1981 Valleydale 500

Race 6 of 31

Bristol
500 laps
Time of race: 2:58:36
Average speed of winner: 89.530 mph
Margin of victory: 2.5 sec.
Lead changes: 21 among 11 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 44 laps
Lap leaders: Waltrip 1-30, Labonte 31, Shepherd 32-33, Marcis 34-51, Earnhardt 52-93, R. Petty 94, Earnhardt 95-112, Waltrip 113, Earnhardt 114-118, Shepherd 119-134, Waltrip 135, Lindley 136-144, Bouchard 145-150, Waltrip 151-172, Gant 173, Parsons 174-190, Waltrip 191-279, Millikan 280, Parsons 281-319, Waltrip 320-419, Parsons 420, Waltrip 421-500

Race notes: Debut for Ron Bouchard.

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	112.125	500	7	323	running	22450	185
2	5	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Oldsmobile	DiGard	Nelson		500	0	0	running	14375	170
3	11	Bobby Allison	28	Tuf-Lon	Pontiac	Ranier	Wilson		500	0	0	running	10450	165
4	7	Morgan Shepherd	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		500	2	18	running	4600	165
5	8	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		499	3	57	running	7375	160
6	6	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			497	0	0	running	5920	150
7	4	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan			495	1	1	running	6550	151
8	14	Harry Gant	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			493	1	1	running	4270	147
9	21	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing	Oldsmobile	Speed			491	0	0	running	3800	138
10	13	Tim Richmond	99	UNO	Buick	Ulrich			491	0	0	running	3590	134
11	23	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			487	0	0	running	1400	130
12	12	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto	Oldsmobile	Bob Rogers			486	0	0	running	1300	127
13	19	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			485	0	0	running	3020	124
14	26	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Chevrolet	Means			480	0	0	running	2810	121
15	24	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Honda	Ford	Langley			479	0	0	running	2600	118
16	20	Richard Childress	3	Nichols	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		476	0	0	running	2415	115
17	18	Joe Millikan	75	RahMoc Racing	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		474	1	1	running	2230	117
18	10	Ronnie Thomas	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			473	0	0	running	2020	109
19	17	D.K. Ulrich	45	McWhirter Grading	Buick	Baxter Price			473	0	0	running	850	0
20	31	Steve Spencer	17	Slick 50	Chevrolet	Hamby			468	0	0	running	1625	103
21	25	Cecil Gordon	24	Brian's Steakhouse	Buick	Cecil Gordon			461	0	0	running	1600	100
22	22	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			377	0	0	valve	925	97
23	30	Rick Newsom	20	City Chevy	Chevrolet	Newsom			356	0	0	engine	650	94
24	3	Ron Bouchard	47	Race Hill Farm	Buick	Jack Beebe			349	1	6	engine	875	0
25	15	Butch Lindley	26	Lindley Racing	Chevrolet	Lindley			194	1	9	engine	600	88
26	27	Bruce Hill	50	Hill Racing	Buick	Bruce Hill			184	0	0	wheel studs	590	85
27	28	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	86	Howard & Egerton Racing	Oldsmobile	Howard and Egerton			164	0	0	sway bar	580	82
28	2	Dale Earnhardt	2	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Osterlund	Richert		140	3	65	accident	7270	84
29	9	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		116	1	1	engine	5010	81
30	29	Ernie Cline	06	Bush Inc.	Pontiac	Ernie Cline			77	0	0	brakes	550	73
31	16	Dave Marcis	71	W.H. Bowlin/Hudson	Chevrolet	Marcis			60	1	18	rear end	1100	75

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	944	6	1	1	4	5
2	Jody Ridley	846	6	0	0	0	5
3	Richard Petty	815	6	0	1	4	4
4	Dale Earnhardt	805	6	0	0	3	4
5	Harry Gant	803	6	0	0	1	3
6	Ricky Rudd	798	6	0	0	3	3
7	Joe Millikan	791	6	0	0	0	3
8	Darrell Waltrip	782	6	2	3	3	3
9	Benny Parsons	751	6	0	0	3	3
10	Richard Childress	667	6	0	0	1	1
11	Terry Labonte	665	6	1	0	1	2
12	Buddy Arrington	635	6	0	0	0	1
13	Jimmy Means	627	6	0	0	0	0
14	J.D. McDuffie	610	6	0	0	0	1
15	Tim Richmond	595	6	0	0	0	1
16	Dave Marcis	574	6	0	0	0	0
17	Kyle Petty	573	6	0	0	0	1
18	Tommy Gale	554	5	0	0	0	0
19	Morgan Shepherd	551	4	1	0	2	3
20	Lake Speed	522	5	0	0	0	2
21	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	492	5	0	0	0	2
22	Ronnie Thomas	488	5	0	0	0	0
23	Cecil Gordon	459	6	0	0	0	0
24	James Hylton	458	5	0	0	0	0
25	Neil Bonnett	405	4	0	0	1	1