1978 Southern 500

Auto race held at Darlington Raceway in 1978 February 2025 CUST Race 22 of 30 in the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season Southern 500 Weather information for the 1978 Southern 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac1978 Southern 500 at Racing Reference. Accessed 2012-03-05. 2012-03-07. 1978 09 4 1978 22 30 1978_Southern_500_program_cover_and_logo.jpg 1978 Darlington 500 program cover Southern 500 Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina 1.375 2.212 367 500.5 805.4 Temperatures of 88 F C; wind speeds of 8.9 mph km/h 116.828 mi/h David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing 31.998 seconds Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates 203 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates ABC Keith Jackson Chris Economaki The 1978 Southern 500, the 29th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on September 4, 1978, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Background Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends. The track is a four-turn 1.366 mi km oval.http://www.cbssports.com/nascar/tracks/page/darlington/darlington-raceway Darlington Raceway CBS Sports 2013-05-07 The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees. The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch are banked at six degrees. Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people. Darlington has something of a legendary quality among drivers and older fans; this is probably due to its long track length relative to other NASCAR speedways of its era and hence the first venue where many of them became cognizant of the truly high speeds that stock cars could achieve on a long track. The track allegedly earned the moniker The Lady in Black because the night before the race the track maintenance crew would cover the entire track with fresh asphalt sealant, in the early years of the speedway, thus making the racing surface dark black. Darlington is also known as "The Track Too Tough to Tame" because drivers can run lap after lap without a problem and then bounce off of the wall the following lap. Racers will frequently explain that they have to race the racetrack, not their competition. Drivers hitting the wall are considered to have received their "Darlington Stripe" thanks to the missing paint on the right side of the car. Race report 40 competitors competed in this 367-lap race. Attendance was 65000. The race lasted four hours and seventeen minutes. Nine cautions slowed the race for 72 laps; 21 changes for first-place position were made. The race leader remained unchanged for long periods of time; including Cale Yarborough's 69-lap lead which lasted from lap 118 to lap 186 and his late-race streak where he would take over the lead on lap 261 and would not relinquish it. Cale Yarborough would defeat Darrell Waltrip by three seconds while Richard Petty, rookie driver Terry Labonte, and Bobby Allison would round out the top five finishers. Yarborough's win would become his fourth at the Southern 500.1978 SOUTHERN 500 - Yarborough makes it four at YouTube Terry Labonte would make an impressive Winston Cup debut at this race. He was 11 laps down at the end, but finished fourth. Yarborough would retain the lead in championship points after this race. Bruce Hill would finish in last place on lap 80 due to a problem with his vehicle's rear end. David Pearson would get the pole position with a speed of 153.685 mph km/h. D. K. Ulrich was cited for nitrous oxide in his vehicle and lost the rest of the 1978 Winston Cup Series season. Neil Bonnett had an unfortunate incident by hitting the telephone wires while exiting pit road; nobody was injured. Notable crew chiefs who participated in the race were Darrell Bryant, Junie Donlavey, Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Inman and Bud Moore.1978 Southern 500 crew chiefs information at Racing Reference The total purse of the race was $200,170 ($ when considering inflation); Yarborough received $30,175 for winning the race. ($ when considering inflation).1978 Southern 500 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Accessed 2012-03-05. 2012-03-07. Qualifying Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Qualifying time Qualifying time in secondshttp://www.racing-reference.info/getqualify/1978-22/W 1978 Southern 500 qualifying information Racing Reference 2017-04-21 April 22, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170422133647/http://www.racing-reference.info/getqualify/1978-22/W dead Speed Speed in miles per hour Owner 1 21 David Pearson Mercury 31.998 153.685 Wood Brothers 2 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 32.125 153.077 DiGard 3 15 Bobby Allison Ford 32.170 152.863 Bud Moore 4 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet 32.285 152.318 L.G. DeWitt 5 54 Lennie Pond Chevrolet 32.302 152.238 Harry Ranier 6 11 Cale Yarborough Oldsmobile 32.314 152.182 Junior Johnson 7 1 Donnie Allison Chevrolet 32.397 151.792 Hoss Ellington 8 5 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet 32.424 151.665 Rod Osterlund 9 43 Richard Petty Chevrolet 32.431 151.633 Petty Enterprises 10 2 Dave Marcis Chevrolet 32.496 151.329 Rod Osterlund Top 10 finishers Pos Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps completed Winnings Laps led Laps as the lead driver Points Number of points earned towards championship standings Time/Status 1 6 11 Cale Yarborough Oldsmobile 367 $30,175 203 185 4:17:46 2 2 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 367 $18,450 44 175 +3 seconds 3 9 43 Richard Petty Chevrolet 366 $13,175 1 170 +1 lap 4 19 92 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 356 $9,850 0 160 +11 laps 5 3 15 Bobby Allison Ford 355 $10,875 21 160 +12 laps 6 16 9 Bill Elliott Mercury 355 $5,200 0 150 +12 laps 7 25 48 James Hylton Chevrolet 353 $7,000 0 146 +14 laps 8 29 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge 350 $6,380 0 142 +17 laps 9 28 25 Ronnie Thomas Chevrolet 349 $6,270 0 138 +18 laps 10 4 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet 348 $7,650 12 139 +19 laps Standings after the race Pos Driver Points Differential 1 10px Cale Yarborough 3532 0 2 Benny Parsons 3244 -288 3 Dave Marcis 3197 -335 4 10px Darrell Waltrip 3083 -449 5 10px Bobby Allison 3001 -531 6 10px Richard Petty 2966 -566 7 Buddy Arrington 2724 -808 8 Lennie Pond 2708 -824 9 10px Dick Brooks 2643 -889 10 10px Richard Childress 2586 -946 References 1978 Volunteer 500 1978 Capital City 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1978 1977 1979 Southern 500 races 1978 Southern 500 Southern 500 Category:NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway