1979 Champion Spark Plug 400

The 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 19, 1979, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

1979 Champion Spark Plug 400
Race details[1][2][3]
Race 21 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
Date August 19, 1979 (1979-August-19)
Official name Champion Spark Plug 400
Location Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Permanent racing facility
2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed 130.367 miles per hour (209.805 km/h)
Attendance 60,000[4]
Pole position
Driver
Osterlund Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Buddy Baker Ranier Racing
Laps 115
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network
Booth Announcers Jack Arute & Barney Hall
Turn Announcers Turns 1 & 2: Mike Joy
Turns 3 & 4: Eli Gold
Pit Reporter: Ned Jarrett

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[5] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees.[5] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.[5]

Race report

There were 36 American-born male drivers on the grid.[4][3]

David Pearson driving in place of an injured Dale Earnhardt earned the pole position with a speed of 162.992 miles per hour (262.310 km/h) .[4][2]Richard Petty defeated Buddy Baker[3] by one second in essentially a fuel mileage race that determined whoever could preserve the most fuel.[4][2] There were 21 lead changes and five caution flags for 35 laps; making the race three hours and four minutes long while the average speed was 130.376 miles per hour (209.820 km/h).[4][2]

Blackie Wangerin would receive the last-place finish due to a crash with H.B. Bailey on lap 2 which resulted in Wangerin's car flipping outside of the track in Turn 3 which resulted in a lengthy red flag to rebuild the turns 3 and 4 guardrail. John Anderson got his only top five finish in his Cup debut.[4][2][3]

Al Rudd, Jr. would race his only NASCAR event here. The entire purse was $142,905 ($576,206.59 when adjusted for inflation).[6] Notable crew chiefs for this race were Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Harry Hyde, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder.[7]

Jan Opperman, in a car owned by Will Cronkite was the only driver to not qualify.

Qualifying
Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 2David PearsonChevroletRod Osterlund
2 15Bobby AllisonFordBud Moore
3 21Neil BonnettMercuryWood Brothers
4 44Terry LabonteChevroletBilly Hagan
5 43Richard PettyChevroletPetty Enterprises
6 27Benny ParsonsChevroletM.C. Anderson
7 72Joe MillikanChevroletL.G. DeWitt
8 11Cale YarboroughChevroletJunior Johnson
9 47Harry GantChevroletJack Beebe
10 88Darrell WaltripChevroletDiGard

Failed to qualify: Jan Opperman (#96)[8]

Finishing order
Fin St Car # Driver Sponsor (Owner) Car Make Laps Money Status Led Points
1 5 43 Richard Petty STP (Petty Enterprises) Chevrolet 200 21100 running 9 180
2 11 28 Buddy Baker W.I.N. (Harry Ranier) Chevrolet 200 12425 running 115 180
3 6 27 Benny Parsons Melling Tool (M.C. Anderson) Chevrolet 200 12820 running 0 165
4 1 2 David Pearson (Rod Osterlund) Chevrolet 199 10215 running 0 160
5 20 08 John Anderson Draime Race Engines (Russ Draime) Chevrolet 199 4355 running 0 155
6 7 72 Joe Millikan Appliance Wheels (L.G. DeWitt) Chevrolet 199 7195 running 8 155
7 16 90 Ricky Rudd Truxmore (Junie Donlavey) Mercury 199 5320 running 0 146
8 28 30 Tighe Scott Russ Togs (Walter Ballard) Buick 197 4890 running 0 142
9 15 70 J.D. McDuffie Bailey Excavating (J.D. McDuffie) Chevrolet 197 4670 running 0 138
10 12 3 Richard Childress CRC Chemicals (Richard Childress) Oldsmobile 197 4550 running 0 134
11 13 17 Bill Elliott Knutsons RV (George Elliott) Mercury 195 4120 running 0 130
12 31 48 James Hylton Palatine Automotive Parts (James Hylton) Chevrolet 195 3850 running 0 127
13 34 42 Kyle Petty STP (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 195 1675 running 0 124
14 18 64 Tommy Gale Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley) Ford 193 3130 running 0 121
15 29 0 John Kennedy Avanti CB (John Kennedy) Chevrolet 188 1490 running 0
16 30 79 Frank Warren Native Tan (Frank Warren) Dodge 188 2725 running 0 115
17 8 11 Cale Yarborough Busch (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 185 6270 engine 3 117
18 35 24 Cecil Gordon Gordon Racing (Cecil Gordon) Oldsmobile 183 2300 running 0 109
19 10 88 Darrell Waltrip Gatorade (DiGard Racing) Chevrolet 173 4775 running 0 106
20 22 67 Buddy Arrington Hills Racing (Buddy Arrington) Dodge 150 1965 engine 0 103
21 26 45 Baxter Price Iron Peddlers (Baxter Price) Oldsmobile 146 1920 running 0 100
22 19 52 Jimmy Means Mr. Transmission (Jimmy Means) Chevrolet 145 1875 running 0 97
23 2 15 Bobby Allison Hodgdon/Moore (Bud Moore) Ford 141 4935 engine 38 99
24 32 25 Ronnie Thomas Stone's Cafeteria (Don Robertson) Chevrolet 131 2785 overheating 0 91
25 9 47 Harry Gant Race Hill Farm (Jack Beebe) Chevrolet 129 875 clutch 5 93
26 4 44 Terry Labonte Stratagraph (Billy Hagan) Chevrolet 108 1475 engine 5 90
27 33 6 Marty Robbins Robbins Racing (Marty Robbins) Dodge 96 825 engine 0 82
28 17 40 D.K. Ulrich Midwestern Farm Lines (D.K. Ulrich) Buick 85 1300 running 0 79
29 14 05 Dick Brooks Bearfinder (Nelson Malloch) Chevrolet 81 785 exhaust 0 76
30 21 71 Dave Marcis Transmissions Unlimited (Dave Marcis) Chevrolet 67 765 engine 0 73
31 24 19 Lennie Pond Belden Asphalt (Henley Gray) Chevrolet 57 1250 overheating 0 70
32 23 22 Al Rudd, Jr. Bill Lewis (Al Rudd) Chevrolet 39 740 clutch 0
33 3 21 Neil Bonnett Purolator (Wood Brothers) Mercury 28 1405 ignition 17 69
34 36 01 Earle Canavan Scope Mount (Earle Canavan) Dodge 23 720 engine 0
35 25 36 H.B. Bailey Caldwell Knapp Cadillac (H.B. Bailey) Pontiac 2 710 crash 0 58
36 27 39 Blackie Wangerin (Blackie Wangerin) Mercury 2 700 crash 0 55
Failed to qualify
Name Car # Sponsor Owner Car
Jan Opperman 96 Will Cronkrite Ford

Source: [9]

Standings after the race
Pos Driver Points[4] Differential
1 Darrell Waltrip 3352 0
2 Richard Petty 3197 -155
3 Cale Yarborough 3063 -289
4 Bobby Allison 3023 -329
5 Benny Parsons 2827 -525
6 Increase Joe Millikan 2719 -633
7 Decrease Dale Earnhardt 2588 -764
8 Richard Childress 2524 -828
9 J.D. McDuffie 2510 -842
10 Buddy Arrington 2415 -937

References
  1. Weather for the 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Race Database
  3. 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine racing information at Driver Averages
  4. 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Racing Reference
  5. "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  6. 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing purse at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  7. 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  8. Qualifying information Archived 2017-08-21 at the Wayback Machine at Racing Reference
  9. "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
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