1979 Texas 400

1979 Texas 400

Race details[1]
Race 14 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Texas World Speedway
Date	June 9, 1979
Official name	Texas 400
Location	Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance	250 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather	Hot with temperatures approaching 90 °F (32 °C); wind speeds up to 11.8 miles per hour (19.0 km/h)
Average speed	156.216 miles per hour (251.405 km/h)
Attendance	11,500[2]
Pole position
Driver	Buddy Baker	Ranier Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports
Laps	155
Winner
No. 88	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1979 Texas 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on June 3, 1979 at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.

By the following season, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Summary

Two hundred laps took place on an oval track spanning 2.0 miles (3.2 km).^[2] Darrell Waltrip won the race; beating Bobby Allison by 60 seconds.^[2]

Waltrip's overall speed for the race was 156.216 miles per hour (251.405 km/h) while Buddy Baker achieved the pole position for the race with a speed of 167.903 miles per hour (270.214 km/h).^[2] Total winnings for this race were $161,250 ($526,631.71 when considering inflation); Darrell would receive $21,750 of the total purse ($71,034.04 when considering inflation).^[2] Eleven thousand and five hundred fans would attend this live race with lasted more than two hours and thirty-three minutes.^[2]

Some of the more notable names to make an appearance here were: Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Cale Yarborough, Terry Labonte, Richard Petty, and J. D. McDuffie.^[2] While Jim Hurlbert and John Rezek would make their NASCAR Cup Series debut, Billy Hagan would make his grand exit after this race along with three other drivers. Bill Meazel would make his only NASCAR appearance during this event.^[3]

Finishing order

1. Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
2. Bobby Allison (No. 15)
3. Buddy Baker† (No. 28)
4. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
5. Terry Labonte (No. 44)
6. Richard Petty (No. 43)
7. Richard Childress (No. 3)
8. Joe Millikan (No. 72)
9. Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
10. James Hylton (No. 48)
11. John Rezek (No. 31)
12. Dale Earnhardt*† (No. 2)
13. Bruce Hill (No. 50)
14. J. D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
15. D. K. Ulrich (No. 40)
16. H. B. Bailey† (No. 36)
17. Billy Hagan† (No. 19)
18. Earle Canavan (No. 01)
19. Frank Warren (No. 79)
20. Tommy Gale† (No. 64)
21. Cecil Gordon† (No. 24)
22. Mike Potter (No. 76)
23. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
24. Jim Hurlbert (No. 96)
25. Benny Parsons*† (No. 27)
26. Ronnie Thomas* (No. 25)
27. Baxter Price* (No. 45)
28. Ricky Rudd* (No. 90)
29. Mike Kempton (No. 69)
30. Dick May*† (No. 09)
31. Lennie Pond* (No. 12)
32. Bill Meazell* (No. 55)
33. John Haver* (No. 58)
34. Jimmy Finger* (No. 32)

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Darrell Waltrip	2251	0
2	Bobby Allison	2183	-68
3	Cale Yarborough	2057	-194
4	Richard Petty	2037	-214
5	Dale Earnhardt	1888	-363
6	Joe Millikan	1872	-379
7	Benny Parsons	1837	-414
8	Terry Labonte	1736	-515
9	Buddy Baker	1704	-547
10	D.K. Ulrich	1700	-551

References

1. "1979 Texas 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
2. "1979 Texas 400 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
3. "Notable events at the 1979 Texas 400". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-05-08.