1980 Richmond 400

Last updated
1980 Richmond 400
Race details [1]
Race 3 of 31 in the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Richmond International Speedway.png
Layout of Richmond Speedway
Date February 24, 1980 (1980-February-24)
Official name Richmond 400
Location Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.542 mi (0.872 km)
Distance 400 laps, 216.8 mi (348.9 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures of 66 °F (19 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed 67.703 mph (108.957 km/h)
Attendance 17,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver
 DiGard
Most laps led
DriverDarrell WaltripDiGard
Laps 148
Winner
No. 88Darrell WaltripDiGard
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1980 Richmond 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on February 24, 1980, at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway (now Richmond Raceway) in Richmond, Virginia.

Contents

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the early-1980s.

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond. [3] The original track was paved in 1968. [4] In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration

The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway".

Race report

There were 35 American-born male drivers on the grid. Darrell Waltrip defeated Bobby Allison by 1.2 seconds in front of 17,000 people. [2] [5] Nine caution flags for 72 laps along with 19 different lead changes resulted in a race that lasted three hours and twelve minutes. Millikan flipped over the guardrail in Turn 3 after two other cars in front of him got together; he would eventually bow out of the race at lap 101. [2] [5]

While Waltrip would earn the pole position with a qualifying speed of 93.695 miles per hour (150.787 km/h) in his #88 Chevrolet Malibu vehicle, the average speed of the actual race was 67.703 miles per hour (108.957 km/h) [5] Baxter Price achieved the last-place finish of the race due to a crash on lap 45 out of the 400 laps that day. [2] [5] Richard Childress (racing for himself at Richard Childress Racing) would be the last driver to actually finish the race. [2] [5] He would drive an Oldsmobile as opposed to the Chevrolet vehicles that he would own today. [2] [5]

Bill Hollar ends up sidelined by a mechanical gremlin as he makes his final NASCAR Winston Cup start. [2] [5] He'd attempt a few races later in the 1980s but didn't qualify for any of them. [6]

Notable crew chiefs that fully participated in this race included Junie Donlavey, Joey Arrington, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, Kirk Shelmerdine, Jake Elder among others. [7]

Tommy Houston would make his NASCAR debut here while Joey Arrington would retire here. Joe Booher would make his best career finish here.

Top 10 finishers

Pos [2] GridNo.DriverManufacturerLapsWinningsLaps ledPointsTime/Status
1188 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 400$17,8001481853:12:08
2515 Bobby Allison Ford 400$10,975127175+1.2 seconds
3343 Richard Petty Chevrolet 400$9,37570170Lead lap under green flag
41071 Dave Marcis Chevrolet 400$4,31016165Lead lap under green flag
5112 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet 398$6,5500155+2 laps
61567 Buddy Arrington Dodge392$3,3600150+8 laps
73148 James Hylton Chevrolet 385$2,9400146+15 laps
81424 Cecil Gordon Oldsmobile382$2,7800142+18 laps
9770 J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet 380$2,6100138+20 laps
102074 Bobby Wawak Chevrolet 377$1,1500134+23 laps

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

Standings after the race

PosDriverPoints [2] Differential
1 1rightarrow.png Dale Earnhardt 4900
2 Increase2.svg Bobby Allison 459-31
3 Increase2.svg Richard Petty 433-57
4 Increase2.svg Darrell Waltrip 413-77
5 Decrease2.svg Terry Labonte 387-103
6 Increase2.svg Dave Marcis 379-111
7 Decrease2.svg Richard Childress 371-119
8 Increase2.svg James Hylton 361-129
9 Decrease2.svg Jody Ridley 358-132
10 Increase2.svg J.D. McDuffie 338-152

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References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 1980 Richmond 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1980 Richmond 400 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "Richmond International Raceway has hosted the NASCAR Winston Cup Series since 1953. Lee Petty won the first race that year. "
  4. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "The original track was paved in 1968."
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1980 Richmond 400 racing information at Race Database
  6. ↑ Driver Bill Hollar Career Statistics at Racing Reference
  7. ↑ 1980 Richmond 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1980		Succeeded by
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