1978 Winston Cup Series

1978 Winston Cup Series
Cale Yarborough won his third Winston Cup Championship.
Season statistics
No. of races	30
First race	1978 Winston Western 500
Last race	1978 Los Angeles Times 500
Drivers' champion	Cale Yarborough
Manufacturers' champion
Rookie of the Year	Ronnie Thomas
Most popular driver	Richard Petty
Previous	1977
Next	1979

The 1978 Winston Cup Series was the 30th season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The season began with the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 22 and ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway on November 19.

Cale Yarborough won his third straight Winston Cup Championship in his seventh full-time season. He won 10 races and had a career high average start of 3.6 with 8 poles. He led at least one lap in all but two races and qualified in the Top 10 in all but one race. He won the championship with a 474-point margin over Bobby Allison.

1978 was notable for the re-entry of Oldsmobile and its sleek Cutlass model. David Pearson also became the second driver to win 100 cup races in 1978, and was the first season since 1959 that Richard Petty did not visit victory lane. Midway through the season, Petty switched from Dodge to General Motors in an effort to find success.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	January 22, 1978	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway
	February 16, 1978	125 Mile Qualifying Races	Daytona International Speedway
2	February 19, 1978	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway
3	February 26, 1978	Richmond 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
4	March 5, 1978	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
5	March 19, 1978	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway
6	April 2, 1978	Southeastern 500	Bristol International Speedway
7	April 9, 1978	Rebel 500	Darlington Raceway
8	April 16, 1978	Gwyn Staley 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
9	April 23, 1978	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
10	May 14, 1978	Winston 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
11	May 21, 1978	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
12	May 28, 1978	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway
13	June 3, 1978	Music City USA 420	Nashville Speedway
14	June 11, 1978	NAPA 400	Riverside International Raceway
15	June 18, 1978	Gabriel 400	Michigan International Speedway
16	July 4, 1978	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway
17	July 15, 1978	Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway
18	July 30, 1978	Coca-Cola 500	Pocono International Raceway
19	August 6, 1978	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
20	August 20, 1978	Champion Spark Plug 400	Michigan International Speedway
21	August 26, 1978	Volunteer 500	Bristol International Speedway
22	September 4, 1978	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
23	September 10, 1978	Capital City 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
24	September 17, 1978	Delaware 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
25	September 24, 1978	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway
26	October 1, 1978	Wilkes 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
27	October 8, 1978	NAPA National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway
28	October 22, 1978	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
29	November 5, 1978	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway
30	November 19, 1978	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1978 Winston Western 500	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		4	17	102.269	12
	1978 125 Mile Qualifying Race #1	Cale Yarborough	A.J. Foyt		4	23	123.018	11
	1978 125 Mile Qualifying Race #2	Ron Hutcherson	Darrell Waltrip		1	4	169.683	14
2	1978 Daytona 500	Cale Yarborough	Bobby Allison		5	24	159.730	37
3	1978 Richmond 400	Neil Bonnett	Benny Parsons		5	33	80.304	10
4	1978 Carolina 500	Neil Bonnett	David Pearson		8	62	116.681	24
5	1978 Atlanta 500	Cale Yarborough	Bobby Allison		4	16	142.520	9
6	1978 Southeastern 500	Neil Bonnett	Darrell Waltrip		4	40	92.401	13
7	1978 Rebel 500	Bobby Allison	Benny Parsons		7	44	127.544	24
8	1978 Gwyn Staley 400	Benny Parsons	Darrell Waltrip		4	25	92.345	18
9	1978 Virginia 500	Lennie Pond	Darrell Waltrip		4	27	77.971	6
10	1978 Winston 500	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		5	30	155.699	44
11	1978 Mason-Dixon 500	Buddy Baker	David Pearson		6	37	114.664	17
12	1978 World 600	David Pearson	Darrell Waltrip		6	32	138.355	43
13	1978 Music City USA 420	Lennie Pond	Cale Yarborough		2	22	87.541	1
14	1978 NAPA 400	David Pearson	Benny Parsons		1	4	104.311	10
15	1978 Gabriel 400	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		1	8	149.563	25
16	1978 Firecracker 400	Cale Yarborough	David Pearson		4	21	154.340	29
17	1978 Nashville 420	Lennie Pond	Cale Yarborough		3	15	88.924	5
18	1978 Coca-Cola 500	Benny Parsons	Darrell Waltrip		1	3	142.540	37
19	1978 Talladega 500	Cale Yarborough	Lennie Pond		4	17	174.700	67
20	1978 Champion Spark Plug 400	David Pearson	David Pearson		7	35	129.566	34
21	1978 Volunteer 500	Lennie Pond	Cale Yarborough		10	59	88.628	16
22	1978 Southern 500	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		9	72	116.828	21
23	1978 Capital City 400	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip		5	27	79.568	16
24	1978 Delaware 500	J.D. McDuffie	Bobby Allison		3	18	119.323	7
25	1978 Old Dominion 500	Lennie Pond	Cale Yarborough		4	19	79.185	6
26	1978 Wilkes 400	Darrell Waltrip	Cale Yarborough		1	4	97.847	1
27	1978 NAPA National 500	David Pearson	Bobby Allison		4	21	141.826	40
28	1978 American 500	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		5	52	117.288	19
29	1978 Dixie 500	Cale Yarborough	Donnie Allison		7	63	124.312	25
30	1978 Los Angeles Times 500	Cale Yarborough	Bobby Allison		4	17	137.783	30

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Cale Yarborough	30	10	23	24	8	4841
2	Bobby Allison	30	5	14	22	1	4367	-474
3	Darrell Waltrip	30	6	19	20	2	4362	-479
4	Benny Parsons	30	3	15	21	2	4350	-491
5	Dave Marcis	30	0	14	24	0	4335	-506
6	Richard Petty	30	0	11	17	0	3949	-892
7	Lennie Pond	28	1	11	19	5	3794	-1,047
8	Dick Brooks	30	0	5	17	0	3769	-1,072
9	Buddy Arrington	30	0	1	7	0	3626	-1,215
10	Richard Childress	30	0	1	12	0	3566	-1,275
11	J.D. McDuffie	30	0	1	6	1	3255	-1,586
12	Neil Bonnett	30	0	7	12	3	3129	-1,712
13	Tighe Scott	29	0	0	7	0	3110	-1,731
14	Frank Warren	30	0	0	0	0	3036	-1,805
15	Dick May	28	0	0	2	0	2936	-1,905
16	Jimmy Means	27	0	0	2	0	2756	-2,085
17	David Pearson	22	4	11	11	7	2756	-2,085
18	Ronnie Thomas	27	0	0	2	0	2733	-2,108
19	Cecil Gordon	26	0	0	1	0	2641	-2,200
20	Tommy Gale	26	0	0	0	0	2639	-2,202
21	Roger Hamby	26	0	0	2	0	2617	-2,224
22	D.K. Ulrich	22	0	0	3	0	2452	-2,389
23	Baxter Price	24	0	0	0	0	2418	-2,423
24	Buddy Baker	19	0	4	8	1	2130	-2,711
25	Donnie Allison	17	1	7	8	0	1993	-2,848
26	James Hylton	19	0	0	4	0	1965	-2,876
27	Gary Myers	19	0	0	0	0	1915	-2,926
28	Ed Negre	21	0	0	1	0	1857	-2,984
29	Skip Manning	17	0	1	4	0	1802	-3,039
30	Grant Adcox	14	0	1	3	0	1467	-3,374
31	Ricky Rudd	13	0	0	4	0	1260	-3,581
32	Bruce Hill	14	0	0	2	0	1214	-3,627
33	Bill Elliott	10	0	0	5	0	1176	-3,665
34	Al Holbert	12	0	0	3	0	1142	-3,699
35	Ferrel Harris	14	0	0	5	0	1066	-3,775
36	Coo Coo Marlin	9	0	0	2	0	765	-4,076
37	Blackie Wangerin	10	0	0	0	0	760	-4,081
38	Bobby Wawak	8	0	0	0	0	680	-4,161
39	Terry Labonte	5	0	1	3	0	659	-4,182
40	Ralph Jones	7	0	0	0	0	634	-4,207

Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.

Rookie of the Year

With 2 Top 10s in 27 starts, Ronnie Thomas won the 1978 Rookie of the Year Award.

Position	Driver	Race Wins
1	Ronnie Thomas	0
2	Roger Hamby	0
3	Blackie Wangerin	0
4	Baxter Price	0
5	Al Holbert	0

Manufacturer's Championship

Despite winning only 10 races to Oldsmobile's 11, Chevrolet won the 1978 Manufacturer's Championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		10
2		11
3		5
4		4
5		0
6		0
7		0
8		0