1981 Virginia 500

Race 9 of 31

Martinsville
500 laps
Time of race: 3:30:10
Average speed of winner: 75.019 mph
Margin of victory: 15 sec.
Lead changes: 13 among 6 drivers
Cautions: 5 for 38 laps
Lap leaders: Rudd 1-24, Gant 25-43, Lindley 44-62, Shepherd 63-150, Yarborough 151-152, Shepherd 153, Yarborough 154-178, Gant 179, Yarborough 180-200, Gant 201-287, Bonnett 288, Gant 289-385, Bonnett 386, Shepherd 387-500

Race notes: First win for Morgan Shepherd. First pole for Ricky Rudd.

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	12	Morgan Shepherd	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		500	3	203	running	24525	185
2	16	Neil Bonnett	21	Purolator	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		500	2	2	running	12650	175
3	1	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Buick	DiGard	Nelson	89.056	499	1	24	running	15250	170
4	2	Harry Gant	12	Kencoal	Oldsmobile	Childers			497	4	204	running	7700	165
5	9	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan			497	0	0	running	7725	155
6	13	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			494	0	0	running	6370	150
7	26	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing	Oldsmobile	Speed			493	0	0	running	4620	146
8	3	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			492	0	0	running	4850	142
9	14	Ron Bouchard	47	Race Hill Farm	Pontiac	Jack Beebe			491	0	0	running	3290	138
10	11	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Oldsmobile	Bob Rogers		89.094	486	0	0	running	2050	134
11	5	Dave Marcis	71	Hudson	Chevrolet	Marcis			485	0	0	engine	2970	130
12	28	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			484	0	0	running	2760	127
13	8	Bobby Allison	28	Ranier Racing	Pontiac	Ranier	Wilson		477	0	0	running	5400	124
14	18	Tim Richmond	99	UNO	Buick	Ulrich			476	0	0	running	2500	121
15	22	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			469	0	0	engine	850	118
16	23	Joe Fields	64	Richmond Printing	Buick	Joe Fields			469	0	0	running	2315	115
17	20	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			461	0	0	running	2155	112
18	24	Tommy Gale	40	McWhirter Grading	Buick	Ulrich			422	0	0	running	750	109
19	29	Bobby Wawak	94	Louise Smith	Buick	Wawak			398	0	0	running	725	106
20	25	Tommy Houston	17	Kings Inn	Chevrolet	Hamby			324	0	0	rear end	1920	0
21	21	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		317	3	48	engine	940	105
22	27	Richard Childress	3	Nichols	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		271	0	0	head gasket	1580	97
23	17	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		198	0	0	engine	5120	94
24	31	Cecil Gordon	24	Gordon Racing	Buick	Cecil Gordon			198	0	0	transmission	1560	91
25	10	Dale Earnhardt	2	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Osterlund	Richert		155	0	0	engine	6600	88
26	6	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer		150	0	0	engine	5090	85
27	4	Butch Lindley	26	Lindley Racing	Chevrolet	Lindley			87	1	19	brakes	1130	87
28	15	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		40	0	0	accident	5070	79
29	7	Joe Millikan	75	Hayes Jewelers	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		40	0	0	accident	860	76
30	30	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			17	0	0	engine	850	73
31	19	Ronnie Thomas	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			3	0	0	accident	850	70

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	1386	9	1	1	5	7
2	Harry Gant	1298	9	0	0	4	6
3	Ricky Rudd	1248	9	1	0	4	5
4	Darrell Waltrip	1222	9	2	4	5	5
5	Jody Ridley	1221	9	0	0	0	7
6	Dale Earnhardt	1139	9	0	0	3	5
7	Richard Petty	1138	9	0	2	5	5
8	Benny Parsons	1100	9	0	0	4	4
9	Terry Labonte	1087	9	1	0	2	4
10	Joe Millikan	1086	9	0	0	0	4
11	Dave Marcis	1039	9	1	0	2	2
12	Buddy Arrington	977	9	0	0	0	2
13	Jimmy Means	969	9	0	0	0	0
14	Tim Richmond	952	9	0	0	0	1
15	Richard Childress	946	9	0	0	1	1
16	Morgan Shepherd	935	7	1	1	3	5
17	J.D. McDuffie	913	9	0	0	0	1
18	Tommy Gale	878	8	0	0	0	0
19	Kyle Petty	876	9	0	0	0	1
20	James Hylton	794	8	0	0	0	0
21	Ronnie Thomas	788	8	0	0	0	0
22	Lake Speed	762	7	0	0	0	3
23	Cecil Gordon	720	9	0	0	0	0
24	Neil Bonnett	656	6	0	0	2	2
25	Buddy Baker	518	4	0	0	2	3