1981 Northwestern Bank 400

Race 7 of 31

North Wilkesboro
400 laps
Time of race: 2:55:41
Average speed of winner: 85.381 mph
Margin of victory: 3.7 sec.
Lead changes: 12 among 4 drivers
Cautions: 10 for 87 laps
Lap leaders: Marcis 1, Allison 2-25, Marcis 26-131, Allison 132-196, Waltrip 197, Allison 198-266, R. Petty 267-293, Allison 294, Marcis 295-300, Allison 301-327, Waltrip 328, Marcis 329-338, R. Petty 339-400

Race notes: Last pole for Dave Marcis. Debut for Mark Martin.

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	13	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		400	2	89	running	18850	180
2	3	Bobby Allison	28	Tuf-Lon	Pontiac	Ranier	Wilson		400	5	186	running	12350	180
3	7	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer		400	2	2	running	9875	170
4	1	Dave Marcis	71	Hudson	Chevrolet	Marcis		114.647	400	4	123	running	10470	165
5	8	Harry Gant	12	Five Racers	Oldsmobile	Childers			400	0	0	running	2550	155
6	4	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Buick	DiGard	Nelson		399	0	0	running	6550	150
7	16	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan			399	0	0	running	6200	146
8	10	Ron Bouchard	47	Race Hill Farm	Buick	Jack Beebe			399	0	0	running	3820	142
9	9	Morgan Shepherd	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		399	0	0	running	1350	138
10	2	Dale Earnhardt	2	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Osterlund	Richert		395	0	0	running	8800	134
11	11	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Oldsmobile	Bob Rogers			395	0	0	running	1150	130
12	15	Ronnie Thomas	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			394	0	0	running	2800	127
13	23	D.K. Ulrich	40	Mastin Pool Co.	Buick	Ulrich			393	0	0	running	1000	0
14	28	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Chevrolet	Means			393	0	0	running	2590	121
15	17	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Chevrolet	Hylton			393	0	0	running	2545	118
16	29	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			389	0	0	running	2335	115
17	19	Richard Childress	3	Childress Racing	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		381	0	0	running	2250	112
18	22	Tim Richmond	99	UNO	Buick	Ulrich			342	0	0	running	2065	109
19	30	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford	Ford	Langley			339	0	0	running	1930	106
20	24	Tommy Houston	17	Lowe's	Buick	Hamby			339	0	0	running	1820	0
21	6	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		324	0	0	engine	5200	100
22	20	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			319	0	0	accident	635	97
23	18	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing	Oldsmobile	Speed			290	0	0	accident	1560	94
24	12	Butch Lindley	26	Lindley Racing	Chevrolet	Lindley			278	0	0	engine	645	91
25	25	Joe Fields	92	The Shop	Buick	Joe Fields			191	0	0	engine	635	88
26	21	Joe Millikan	75	RahMoc Racing	Chevrolet	RahMoc	Rahilly		174	0	0	oil pressure	1410	85
27	5	Mark Martin	02	Prototype/Amsoil	Pontiac	Reeder			166	0	0	rear end	625	82
28	14	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			126	0	0	rear end	1820	79
29	31	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			111	0	0	engine	760	76
30	26	Bobby Wawak	94	Louise Smith	Buick	Wawak			67	0	0	engine	550	73
31	27	Cecil Gordon	53	Broadway Motors	Buick	Means			8	0	0	rear end	550	70

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	1124	7	1	1	5	6
2	Richard Petty	995	7	0	2	5	5
3	Harry Gant	958	7	0	0	2	4
4	Darrell Waltrip	952	7	2	3	4	4
5	Ricky Rudd	948	7	0	0	3	4
6	Dale Earnhardt	939	7	0	0	3	5
7	Jody Ridley	925	7	0	0	0	5
8	Joe Millikan	876	7	0	0	0	3
9	Benny Parsons	851	7	0	0	3	3
10	Terry Labonte	811	7	1	0	1	3
11	Richard Childress	779	7	0	0	1	1
12	Jimmy Means	748	7	0	0	0	0
13	Dave Marcis	739	7	1	0	1	1
14	J.D. McDuffie	725	7	0	0	0	1
15	Buddy Arrington	711	7	0	0	0	1
16	Tim Richmond	704	7	0	0	0	1
17	Morgan Shepherd	689	5	1	0	2	4
18	Kyle Petty	670	7	0	0	0	1
19	Tommy Gale	660	6	0	0	0	0
20	Lake Speed	616	6	0	0	0	2
21	Ronnie Thomas	615	6	0	0	0	0
22	James Hylton	576	6	0	0	0	0
23	Cecil Gordon	529	7	0	0	0	0
24	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	492	5	0	0	0	2
25	Neil Bonnett	405	4	0	0	1	1