1978 Daytona 500

1978 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 2 of 30 in the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1978 Daytona 500 program cover
1978 Daytona 500 program cover
Date February 19, 1978 (1978-02-19)
Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures of 73.9 °F (23.3 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)[1]
Average speed 159.73 miles per hour (257.06 km/h)
Attendance 140,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Junior Johnson & Associates
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Duel 2 Winner Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Buddy Baker M.C. Anderson Racing
Laps 76
Winner
No. 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering
Television in the United States
Network ABC's WWOS
Announcers Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart
Nielsen Ratings 11.8/33
(20.9.1 million viewers)

The 1978 Daytona 500, the 20th running of the event, was the second race of the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It was held on February 19 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Defending winner Cale Yarborough won the pole and Bobby Allison won the race.

Race report

The race began with Richard Petty, who brought a brand new Dodge Magnum to the race, leading early.[2] Starting in sixth place, Petty quickly went out in front and led 32 out of the first 60 laps, all under green. The first 60 laps were run at an average speed of nearly 180 mph.[2] But on the lap 61, Petty cut a left rear tire and spun out, collecting long-time rival David Pearson and Darrell Waltrip.[2]

Track conditions were very "green" that day, due to heavy rains during the week, meaning there was little rubber on the track. Just after the restart on lap 70, Parsons blew a left rear tire and spun out. Behind him, 1972 race winner A. J. Foyt was caught up and flipped several times in the turn 1 infield. That left the race to three drivers, 1977 race winner and polesitter Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker and Bobby Allison, who entered the race with a 67-race winless streak. Yarborough dropped out with engine problems. With 11 laps remaining, Baker, dueling with Allison, suffered an engine failure. Allison drove his Bud Moore Ford Thunderbird around Baker to take the lead and capture his first Daytona 500 win.[2]

It was the lowest starting position (33rd) that a driver had won the event, until 2007 when Kevin Harvick started one spot further back than Allison.[2] 1978 would be final year for the AMC Matador with Jocko Maggiacomo's entry.[3] First Daytona 500 starts for Bill Elliott, Blackie Wangerin, Morgan Shepherd, and Harry Gant.[3] Only Daytona 500 starts for Roger Hamby, Roland Wlodyka, Jerry Jolly, Claude Ballot-Léna, and Al Holbert.[3] Last Daytona 500 starts for Ron Hutcherson, Ferrel Harris, Skip Manning, Dick May, Jimmy Lee Capps, and Joe Mihalic.[3]

Denver racer Jerry Jolly made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut and finished 20th, his best in the series. This would be the only one of his five Winston Cup starts where he was running at the finish.[3] This was done in spite of a cut tire on the 92nd lap that started a four-car incident that also involved the cars of Cecil Gordon, Jimmy Lee Capps, and Tighe Scott.[3] All four were running at the finish of a race that had a remarkably low amount of attrition for a race of that era.[3] Only 14 of the 41 cars that started failed to make it to the finish, with a high percentage of those who failed to make it to the finish being some of the sport's top drivers.[3]

This was the last Daytona 500 until the 2019 Daytona 500 without an Earnhardt in the field.[3]

Notable crew chiefs who participated in this race included Darrell Bryant, Junie Donlavey, Jake Elder, Joey Arrington, Herb Nab, Dale Inman, Bud Moore and Harry Hyde.[4]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Entrant Manufacturer Laps Winnings Laps led Time/Status Points
1 33 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering Ford 200 $56,300 28 3:07:49 180
2 1 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Oldsmobile 200 $41,900 43 +33.2 175
3 8 72 Benny Parsons L. G. DeWitt Oldsmobile 199 $31,865 2 +1 Lap 170
4 2 53 Ron Hutcherson A. J. Foyt Enterprises Buick 199 $22,250 0 +1 Lap 160
5 32 90 Dick Brooks Donlavey Racing Mercury 198 $19,925 0 +2 Laps 155
6 10 2 Dave Marcis Rod Osterlund Chevrolet 198 $15,600 0 +2 Laps 150
7 31 27 Buddy Baker M. C. Anderson Oldsmobile 196 $16,395 76 Engine 156
8 9 9 Bill Elliott Elliott Racing Mercury 195 $12,085 0 +5 Laps 142
9 23 6 Ferrel Harris Jim Stacy Dodge 195 $11,175 0 +5 Laps 138
10 28 54 Lennie Pond Ranier Racing Oldsmobile 195 $10,285 0 +5 Laps 134
11 11 30 Tighe Scott Walter Ballard Oldsmobile 194 $10,605 0 +6 Laps 130
12 18 92 Skip Manning Billy Hagan Buick 194 $9,560 0 +6 Laps 127
13 19 3 Richard Childress Richard Childress Racing Oldsmobile 194 $8,665 0 +6 Laps 124
14 13 41 Grant Adcox Herb Adcox Chevrolet 193 $6,370 0 +7 Laps 121
15 30 17 Roger Hamby Hamby Motorsports Chevrolet 193 $6,185 0 +7 Laps 118
16 17 67 Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington Dodge 192 $6,845 0 +8 Laps 115
17 40 40 D. K. Ulrich D. K. Ulrich Chevrolet 192 $6,150 0 +8 Laps 112
18 25 57 Dick May Alfred McClure Ford 192 $4,410 0 +8 Laps 109
19 15 98 Roland Wlodyka Rod Osterlund Buick 192 $4,150 0 +8 Laps 106
20 26 28 Jerry Jolly Charles Dean Chevrolet 191 $3,720 0 +9 Laps 103
21 41 24 Cecil Gordon Gordon Racing Chevrolet 191 $4,110 0 +9 Laps 100
22 35 49 Claude Ballot-Léna G. C. Spencer Dodge 190 $2,835 0 +10 Laps –
23 27 26 Jimmy Lee Capps David Lee Sellers Chevrolet 189 $2,805 0 +11 Laps 94
24 34 79 Frank Warren Frank Warren Dodge 188 $3,125 0 +12 Laps 91
25 38 64 Tommy Gale Elmo Langley Ford 185 $3,350 0 +15 Laps 88
26 16 14 Coo Coo Marlin H. B. Cunningham Chevrolet 179 $2,425 0 +21 Laps 85
27 12 5 Neil Bonnett Jim Stacy Dodge 150 $5,750 0 Engine 82
28 4 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Racing Chevrolet 138 $16,050 12 +62 Laps 84
29 14 48 Al Holbert James Hylton Chevrolet 136 $3,065 0 Engine 76
30 22 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Chevrolet 132 $2,880 0 +68 Laps 73
31 21 61 Joe Mihalic Jim Norris Oldsmobile 110 $2,200 0 Engine 70
32 3 51 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises Buick 68 $12,675 0 Crash –
33 6 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 60 $11,600 39 Crash 69
34 5 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 60 $6,775 0 Crash 61
35 39 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 41 $2,395 0 Engine 58
36 29 39 Blackie Wangerin Blackie Wangerin Mercury 30 $1,950 0 Engine 55
37 36 22 Ricky Rudd Al Rudd Chevrolet 21 $4,375 0 Handling 52
38 24 89 Jim Vandiver O. L. Nixon Chevrolet 19 $1,975 0 Engine 49
39 7 1 Donnie Allison Hoss Ellington Oldsmobile 9 $4,325 0 Body dam 46
40 37 84 Morgan Shepherd Jim Makar Mercury 8 $1,650 0 Engine 43
41 20 66 Harry Gant Ray Emerson Buick 1 $1,975 0 Engine 40
Source:[5]

Media

Television

The Daytona 500 was covered by ABC for the seventeenth and final time. ABC aired reports during the early stages of the race and then live coverage started at 3:00pm and was two thirds into the race and continued into the end of the race. Jim McKay and three time Formula One World Champion Jackie Stewart called the race from the broadcast booth. Chris Economaki handled pit road for the television side.

ABC
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap Color-commentators
Jim McKay Jackie Stewart Chris Economaki

References

  1. ^ "Weather of the 1978 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e f NASCAR.COM – Daytona Countdown: '78 – Jan 21, 2005
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "1978 Daytona 500 race information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  4. ^ 1978 Daytona 500 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  5. ^ 1978 Daytona 500