1981 Southern 500

Race 23 of 31

Darlington
367 laps
Time of race: 3:57:57
Average speed of winner: 126.410 mph
Margin of victory: 1 car length
Lead changes: 23 among 9 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 45 laps
Lap leaders: Gant 1-31, Yarborough 32-55, Gant 56-67, Marcis 68, Allison 69, Bonnett 70-77, Gant 78-99, Baker 100, Gant 101-104, Bonnett 105-116, Gant 117-125, Bonnett 126-133, R. Petty 134-163, Bonnett 164-218, R. Petty 219, Bonnett 220-285, Baker 286, Marcis 287-294, Waltrip 295, Labonte 296-298, Bonnett 299-345, Waltrip 346, Baker 347, Bonnett 348-367

Video links: Highlights

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	3	Neil Bonnett	21	Warner W. Hodgdon	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		367	7	216	running	33375	185
2	11	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer		367	2	2	running	19365	175
3	4	Dave Marcis	71	U.S. Army	Buick	Marcis			367	2	9	running	14330	170
4	6	Terry Labonte	44	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Hagan	Elder		367	1	3	running	13225	165
5	9	Buddy Baker	1	UNO	Buick	Ellington	Pittman		367	3	3	running	6500	160
6	10	Dale Earnhardt	3	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		366	0	0	running	10695	150
7	14	Bill Elliott	9	Mell-Gear Tuning Components	Ford	George Elliott	Elliott		366	0	0	running	5300	146
8	13	David Pearson	01	Ronnie Steele	Buick	Ellington	Pittman		365	0	0	running	4850	0
9	17	Bobby Allison	28	Hardee's	Chevrolet	Ranier	Wilson		365	1	1	running	9625	143
10	2	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	Ifft		363	1	24	running	5925	139
11	5	Ron Bouchard	47	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Jack Beebe			363	0	0	running	7575	130
12	23	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King Ford/Honda	Ford	Donlavey			362	0	0	running	7365	127
13	22	Lake Speed	66	Speed Racing	Buick	Speed			362	0	0	running	6155	124
14	1	Harry Gant	33	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham	Carter	152.693	360	5	78	running	9960	126
15	16	Joe Ruttman	2	Neo-Life	Pontiac	Stacy	Inman		358	0	0	running	8850	118
16	12	Morgan Shepherd	24	Gordon Racing	Buick	Cecil Gordon			358	0	0	running	5600	115
17	21	Lennie Pond	68	The 5 Racers	Buick	Pond			356	0	0	running	3150	112
18	19	Joe Millikan	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		353	0	0	running	7950	109
19	33	Dick May	8	Dick Brooks Honda	Dodge	Norman Negre			353	0	0	running	2975	106
20	29	Mike Alexander	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Oldsmobile	Bob Rogers			352	0	0	running	2700	103
21	34	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			351	0	0	running	4715	100
22	27	Tim Richmond	12	UNO	Buick	Childers			349	0	0	running	2450	97
23	7	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Chevrolet	DiGard	Nelson		343	0	0	accident	7850	94
24	40	Bobby Wawak	94	Louise Smith Special	Buick	Wawak			334	0	0	running	2375	91
25	20	Gary Balough	75	Chaparral Trailers	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		333	0	0	engine	4680	88
26	38	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Pontiac	Hylton			331	0	0	running	3770	85
27	37	Ronnie Thomas	25	Thomas Racing	Pontiac	Ronnie Thomas			311	0	0	running	3360	82
28	36	Mike Potter	17	Kings Inn	Buick	Hamby			309	0	0	running	3265	79
29	30	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford	Ford	Langley			294	0	0	running	3155	76
30	8	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		278	2	31	engine	8000	78
31	26	D.K. Ulrich	99	Ulrich Racing	Buick	Ulrich			269	0	0	engine	3060	70
32	32	Jack Ingram	13	Carolina Tool & Equipment	Ford	Hawkins			253	0	0	engine	1650	67
33	25	Johnny Rutherford	98	Levi Garrett	Pontiac	Benfield	Buddy Parrott		190	0	0	water pump	1625	0
34	18	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			130	0	0	engine	1625	61
35	24	Slick Johnson	40	Ulrich Racing	Buick	Ulrich			110	0	0	engine	1425	0
36	39	H.B. Bailey	36	Almeda Auto Parts	Pontiac	H.B. Bailey			93	0	0	accident	1325	55
37	28	Buddy Arrington	67	Hills Racing	Dodge	Arrington			85	0	0	lug bolt	1950	52
38	35	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			64	0	0	engine	1925	49
39	15	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		62	0	0	valve	6800	46
40	31	Connie Saylor	4	Spencer Racing	Oldsmobile	G.C. Spencer			6	0	0	engine	1200	43

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Bobby Allison	3488	23	2	4	14	18
2	Darrell Waltrip	3470	23	6	8	14	17
3	Harry Gant	3198	23	2	0	10	14
4	Ricky Rudd	3098	23	2	0	12	14
5	Terry Labonte	3029	23	2	0	6	12
6	Dale Earnhardt	2978	23	0	0	7	13
7	Jody Ridley	2928	23	0	1	2	13
8	Richard Petty	2916	23	0	3	11	13
9	Benny Parsons	2703	23	0	2	9	10
10	Dave Marcis	2659	23	1	0	4	8
11	Kyle Petty	2518	23	0	0	1	8
12	Buddy Arrington	2417	23	0	0	0	5
13	Morgan Shepherd	2404	21	1	1	3	8
14	Jimmy Means	2380	23	0	0	0	1
15	J.D. McDuffie	2380	22	0	0	0	1
16	Tommy Gale	2292	22	0	0	0	0
17	Tim Richmond	2189	21	0	0	0	5
18	James Hylton	2159	22	0	0	0	0
19	Richard Childress	2144	20	0	0	1	1
20	Lake Speed	2089	19	0	0	0	6
21	Cecil Gordon	1917	22	0	0	0	0
22	Cale Yarborough	1744	14	2	2	5	9
23	Mike Alexander	1717	18	0	0	0	3
24	Neil Bonnett	1711	16	1	1	4	5
25	Ronnie Thomas	1683	18	0	0	0	0