1981 Daytona 500

Auto race held at Daytona International Speedway in 1981 February 2025 CUST Race 2 of 31 in the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/FL/Daytona%20Beach/1981-02-15 Weather of the 1981 Daytona 500 The Old Farmers' Almanac 2013-06-24 https://archive.today/20240526174956/https://www.webcitation.org/6HmBBgbWJ?url=http://m.almanac.com/weather/history/FL/Daytona%20Beach/1981-02-20 2024-05-26 live 1981 2 15 1981 2 31 1981_Daytona_500_program_cover_and_logo.jpg 1981 Daytona 500 program cover Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida 2.5 4.02336 200 500 804.672 Temperatures of 69.1 F C; wind speeds of 15.9 mph km/h 169.651 mi/h 130,000 Bobby Allison Harry Ranier Bobby Allison Harry Ranier 117 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises CBS Ken Squier David Hobbs Ned Jarrett Brock Yates The 1981 Daytona 500, the 23rd running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It was held on Sunday, February 15, 1981. Race report Contested over 200 laps and over the course of 2 hours and 56 minutes, the race was won by Richard Petty for his record seventh at the Daytona 500, beating Bobby Allison to the line by 3.5 seconds and bringing about Buick's first win in NASCAR since 1956. Ricky Rudd, Buddy Baker, and Dale Earnhardt rounded out the Top 5.Official results of 1981 Daytona 500 on Racing-Reference.info A new generation of smaller cars, with a wheelbase of 110 in cm, down from the previously used 115 in cm, made their debut in this race. David Pearson had the only Chevrolet in the field. He started 9th in his new Monte Carlo after finishing 5th in the Twin 125 before retiring with engine failure. Steve Moore attempted to qualify in a Chevrolet Malibu but his #73 didn't make the race. Bobby Allison dominated Speedweeks from the beginning, winning the pole position, his 125-mile qualifying race, and was considered the prohibitive favorite for the 500. He was driving a 1981 Pontiac Le Mans, which was the only car in the race with a "fastback" sloped rear window, greatly improving aerodynamics and downforce on the rear spoiler over the "notchback" profiles of the Buick Regals, Pontiac Grand Prixs, Oldsmobile Cutlasses, and Ford Thunderbirds. The Le Mans was on the NASCAR approved-model list, but no other team thought to build one. Allison led the most laps and was the car to beat. But Allison lost considerable time when he ran out of fuel and had to coast through most of a lap to make his final pit stop. Meanwhile, on Richard Petty's final planned pit stop, Petty's crew chief Dale Inman, who was working his final race with the team before leaving to become Dale Earnhardt's crew chief, opted not to change tires and only took on fuel. Petty then re-entered the track with a considerable lead that Allison rapidly closed, but could not overcome before the finish. The race was contested in front of 130,000 spectators and featured 49 lead changes. 18 laps were run under the caution flag. It was one of the few Daytona 500s where the final caution flag occurred before the halfway point of the race. Petty earned $90,575 ($ when adjusted for inflation) for winning, the largest purse of his entire career. Blackie Wangerin finished last after an accident on lap 17. First Daytona 500 starts for Ronnie Sanders, Tim Richmond, Kyle Petty, and Billie Harvey. Only Daytona 500 starts for Glenn Jarrett and Don Sprouse. Last Daytona 500 starts for Johnny Rutherford, Bill Elswick, Don Whittington, James Hylton, Cecil Gordon, Bruce Hill, and Blackie Wangerin. Dickie Boswell would make his only Cup Series attempt at this race.Driver Dickie Boswell's NASCAR Xfinity Series races 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. 1 8 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Buick 200 2:56:50 27 180 2 1 28 Bobby Allison Ranier-Lundy Racing Pontiac 200 +3.5 seconds 117 180 3 5 88 Ricky Rudd DiGard Racing Oldsmobile 200 Lead lap, under green flag 8 170 4 6 1 Buddy Baker Ellington Racing Oldsmobile 200 Lead lap, under green flag 10 165 5 7 2 Dale Earnhardt Rod Osterlund Racing Pontiac 200 Lead lap, under green flag 4 160 6 16 9 Bill Elliott Elliott Racing Ford 199 +1 Lap 4 155 7 27 90 Jody Ridley Donlavey Racing Ford 198 +2 Laps 0 146 8 29 27 Cale Yarborough M. C. Anderson Racing Oldsmobile 197 +3 Laps 0 142 9 34 75 Joe Millikan RahMoc Enterprises Buick 197 +3 Laps 0 138 10 35 98 Johnny Rutherford Benfield Racing Pontiac 195 +5 Laps 0 134 11 21 57 Bill Elswick RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 195 +5 Laps 0 130 12 33 12 Donnie Allison Kennie Childers Racing Oldsmobile 195 +5 Laps 0 127 13 22 22 Stan Barrett Mach 1 Racing Pontiac 195 +5 Laps 0 124 14 13 93 Don Whittington Smith Racing Oldsmobile 194 +6 Laps 0 121 15 15 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Oldsmobile 194 +6 Laps 0 118 16 38 41 Dick Brooks Billy Matthews Racing Buick 193 +7 Laps 1 120 17 28 64 Tommy Gale Langley Racing Ford 192 +8 Laps 0 112 18 17 19 Ronnie Sanders Gray Racing Buick 191 +9 Laps 0 109 19 23 17 Glenn Jarrett Hamby Motorsports Buick 186 +14 Laps 0 106 20 39 37 Don Sprouse Rogers Racing Oldsmobile 181 +19 Laps 0 103 21 26 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 179 +21 Laps 0 100 22 14 23 Geoff Bodine Bahre Racing Pontiac 178 +22 Laps 0 97 23 31 47 Harry Gant Race Hill Farm Team Buick 175 +25 Laps 0 94 24 41 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac 169 +31 Laps 0 91 25 37 86 Elliott Forbes-Robinson Howard & Egerton Racing Buick 167 Axle 0 88 26 20 67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Dodge 159 +41 Laps 0 85 27 32 68 Lennie Pond Testa Racing Buick 155 Oil pump 0 82 28 19 25 Ronnie Thomas Ronnie Thomas Pontiac 151 Clutch 0 79 29 9 16 David Pearson Halpern Enterprises Chevrolet 144 Engine 3 81 30 40 99 Tim Richmond Ulrich Racing Buick 144 Transmission 0 73 31 4 15 Benny Parsons Bud Moore Engineering Ford 135 Overheating 0 70 32 11 42 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Buick 128 Engine 0 67 33 3 21 Neil Bonnett Wood Brothers Racing Ford 123 Clutch 26 69 34 25 48 James Hylton Hylton Motorsports Pontiac 123 Piston 0 61 35 10 51 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises Oldsmobile 120 Valve 0 58 36 2 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Buick 117 Engine 0 55 37 42 24 Cecil Gordon Gordon Racing Buick 116 +84 Laps 0 52 38 18 3 Richard Childress Richard Childress Racing Pontiac 110 Valve 0 49 39 24 7 Bruce Hill Nelson Malloch Buick 54 Crash 0 46 40 12 44 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Buick 47 Engine 0 43 41 36 31 Billie Harvey Billie Harvey Pontiac 45 Engine 0 40 42 30 39 Blackie Wangerin Wangerin Racing Ford 17 Crash 0 37 Source:1981 Daytona 500 Post-race standings Pos Driver Points Differential 1 Bobby Allison 365 0 2 Richard Petty 340 -25 3 Dale Earnhardt 325 -40 4 Jody Ridley 292 -73 5 Ricky Rudd 281 -84 6 Joe Millikan 267 -98 7 Don Whittington 242 -123 8 Elliott Forbes-Robinson 230 -135 9 Buddy Arrington 223 -142 10 Terry Labonte 218 -147 References External links NASCAR.COM - Daytona Countdown: '81 - Jan 26, 2005 1981 Winston Western 500 1981 Richmond 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1981 Daytona 500 Daytona 500 Daytona 500 Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway