1979 Winston Cup Series

1979 Winston Cup Series
Season statistics
No. of races	31
First race	1979 Winston Western 500
Last race	1979 Los Angeles Times 500
Drivers' champion	Richard Petty
Manufacturers' champion
Rookie of the Year	Dale Earnhardt
Most popular driver	David Pearson
Previous	1978
Next	1980

The 1979 Winston Cup Series was the 31st season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The season began with the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 14 and ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway on November 18.

Richard Petty won his seventh and final Winston Cup Championship in his 20^th season by 11 points over Darrell Waltrip. He had five wins in 1979 including his sixth Daytona 500, which was the first Daytona 500 televised flag-to-flag. It was Petty’s only championship in GM equipment.

1979 was notable for being the first season for the Busch Clash, and the final season in which David Pearson drove for the Wood Brothers. It was also the Rookie season for Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte and Harry Gant.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	January 14, 1979	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway
	February 11, 1979	Busch Clash	Daytona International Speedway
	February 15, 1979	125 Mile Qualifying Races	Daytona International Speedway
2	February 18, 1979	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway
3	March 4, 1979	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
4	March 11, 1979	Richmond 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
5	March 18, 1979	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway
6	March 25, 1979	Northwestern Bank 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
7	April 1, 1979	Southeastern 500	Bristol International Speedway
8	April 8, 1979	CRC Chemicals Rebel 500	Darlington Raceway
9	April 22, 1979	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
10	May 6, 1979	Winston 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
11	May 12, 1979	Sun-Drop Music City USA 420	Nashville Speedway
12	May 20, 1979	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
13	May 27, 1979	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway
14	June 3, 1979	Texas 400	Texas World Speedway
15	June 10, 1979	NAPA Riverside 400	Riverside International Raceway
16	June 17, 1979	Gabriel 400	Michigan International Speedway
17	July 4, 1979	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway
18	July 14, 1979	Busch Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway
19	July 30, 1979	Coca-Cola 500	Pocono International Raceway
20	August 5, 1979	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
21	August 19, 1979	Champion Spark Plug 400	Michigan International Speedway
22	August 25, 1979	Volunteer 500	Bristol International Speedway
23	September 3, 1979	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
24	September 9, 1979	Capital City 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
25	September 16, 1979	CRC Chemicals 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
26	September 23, 1979	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway
27	October 7, 1979	NAPA National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway
28	October 14, 1979	Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
29	October 21, 1979	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
30	November 4, 1979	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway
31	November 18, 1979	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1979 Winston Western 500	David Pearson	Darrell Waltrip		0	0	107.820	13
	1979 Busch Clash	Benny Parsons	Buddy Baker		0	0	194.384	4
	1979 125 Mile Qualifying Race #1	Buddy Baker	Buddy Baker		1	5	167.598	6
	1979 125 Mile Qualifying Race #2	Donnie Allison	Darrell Waltrip		2	10	153.009	8
2	1979 Daytona 500	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty		7	57	143.977	36
3	1979 Carolina 500	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison		7	39	122.727	13
4	1979 Richmond 400	Bobby Allison	Cale Yarborough		2	8	83.608	4
5	1979 Atlanta 500	Buddy Baker	Buddy Baker		5	42	135.136	29
6	1979 Northwestern Bank 400	Benny Parsons	Bobby Allison		4	32	88.400	20
7	1979 Southeastern 500	Buddy Baker	Dale Earnhardt		6	44	91.033	8
8	1979 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500	Donnie Allison	Darrell Waltrip		6	53	121.721	25
9	1979 Virginia 500	Darrell Waltrip	Richard Petty		5	32	76.562	11
10	1979 Winston 500	Darrell Waltrip	Bobby Allison		4	30	154.770	21
11	1979 Sun-Drop Music City USA 420	Joe Millikan	Cale Yarborough		3	27	88.652	9
12	1979 Mason-Dixon 500	Darrell Waltrip	Neil Bonnett		6	48	111.269	26
13	1979 World 600	Neil Bonnett	Darrell Waltrip		9	48	136.674	54
14	1979 Texas 400	Buddy Baker	Darrell Waltrip		1	5	156.216	22
15	1979 NAPA Riverside 400	Dale Earnhardt	Bobby Allison		2	6	103.732	5
16	1979 Gabriel 400	Neil Bonnett	Buddy Baker		6	33	135.798	47
17	1979 Firecracker 400	Buddy Baker	Neil Bonnett		2	11	172.890	28
18	1979 Busch Nashville 420	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip		3	19	92.227	2
19	1979 Coca-Cola 500	Harry Gant	Cale Yarborough		7	46	115.207	56
20	1979 Talladega 500	Neil Bonnett	Darrell Waltrip		5	28	161.229	34
21	1979 Champion Spark Plug 400	David Pearson	Richard Petty		5	35	130.376	21
22	1979 Volunteer 500	Richard Petty	Darrell Waltrip		6	60	91.493	18
23	1979 Southern 500	Bobby Allison	David Pearson		9	52	126.259	18
24	1979 Capital City 400	Dale Earnhardt	Bobby Allison		2	20	80.604	6
25	1979 CRC Chemicals 500	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Petty		11	49	114.366	27
26	1979 Old Dominion 500	Darrell Waltrip	Buddy Baker		10	54	75.119	12
27	1979 NAPA National 500	Neil Bonnett	Cale Yarborough		8	40	134.266	28
28	1979 Holly Farms 400	Dale Earnhardt	Benny Parsons		9	48	91.454	12
29	1979 American 500	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty		12	82	108.356	23
30	1979 Dixie 500	Buddy Baker	Neil Bonnett		5	29	140.120	25
31	1979 Los Angeles Times 500	Cale Yarborough	Benny Parsons		6	26	132.822	35

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Richard Petty	31	5	23	27	1	4830
2	Darrell Waltrip	31	7	19	22	5	4819	-11
3	Bobby Allison	31	5	18	22	3	4633	-197
4	Cale Yarborough	31	4	19	22	1	4604	-226
5	Benny Parsons	31	2	16	21	1	4256	-574
6	Joe Millikan	31	0	5	20	1	4014	-816
7	Dale Earnhardt	27	1	11	17	4	3749	-1,081
8	Richard Childress	31	0	1	11	0	3735	-1,095
9	Ricky Rudd	28	0	4	17	0	3642	-1,188
10	Terry Labonte	31	0	2	13	0	3615	-1,215
11	Buddy Arrington	31	0	1	7	0	3589	-1,241
12	D.K. Ulrich	31	0	0	5	0	3508	-1,322
13	J.D. McDuffie	31	0	1	7	0	3473	-1,357
14	James Hylton	30	0	0	5	0	3405	-1,425
15	Buddy Baker	26	3	12	15	7	3249	-1,581
16	Frank Warren	31	0	0	3	0	3199	-1,631
17	Ronnie Thomas	30	0	0	3	0	2912	-1,918
18	Tommy Gale	28	0	0	1	0	2795	-2,035
19	Cecil Gordon	28	0	0	0	0	2737	-2,093
20	Dave Marcis	25	0	1	6	0	2736	-2,094
21	Harry Gant	25	0	0	5	1	2664	-2,166
22	Dick Brooks	27	0	1	8	0	2622	-2,208
23	Jimmy Means	27	0	0	1	0	2575	-2,255
24	Donnie Allison	20	0	7	10	1	2508	-2,322
25	Baxter Price	24	0	0	0	0	2364	-2,466
26	Neil Bonnett	21	3	4	6	4	2223	-2,607
27	Tighe Scott	17	0	1	7	0	1879	-2,951
28	Bill Elliott	13	0	1	5	0	1548	-3,282
29	Lennie Pond	15	0	0	2	0	1415	-3,415
30	Dick May	19	0	0	0	0	1390	-3,440
31	Roger Hamby	13	0	0	0	0	1231	-3,599
32	David Pearson	9	1	4	5	2	1203	-3,627
33	Coo Coo Marlin	7	0	0	2	0	613	-4,217
34	Bruce Hill	7	0	0	0	0	594	-4,236
35	Blackie Wangerin	7	0	0	0	0	571	-4,259
36	Grant Adcox	6	0	0	0	0	560	-4,270
37	Kyle Petty	5	0	0	1	0	559	-4,271
38	Chuck Bown	7	0	0	2	0	523	-4,307
39	John Anderson	4	0	1	1	0	496	-4,334
40	Ralph Jones	6	0	0	0	0	477	-4,353

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

Rookie of the Year

With 1 win, 11 Top 5s, 11 Top 10s, and 4 poles in 27 starts, Dale Earnhardt won the 1979 Rookie of the Year Award.

Position	Driver	Race Wins
1	Dale Earnhardt	1
2	Joe Millikan	0
3	Terry Labonte	0
4	Harry Gant	0

Manufacturer's Championship

With 18 wins, Chevrolet won the manufacturer's championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		18
2		5
3		5
4		3
5		0
6		0
7		0
8		0