1979 Southeastern 500


The 1979 Southeastern 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on April 1, 1979, at Bristol Motor Speedway in the American community of Bristol, Tennessee. The race was notable as then-rookie driver Dale Earnhardt got the first win of his career, he would later go on to win 76 races and 7 championships.
This race was not televised or recorded in any format, watching it live or listening to it on local radio were the only methods of watching this race.

Summary

Five hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning in only two hours and fifty-five minutes. Six cautions slowed the race for 44 laps. Twenty-six thousand people attended this live event to see Dale Earnhardt defeat Bobby Allison by a time of three seconds. Jake Elder was Earnhardt's crew chief at that time; his nickname was "Suitcase" because he would help a NASCAR driver achieve glory and then leave him for another driver the following season. The notable speeds were: for the average speed and for the pole position speed achieved by Buddy Baker.
Chevrolet vehicles made up the majority of the 30-car racing grid. Millikan would catch something in his eye and would have to report to hospital; J.D. McDuffie ended up being the substitute driver for him.
The winner of the race would receive a purse of $19,800. Earnhardt took the lead on lap 474 from Darrell Waltrip and lead until the finish. If he wrecked Waltrip, it must not have been too bad because he still finished on the lead lap.
Ralph Jones was the last-place finisher of this race; he was forced to end his participation in the race due to brake issues on lap 31. There were three terminal crashes in the race along with three engine failures, one quitter along with a driver with a water pump issues in his vehicle and a driver with a defective rear end on his vehicle.
Mike Potter's career of sporadic starts in Cup and start-and-parks in Busch began in this race. Elmo Langley would enjoy his last real competitive race at this venue. He'd have a few start and parks after this but this was the last time he really tried to finish a race.

Qualifying

Results

  1. Dale Earnhardt
  2. Bobby Allison
  3. Darrell Waltrip
  4. Richard Petty, 2 laps down
  5. Benny Parsons, 3 laps down
  6. Donnie Allison, 5 laps down
  7. Terry Labonte, 10 laps down
  8. Joe Millikan, 14 laps down
  9. James Hylton, 14 laps down
  10. Ricky Rudd, 15 laps down
  11. Richard Childress , 16 laps down
  12. D.K. Ulrich, 19 laps down
  13. Buddy Arrington, 20 laps down
  14. Roger Hamby, 27 laps down
  15. Cecil Gordon, 30 laps down
  16. Mike Potter, 37 laps down
  17. Dave Marcis, 38 laps down
  18. Tommy Gale, 40 laps down
  19. Baxter Price, 44 laps down
  20. Frank Warren, 71 laps down
  21. Harry Gant, Dropped out after 385 laps with blown engine
  22. Dick Brooks, Dropped out after 366 laps due to a faulty water pump
  23. Ronnie Thomas, Crashed out after 335 laps
  24. Cale Yarborough, Crashed out after 216 laps
  25. Buddy Baker, Crashed out after 211 laps
  26. J.D McDuffie, Dropped out after 197 laps with rear end failure
  27. Dick May, Dropped out after 141 laps with blown engine
  28. Jimmy Means , Dropped out after 100 laps with blown engine
  29. Bobby Wawak Quit after 33 laps
  30. Ralph Jones, had brake failure after 31 laps

    Timeline

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