1980 Daytona 500

1980 Daytona 500
Race details[1]
Race 2 of 31 in the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1980 Daytona 500 program cover
1980 Daytona 500 program cover
Date February 17, 1980 (1980-02-17)
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 77 °F (25 °C); wind speeds of 19.4 miles per hour (31.2 km/h)[2]
Average speed 177.602 miles per hour (285.823 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Ranier-Lundy Racing
Time 46.368
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Neil Bonnett Wood Brothers Racing
Duel 2 Winner Donnie Allison Hoss Ellington
Most laps led
Driver Buddy Baker Ranier-Lundy Racing
Laps 143
Winner
No. 28 Buddy Baker Ranier-Lundy Racing
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Lap-by-lap: Ken Squier
Driver analyst: David Hobbs
Pit reporter: Ned Jarrett
Pit reporter: Brock Yates

The 22nd annual Daytona 500 was held February 17, 1980, at Daytona International Speedway. Buddy Baker started the decade by winning the fastest Daytona 500 in history, at 177.602 mph (285.823 km/h), it was Baker's only 500 win and did so in his 18th start, the longest until Dale Earnhardt in 1998.[3]

Race report

The 1980 Daytona Speedweeks was marred by the death of Ricky Knotts, who was killed in a crash during the heat races that determine the starting field, as a result of a broken seat mount. [4][5] The field of 40 cars was determined by the format consisting of the top two speeds in qualifying, top 14 non-qualified cars in each heat race, and the top ten cars on qualifying speed among cars that did not finish in the top 15 in their heat. The top two owners of 1979 among non-qualified cars (provisional starters) that made an attempt filled the field to 42.

Buddy Baker scored a dominant victory, leading 150 of 200 laps. Bonnett was on the lead lap in the final lap when his engine failed.[1] By rule, he finished ahead of Earnhardt, who was one lap down and since Bonnett started his 200th lap, could not be caught for third.[1] The fast pace of the race contributed to many engine failures.[1] Earnhardt started his 20 years of Daytona 500 misfortune when, while running a close 2nd behind Baker, his team left one lugnut off a wheel on the final pit stop which forced Earnhardt to pit again, dropping a lap off the pace.[1]

Dave Marcis drove this race with a broken rib after a crash at the end of the Sportsman 300 the day before this race; ultimately finishing in 22nd place.[1]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Led Points
1 1 28 Buddy Baker Ranier-Lundy Racing Oldsmobile 200 2:48:55 143 185
2 9 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering Mercury 200 Lead lap, under caution 9 175
3 3 21 Neil Bonnett Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 199 Engine 8 170
4 32 2 Dale Earnhardt Rod Osterlund Racing Oldsmobile 199 +1 Lap 10 165
5 14 27 Benny Parsons M. C. Anderson Racing Oldsmobile 197 +3 Laps 0 155
6 17 44 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 197 +3 Laps 0 150
7 2 1 Donnie Allison Ellington Racing Oldsmobile 195 +5 Laps 2 151
8 36 14 Sterling Marlin Cunningham-Kelley Racing Chevrolet 194 +6 Laps 0 142
9 12 75 Lennie Pond RahMoc Enterprises Buick 194 +6 Laps 0 138
10 27 90 Jody Ridley Donlavey Racing Mercury 194 +6 Laps 0 134
11 18 82 Janet Guthrie Rod Osterlund Racing Chevrolet 193 +7 Laps 0 130
12 24 9 Bill Elliott Elliott Racing Mercury 192 +8 Laps 0 127
13 22 3 Richard Childress Richard Childress Racing Oldsmobile 190 +10 Laps 0 124
14 39 53 Slick Johnson Johnson Racing Chevrolet 189 +11 Laps 0 121
15 26 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Buick 188 +12 Laps 0 118
16 23 17 Don Whittington Hamby Motorsports Chevrolet 187 +13 Laps 0 115
17 28 74 Joe Booher Wawak Racing Buick 186 +14 Laps 0 –
18 6 33 John Anderson Draime Enterprises Oldsmobile 183 Vibration 0 109
19 5 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Oldsmobile 183 +17 Laps 24 111
20 29 64 Tommy Gale Langley Racing Ford 176 +24 Laps 0 103
21 19 24 Cecil Gordon Gordon Racing Oldsmobile 176 +24 Laps 0 100
22 13 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Oldsmobile 174 +26 Laps 0 97
23 20 73 Bill Schmitt Schmitt Motorsports Oldsmobile 172 Engine 0 94
24 38 05 Bill Elswick RahMoc Enterprises Oldsmobile 161 Engine 0 91
25 4 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Oldsmobile 157 Clutch 4 93
26 37 48 James Hylton Hylton Motorsports Oldsmobile 155 +45 Laps 0 85
27 25 19 J. D. McDuffie Gray Racing Buick 150 Engine 0 82
28 34 00 John Utsman Ed Whitaker Chevrolet 149 +51 Laps 0 79
29 33 25 Ronnie Thomas Robertson Racing Buick 134 Engine 0 76
30 21 8 Kevin Housby Housby Racing Oldsmobile 80 Engine 0 73
31 11 51 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises Oldsmobile 69 Quit 0 70
32 42 40 Bill Whittington Ulrich Racing Buick 66 Engine 0 67
33 35 50 Bruce Hill Ballard Racing Oldsmobile 57 Engine 0 64
34 8 72 Joe Millikan DeWitt Racing Oldsmobile 52 Engine 0 61
35 15 68 Chuck Bown Testa Racing Oldsmobile 50 Clutch 0 58
36 41 7 Dick Brooks Nelson Malloch Racing Oldsmobile 44 Axle 0 55
37 40 89 Jim Vandiver O. L. Nixon Oldsmobile 38 Transmission 0 52
38 30 79 Jim Hurlbert Warren Racing Dodge 33 Clutch 0 49
39 16 30 Tighe Scott Ballard Racing Buick 24 Engine 0 46
40 7 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Racing Oldsmobile 20 Engine 0 43
41 31 67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Dodge 17 Engine 0 40
42 10 47 Harry Gant Race Hill Farm Team Oldsmobile 15 Engine 0 37
Source:[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "1980 Daytona 500". Racing-Reference.info.
  2. ^ Weather information for the 1980 Daytona 500 at Old Farmers Almanac
  3. ^ Aumann, Mark (January 26, 2005). "Daytona Countdown: '80". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  4. ^ "Driver Young dies in crash at Daytona". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago. February 14, 1987. p. 94. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  5. ^ Holliman, Ray. Desire for success kills Ricky Knotts, St. Petersburg Times, February 15, 1980, Retrieved 2010-06-25
  6. ^ 1980 Daytona 500
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1980 		Succeeded by