1979 Coca-Cola 500

Background

Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 mi long. The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.

Race report

While originally scheduled for July 29, 1979, it was postponed one day due to rain. The race was run on Monday, so most of the NASCAR fans had to go work that day.

Two hundred laps were completed in four hours and twenty minutes. Seven cautions flags slowed the race for 49 laps; Cale Yarborough eventually defeated Richard Petty under the race's final yellow flag. This would result in Yarborough's third win of the year. Forty thousand fans attended a live racing event where the average speed of the vehicles would be 115.207 mph. None of the drivers on the starting grid were born in Wisconsin; which is still true in 2016. Harry Gant qualified for the pole position with a speed of 148.711 mph. The majority of the vehicles involved in the race had Chevrolet as their manufacturer. Steve Gray would make his NASCAR debut that resulted in a last-place finish. He crashed on the very first lap of the race with Roger Hamby and Al Holbert; taking home only $1,305 in winnings ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Dale Earnhardt fractured both of his clavicles when on Lap 98 his right rear tire exploded and he hammered the boilerplate barrier in Turn Two. As a result, he had to miss the next four races (re-emerging at the 1979 running of the Capital City 400).

Darrell Waltrip's championship aspirations took a hit by pitting late in the race and losing the lead for good on lap 187 regulating him to a seventh-place finish while top rival for the championship Richard Petty finished in second place. Had Darrell Waltrip finished ahead of rival Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip would have probably won the championship in 1979.

A freight train of cars ended up drafting and swapping positions for a majority of the event. Multiple times the lead changed up to four times in a single lap, notably the first two laps and Lap 120 when Waltrip, Yarborough, Petty, and Bonnett raced five abreast with Bobby Allison, a lap down after a distributor wire had to be replaced under yellow, and all nearly crashed in Turn One.

It took 62 starts, but Ricky Rudd finally collects his first lead-lap finish in Winston Cup, nevertheless managing to collect 20 top-10s prior to this event.

Cale Yarborough would take home $21,465 in winnings for finishing first in the race ($ when adjusted for inflation). 56 lead changes were recorded in this race; a rarity outside Talladega Superspeedway and a definite record setter for Pocono Raceway. All of the 39 drivers that qualified for the race were American-born men.

Race results

Source:

Standings after the race

References

References

1. "1979 Coca-Cola 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac.
2. "1979 Coca-Cola 500 information". Racing Reference.
3. "NASCAR Race Tracks". Turner Sports Interactive, Inc..
4. "Pocono Raceway". Turner Sports.
5. "1979 Coca-Cola 500 race postponement information". Ultimate Racing History.
6. "1979 Coca-Cola 500 information (third reference)". Motor Racing Network.
7. "Dale Earnhardt's injury evaluation/Yarborough's third win of season". How Stuff Works.
8. "Driver Ricky Rudd's NASCAR Top-10 Results". Racing Reference.
9. "By the Numbers: Pocono". NASCAR.
10. "1979 Coca-Cola 500".
11. "1979 Coca-Cola 500 race results".