Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1979 Winston Western 500

Auto race held at Riverside International Raceway in 1979

Auto race held at Riverside International Raceway in 1979

FieldValue
TypeCUST
DescriptionRace 1 of 31 in the [1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series](1979-nascar-winston-cup-series) season
Race NameWinston Western 500
Details ref
Fulldate
Year1979
Race_No1
Season_No31
Image1979WinstonWestern500Program.jpg
CaptionSouvenir magazine cover of the 1979 Winston Western 500
Official nameWinston Western 500
LocationRiverside International Raceway, Riverside, California
Course_mi2.62
Course_km4.216
Distance_laps119
Distance_mi311.8
Distance_km501.7
WeatherCold with temperatures of 60.1 F; wind speeds of 9.9 mph
Avg107.820 mi/h
Attendance68,000
Pole_DriverDavid Pearson
Pole_TeamWood Brothers
Most_DriverDarrell Waltrip
Most_TeamDiGard
Most_laps87
Car88
First_DriverDarrell Waltrip
First_TeamDiGard
NetworkUntelevised
AnnouncersNone

The 1979 Winston Western 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on January 14, 1979, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. Buying a souvenir program at this race was relatively inexpensive for the era at $2 USD per copy ($ when adjusted for inflation).

By the following season, 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.

Summary

This race was Williamson's Cup Series debut. He died in a racing accident the following year during the running of a Grand American series race. This race was the final caution-free race in NASCAR road course history; bringing the idea of a "perfect game" to an end. The final oval course race that went the entire distance without a single caution flag would be the 2002 EA Sports 500; which was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

During the 1970s, Riverside International Raceway had its configurations modernized in order to create the fast-paced racing that the public started to demand for after engine technology picked up during the 1960s. NASCAR would develop a liking for mile and a half tracks by the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season; with Sonoma and Watkins Glen serving as the sole road course tracks.

There were 35 American-born male drivers on the grid; Terry Labonte received the last-place finish due to an engine issue on lap 7 out of 119. Darrell Waltrip defeated David Pearson by 3.27 seconds in front of 68,000 live audience members. Waltrip would get his first-ever Cup road course victory; going on to win five times in total at Riverside.

Drivers who failed to qualify were Gary Matthews (#51), Ed Hale (#20), Steve Pfeifer (#0), John Krebs (#91) and Rick McCray (#08).

Although there were no cautions in this "perfect game," there were still 13 lead changes and the race lasted two hours and fifty-three minutes. While Pearson would clinch the pole position with an average speed of 113.659 mph, the average speed of the race was 107.820 mph. The other drivers in the top ten were: Cale Yarborough, Bill Schmitt, Donnie Allison, Joe Millikan, Buddy Baker, Jim Thirkettle, Tim Williamson, and Harry Gant.

This was Richard Petty's first race after he had some serious stomach surgery during the offseason. There was concern he might not be able to go the distance this soon after that treatment and his former teammate Hershel McGriff was lined up as the possible relief driver. McGriff was supposed to run this race in James Hylton's #48 Chevrolet but he moved over to standby duty with Hylton racing his car himself. Petty expected to go the distance in the cool Southern California winter weather, but the #43 blew a motor and put him on the sidelines on lap 14.

Timeline

Section reference:

  • Start: Cale Yarborough officially had the pole position when the green flag was waved.
  • Lap 4: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 7: Terry Labonte fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 10: The clutch in Neil Bonnett's vehicle could not handle the pressures of high-speed racing.
  • Lap 12: Dick Brooks fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 14: Richard Petty fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 15: Transmission problems managed to ruin Don Noel's day on the track.
  • Lap 17: Jim Robinson fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 21: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 28: David Pearson took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 29: Al Holbert took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 31: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Al Holbert.
  • Lap 32: Richard White fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 48: Frank Warren fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 56: Benny Parsons managed to break his vehicle's transmission.
  • Lap 60: Al Holbert took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 63: David Pearson took over the lead from Al Holbert.
  • Lap 64: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 66: Cecil Gordon fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 91: David Pearson took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 95: Bobby Allison took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 100: Don Graham fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 103: David Pearson took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 105: Bobby Allison fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 106: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 111: Jimmy Insolo managed to bust his vehicle's oil pump.
  • Finish: Darrell Waltrip was declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

PosDriverPointsDifferential12345678910
**Darrell Waltrip****185**0
David Pearson175-10
Cale Yarborough170-15
Bill Schmitt160-25
Donnie Allison155-30
Joe Millikan150-35
Buddy Baker146-39
Jim Thirkettle142-43
Tim Williamson138-47
Harry Gant134-51

References

before = 1978 Los Angeles Times 500 | after = 1979 Daytona 500| title = NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season| years = 1978-9 |

References

  1. "1979 Winston Western 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac.
  2. "1979 Winston Western 500 racing information". Driver Averages.
  3. "1979 Winston Western 500 racing information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet.
  4. "1979 Winston Western 500 racing information". Racing Reference.
  5. "EA Sports 500". [[Jayski's Silly Season Site]].
  6. "Tracks of Yesterday - Riverside International Raceway". Insider Racing News.
  7. "1979 Winston Western 500 qualifying information". Racing Reference.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1979-in-sports-in-california 1979-nascar-winston-cup-series nascar-races-at-riverside-international-raceway
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1979 Winston Western 500 — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report