1979 Champion Spark Plug 400

1979 Champion Spark Plug 400
Race details
Race 21 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
	1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
Date	August 19, 1979
Official name	Champion Spark Plug 400
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course	Permanent racing facility; 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Mild with temperatures of 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed	130.367 miles per hour (209.805 km/h)
Attendance	60,000
Pole position
Driver	David Pearson ;
Most laps led
Driver	Buddy Baker
Laps	115
Winner
No. 43	Richard Petty
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network
Booth Announcers	Jack Arute & Barney Hall
Turn Announcers	Turns 1 & 2: Mike Joy ; Turns 3 & 4: Eli Gold ; Pit Reporter: Ned Jarrett

Last updated August 04, 2024

The 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 19, 1979, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.^[5] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees.^[5] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.^[5]

Race report

There were 36 American-born male drivers on the grid.^[4]^[3]

David Pearson, driving the Rod Osterlund No. 2 as a substitute Dale Earnhardt after his crash at Pocono, earned the pole position with a speed of 162.992 miles per hour (262.310 km/h) .^[4]^[2] Richard Petty defeated Buddy Baker ^[3] by one second in essentially a fuel mileage race that determined whoever could preserve the most fuel.^[4]^[2] There were 21 lead changes and five caution flags for 35 laps; making the race three hours and four minutes long while the average speed was 130.376 miles per hour (209.820 km/h).^[4]^[2]

Blackie Wangerin would receive the last-place finish due to a crash with H.B. Bailey on lap 2 which resulted in Wangerin's car flipping outside of the track in Turn 3 which resulted in a lengthy red flag to rebuild the turns 3 and 4 guardrail. John Anderson got his only top five finish in his Cup debut.^[4]^[2]^[3]

Al Rudd, Jr. qualified for his second, and final, Cup race. At Pocono, he qualified 18th but when DiGard Racing's Darrell Waltrip crashed in post-qualifying practice, and under rules of the time, had to withdraw and DiGard leased his car for that race for points purposes. Rudd ran this car, which was rebuilt by DiGard for Pocono, for his only NASCAR Cop start, which he did with hia NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025 brother Ricky, who drove for Wesley Donlavey that season.

The entire purse was $142,905 ($599,925.8 when adjusted for inflation).^[6] Notable crew chiefs for this race were Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Harry Hyde, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder.^[7]

USAC Championship Trail standout Jan Opperman, in a car owned by Will Cronkite was the only driver to not qualify.

Qualifying

Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Owner
1	2	David Pearson	Chevrolet	Rod Osterlund
2	15	Bobby Allison	Ford	Bud Moore
3	21	Neil Bonnett	Mercury	Wood Brothers
4	44	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Billy Hagan
5	43	Richard Petty	Chevrolet	Petty Enterprises
6	27	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet	M.C. Anderson
7	72	Joe Millikan	Chevrolet	L.G. DeWitt
8	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	Junior Johnson
9	47	Harry Gant	Chevrolet	Jack Beebe
10	88	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	DiGard

Failed to qualify: Jan Opperman (#96)^[8]

Finishing order

Fin	St	Car #	Driver	Sponsor (Owner)	Car Make	Laps	Money	Status	Led	Points
1	5	43	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Chevrolet	200	21100	running	9	180
2	11	28	Buddy Baker	W.I.N. (Harry Ranier)	Chevrolet	200	12425	running	115	180
3	6	27	Benny Parsons	Melling Tool (M.C. Anderson)	Chevrolet	200	12820	running	0	165
4	1	2	David Pearson	(Rod Osterlund)	Chevrolet	199	10215	running	0	160
5	20	08	John Anderson	Draime Race Engines (Russ Draime)	Chevrolet	199	4355	running	0	155
6	7	72	Joe Millikan	Appliance Wheels (L.G. DeWitt)	Chevrolet	199	7195	running	8	155
7	16	90	Ricky Rudd	Truxmore (Junie Donlavey)	Mercury	199	5320	running	0	146
8	28	30	Tighe Scott	Russ Togs (Walter Ballard)	Buick	197	4890	running	0	142
9	15	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating (J.D. McDuffie)	Chevrolet	197	4670	running	0	138
10	12	3	Richard Childress	CRC Chemicals (Richard Childress)	Oldsmobile	197	4550	running	0	134
11	13	17	Bill Elliott	Knutsons RV (George Elliott)	Mercury	195	4120	running	0	130
12	31	48	James Hylton	Palatine Automotive Parts (James Hylton)	Chevrolet	195	3850	running	0	127
13	34	42	Kyle Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	195	1675	running	0	124
14	18	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley)	Ford	193	3130	running	0	121
15	29	0	John Kennedy	Avanti CB (John Kennedy)	Chevrolet	188	1490	running	0
16	30	79	Frank Warren	Native Tan (Frank Warren)	Dodge	188	2725	running	0	115
17	8	11	Cale Yarborough	Busch (Junior Johnson)	Chevrolet	185	6270	engine	3	117
18	35	24	Cecil Gordon	Gordon Racing (Cecil Gordon)	Oldsmobile	183	2300	running	0	109
19	10	88	Darrell Waltrip	Gatorade (DiGard Racing)	Chevrolet	173	4775	running	0	106
20	22	67	Buddy Arrington	Hills Racing (Buddy Arrington)	Dodge	150	1965	engine	0	103
21	26	45	Baxter Price	Iron Peddlers (Baxter Price)	Oldsmobile	146	1920	running	0	100
22	19	52	Jimmy Means	Mr. Transmission (Jimmy Means)	Chevrolet	145	1875	running	0	97
23	2	15	Bobby Allison	Hodgdon/Moore (Bud Moore)	Ford	141	4935	engine	38	99
24	32	25	Ronnie Thomas	Stone's Cafeteria (Don Robertson)	Chevrolet	131	2785	overheating	0	91
25	9	47	Harry Gant	Race Hill Farm (Jack Beebe)	Chevrolet	129	875	clutch	5	93
26	4	44	Terry Labonte	Stratagraph (Billy Hagan)	Chevrolet	108	1475	engine	5	90
27	33	6	Marty Robbins	Robbins Racing (Marty Robbins)	Dodge	96	825	engine	0	82
28	17	40	D.K. Ulrich	Midwestern Farm Lines (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	85	1300	running	0	79
29	14	05	Dick Brooks	Bearfinder (Nelson Malloch)	Chevrolet	81	785	exhaust	0	76
30	21	71	Dave Marcis	Transmissions Unlimited (Dave Marcis)	Chevrolet	67	765	engine	0	73
31	24	19	Lennie Pond	Belden Asphalt (Henley Gray)	Chevrolet	57	1250	overheating	0	70
32	23	22	Al Rudd, Jr.	Bill Lewis (Al Rudd)	Chevrolet	39	740	clutch	0
33	3	21	Neil Bonnett	Purolator (Wood Brothers)	Mercury	28	1405	ignition	17	69
34	36	01	Earle Canavan	Scope Mount (Earle Canavan)	Dodge	23	720	engine	0
35	25	36	H.B. Bailey	Caldwell Knapp Cadillac (H.B. Bailey)	Pontiac	2	710	crash	0	58
36	27	39	Blackie Wangerin	(Blackie Wangerin)	Mercury	2	700	crash	0	55

Failed to qualify
Name	Car #	Sponsor	Owner	Car
Jan Opperman	96		Will Cronkrite	Ford

Source:^[9]

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points^[4]	Differential
1	Darrell Waltrip	3352	0
2	Richard Petty	3197	-155
3	Cale Yarborough	3063	-289
4	Bobby Allison	3023	-329
5	Benny Parsons	2827	-525
6	Joe Millikan	2719	-633
7	Dale Earnhardt	2588	-764
8	Richard Childress	2524	-828
9	J.D. McDuffie	2510	-842
10	Buddy Arrington	2415	-937

Related Research Articles

Darrell Lee Waltrip is an American motorsports analyst, author as well as a former national television broadcaster and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series, most notably driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for Junior Johnson. Waltrip is a three-time Cup Series champion.

Stock car races in the NASCAR Cup Series have been held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania since 1974. The 400-mile (640 km) event, currently known as The Great American Getaway 400 for sponsorship reasons, has been held sometime in mid-to-late July or early August each year, except for when it was held in September 1974 when it was held in April, and 2020 and 2021 when it was held in June as a doubleheader event.

Greg Sacks is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka.

The 1976 NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Series was the 28th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 5th modern era season of the Grand National series and sixth under R. J. Reynolds sponsorship through its Winston cigarette brand. The season began on Sunday, January 18 and ended on Sunday, November 21. Cale Yarborough, driving the #11 Junior Johnson Holly Farms Chevrolet scored his first of three consecutive NASCAR Grand National Series Winston Cup Championships. Skip Manning was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

The 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 41st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 18th modern-era Cup season. It began February 12 and ended November 19. Rusty Wallace of Blue Max Racing won the championship. This was the first year that every Winston Cup race had flag to flag coverage, with almost all of them being televised live.

The 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 40th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 17th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 7 at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 20 at the Atlanta International Speedway. Bill Elliott of Melling Racing won the championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 39th season of NASCAR stock car racing

The 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 39th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 16th modern-era cup series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 37th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 37th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 14th modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Sunday, February 10 and ended on Sunday, November 17. Darrell Waltrip, driving for Junior Johnson, was crowned champion at the end of the season. Bill Elliott, driving for Harry Melling, had won 11 races in 1985, but lost the title by 101 points to three-time race winner Waltrip. This was the first season where all races were televised in some form.

The 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 36th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 13th modern-era Cup series season. It began on Sunday, February 19 and ended on Sunday, November 18. Terry Labonte was crowned champion at the end of the season. This was the final year for Chrysler until Dodge returned in 2001.

The 1977 NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Series was the 29th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 6th modern era NASCAR Cup series. The season began on Sunday, January 16 and ended on Sunday, November 20. Cale Yarborough driving the Junior Johnson #11 Holly Farms Chevrolet won his second consecutive NASCAR Grand National Series Winston Cup Championship. Ricky Rudd was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Cup Series events have been held annually at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan since 1969. Traditionally, the track held two Cup Series races, one in June, around Father's Day weekend and another in August. The August race was not held in 1973 after track owner Roger Penske replaced the race with a Champ Car event. In 2020, both races were held over a single weekend in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the June race was dropped from the schedule as part of a realignment, with its place on the schedule being given to Texas Motor Speedway to host the All-Star Race.

The 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 31st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 8th modern-era Cup series. It began on Sunday, January 14, and ended on Sunday, November 18. Richard Petty won his seventh and final Winston Cup championship, winning by 11 points over Darrell Waltrip. Dale Earnhardt was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 32nd season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 32nd season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 9th modern-era NASCAR Cup season. It was the final year with the Gen 2 car. The season began on Sunday, January 13 and ended on Sunday, November 15. Dale Earnhardt won his first Winston Cup championship, winning by 19 points over Cale Yarborough. Jody Ridley was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Coca-Cola 500</span> Auto race held at Pocono International Raceway in 1979

The 1979 Coca-Cola 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 30, 1979, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Northwestern Bank 400</span> Auto race held at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1979

The 1979 Northwestern Bank 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on March 25, 1979, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

The 1981 Budweiser NASCAR 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 7, 1981, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 Champion Spark Plug 400</span> Auto race held at Michigan International Speedway in 1977

The 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 22, 1977, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Champion Spark Plug 400</span> Auto race held at Michigan International Speedway in 1986

The 1986 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on August 17, 1986, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Delaware 500</span> Auto race held at Dover International Speedway in 1986

The 1986 Delaware 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on September 14, 1986, at Dover Downs International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Champion Spark Plug 400</span> Motor car race

The 1982 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on August 22, 1982, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

References

↑ Weather for the 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
1 2 3 4 5 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Race Database
1 2 3 4 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine racing information at Driver Averages
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Racing Reference
1 2 3 "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
↑ 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing purse at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
↑ 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
↑ Qualifying information Archived 2017-08-21 at the Wayback Machine at Racing Reference
↑ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-28.

Preceded by 1979 Talladega 500	NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1979	Succeeded by 1979 Volunteer 500

Preceded by 1979 Virginia 500	Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960-1984	Succeeded by 1979 CRC Chemicals 500

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[race_weather-1] Weather for the 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac

[racedatabase-2] 1 2 3 4 5 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Race Database

[driveraverages-3] 1 2 3 4 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine racing information at Driver Averages

[1979csp400-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Racing Reference

[cbsmichiganfacts-5] 1 2 3 "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.

[6] 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing purse at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet

[7] 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference

[8] Qualifying information Archived 2017-08-21 at the Wayback Machine at Racing Reference

[9] "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-28.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]