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Stock Car Racing: 1979 Season

Stock Car Racing: 1979 Season

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1978 Season « Go to Stock Car Racing » 1980 Season Page Sections Race Schedule NASCAR Winston Cup Points Standings
1979 National Series Champions
NASCAR Winston Cup: Richard Petty (Chevrolet/Oldsmobile) ARCA Racing Series: Marvin Smith (Chevrolet/Oldsmobile)

The 1979 Winston Cup season would be a symbolic change of eras, as the first 7-time Grand National/Cup Champion Richard Petty would win his final championship while Dale Earnhardt, the second 7-time Cup champion won Rookie of the Year in his first full-time season, finishing 7th place overall in points, one position ahead of his future employer, Richard Childress.  NASCAR would also begin the transition from southern regional sport to one of America's most popular sporting events nationally with the first flag-to-flag coverage of a NASCAR race, the 1979 Daytona 500.

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Race Schedule

Date	Series	Race	Track	Pole	Winner	Winner's Make
January 14	Winston Cup	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway	David Pearson	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
February 18	Winston Cup	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty	Oldsmobile
March 4	Winston Cup	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison	Ford
March 11	Winston Cup	Richmond 400	Richmond International Raceway	Bobby Allison	Cale Yarborough	Oldsmobile
March 18	Winston Cup	Atlanta 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Buddy Baker	Buddy Baker	Oldsmobile
March 25	Winston Cup	Northwestern Bank 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Benny Parsons	Bobby Allison	Ford
April 1	Winston Cup	Volunteer 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	Buddy Baker	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet
April 8	Winston Cup	CRC Rebel 500	Darlington Raceway	Donnie Allison	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
April 22	Winston Cup	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway	Darrell Waltrip	Richard Petty	Chevrolet
May 6	Winston Cup	Winston 500	Talladega Superspeedway	Darrell Waltrip	Bobby Allison	Ford
May 12	Winston Cup	Music City 420	Nashville International Raceway	Joe Millikan	Cale Yarborough	Oldsmobile
May 20	Winston Cup	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover International Speedway	Darrell Waltrip	Neil Bonnett	Mercury
May 27	Winston Cup	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Neil Bonnett	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
June 3	Winston Cup	Texas 400	Texas World Speedway	Buddy Baker	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
June 10	Winston Cup	NAPA 400	Riverside International Raceway	Dale Earnhardt	Bobby Allison	Ford
June 17	Winston Cup	Gabriel 400	Michigan International Speedway	Neil Bonnett	Buddy Baker	Chevrolet
July 4	Winston Cup	FireCracker 400	Daytona International Speedway	Buddy Baker	Neil Bonnett	Mercury
July 14	Winston Cup	Busch Nashville 420	Nashville International Raceway	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
July 30	Winston Cup	Coca-Cola 500	Pocono Raceway	Harry Gant	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet
August 5	Winston Cup	Talladega 500	Talladega Superspeedway	Neil Bonnett	Darrell Waltrip	Oldsmobile
August 19	Winston Cup	Champion 400	Michigan International Speedway	David Pearson	Richard Petty	Chevrolet
August 25	Winston Cup	SouthEastern 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	Richard Petty	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
September 3	Winston Cup	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	Bobby Allison	David Pearson	Chevrolet
September 9	Winston Cup	Capital City 400	Richmond International Raceway	Dale Earnhardt	Bobby Allison	Ford
September 16	Winston Cup	CRC Chemicals 500	Dover International Speedway	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Petty	Chevrolet
September 23	Winston Cup	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway	Darrell Waltrip	Buddy Baker	Chevrolet
October 7	Winston Cup	NAPA 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Neil Bonnett	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet
October 14	Winston Cup	Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Dale Earnhardt	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet
October 21	Winston Cup	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty	Chevrolet
November 4	Winston Cup	Dixie 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Buddy Baker	Neil Bonnett	Mercury
November 18	Winston Cup	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	Cale Yarborough	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet

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NASCAR Winston Cup Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Points	Behind	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Winnings
1	Richard Petty	4830	Leader	31	1	5	23	27	$416,650
2	Darrell Waltrip	4819	-11	31	5	7	19	22	$450,870
3	Bobby Allison	4633	-197	31	3	5	18	22	$362,825
4	Cale Yarborough	4604	-226	31	1	4	19	22	$379,515
5	Benny Parsons	4256	-574	31	1	2	16	21	$207,680
6	Joe Millikan	4014	-816	31	1	0	5	20	$199,460
7	Dale Earnhardt	3749	-1081	27	4	1	11	17	$237,575
8	Richard Childress	3735	-1095	31	0	0	1	11	$111,415
9	Ricky Rudd	3642	-1188	28	0	0	4	17	$135,605
10	Terry Labonte	3615	-1215	31	0	0	2	13	$119,860
11	Buddy Arrington	3589	-1241	31	0	0	1	7	$118,390
12	D.K. Ulrich	3508	-1322	31	0	0	0	5	$99,985
13	J.D. McDuffie	3473	-1357	31	0	0	1	7	$89,885
14	James Hylton	3405	-1425	30	0	0	0	5	$85,485
15	Buddy Baker	3249	-1581	26	7	3	12	15	$255,455
16	Frank Warren	3199	-1631	31	0	0	0	3	$87,410
17	Ronnie Thomas	2912	-1918	30	0	0	0	3	$92,950
18	Tommy Gale	2795	-2035	28	0	0	0	1	$65,680
19	Cecil Gordon	2737	-2093	28	0	0	0	0	$62,210
20	Dave Marcis	2736	-2094	25	0	0	1	6	$48,305
21	Harry Gant	2664	-2166	25	1	0	0	5	$46,435
22	Dick Brooks	2622	-2208	26	0	0	1	8	$61,235
23	Jimmy Means	2575	-2255	27	0	0	0	1	$54,730
24	Donnie Allison	2508	-2322	20	1	0	7	10	$142,620
25	Baxter Price	2364	-2466	24	0	0	0	0	$44,415
26	Neil Bonnett	2223	-2607	21	4	3	4	6	$140,735
27	Tighe Scott	1879	-2951	17	0	0	1	7	$87,260
28	Bill Elliott	1548	-3282	13	0	0	1	5	$56,580
29	Lennie Pond	1415	-3415	15	0	0	0	2	$31,220
30	Dick May	1390	-3440	20	0	0	0	0	$25,595
31	Roger Hamby	1231	-3599	13	0	0	0	0	$21,000
32	David Pearson	1203	-3627	9	2	1	4	5	$87,680
33	Coo Coo Marlin	613	-4217	7	0	0	0	2	$27,540
34	Bruce Hill	594	-4236	7	0	0	0	0	$17,260
35	Blackie Wangerin	571	-4259	7	0	0	0	0	$14,300
36	Grant Adcox	560	-4270	6	0	0	0	0	$15,290
37	Kyle Petty	559	-4271	5	0	0	0	1	$10,810
38	Chuck Bown	523	-4307	7	0	0	0	2	$31,380
39	John Anderson	496	-4334	4	0	0	1	1	$11,210
40	Ralph Jones	477	-4353	6	0	0	0	0	$12,785
41	Earle Canavan	456	-4374	7	0	0	0	0	$6,675
42	Slick Johnson	431	-4399	4	0	0	0	1	$5,360
43	Nelson Oswald	431	-4399	6	0	0	0	0	$3,610
44	Dave Watson	413	-4417	4	0	0	0	1	$7,170
45	Al Holbert	402	-4428	6	0	0	0	1	$14,170
46	Bobby Wawak	376	-4454	4	0	0	0	0	$7,295
47	Jody Ridley	374	-4456	3	0	0	1	2	$11,245
48	Bill Hollar	371	-4459	5	0	0	0	0	$2,545
49	Rick Newsom	355	-4475	4	0	0	0	0	$5,530
50	Bill Schmitt	342	-4488	3	0	0	1	1	$11,695
51	Ed Negre	336	-4494	3	0	0	0	0	$11,215
52	John Kennedy	322	-4508	5	0	0	0	0	$4,515
53	Tim Williamson	320	-4510	3	0	0	0	1	$5,580
54	Richard White	264	-4566	3	0	0	0	0	$4,180
55	Jimmy Insolo	258	-4572	3	0	0	0	0	$6,905
56	H.B. Bailey	255	-4575	4	0	0	0	0	$5,835
57	Jim Robinson	240	-4590	3	0	0	0	0	$3,005
58	Henry Jones	237	-4593	3	0	0	0	0	$1,160
59	Steve Spencer	230	-4600	2	0	0	0	0	$2,270
60	Travis Tiller	229	-4601	5	0	0	0	0	$5,065
61	Jim Vandiver	225	-4605	4	0	0	0	0	$8,015
62	Bill Elswick	221	-4609	3	0	0	0	0	$3,400
63	Jack Ingram	219	-4611	4	0	0	0	0	$4,240
64	Jimmy Finger	213	-4617	3	0	0	0	0	$5,020
65	Wayne Watercutter	212	-4618	3	0	0	0	0	$2,380
66	Bob Burcham	212	-4618	2	0	0	0	0	$6,565
67	John Rezek	209	-4621	4	0	0	0	0	$5,035
68	Mike Potter	209	-4621	4	0	0	0	0	$3,165
69	Marty Robbins	207	-4623	3	0	0	0	0	$3,120
70	Steve Peles	203	-4627	2	0	0	0	0	$2,180
71	Bill Dennis	200	-4630	2	0	0	0	0	$12,675
72	Buck Simmons	197	-4633	2	0	0	0	0	$3,025
73	Dave Dion	191	-4639	2	0	0	0	0	$1,265
74	Mike Kempton	185	-4645	2	0	0	0	0	$1,605
75	Vince Giamformaggio	176	-4654	2	0	0	0	0	$4,295
76	Connie Saylor	170	-4660	2	0	0	0	0	$4,435
77	Paul Fess	164	-4666	2	0	0	0	0	$4,860
78	Sandy Satullo	155	-4675	2	0	0	0	0	$2,360
79	David Sosebee	146	-4684	3	0	0	0	0	$2,910
80	Jim Thirkettle	142	-4688	1	0	0	0	1	$2,450
81	Norm Palmer	142	-4688	1	0	0	0	1	$2,500
82	Geoff Bodine	139	-4691	3	0	0	0	0	$4,820
83	Louis Gatto	137	-4693	2	0	0	0	0	$1,445
84	Elmo Langley	137	-4693	2	0	0	0	0	$1,600
85	Steve Pfeifer	134	-4696	3	0	0	0	0	$4,220
86	Sterling Marlin	123	-4707	1	0	0	0	0	$505
87	Butch Hartman	121	-4709	1	0	0	0	0	$2,225
88	Al Elmore	118	-4712	1	0	0	0	0	$1,155
89	Ed Hale	118	-4712	1	0	0	0	0	$2,155
90	Gary Balough	116	-4714	3	0	0	0	0	$6,015
91	Keith Davis	116	-4714	2	0	0	0	0	$2,310
92	Skip Manning	116	-4714	2	0	0	0	0	$5,880
93	Kevin Housby	115	-4715	1	0	0	0	0	$3,190
94	Ernie Shaw	115	-4715	1	0	0	0	0	$625
95	Billy Hagan	112	-4718	1	0	0	0	0	$3,280
96	Steve Moore	112	-4718	1	0	0	0	0	$2,415
97	Dick Whalen	106	-4724	1	0	0	0	0	$950
98	Nestor Peles	106	-4724	1	0	0	0	0	$1,000
99	Joe Fields	103	-4727	1	0	0	0	0	$1,385
100	John Borneman	103	-4727	1	0	0	0	0	$1,315
101	Roy Smith	100	-4730	1	0	0	0	0	$2,690
102	Don Graham	97	-4733	1	0	0	0	0	$1,495
103	Jerry Jolly	97	-4733	1	0	0	0	0	$2,440
104	Larry Isley	97	-4733	1	0	0	0	0	$925
105	Hal Callentine	94	-4736	2	0	0	0	0	$2,975
106	Harry Goularte	94	-4736	1	0	0	0	0	$1,460
107	James Hurlbert	91	-4739	1	0	0	0	0	$1,400
108	Robert Tartaglia	91	-4739	1	0	0	0	0	$1,175
109	Jocko Maggiacomo	91	-4739	1	0	0	0	0	$1,105
110	Joey Arrington	85	-4745	1	0	0	0	0	$650
111	Rick McCray	82	-4748	1	0	0	0	0	$750
112	Don Puskarich	79	-4751	1	0	0	0	0	$855
113	John A. Utsman	79	-4751	1	0	0	0	0	$2,850
114	Butch Lindley	79	-4751	1	0	0	0	0	$570
115		76	-4754	1	0	0	0	0	$700
116	Wayne Broome	73	-4757	2	0	0	0	0	$2,595
117	Don Noel	70	-4760	1	0	0	0	0	$700
118	Bobby Fisher	70	-4760	1	0	0	0	0	$1,465
119	Glenn Jarrett	67	-4763	2	0	0	0	0	$2,745
120	Bill Meazel	67	-4763	1	0	0	0	0	$1,000
121	Billy Smith	64	-4766	1	0	0	0	0	$1,575
122	Bobby Brack	63	-4767	1	0	0	0	0	$930
123	Chris Monoleos	61	-4769	1	0	0	0	0	$550
124	Bill Seifert	55	-4775	1	0	0	0	0	$960
125	Jeff Halverson	55	-4775	1	0	0	0	0	$490
126	Bub Strickler	55	-4775	1	0	0	0	0	$550
127	Butch Mock	46	-4784	1	0	0	0	0	$2,165
128	Steve Gray	46	-4784	1	0	0	0	0	$1,305
129	Richard Brickhouse	46	-4784	1	0	0	0	0	$870
130	AJ Foyt	0	-4830	2	0	0	1	2	$41,690
131	Freddy Smith	0	-4830	2	0	0	0	0	$2,950
132	Darrell Basham	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$385
133	Claude Ballot-Léna	0	-4830	2	0	0	0	0	$2,080
134	Earl Brooks	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$405
135	Randy Ogden	0	-4830	3	0	0	0	0	$2,465
136	Melvin Revis	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$410
137	Jimmy Hindman	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$350
138	Al Rudd, Jr.	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$740
139	John Haver	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$950
140	Bill Green	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$980
141	Ferrel Harris	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$1,260
142	Ron Hutcherson	0	-4830	1	0	0	0	0	$1,165

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