The 1981 Mountain Dew 500 was a Winston Cup Series (now Nextel Cup) event held at Pocono Raceway on July 26, 1981. Darrell Waltrip in his number 11 Mt Dew sponsored Buick led 120 of the 200 laps in route to a four carlength victory on Richard Petty. Watlrip's win also allowed the driver to close within 104 points of championship leader Bobby Allison (25th). Stats
There were six cautious for a total of 39 laps, one of which was caused by a deer that had wandered onto the track. Of the 35 cars on the starting grid, 28 finished.
There was a controversy at the finish when Cale Yarborough believed he was on the lead lap and had won the race. Waltrip made his way to victory lane only to find that Yarborough’s car was already parked there. NASCAR officials eventually pushed Yarborough’s Buick out and Waltrip was able to celebrate his win.
Richard Petty was second, Benny Parsons third, Harry Gant fourth and Yarborough fifth.