1978 Old Dominion 500

Background

Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 mi long. The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.

Race report

Five hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 0.525 mi for a grand total of 262.5 mi. The complete time of the race was three hours, nineteen minutes, and fifty-four seconds. There were four cautions given out by the NASCAR officials for nineteen laps. Cale Yarborough defeated Darrell Waltrip by three car lengths; taking home his sixth and final Cup victory at Martinsville. Yarborough was on a tear here in the second half of the 1970s, this win marked his fourth win over the course of the prior five Martinsville races. Notable speeds recorded in both the qualifying session and the race were: 79.185 mi/h as the average speed and 86.558 mi/h as the pole position speed. Twenty thousand people attended this live race.

Chevrolet vehicles would dominate the starting grid of the event with multi-car teams dominating the lineup. By the late 1970s, it had become prohibitively expensive for a single person to own a NASCAR team. A series of oil crises in addition to changing sponsorship needs started to bring in the age of the multi-car team and the slow decline of the independent owners.

Harry Gant would lead a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time in his career. However, he would only run ninety laps before having to leave the race due to an engine problem. Terry Labonte's third career start nets him his third career top-10 finish. Though running up front for half the laps one completes is generally a good thing, Gant's 45 laps led translate in this case to 90 laps run before the engine expired. This would cause him to be relegated to a 28th-place finish and only $1,070 in prize winnings ($ when considering inflation).

Total winnings for this race were $101,430 ($ when considering inflation) and Cale Yarborough took the majority of the winnings with an easy $24,950 paycheck ($ when considering inflation).

Satch Worley would retire from NASCAR after this race while Lennie Pond would never earn another pole position start after this race. Herb Nab was Pond's chief mechanic for the sole qualifying run that managed to get him the pole position for the event along with an extremely rare silver trophy.

Other crew chiefs who fully participated in the race were Darrell Bryant, Junie Donlavey, Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Inman, Walter Ballard, Tim Brewer, and Bud Moore.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference:

1. Cale Yarborough†
2. Darrell Waltrip
3. Benny Parsons†
4. Neil Bonnett†
5. Lennie Pond
6. Richard Petty
7. Bobby Allison
8. Dave Marcis
9. Terry Labonte
10. Buddy Arrington
11. James Hylton†
12. Richard Childress
13. Dick Brooks†
14. Satch Worley*
15. Gary Myers
16. Ronnie Thomas
17. Dick May†
18. Ed Negre
19. Baxter Price
20. Ferrel Harris†
21. Frank Warren†
22. J.D. McDuffie*†
23. Jimmy Means*
24. Roger Hamby*
25. David Pearson*
26. Buddy Baker*†
27. Tommy Gale*†
28. Harry Gant*
29. Tighe Scott*
30. Cecil Gordon*† ** Driver failed to finish race*

† Driver is deceased

Timeline

Section reference:

• Start of race: Lennie Pond had the pole position to begin the race.
• Lap 20: Cecil Gordon had to be brought out of the race because his brakes weren't working.
• Lap 42: Tighe Scott had a terminal crash; forcing him to exit the race.
• Lap 46: Harry Gant took over the lead from Lennie Pond.
• Lap 90: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Harry Gant.
• Lap 111: Tommy Gale's engine could not go on any longer and gave out in the middle of the race.
• Lap 247: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
• Lap 270: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
• Lap 329: Buddy Baker's engine stopped working properly.
• Lap 340: The rear end of David Pearson's vehicle fell out, making it too dangerous for him to continue racing.
• Lap 354: Roger Hamby had serious issues with his brakes that required him to exit the event.
• Lap 403: Jimmy Means managed to overheat his vehicle while racing.
• Lap 409: J.D. McDuffie's terribly performing brakes forced him into the sidelines.
• Lap 453: Ferrell Harris had a faulty engine that forced him out of the race.
• Lap 473: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
• Lap 488: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
• Finish: Cale Yarborough was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

References

before = 1978 Delaware 500| after = 1978 Wilkes 400| title = NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season| years = 1978 | before = 1977| after = 1979| title = Old Dominion 500 races | years = 1978 |

References

1. "1978 Old Dominion 500 weather information". The Old Farmer's Almanac.
2. "1978 Old Dominion 500 racing results". Racing Reference.
3. "NASCAR Race Tracks".
4. "NASCAR Tracks—The Martinsville Speedway". Martinsville Speedway.
5. "1978 Old Dominion 500 manufacturer/team information". Driver Averages.
6. "1978 Old Dominion 500 racing results (third reference)". Race Database.
7. "All About Crew Chief Herbert "Herb" Nab". Legends of NASCAR.
8. "1978 Old Dominion 500 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference.