1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400

Last updated
1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400
Race details [1]
Race 15 of 31 in the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Riverside Raceway.JPG
Layout of Riverside International Raceway (1969-1988 version)
Date June 8, 1980 (1980-June-08)
Official name Warner W. Hodgdon 400
Location Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.700 mi (4.345 km)
Distance 119 laps, 211.8 mi (401.7 km)
Weather Very hot with temperatures of 87.1 °F (30.6 °C); wind speeds of 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)
Average speed 101.846 mph (163.905 km/h)
Attendance 18,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver
  • Cale Yarbrough
Junior Johnson
Most laps led
Driver Darrell Waltrip/Bobby Allison
(tied)
DiGard/Bud Moore
Laps 23
Winner
No. 88Darrell WaltripDiGard
Television in the United States
Network Untelevised
Announcers None

The 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 8, 1980, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. The Sharon Hodgdon 200 for Grand American Stock cars was run the same day as this race. Ron Esau was the winner, Roy Smith was second Ray Elder third.

Contents

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 anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day. Road courses were one of the more attractive features for NASCAR during the 1980 Winston Cup Series season. NASCAR would develop a liking for tracks with a lap duration of a mile and a half by the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the time that this race was held.

Race report

Darrell Waltrip would beat Neil Bonnett by less than half a second in front of 18000 fans in attendance; getting the season sweep at the Riverside road course. [2] There were 18 different changes in the first-place position while there would be five different caution periods for 15 laps. [2] [3] Cale Yarborough would qualify for the pole position with a qualifying speed of 113.792 miles per hour (183.130 km/h) while the average speed of the race would be 101.846 miles per hour (163.905 km/h). [2] [3] Cecil Gordon would earn his last top-ten finish at this race. [2] Other famous drivers who raced here included: Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Terry Labonte, and Richard Childress (now the owner of Richard Childress Racing). [2] [3]

D.K. Ulrich would finish last in the race due to an engine issue on the pace laps of this 95-lap race. [2] [4] He would make $1,000 just for qualifying ($3,698 when adjusted for inflation) while Waltrip went home with an extra $22,100 in his bank account ($81,724 when adjusted for inflation). [2] [4] [5] Notable crew chiefs who were actively participating in this race included Junie Donlavey, Joey Arrington, Darel Dieringer, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Kirk Shelmerdine among others. [6]

The race was named after famous race team owner/sponsor, owner of 12 race tracks, local city redeveloper, and philanthropist Warner Hodgdon.

Roy Smith was the only Canadian to appear in a 36-driver grid of mostly American-born competitors. J.D. McDuffie tallies his third and final top-10 of the season, all of being ninth-place runs. [2] Smith would drive for NASCAR team owner Robert Beadle. [2]

Don Waterman would make his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut at this race. [3]

The only known DNQ for the race was Gene Thoensen; an independent driver who was the driver of the unsponsored No. 77 machine. [7]

Qualifying

Grid [2] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
111Cale YarboroughChevroletJunior Johnson
288Darrell WaltripChevroletDiGard Racing
315Bobby AllisonFordBud Moore
473Bill SchmittOldsmobileBill Schmitt
52Dale EarnhardtChevroletRod Osterlund
643Richard PettyChevroletPetty Enterprises
721Neil BonnettMercuryWood Brothers
827Benny ParsonsChevroletM.C. Anderson
971Dave MarcisChevroletDave Marcis
1044Terry LabonteChevroletBilly Hagan
113Richard ChildressChevroletRichard Childress
1267Buddy ArringtonDodgeBuddy Arrington
1312Donnie AllisonChevroletKennie Childers
1475Harry GantChevroletRahMoc Enterprises
1545Roy SmithOldsmobileRobert Beadle
1625Ronnie ThomasChevroletDon Robertson
1740D.K. UlrichChevroletD.K. Ulrich
1870J.D. McDuffieChevroletJ.D. McDuffie
1966Lake SpeedChevroletLake Speed
2048James HyltonChevroletJames Hylton

Top 20 finishers

Pos [2] No.DriverManufacturerLapsLaps ledTime/Status
188Darrell WaltripChevrolet95232:26:38
221Neil BonnettMercury9520+0.3 seconds
327Benny ParsonsChevrolet950Lead lap under green flag
411Cale YarboroughChevrolet953Lead lap under green flag
52Dale EarnhardtChevrolet9521Lead lap under green flag
671Dave MarcisChevrolet941+1 lap
775Harry GantChevrolet941+1 lap
843Richard PettyChevrolet930+2 laps
970J.D. McDuffieDodge930+2 laps
1024Cecil GordonOldsmobile930+2 laps
1190Jody RidleyFord920+3 laps
1248James HyltonChevrolet920+3 laps
1373Bill SchmittOldsmobile920Running
1467Buddy ArringtonDodge920+3 laps
1515Bobby AllisonFord9123Valve problem
1625Ronnie ThomasChevrolet910+4 laps
1713Don PuskarichChevrolet900+5 laps
183Richard ChildressChevrolet890+6 laps
1979Joe BooherDodge830+12 laps
2078Jim RobinsonChevrolet820+13 laps

Standings after the race

PosDriverPoints [2] Differential
1 1rightarrow.png Dale Earnhardt 22550
2 1rightarrow.png Richard Petty 2219-36
3 1rightarrow.png Cale Yarborough 2174-81
4 1rightarrow.png Darrell Waltrip 2159-96
5 1rightarrow.png Bobby Allison 2027-228
6 1rightarrow.png Benny Parsons 2009-246
7 1rightarrow.png Jody Ridley 1908-347
8 Increase2.svg Harry Gant 1861-394
9 Increase2.svg Dave Marcis 1842-413
10 Increase2.svg Richard Childress 1791-464

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References

  1. Weather information for the 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at Racing-Reference.info
  3. 1 2 3 4 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at Race-Database.com
  4. 1 2 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 racing information at FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
  5. 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 Archived 2014-08-11 at the Wayback Machine race information at DriverAverages.com
  6. 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  7. Qualifying information for the 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 at Racing Reference
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1980
Succeeded by