1978 Delaware 500

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1978 Delaware 500
Race details[1][2]
Race 24 of 30 in the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Dover International Speedway
Layout of Dover International Speedway
Date September 17, 1978 (1978-September-17)
Official name Delaware 500
Location Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover, Delaware
Course Permanent racing facility
1.000 mi (1.609 km)
Distance 500 laps, 500.0 mi (804.6 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures reaching a maximum of 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed 119.323 miles per hour (192.032 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
McDuffie Racing
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering
Laps 267
Winner
No. 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1978 Delaware 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) racing event that took place on September 17, 1978, at Dover Downs International Speedway (now Dover International Speedway) in the American community of Dover, Delaware.

By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power any more.

Background

Dover Downs International Speedway, now called Dover International Speedway, is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway.[3] The NASCAR race makes use of the track's standard configuration, a four-turn short track oval that is 1 mile (1.6 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, and both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the backstretch are banked at nine degrees.[4]

Summary

Five hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 1.000 mile (1.609 km).[2] The race took four hours, eleven minutes, and twenty seconds to complete.[2] Three cautions were given out by NASCAR for eighteen laps.[2] Thirty thousand stock car racing fans attended this live event.[2] Notable speeds were: 119.323 miles per hour (192.032 km/h) for the average speed and 135.480 miles per hour (218.034 km/h) for the pole position speed (accomplished by J.D. McDuffie[5]).[2]

Bobby Allison defeated Cale Yarborough by 11½ seconds.[2] Other notable names in the event included: Darrell Waltrip (now a NASCAR on Fox broadcaster), Richard Childress (now the owner of Richard Childress Racing), Richard Petty, and J.D. McDuffie.[2] J.D. McDuffie established the pole position[2] while using tires manufactured by the McCreary Tire Company. This pole position start also got him a guaranteed ride in the first running of the Busch Clash (now the Sprint Unlimited);[6] Buddy Baker would ultimately win that race on February 1979. The Busch Clash consisted of a racing event with a single twenty-lap (50-mile) green flag sprint with no pit stops required.

Jabe Thomas would retire from NASCAR after this race. Bobby Allison would gain his 50th career Winston Cup Series victory from this race. Although McDuffie would never win a race with a Winston Cup Series vehicle, his best overall finish would come at the 1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 in Nashville, Tennessee.[7]

Finishing order

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  1. Bobby Allison (defeated Cale Yarborough by one car length)
  2. Cale Yarborough
  3. Buddy Baker† (highest finishing Chevrolet vehicle)
  4. David Pearson
  5. Darrell Waltrip
  6. Dick Brooks†
  7. Lennie Pond†
  8. Dave Marcis
  9. Donnie Allison
  10. Dick May†
  11. Ronnie Thomas
  12. Richard Childress
  13. Al Holbert†
  14. Cecil Gordon†
  15. Ed Negre† (highest finishing Dodge vehicle)
  16. Earle Canavan
  17. Tommy Gale†
  18. Roger Hamby
  19. Nestor Peles
  20. Gary Myers*
  21. Frank Warren
  22. Buddy Arrington
  23. Baxter Price
  24. Nelson Oswald*
  25. Tighe Scott*
  26. Benny Parsons*†
  27. Richard Petty*
  28. Dave Dion*
  29. Neil Bonnett*†
  30. Ralph Jones*
  31. Joey Arrington*
  32. Jimmy Means*
  33. J.D. McDuffie*†
  34. James Hylton*
  35. Louis Gatto*
  36. Ferrel Harris*† (only Chrysler entry of the entire race)
  37. Jabe Thomas*†

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Timeline

  • Start of race: J.D. McDuffie had the pole position to start the event
  • Lap 11: Bobby Allison took over the lead from J.D. McDuffie
  • Lap 21: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 80: J.D. McDuffie blew his engine while driving at high speeds
  • Lap 98: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
  • Lap 99: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip
  • Lap 140: Jimmy Means blew his engine while driving at high speeds
  • Lap 143: Joey Arrington managed to lose the rear end of his vehicle
  • Lap 186: Ralph Jones blew his engine while driving at high speeds
  • Lap 220: Neil Bonnett had a terminal crash
  • Lap 238: Dave Dion blew his engine while driving at high speeds
  • Lap 243: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
  • Lap 311: Benny Parsons blew his engine while driving at high speeds
  • Lap 318: Buddy Baker took over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 319: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Buddy Baker
  • Lap 335: Nelson Oswald blew his engine while driving at high speeds
  • Lap 438: Gary Myers blew his engine while driving at high speeds
  • Finish: Bobby Allison was officially declared the winner of the event

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2]
1 Cale Yarborough 3867
2 Dave Marcis 3482
3 Benny Parsons 3479
4 Darrell Waltrip 3423
5 Bobby Allison 3361

References

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Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1978		 Succeeded by
1978 Old Dominion 500
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