Richard Petty, the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Champion. This would be the final of his 7 championships.Darrell Waltrip finished second in the standingsDale Earnhardt, the 1979 rookie of the year.
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.
The season was the last until 2006 without Rusty Wallace.
The race, the first televised nationally in its entirety, ended in spectacular fashion, as race leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed on the last lap in turn three, allowing Richard Petty to take the lead and win his sixth Daytona 500. During the cool-down lap, Allison and Yarborough got into a heated argument which later escalated into a fist-fight, which was later joined by Bobby Allison, who stepped in to try to defend his brother. TV ratings were bolstered that day due to much of the U.S. Northeast being snowed in by a major blizzard.
Petty would use the win as a springboard to his seventh and final championship, but it was going to be anything but easy.
The story of the race was Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison, who crashed out of the lead on lap 10 in a wreck that swept up five other cars.
Richard Petty who was involved in the lap 10 crash, had a crew member, one Maurice Petty involved in a post crash scuffle with NASCAR officials. Maurice was suspended by NASCAR for the next two Cup Series races.
Richmond 400
The 1979 Richmond 400 was scheduled for February 25 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in Richmond, Virginia but it was postponed due to heavy snow. It was finally run on March 11 even though the track had a snow shower before race time which delayed the start by fifteen minutes. Bobby Allison won the pole.
When Bobby Allison crossed the line to win the race, his right front tire blew. His car was too damaged from running on the wheel rim to make the trip to victory lane, so Allison had to walk to victory lane.
This was Fords first victory in the Cup Series spring race since 1968. This was Fords first victory at the track since the 1969 Cup Series fall race.
This was Dale Earnhardt's first Winston Cup career victory (and was a then-record for fewest races to 1st win in Cup Series, with Dale winning in just his 16th Cup start)
Waltrip won this race following a fierce duel with Richard Petty; they exchanged the lead eight times in the final five laps and three times on the last lap alone.
This was also David Pearson's last race with the Wood Brothers, for whom he had driven the #21 Mercury since 1972. Following a tire-change pit stop, Pearson reached the pit road exit, when two tires came off his car (the lug nuts had not been tightened when he left the pits). Within a week, Pearson was fired from the team and replaced by Neil Bonnett.
A 17-car crash erupted on the fourth lap when race-leader Baker blew a tire; Cale Yarborough came to a stop and got out of his car, then was hit by Dave Marcis' car, momentarily losing feeling in his legs; he recovered later that day.
This was Fords first win at Talladega since the 1976 Winston 500.
The finish was marred by controversy. Richard Petty and Bobby Allison asserted that Cale Yarborough was a lap down at the finish. Petty said, "He lost one lap when he spun (with J. D. McDuffie), then he lost another when he spent 22 seconds in the pits." Allison agreed, saying, "Richard won this race and I finished second. I don't know how they had Cale winning."
Neil Bonnett was supposed to attempt to qualify for the 1979 Indianapolis 500 the previous day (Saturday) but qualifying for the Cup race was postponed to Saturday following heavy rain which forced him to withdraw from qualifying at Indy. He was rewarded by winning his first race with The Wood Brothers.
This was NASCAR's first visit to the track in College Station, Texas since 1973; the track had closed in 1974 but reopened with USAC Gold Crown racing in 1976.
The lead changed 47 times among 11 drivers. Dale Earnhardt was criticized by Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty when he nearly spun out trying to pass Neil Bonnett late in the race in front of both "He nearly took us all out in the third turn" Waltrip said after the race.
The lead changed a still-standing track record 55 times.
Dale Earnhardt suffered broken collar bones in a bad crash in Turn Two.
Darrell Waltrip lost five spots when he pitted under yellow with four to go for tires but the race never restarted. It cost him 19 points, a margin he would regret at the end of the season.
This was David Pearson's first race after leaving the Wood Brothers following the spring Darlington race. Pearson was hired to drive the #2 temporarily after Dale Earnhardt's injury.
David Pearson won the race for Rod Osterlund. This was Pearson's last race for Osterlund because Dale Earnhardt was back for the Capital City 400 due to a crash at Pocono with rib injuries.
This is the last race not featuring the Earnhardt name on the grid until the 2012 Charlotte fall race.
Darrell Waltrip had over a lap lead when he had an accident. Darrell Waltrip had to make a pit stop which put David Pearson on the lead lap as well. Waltrip was passed by David Pearson and then involved in a second accident. David Pearson would win by 2 laps over second place.
Waltrip blew his engine after leading 188 laps; the DiGard team changed engines in a record 11 minutes. NASCAR outlawed mid-race engine changes after the 1979 season citing costs.
The story of the race was between Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. On lap 309 Waltrip sideswiped past Allison in turn 3; coming onto the frontstretch Allison hooked Waltrip head-on into the wall. Benny Parsons took the lead at that point. Waltrip got repairs and under yellow began crowding Allison to the wall. NASCAR black-flagged Waltrip, but after pitting he went after Allison again. NASCAR competition director Bill Gazaway went onto the track and personally waved another black flag to Waltrip, making sure Waltrip stayed out of the way of the leaders. The wreck narrowed Waltrip's point lead over Richard Petty to just 17 points.
With the win and Waltrip finishing 6th, Petty finished erasing a 229-point gap to Waltrip and led the points standings by 8 points with two races remaining in the season.
By virtue of finishing ahead of Petty and getting 5 bonus points for leading a lap when Petty did not lead any laps during the race, Waltrip re-took the points lead by two points over Petty going into the season finale at Ontario; it was the second straight race where the point lead changed hands.
Waltrip finished a lap down when he spun with John Rezek and pitted before the leaders did. Richard Petty won the championship by 11 points, then the smallest margin of victory in NASCAR history and the first time in the sanctioning body's history the point lead changed hands in the final race.
This would be the last time until 1992 where an owner/driver would win the championship (Alan Kulwicki).
Full Drivers’ Championship
(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by owner's points. * – Most laps led.
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References
^"1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Central - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
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