1978 Talladega 500

Race 19 of 30

Talladega
188 laps
Time of race: 2:51:43
Average speed of winner: 174.700 mph
Margin of victory: 2 car lengths
Lead changes: 67 among 9 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 17 laps
Lap leaders: Yarborough 1-2, Baker 3, Yarborough 4, Pearson 5, Baker 6-9, Yarborough 10-11, Waltrip 12, Baker 13-14, Yarborough 15, Baker 16-19, Yarborough 20-22, Baker 23-25, Yarborough 26-28, Baker 29-35, Waltrip 36-38, Petty 39, Baker 40, Parsons 41-42, Pearson 43, Parsons 44, Pearson 45, Yarborough 46, Pearson 47, Yarborough 48, Petty 49, Yarborough 50, Bonnett 51-52, D. Allison 53, Petty 54-55, Baker 56-63, Yarborough 64, Baker 65, Yarborough 66, Baker 67, Yarborough 68-69, Baker 70-71, Yarborough 72-73, Baker 74-78, Yarborough 79, Pond 80-81, Baker 82-84, Yarborough 85, Baker 86, Yarborough 87-88, Pond 89-91, Yarborough 92-101, Pond 102-106, Yarborough 107-110, Pond 111, Yarborough 112, Pond 113, Yarborough 114-122, Pond 123, Petty 124, Parsons 125-126, Pearson 127, Pond 128, Pearson 129, Baker 130-135, D. Allison 136, Baker 137-141, D. Allison 142-143, Yarborough 144-145, Baker 146-148, Yarborough 149-176, Pond 177-179, Parsons 180-183, Pond 184-188

Race notes: Only win for Lennie Pond.

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	5	Lennie Pond	54	W.I.N.	Oldsmobile	Ranier	Wilson		188	9	22	running	19600	180
2	9	Donnie Allison	1	Hawaiian Tropic	Oldsmobile	Ellington	Pittman		188	3	4	running	12200	175
3	2	Benny Parsons	72	1st National City Travelers Checks	Oldsmobile	L.G. DeWitt	Elder		188	4	9	running	13300	170
4	1	Cale Yarborough	11	1st National City Travelers Checks	Oldsmobile	Johnson	Carter	192.917	188	22	79	running	17000	170
5	3	David Pearson	21	Purolator	Mercury	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		187	6	6	running	6100	160
6	20	Bobby Allison	15	Norris Industries	Ford	Moore	Moore		186	0	0	running	8440	150
7	6	Richard Petty	43	STP	Dodge	Petty	Inman		186	4	5	running	7740	151
8	14	Neil Bonnett	5	Armor-All	Chevrolet	Stacy			183	1	2	running	6640	147
9	15	Dick Brooks	90	Truxmore	Mercury	Donlavey			182	0	0	running	5490	138
10	17	Tighe Scott	30	Russ Togs	Oldsmobile	Ballard			181	0	0	running	5070	134
11	24	Ferrel Harris	8	Autowize	Chevrolet	Robert Gee			181	0	0	running	4785	130
12	27	Dale Earnhardt	96	Cardinal Tractor	Ford	Cronkite			180	0	0	running	2740	127
13	19	Bill Elliott	9	Dahlonega Ford Sales	Mercury	George Elliott	Elliott		179	0	0	running	2640	124
14	25	Dave Marcis	2	Osterlund	Oldsmobile	Osterlund	Livengood		176	0	0	running	3850	121
15	29	Buddy Arrington	67	Sam Dell	Dodge	Arrington			175	0	0	running	4130	118
16	34	Dick May	19	Belden Asphalt	Chevrolet	Henley Gray			172	0	0	running	3870	115
17	23	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Chevrolet	McDuffie			172	0	0	running	3635	112
18	38	Marty Robbins	42	Marty Robbins Racing	Dodge	Robbins			171	0	0	running	2240	109
19	41	D.K. Ulrich	40	Midwestern Farm Lines	Chevrolet	Ulrich			168	0	0	running	3250	106
20	30	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			168	0	0	running	2940	103
21	31	Gary Myers	4	Spencer's Body Wear	Chevrolet	Gary Myers			167	0	0	running	1890	100
22	33	Grant Adcox	41	Krystal	Chevrolet	Adcox			165	0	0	running	1840	97
23	32	Baxter Price	45	Price Racing	Chevrolet	Baxter Price			165	0	0	running	2430	94
24	35	Ronnie Thomas	25	Louise Smith	Chevrolet	Don Robertson			164	0	0	running	3870	91
25	18	Richard Childress	3	Kansas Jack	Oldsmobile	Childress			164	0	0	running	2310	88
26	8	Coo Coo Marlin	14	Cunningham-Kelley	Chevrolet	Cunningham-Kelley			158	0	0	engine	1640	85
27	40	Steve Moore	73	Willard-Moore	Chevrolet	Steve Moore			150	0	0	running	1590	82
28	4	Buddy Baker	27	Howell Heflin	Oldsmobile	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		149	17	57	valve	5040	84
29	12	Janet Guthrie	68	Kelly Girl	Buick	Ferreri			129	0	0	accident	1990	76
30	28	Al Holbert	48	Southland Industries	Oldsmobile	Hylton	Shelmerdine		124	0	0	timing chain	1930	73
31	39	Earle Canavan	01	Pepsi	Dodge	Canavan			119	0	0	running	1280	0
32	36	Jimmy Means	52	WIXC	Chevrolet	Means			118	0	0	accident	1755	67
33	13	Frank Warren	79	Native Tan	Dodge	Frank Warren			110	0	0	running	1730	64
34	11	Darrell Waltrip	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Buddy Parrott		105	2	4	engine	5205	66
35	21	Bruce Hill	05	Bearfinder	Oldsmobile	Clary			96	0	0	axle housing	1480	58
36	37	Roger Hamby	17	Kockum's	Chevrolet	Hamby			94	0	0	clutch	1155	55
37	16	Claude Ballot-Léna	49	JMS	Dodge	G.C. Spencer			48	0	0	engine	1130	0
38	10	Skip Manning	92	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan			46	0	0	engine	1605	49
39	7	Ricky Rudd	22	1st National City Travelers Checks	Chevrolet	Al Rudd			22	0	0	cylinder head	2580	46
40	26	Blackie Wangerin	39	Wangerin	Mercury	Wangerin			9	0	0	valve lifter	980	43
41	22	James Hylton	12	Rudd Auto Parts	Buick	Al Rudd			1	0	0	transmission	1130	0

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Cale Yarborough	2982	19	5	5	14	14
2	Dave Marcis	2824	19	0	0	11	15
3	Benny Parsons	2801	19	2	3	11	13
4	Bobby Allison	2579	19	1	2	6	12
5	Darrell Waltrip	2568	19	0	5	9	10
6	Richard Petty	2515	19	0	0	7	11
7	Lennie Pond	2391	17	3	1	10	12
8	Buddy Arrington	2328	19	0	0	1	4
9	Richard Childress	2278	19	0	0	1	9
10	Dick Brooks	2245	19	0	0	2	9
11	D.K. Ulrich	2139	19	0	0	0	2
12	Tighe Scott	2107	19	0	0	0	6
13	Neil Bonnett	2005	19	3	0	4	8
14	Frank Warren	1954	19	0	0	0	0
15	J.D. McDuffie	1953	19	0	0	1	3
16	David Pearson	1872	14	4	3	8	8
17	Dick May	1769	17	0	0	0	0
18	Jimmy Means	1708	17	0	0	0	2
19	Cecil Gordon	1669	17	0	0	0	1
20	Skip Manning	1665	15	0	0	1	4
21	Ronnie Thomas	1653	17	0	0	0	1
22	Tommy Gale	1542	15	0	0	0	0
23	Baxter Price	1506	15	0	0	0	0
24	Roger Hamby	1392	15	0	0	0	0
25	Buddy Baker	1315	11	1	0	2	6