1979 Texas 400

Last updated
1979 Texas 400
Race details [1]
Race 14 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Texas World Speedway-Superspeedway.svg
Layout of Texas World Speedway
Date June 9, 1979 (1979-June-09)
Official name Texas 400
Location Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas
Course Permanent racing facility
2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643.738 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C); wind speeds of 11.8 miles per hour (19.0 km/h)
Average speed 156.216 miles per hour (251.405 km/h)
Attendance 11,500 [2]
Pole position
Driver
 Ranier Racing
Most laps led
Driver Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports
Laps 155
Winner
No. 88Darrell WaltripDiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1979 Texas 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on June 3, 1979, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.

Contents

Race report

Two hundred laps took place on an oval track spanning 2.0 miles (3.2 km). [2] Darrell Waltrip won the race; beating Bobby Allison by 60 seconds. [2] Eleven thousand and five hundred fans would attend this live race with lasted more than two hours and thirty-three minutes; making it the least attended race in NASCAR's modern era even when comparing races from after the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. [2] Waltrip's overall speed for the race was 156.216 miles per hour (251.405 km/h) while Buddy Baker achieved the pole position for the race with a speed of 167.903 miles per hour (270.214 km/h). [2] Total winnings for this race were $161,250 ($676,939.48 when considering inflation); Darrell would receive $21,750 of the total purse ($91,308.12 when considering inflation).

Dale Earnhardt was Waltrip's top challenger before he crashed late in the race. Waltrip had a lap lead but Allison, Baker, and Yarborough had a one-lap dash for second. Allison got second by about two feet over Baker, who was about four feet back. [2] Some of the more notable names to make an appearance here were: Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Cale Yarborough, Terry Labonte, Richard Petty, and J. D. McDuffie. [2]

Notable crew chiefs in attendance for this race were Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder. [3]

While Jim Hurlbert and John Rezek would make their NASCAR Cup Series debut, Billy Hagan would make his grand exit after this race along with three other drivers. Bill Meazel would make his only NASCAR appearance during this event. [4]

Qualifying

GridNo.DriverManufacturer
128Buddy BakerChevrolet
244Terry LabonteChevrolet
32Dale EarnhardtChevrolet
488Darrell WaltripChevrolet
511Cale YarboroughChevrolet
615Bobby AllisonFord
790Ricky RuddMercury
827Benny ParsonsChevrolet
943Richard PettyChevrolet
1072Joe MillikanChevrolet
1112Lennie PondChevrolet
1240D.K. UlrichBuick
1350Bruce HillBuick
1464Tommy GaleFord
1525Ronnie ThomasChevrolet
1648James HyltonChevrolet
1767Buddy ArringtonDodge
1879Frank WarrenDodge
193Richard ChildressOldsmobile
2045Baxter PriceChevrolet
2170J.D. McDuffieChevrolet
2219Billy HaganChevrolet
2352Jimmy MeansChevrolet
2431John RezekOldsmobile
2536H.B. BaileyPontiac

Finishing order

  1. Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
  2. Bobby Allison (No. 15)
  3. Buddy Baker† (No. 28)
  4. Cale Yarborough†(No. 11)
  5. Terry Labonte (No. 44)
  6. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  7. Richard Childress (No. 3)
  8. Joe Millikan (No. 72)
  9. Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
  10. James Hylton† (No. 48)
  11. John Rezek (No. 31)
  12. Dale Earnhardt*† (No. 2)
  13. Bruce Hill (No. 50)
  14. J. D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
  15. D. K. Ulrich (No. 40)
  16. H. B. Bailey† (No. 36)
  17. Billy Hagan† (No. 19)
  18. Earle Canavan† (No. 01)
  19. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  20. Tommy Gale† (No. 64)
  21. Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
  22. Mike Potter (No. 76)
  23. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
  24. Jim Hurlbert (No. 96)
  25. Benny Parsons*† (No. 27)
  26. Ronnie Thomas* (No. 25)
  27. Baxter Price* (No. 45)
  28. Ricky Rudd* (No. 90)
  29. Mike Kempton (No. 69)
  30. Dick May*† (No. 09)
  31. Lennie Pond*† (No. 12)
  32. Bill Meazell* (No. 55)
  33. John Haver* (No. 58)
  34. Jimmy Finger* (No. 32)

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

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

Standings after the race

PosDriverPoints [2] Differential
1 1rightarrow.png Darrell Waltrip 22510
2 1rightarrow.png Bobby Allison 2183-68
3 1rightarrow.png Cale Yarborough 2057-194
4 1rightarrow.png Richard Petty 2037-214
5 1rightarrow.png Dale Earnhardt 1888-363
6 Increase2.svg Joe Millikan 1872-379
7 Decrease2.svg Benny Parsons 1837-414
8 Increase2.svg Terry Labonte 1736-515
9 Increase2.svg Buddy Baker 1704-547
10 Decrease2.svg D.K. Ulrich 1700-551

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References

  1. ↑ "1979 Texas 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "1979 Texas 400 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  3. ↑ "1979 Texas 400 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  4. ↑ "Notable events at the 1979 Texas 400". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1979		Succeeded by
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