1981 Talladega 500

Race 20 of 31

Talladega
188 laps
Time of race: 3:11:24
Average speed of winner: 156.737 mph
Margin of victory: 2 feet
Lead changes: 39 among 10 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 36 laps
Lap leaders: Gant pole, Allison 1, Gant 2, Bonnett 3-4, Earnhardt 5-7, Bonnett 8-11, Earnhardt 12-13, Allison 14-35, Labonte 36, Bouchard 37, Waltrip 38, Allison 39-49, Yarborough 50-51, Allison 52, Yarborough 53, Allison 54-57, Yarborough 58-60, Balough 61, Allison 62-83, Waltrip 84, Allison 85-92, Waltrip 93-94, Allison 95-96, Waltrip 97-102, Bouchard 103, Speed 104-110, Waltrip 111-114, Labonte 115-120, Bouchard 121-122, Labonte 123, Waltrip 124-139, Bouchard 140, Allison 141-149, Speed 150-152, Labonte 153-154, Gant 155, Allison 156-180, Labonte 181, Waltrip 182-187, Bouchard 188

Race notes: Only win for Ron Bouchard. Debut for Terry Herman. Finale for Sandy Satullo.

Video links: Highlights

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	10	Ron Bouchard	47	Race Hill Farm	Buick	Jack Beebe			188	5	6	running	38905	180
2	13	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer		188	7	36	running	23000	175
3	4	Terry Labonte	44	Stratagraph	Buick	Hagan	Elder		188	5	11	running	18500	170
4	1	Harry Gant	33	Skoal Bandit	Buick	Needham	Carter	195.897	188	2	2	running	10000	165
5	2	Bobby Allison	28	Hardee's	Buick	Ranier	Wilson		188	10	105	running	17825	165
6	35	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing Team	Buick	Speed			187	2	10	running	9345	155
7	31	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			187	0	0	running	6800	146
8	27	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King Ford/Honda	Ford	Donlavey			187	0	0	running	7665	142
9	16	Stan Barrett	22	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham			186	0	0	running	3575	138
10	14	Dave Marcis	71	Paul Young Leasing	Buick	Marcis			185	0	0	running	6305	134
11	18	Bill Elliott	9	Mell-Gear Tuning Components	Ford	George Elliott	Elliott		185	0	0	running	3200	130
12	26	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	86	Cal-Tex	Buick	Howard and Egerton			184	0	0	running	3175	127
13	22	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		184	0	0	running	8450	124
14	40	Terry Herman	99	Kargas Sports/Jim Davis	Buick	Ulrich			183	0	0	running	5535	0
15	32	Dick May	19	Belden Asphalt	Buick	Henley Gray			181	0	0	running	2800	118
16	28	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			180	0	0	running	5200	115
17	34	Cecil Gordon	24	Gordon Racing	Buick	Cecil Gordon			180	0	0	running	4865	112
18	37	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			177	0	0	running	4605	109
19	39	Bobby Wawak	94	Louise Smith Special	Buick	Wawak			175	0	0	running	2550	106
20	9	Rick Wilson	62	Florida Equipment & Service	Oldsmobile	Rick Wilson			148	0	0	accident	2625	103
21	19	Rusty Wallace	98	Levi Garrett	Pontiac	Benfield	Buddy Parrott		147	0	0	engine	2225	100
22	8	Joe Ruttman	6	5 Racers Corp.	Buick	Stacy			134	0	0	brakes	2175	97
23	12	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Buick	DiGard	Nelson		133	0	0	running	7575	94
24	11	Lennie Pond	68	5 Racers Corp.	Buick	Pond			113	0	0	rear end	2075	91
25	41	Gary Balough	75	5 Racers Corp.	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		113	1	1	engine	3570	0
26	17	Richard Childress	3	Ronnie Steele	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		111	0	0	engine	3550	85
27	36	Mike Potter	17	Kings Inn Daytona	Buick	Hamby			100	0	0	transmission	3490	0
28	5	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		83	3	6	accident	2725	84
29	3	Dale Earnhardt	2	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Stacy	Richert		83	2	5	transmission	9375	81
30	30	Bruce Hill	50	Native Tan	Buick	Bruce Hill			75	0	0	engine	1700	73
31	38	Sandy Satullo	38	Copper Kettle Marina	Buick	Satullo			68	0	0	engine	1500	70
32	7	Buddy Baker	1	UNO	Buick	Ellington	Pittman		64	0	0	engine	1475	67
33	29	Connie Saylor	4	Ball Equipment Company	Oldsmobile	G.C. Spencer			64	0	0	rocker arm	1450	64
34	33	Tim Richmond	12	UNO	Buick	Childers			58	0	0	engine	1425	61
35	24	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Buick	Bob Rogers			55	0	0	engine	1700	58
36	15	Morgan Shepherd	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		55	0	0	engine	6325	55
37	6	Neil Bonnett	21	Purolator	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		41	2	6	ignition	2150	57
38	23	Jack Ingram	13	Carolina Tool & Equipment	Ford	Hawkins			29	0	0	valve spring	1325	49
39	25	James Hylton	48	STP	Buick	Hylton			29	0	0	vibration	3005	46
40	20	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		12	0	0	oil pan	6650	43
41	21	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Chrysler	Arrington			10	0	0	valve	2735	40
42	42	Joe Booher	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			4	0	0	engine	1700	0

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	3029	20	2	4	13	15
2	Darrell Waltrip	2935	20	5	7	11	14
3	Harry Gant	2777	20	1	0	9	13
4	Ricky Rudd	2664	20	2	0	10	12
5	Dale Earnhardt	2608	20	0	0	7	11
6	Terry Labonte	2573	20	2	0	4	10
7	Jody Ridley	2566	20	0	1	2	13
8	Richard Petty	2562	20	0	2	10	12
9	Benny Parsons	2417	20	0	2	9	9
10	Kyle Petty	2272	20	0	0	1	8
11	Dave Marcis	2216	20	1	0	3	6
12	Buddy Arrington	2173	20	0	0	0	4
13	Richard Childress	2144	20	0	0	1	1
14	Morgan Shepherd	2117	18	1	1	3	8
15	Jimmy Means	2116	20	0	0	0	1
16	J.D. McDuffie	2041	19	0	0	0	1
17	Tommy Gale	1993	19	0	0	0	0
18	Tim Richmond	1877	18	0	0	0	4
19	James Hylton	1872	19	0	0	0	0
20	Cecil Gordon	1753	20	0	0	0	0
21	Lake Speed	1701	16	0	0	0	5
22	Ronnie Thomas	1492	16	0	0	0	0
23	Cale Yarborough	1488	12	2	2	5	8
24	Neil Bonnett	1442	14	1	0	3	4
25	Mike Alexander	1392	15	0	0	0	2