1979 Coca-Cola 500
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 19 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held. | |||
| Date | July 30, 1979 | ||
| Official name | Coca-Cola 500 | ||
| Location | Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.500 mi (3.400 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 2.9 miles per hour (4.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 115.207 miles per hour (185.408 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 40,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Race Hill Farm Team | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Darrell Waltrip | Al Rudd Auto | |
| Laps | 62 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 11 | Cale Yarborough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1979 Coca-Cola 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 30, 1979, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
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.
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.[3] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[4] 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°.[4]
Race report
While originally scheduled for July 29, 1979, it was postponed one day due to rain.[5] 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.[2] Seven cautions flags slowed the race for 49 laps; Cale Yarborough eventually defeated Richard Petty under the race's final yellow flag.[2] This would result in Yarborough's third win of the year.[6] Forty thousand fans attended a live racing event where the average speed of the vehicles would be 115.207 miles per hour (185.408 km/h). None of the drivers on the starting grid were born in Wisconsin; which is still true in 2016.[2] Harry Gant qualified for the pole position with a speed of 148.711 miles per hour (239.327 km/h).[2] The majority of the vehicles involved in the race had Chevrolet as their manufacturer.[2] Steve Gray would make his NASCAR debut that resulted in a last-place finish.[2] He crashed on the very first lap of the race with Roger Hamby and Al Holbert; taking home only $1,305 in winnings ($5,478 when adjusted for inflation).[2][7]
A freight train of cars ended up drafting and swapping positions for a majority of the event.[2] Earnhardt had a bad crash in this event; forcing him to sit out from four races during his rookie season.[2] Darrell Waltrip pretty much lost the championship pitting late like he did.[2]
Cale Yarborough would take home $21,465 in winnings for finishing first in the race ($90,112 when adjusted for inflation).[2] 56 lead changes were recorded in this race; a rarity outside Talladega Superspeedway and a definite record setter for Pocono Raceway.[8] Dale Earnhardt fractured both of his clavicles[6] by crashing into a wall on lap 98 of this race.[2] As a result, he had to miss the next four races (re-emerging at the 1979 running of the Capital City 400). All of the 39 drivers that qualified for the race were American-born males.[2]
Top ten finishers
| Pos[2] | Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Laps led | Points | Time/Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Chevrolet | 200 | 61 | 180 | 4:20:24 |
| 2 | 10 | 43 | Richard Petty | Chevrolet | 200 | 17 | 175 | Lead lap under caution |
| 3 | 9 | 28 | Buddy Baker | Chevrolet | 200 | 7 | 170 | Lead lap under caution |
| 4 | 5 | 27 | Benny Parsons | Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | 160 | Lead lap under caution |
| 5 | 6 | 90 | Ricky Rudd | Mercury | 200 | 0 | 155 | Lead lap under caution |
| 6 | 15 | 72 | Joe Millikan | Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | 150 | Lead lap under caution |
| 7 | 18 | 22 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet | 200 | 62 | 156 | Lead lap under caution |
| 8 | 7 | 21 | Neil Bonnett | Mercury | 200 | 8 | 147 | Lead lap under caution |
| 9 | 4 | 15 | Bobby Allison | Ford | 199 | 1 | 143 | +1 lap |
| 10 | 16 | 30 | Tighe Scott | Buick | 198 | 0 | 134 | +2 laps |
Standings after the race
| Pos | Driver | Points[2] | Differential |
|---|---|---|---|
1 
|
Darrell Waltrip | 3061 | 0 |
2 
|
Richard Petty | 2852 | -209 |
| 3
|
Cale Yarborough | 2850 | -211 |
4 
|
Bobby Allison | 2845 | -216 |
| 5
|
Dale Earnhardt | 2588 | -473 |
| 6
|
Benny Parsons | 2557 | -504 |
| 7
|
Joe Millikan | 2471 | -590 |
| 8
|
J.D. McDuffie | 2263 | -798 |
| 9
|
Richard Childress | 2256 | -805 |
| 10
|
D.K. Ulrich | 2197 | -864 |
References
- ^ "1979 Coca-Cola 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "1979 Coca-Cola 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ a b "Pocono Raceway". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- ^ "1979 Coca-Cola 500 race postponment information". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ a b "Dale Earnhardt's injury evaluation/Yarborough's third win of season". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ "1979 Coca-Cola 500 information (third reference)". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
- ^ "By the Numbers: Pocono". NASCAR. Retrieved 2014-09-09.