4
3	Dale Earnhardt	721	5	0	0	3	4
4	Jody Ridley	696	5	0	0	0	4
5	Joe Millikan	674	5	0	0	0	3
6	Harry Gant	656	5	0	0	1	2
7	Ricky Rudd	628	5	0	0	2	2
8	Darrell Waltrip	597	5	1	2	2	2
9	Benny Parsons	591	5	0	0	2	2
10	Richard Childress	552	5	0	0	1	1
11	Terry Labonte	514	5	1	0	1	1
12	J.D. McDuffie	513	5	0	0	0	1
13	Buddy Arrington	511	5	0	0	0	1
14	Jimmy Means	506	5	0	0	0	0
15	Dave Marcis	499	5	0	0	0	0
16	Tim Richmond	461	5	0	0	0	0
17	James Hylton	458	5	0	0	0	0
18	Kyle Petty	443	5	0	0	0	1
19	Tommy Gale	436	4	0	0	0	0
20	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	410	4	0	0	0	2
21	Neil Bonnett	405	4	0	0	1	1
22	Johnny Rutherford	388	3	0	0	0	1
23	Morgan Shepherd	386	3	1	0	1	2
24	Lake Speed	384	4	0	0	0	1
25	Ronnie Thomas	379	4	0	0	0	0