1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
| Date | May 12, 1979 | ||
| Official name | Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 | ||
| Location | Nashville Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.596 mi (0.959 km) | ||
| Distance | 420 laps, 250.3 mi (402.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Hot with temperatures approaching 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 88.652 miles per hour (142.672 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | L.G. DeWitt | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 164 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 11 | Cale Yarborough | Junior Johnson | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 as a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 12, 1979, at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.
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.
Summary
This race was a 420-lap race; Harry Gant would be credited with the last-place finish due to an engine problem after only 18 laps of racing.[2][3]
Cale Yarborough would defeat Richard Petty by nearly three seconds after almost three hours of racing action.[2][3] A small crowd of 16000 people would see only three caution periods (lasting 27 laps) and nine different changes concerning the leader of the race.[2][3] Joe Millikan would get his only pole position start here; qualifying at speeds up to 104.155 miles per hour (167.621 km/h).[2][3]
The finish was marred by controversy. Richard Petty and Bobby Allison asserted that Cale Yarborough was a lap down at the finish. Said Petty, "He lost one lap when he spun (with J.D. McDuffie), then he lost another when he spent 22 seconds in the pits." Allison agreed, saying, "Richard won this race and I finished second. I don't know how they had Cale winning."
A star-studded top ten finishing chart would include fan favorites like Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, J.D. McDuffie, Richard Childress, Benny Parsons, Buddy Baker, Terry Labonte, and Ricky Rudd.[2][3] Al Elmore and Steve Spencer would make their NASCAR Cup Series debuts during this race.[3]
The entire racing purse for this event was $70,100 ($228,556.21 when adjusted for inflation).[4] Yarborough would receive $12,275 for winning ($40,021.79 when adjusted for inflation) the race while last-place finisher Gant would only receive $360 of the total purse ($1,173.76 when adjusted for inflation).[4]
Standings after the race
| Pos | Driver | Points[2] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darrell Waltrip | 1767 |
| 2 | Bobby Allison | 1746 |
| 3 | Richard Petty | 1639 |
| 4 | Cale Yarborough | 1557 |
| 5 | Joe Millikan | 1496 |
References
- ↑ Weather information for the 1969 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 at the Old Farmers' Almanac
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 racing information at Racing Reference
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 racing information at Race Database
- 1 2 1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
| Preceded by 1979 Winston 500 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1979 |
Succeeded by 1979 Mason-Dixon 500 |