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The 1979 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup) race held on February 18, 1979, at Daytona International Speedway. Richard Petty took home the checkered flag, but the race would be most famous for the last lap of the race. Leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough wrecked each other on the last lap battling for the win, allowing Petty to win the race. During the cool-down lap, Allison and Yarborough climbed from their cars and engaged in a fistfight televised nationally across the United States, with Allison's brother Bobby joining in on the fracas eventually. Many credit this event to NASCAR's soaring in popularity over the following decades.

Qualifying notes[]

Buddy Baker was the pole winner at a speed of 196 mph, with Donnie Allison joining him on the front row. Baker and Darrell Waltrip were the winners of their respective Twin 125 qualifying races.

The following drivers failed to qualify: Claude Ballot-Lena (#6), James Hylton (#48), Bill Elliott (#9), Jim Hurtubise (#04), Woody Fisher (#75), Nestor Peles (#34), Connie Saylor (#49), Roger Hamby (#0), John Rezek (#31), Bobby Fisher (#40), Tommy Gale (#64), Dick May (#57), Cecil Gordon (#24), Jerry Jolly (#96), Ferrel Harris (#45), Bill Green (#49), Morgan Shepherd (#84), and Jimmy Means (#52)

Additional race data[]

  • Leaders: 13
  • Time of race: 3:28:22
  • Cautions: 7 for 57 laps
  • Margin of Victory: 1 cl
  • This was the first Daytona 500 to be televised live flag-to-flag, airing on CBS. Ken Squier and David Hobbs called the race from the booth, with reports on pit road by Brock Yates and Glenn Jarrett.

Caution summary[]

Caution 1: (Laps 1 - 15) The first Daytona 500 covered live on television flag-to-flag started under a green/yellow condition to dry the track due to rain that had fallen during the last 24 hours.

Caution 2: (Laps 31 - 41) Donnie Allison driving the #1 Oldsmobile is spun by his brother Bobby Allison driving the #15 Ford coming off of turn 2. Bobby backed off to avoid Donnie's car which had become airborne and was spun by Cale Yarborough sending both the Allisons and Yarborough sliding through the soaked backstretch grass. Bobby's car backed into the dirt bank surrounding Lake Lloyd. All three cars were able to continue. Most of the damage suffered came from the water the cars picked up from the slide through the grass which played havoc on the electrical systems of the three cars.

Caution 3: (Laps 55 - 64) The big one strikes on lap 55 when the #87 of Gary Balough spins off turn 2. The #50 Oldsmobile driven by the 1975 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Bruce Hill is unable to avoid Balough and plows into him. The #72 Oldsmobile of rookie Joe Millikan, the #17 Oldsmobile of Roger Hamby, the #75 Buick driven by Butch Mock and the #21 Mercury driven by David Pearson pile into the wreck. No drivers are injured, but all are unable to continue except for Hill.

Caution 4: (Laps 74 - 81) Neil Bonnett driving the #5 Oldsmobile is spun by rookie Terry Labonte off of turn 4. Harry Gant also in his first Daytona 500 is spun trying to avoid Bonnett slides through the grass before his #12 Oldsmobile slammed into the wall angling away from the entrance of pit road and slid back up the track in front of the field and is very lucky to not be hit. Gant is done for the day, Bonnett would retire due to suspension damage suffered in the crash a few laps later.

Caution 5: (Laps 103 - 110) The engine under the hood of the #00 Chevrolet driven by Johnny Utsman blows up just past the start/finish line oiling down the track.

Caution 6: (Laps 120 - 125) The #39 Mercury driven by Blackie Wangerin has a severe oil leak, at the same time the engine in the #02 Chevrolet driven by Dave Marcis gives way.

Caution 7: (Laps 138 - 142) Paul Fess who was driving in his first Daytona 500 suffers an engine failure in the #82 Oldsmobile.

The fight[]

While racing for the lead on the last lap, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed on the backstretch. As Richard Petty cruised onto a surprising victory, both drivers climbed out of their cars. With their chances of winning the biggest event in the sport, their tempers boiled over. Within moments, Yarborough and Allison were in a fist-and-helmet fight. To makes matters worse Bobby Allison arrived on scene to help brother Donnie. By the time the fight was broken up, all three drivers were a mess and NASCAR was the talk of the nation. The image of "brawling rednecks" oddly worked to bring more fans into the sport. NASCAR, realizing the boom in popularity due to the incident, lightly punished the drivers.

"And there's a fight, between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison! The tempers overflowing, they're angry, they know they have lost. And what a bitter defeat!" - Ken Squier, as he called the brawl live on CBS

"For some reason, Cale repeatedly hit his nose on my fist" - Bobby Allison

Results[]

Pos. Start No. Driver Sponsor Manufacturer Laps Laps led Status
1 13 43 Richard Petty STP Oldsmobile 200 12 Running
2 4 88 Darrell Waltrip Gatorade Oldsmobile 200 4 Running
3 6 51 A.J. Foyt Copenhagen Oldsmobile 200 4 Running
4 2 1 Donnie Allison Hawaiian Topic Oldsmobile 199 93 Crash
5 3 11 Cale Yarborough Busch Oldsmobile 199 3 Crash
6 33 30 Tighe Scott Russ Togs Buick 199 0 Running
7 28 68 Chuck Bown Kings Inn Buick 199 0 Running
8 10 2 Dale Earnhardt Rod Osterlund Buick 199 10 Running
9 37 14 Coo Coo Marlin Cunningham-Kelley Buick 198 0 Running
10 24 79 Frank Warren Native Tan Dodge 197 0 Running
11 7 15 Bobby Allison Hodgdon/Moore Ford 197 1 Running
12 15 67 Buddy Arrington Reid Trailer Sales Dodge 197 0 Running
13 35 40 D.K. Ulrich Midwestern Farm Lines Buick 197 0 Running
14 38 19 Bill Dennis Belden Jennite Chevrolet 196 0 Running
15 26 98 Ralph Jones Jones Racing Ford 195 0 Running
16 19 44 Terry Labonte Stratagraph Buick 189 0 Running
17 31 3 Richard Childress CRC Chemical Oldsmobile 188 0 Running
18 5 27 Benny Parsons Griffin Marine Oldsmobile 183 37 Running
19 17 50 Bruce Hill Newport & Associates Oldsmobile 168 0 Running
20 36 39 Blackie Wangerin Wangerin Motorsports Mercury 160 0 Running
21 30 74 Bobby Wawak Bobby Wawak Motorsports Oldsmobile 152 0 Overheating
22 23 82 Paul Fess Lasky Construction Oldsmobile 135 0 Engine
23 21 41 Grant Adcox Adcox-Kirby Chevrolet 129 0 Wheel
24 12 01 Dave Marcis Shoney's Chevrolet 119 0 Engine
25 29 70 J.D. McDuffie Bailey's Excavating Oldsmobile 116 0 Engine
26 25 37 Dave Watson Ams Oil Chevrolet 115 1 Clutch
27 8 05 Dick Brooks Bearfinder Oldsmobile 105 0 Transmission
28 22 00 John Utsman Ed Whitaker Chevrolet 101 0 Engine
29 16 47 Geoff Bodine Race Hill Farm Oldsmobile 99 6 Engine
30 40 54 Lennie Pond Burger King Oldsmobile 83 2 Brakes
31 11 90 Ricky Rudd Truxmore Mercury 79 0 Engine
32 20 5 Neil Bonnett Jim Stacy Oldsmobile 76 12 Suspension
33 14 12 Harry Gant J.W. Hunt Produce Oldsmobile 72 0 Crash
34 41 25 Ronnie Thomas Sub-Tropic Chevrolet 64 0 Engine
35 27 87 Gary Balough Fast Lane Ltd. Oldsmobile 53 0 Crash
36 32 72 Joe Millikan L.G. DeWitt Oldsmobile 53 0 Crash
37 9 21 David Pearson Purolator Mercury 53 0 Crash
38 18 17 Skip Manning Valvoline Oldsmobile 53 0 Crash
39 34 75 Butch Mock RahMoc Enterprises Buick 38 0 Crash
40 1 28 Buddy Baker Spectra Metals Oldsmobile 38 15 Engine
41 39 89 Jim Vandiver O.L. Nixon Oldsmobile 27 0 Engine

Points[]

Pos. Driver Points
1 Darrell Waltrip 360
2 Cale Yarborough 330 (-30)
3 Donnie Allison 325  (-35)
4 Richard Petty 247 (-113)
4 Dale Earnhardt 247 (-113)
6 Bobby Allison 246 (-114)
7 D.K. Ulrich 245 (-115)
8 Buddy Arrington 236 (-124)
9 Richard Childress 230 (-130)
10 David Pearson 227 (-133)

External links[]

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