1979 Daytona 500

Auto race run in Florida in 1979 October 2015 1979 NASWINSTON 2 31 1979_Daytona_500_program_cover_and_logo.jpg 1979 Daytona 500 program cover 1979 2 18 200 500 804.672 Temperatures of 70 F C; wind speeds of 14 mph km/hhttp://www.almanac.com/weather/history/FL/Daytona%20Beach/1979-02-18 Weather of the 1979 Daytona 500 The Old Farmers' Almanac 2013-06-25 143.977 mi/h Buddy Baker Ranier-Lundy Buddy Baker Ranier-Lundy Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports Donnie Allison Ellington Racing 93 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises CBS Ken Squier and David Hobbs (main booth), Brock Yates and Ned Jarrett (pit road), Marianne Bunch-Phelps (garage area) 10.5/29 (15.1 million viewers) MRN Barney Hall and Jack Arute Mike Joy (1 & 2) Gary Gerould (Backstretch) Eli Gold (3 & 4) The 1979 Daytona 500, the 21st annual running of the event, was the second race of the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. It was held on February 18, 1979 at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. It has been called the most important race in stock car history. No. 1: An Ending For The Ages https://www.dailypress.com/2003/03/23/no-1-an-ending-for-the-ages/ tribunedigital-dailypress 2016-02-23 March 2, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160302223550/http://articles.dailypress.com/2003-03-23/sports/0303230039_1_motor-racing-network-yarborough-and-donnie-donnie-allison live The race was televised live "flag-to-flag", a rarity in the era, and the first for a 500-mile race in the United States. Camera angles such as the "in-car" view were introduced to viewers from all over the United States. On the final lap, race leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison collided with each other on the backstretch. Both drivers' races ended in the grass infield. The wreck allowed Richard Petty, at the time of the crash over one-half lap behind the leaders, to claim his sixth Daytona 500 win. As Petty made his way to Victory Lane to celebrate, a fight erupted between Yarborough, Donnie Allison and his brother, Bobby, at the site of the backstretch wreck. Both events were caught by television cameras and broadcast live. The race brought national publicity to NASCAR. Due to a large winter storm, parts of the Midwest and most of the Northeastern United States were snowed in, leaving a very sizable audience to watch the race who were not traditionally part of NASCAR's demographic, which largely drew from Southeastern states. Motorsports announcer and editor Dick Berggren said, "Nobody knew it then, but that was the race that got everything going. It was the first 'water cooler' race, the first time people had stood around water coolers on Monday and talked about seeing a race on TV the day before. It took a while – years, maybe – to realize how important it was." Television The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile race to be broadcast in its entirety live on national television in the United States.http://www.nascar.com/2003/kyn/history/daytona/01/23/daytona_1979/ 1979: Petty winds up in 'fist' place June 9, 2007 Mark Aumann January 23, 2003 Turner Sports Interactive dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110525061914/http://www.nascar.com/2003/kyn/history/daytona/01/23/daytona_1979/ May 25, 2011 https://www.amazon.com/1979-Daytona-500/dp/B000E4IED2 1979 Daytona 500 June 9, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070716050023/http://www.amazon.com/1979-Daytona-500/dp/B000E4IED2 July 16, 2007 dead Races were shown on television, but the Indianapolis 500, for example, was broadcast on tape delay later in the evening on the day it was run in this era and usually in edited form. Most races aired during this period were only broadcast starting with the final quarter to half of the race, as was the procedure for ABC's IndyCar broadcasts on their Wide World of Sports program. CBS signed a new contract with NASCAR to telecast the race. Ken Squier and David Hobbs were the booth announcers with Ned Jarrett and Brock YatesNASCAR Racing (Actor, Director) https://www.amazon.com/1979-Daytona-500-Artist-Provided/dp/B000E4IED2 1979 Daytona 500: NASCAR Racing: Movies & TV 2019-05-09 in the pits for that race, while other angles, such as an interview with race grand marshall Ben Gazzara and NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., were handled by Marianne Bunch-Phelps. The day was fortunate for CBS as a major snowstorm known as the Presidents' Day Snowstorm of 1979 bogged down most of the Northeast and parts of the Midwestern United States, increasing the viewership of the event. The race introduced two new innovative uses of TV cameras, the "in-car" camera and the low angle "speed shot", which are now considered standard in all telecasts of auto racing. The race attracted a TV rating of 10.5 and attracted 16 million viewers. It held the highest television rating for a Daytona 500 until the 2002 Daytona 500.http://speedvision.com/pub/articles/racing/08inews/010221b.html TV FOX Draws Huge Daytona 500 Audience Speedvision.com 2001-02-21 2023-07-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20010820093448/http://speedvision.com/pub/articles/racing/08inews/010221b.html 2001-08-20 dead Motor Racing Network broadcast the race on the radio and their announcers included Jack Arute, Barney Hall, Mike Joy, Gary Gerould (who also hosted prerace ceremonies) and Dick Berggren. http://www.dailypress.com/sports/motorracing/dp-73907sy0mar23,0,1545346.story?coll=dp-auto-utility No. 1: An ending for the ages June 11, 2007 Al Pearce March 23, 2003 Daily Press https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091759/http://www.dailypress.com/sports/motorracing/dp-73907sy0mar23,0,1545346.story?coll=dp-auto-utility September 29, 2007 dead mdy-all Qualifying Buddy Baker and Donnie Allison qualified first and second and were the only drivers to do so, as only two cars qualify from time trials. All other drivers had to race their way through qualifying races. Baker won his first qualifying race, with Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison and David Pearson finishing in the top five, with positions 2-5 starting on the inside of rows 2-5, respectively. In the second qualifying race, pole-sitter Donnie Allison had an engine failure (no penalty for failed engines in the qualifying race until 2018) midway through the race. Darrell Waltrip won the second qualifying race to start fourth. The rest of the cars starting on the outside of rows 3-5 were A. J. Foyt, Dick Brooks and rookie Dale Earnhardt making his Daytona 500 debut. Notable drivers who failed to advance from qualifying races or speed included USAC star Jim Hurtubise, French sports car ace Claude Ballot-Léna, Cup race winners James Hylton, Morgan Shepherd, and future NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott. Race The first 15 laps of the 200-lap race were run under green and yellow flag conditions to help dry the track from rain the previous night. This impacted Waltrip, as running at relatively slow speeds on the high banks of the track caused a lack of oil to lubricate his camshaft, resulting in a cam lobe wearing away prematurely and causing his engine to run on seven cylinders for the rest of the race. On the start of lap 16 (the first green flag lap), pole-sitter Baker lost the draft and fell back. Donnie raced with Yarborough and Bobby Allison, but lost control of his car on lap 31 and forced Yarborough and Bobby to take evasive action. All three cars spun through the backstretch infield, which was slippery and muddy from the rain. Yarborough was forced to repair his car and fell two laps behind the leader, as did Bobby, while Donnie lost one lap. The track would remain under caution through lap 41. While the field was still under caution on lap 38, Baker dropped out of the race with ignition problems. His team had made some minor welding repairs before the race, and it was thought the primary ignition control box had been damaged as the engine was misfiring. During attempts to diagnose and repair the problem, the team switched to the backup box and replaced much of the ignition system to no avail.http://racing-reference.info/race?id=1979-02&series=W 1979 Daytona 500 racing-reference.info June 9, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070311144635/http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=1979-02&series=W March 11, 2007 dead When the team returned home after the race, engine builder Waddell Wilson determined that the crewman who had switched to the backup box by unplugging the primary ignition box and plugging into the backup box had plugged back into the defective primary box. When Wilson switched to the backup ignition box, the car fired perfectly. alt=The race track has several car wrecks scattered about as other cars pass by. |thumb|The aftermath of the lap 55 crash When the caution ended on lap 42, the race became an 18-car battle. Neil Bonnett, driving an Oldsmobile, took the lead and was challenged by Foyt and Waltrip; he fought them off, but was soon challenged by Bobby trying to unlap himself, Earnhardt and dark-horse driver Tighe Scott, driving a Buick Century prepared by Harry Hyde. A six-car crash on lap 55 eliminated Pearson and others.Menzer Joe https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Great_American_Gamble/On3uEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=1979+daytona+500+%22lap+55%22&pg=PT140&printsec=frontcover The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation 2008-12-22 Turner Publishing Company 978-0-470-47866-0 en Donnie raced to unlap himself and made his lap up when Bonnett blew a tire and spun in traffic. Other contenders were eliminated, as Bobby felt multiple laps behind, Harry Gant crashed, Earnhardt over-revved his engine leaving the pits and broke a rocker arm and valve spring, Parsons' car overheated, and Scott slid through his pits unable to stop when he hit a puddle of water from Parsons' overheating engine. Past the halfway point, Donnie assumed the lead, but Yarborough used more caution flags to make up his lost laps. Yarborough was on the lead lap with Allison by lap 178. Finish thumb|200px|right|The cars of Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison from the 1979 Daytona 500 in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. alt=In the background, Richard Petty's car (No. 43) drives by. In the foreground, two cars, one of which is turned the wrong way, drive into the grass.|thumb|Allison and Yarborough spinning out into the infield as Petty speeds by Following green flag stops, Donnie took the lead on lap 178 with Yarborough close behind. They pulled away during the final laps and led the next closest competitors by half a lap. Allison took the white flag and was leading the race on the final lap with Yarborough drafting him tightly. As Yarborough attempted a slingshot pass on the backstretch, Allison attempted to block him. Yarborough refused to give ground and as he pulled alongside Donnie, his left side tires left the pavement and went into the wet and muddy infield grass. Yarborough lost control of his car and contacted Donnie's car halfway down the backstretch. As both drivers tried to maintain control, their cars made contact three more times before locking together and crashing into the outside wall in turn three. The cars slid down the banking and came to rest in the infield. Petty, who was over half a lap behind both drivers before the incident, went on to win, beating Waltrip by one car length. After the wrecked cars of Donnie and Yarborough settled in the infield grass short of the finish line, the two drivers began to argue. Bobby, who was one lap down at that point, stopped where the wreck was, offering Donnie a ride back to the garage. Yarborough blamed Bobby for his defeat due to tensions they had with each other earlier during the race. He struck Bobby in the face with his helmet while Bobby was sitting in his car. Fuming, Bobby jumped out of his car and struck Yarborough in the mouth. Yarborough knocked Bobby to the ground and struck him in the back with his helmet twice. Donnie Allison grabbed Yarborough from behind, shouting "Hey! You want to fight?! I'm the cat you should be fighting with!" Donnie pulled Yarborough away from Bobby, who jumped up and threw a punch at Yarborough. Bobby grabbed Yarborough by the collar with one arm, shaking him as Yarborough tried to shove him away with his foot and kicking at him. Donnie also held on to Yarborough's arm and swung his helmet trying to defend his brother. A track safety official grabbed Yarborough, trying to pry him away from the Allisons. Yarborough fell to the ground and Bobby jumped on him, hitting him twice in the nose. More track marshals arrived and restrained all three drivers, separating them after the 16-second brawl. With Allison and Yarborough wrecking near the end of the last lap, the television audience was mostly shown footage of Petty crossing the finish line to win the race. Brief moments of the fight were seen on national television when the commentators and camera operators realized what was going on and switched to the scene. Yarborough said, "I was going to pass him and win the race, but he turned left and crashed me. So, hell, I crashed him back. If I wasn't going to get back around, he wasn't either." Allison said, "The track was mine until he hit me in the back," he says. "He got me loose and sideways, so I came back to get what was mine. He wrecked me, I didn't wreck him." In the aftermath, both Allison brothers and Yarborough were fined $6,000 for actions detrimental to stock car racing. Although all three of them were penalized, the Allisons were put on probation for six months as the incident was judged to have been instigated by them. As per the penalty, the Allisons and Yarborough had to post a $5,000 bond which would be returned over the next several races provided good behavior. Bobby and Donnie appealed the penalty, arguing that they weren't the cause of the accident. On appeal, the Allisons' probation periods concluded in three months, and Yarborough was put on probation for three months. The initial judgment that the wreck was Donnie's fault was amended to place blame equally on both him and Yarborough. $5,000 of their $6,000 fines were returned $1,000 at a time over the next five races. The story made the front page of The New York Times Sports section. NASCAR had arrived as a national sport and began to expand from its southeastern United States base and become a national sport, shedding its moonshine running roots along the way. Race results Pos Finishing PositionGridNo. Car NumberDriverTeamManufacturerLaps Laps completedTime/RetiredLed Laps ledPoints Points include 5 bonus points for leading a lap and an additional 5 bonus points for leading the most laps.11343Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesOldsmobile2003:28:22121802488Darrell WaltripDiGard MotorsportsOldsmobile200 +1 car lengthhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/23867443/the_morning_call/ Petty Wins 6th Daytona 500 Garrett Jerry 1979-02-19 The Morning Call 2018-09-19 C1 en Newspapers.com41753651A. J. FoytA. J. Foyt EnterprisesOldsmobile200 +3 car lengths4 – Not eligible for points421Donnie AllisonEllington RacingOldsmobile199Contact931705311Cale YarboroughJunior Johnson & AssociatesOldsmobile199Contact316063330Tighe ScottBallard RacingBuick199 +1 lap015072868Chuck BownJim TestaBuick199 +1 lap01468102Dale EarnhardtRod Osterlund RacingBuick199 +1 lap1014793714Coo Coo MarlinCunningham-Kelley RacingChevrolet198 +2 laps0138102479Frank WarrenWarren RacingDodge197 +3 laps013411715Bobby AllisonBud Moore EngineeringFord197 +3 laps1135121567Buddy ArringtonArrington RacingDodge197 +3 laps0127133540D. K. UlrichUlrich RacingBuick197 +3 laps0124143819Bill DennisGray RacingChevrolet196 +4 laps0121152698Ralph JonesRalph JonesFord195 +5 laps0118161944Terry LabonteHagan RacingBuick189 +11 laps011517313Richard ChildressRichard Childress RacingOldsmobile188 +12 laps011218527Benny ParsonsM. C. Anderson RacingOldsmobile183 +17 laps37114191750Bruce HillBallard RacingOldsmobile168 +32 laps0106203639Blackie WangerinBlackie WangerinMercury160 +40 laps0103213074Bobby WawakWawak RacingOldsmobile152Overheating0100222382Paul FessStan LaskyOldsmobile135Engine097232141Grant AdcoxHerb AdcoxChevrolet129Wheel094241202Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet119Engine091252970J. D. McDuffieMcDuffie RacingOldsmobile116Engine088262537Dave WatsonPhil HowardChevrolet115Clutch19027805Dick BrooksNelson Malloch RacingOldsmobile105Transmission082282200John UtsmanEd WhitakerChevrolet101Engine079291647Geoff BodineRace Hill Farm TeamOldsmobile99Engine681304054Lennie PondAl RuddOldsmobile83Brakes278311190Ricky RuddDonlavey RacingMercury79Engine07032205Neil BonnettJim Stacy RacingOldsmobile76Suspension1272331412Harry GantKennie Childers RacingOldsmobile72Contact064344125Ronnie ThomasRobertson RacingBuick64Engine061352787Gary BaloughBillie HarveyOldsmobile53Contact058363272Joe MillikanDeWitt RacingOldsmobile53Contact05537921David PearsonWood Brothers RacingMercury53Contact052381817Skip ManningHamby MotorsportsOldsmobile53Contact049393475Butch MockRahMoc EnterprisesBuick38Contact04640128Buddy BakerRanier-Lundy RacingOldsmobile38Engine1548413989Jim VandiverO. L. NixonOldsmobile27Engine040Sources:https://www.racing-reference.info/race/1979-02/W 02/18/1979 race: Daytona 500 (Cup) - Racing-Reference.info www.racing-reference.info 2018-09-19 Race statistics Lead changes: 36 Cautions/Laps: 7 for 57 laps Average speed: 143.977 mph km/h Media The race was released on DVD in 2007. It aired again on Fox Sports 1 in February 2015 in a compressed 30-minute format hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr.https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/story/fox-sports-1-remembers-1979-daytona-500-with-two-specials-feb-13-020615 PRESS RELEASE: FS1 remembers '79 Daytona 500 with two specials 2015-02-06 FOX Sports 2018-09-19 en-US It was the subject of the documentary A Perfect Storm: The 1979 Daytona 500, featuring interviews of CBS Sports commentators, director Bob Fishman, and 1979 Daytona 500 drivers. References 1979 Winston Western 500 1979 Carolina 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1979 season External links Full Race Broadcast on NASCAR's YouTube Page Daytona 500 Daytona 500 Daytona 500 Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway