1981 Atlanta Journal 500

Race 30 of 31

Atlanta
328 laps
Time of race: 3:49:43
Average speed of winner: 130.391 mph
Margin of victory: 1 car length
Lead changes: 36 among 11 drivers
Cautions: 7 for 50 laps
Lap leaders: Gant pole, Waltrip 1-8, Bonnett 9-19, R. Petty 20-23, Bonnett 24-38, Ridley 39, Bonnett 40-65, R. Petty 66-103, Ruttman 104-106, Bonnett 107-108, Gant 109, Bonnett 110-122, Wilson 123, Gant 124-127, R. Petty 128, Bonnett 129, R. Petty 130, Bonnett 131-136, Ruttman 137-140, Bonnett 141-183, Gant 184-191, K. Petty 192-203, Bonnett 204-209, Labonte 210-221, Bonnett 222-268, Gant 269-275, Waltrip 276-277, Yarborough 278-284, Baker 285, Gant 286-290, Bonnett 291, Yarborough 292, Bonnett 293, Yarborough 294-299, Bonnett 300-326, Waltrip 327, Bonnett 328

Race notes: Debut for Delma Cowart.

Video links: Highlights (Part 1), Highlights (Part 2), Highlights (Part 3)

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Car	Owner	Crew Chief	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Money	Points
1	5	Neil Bonnett	21	Hodgdon/National Engineering	Ford	Wood Brothers	Leonard Wood		328	14	200	running	31500	185
2	2	Darrell Waltrip	11	Mountain Dew	Buick	Johnson	Brewer		328	3	11	running	17350	175
3	21	Cale Yarborough	27	Valvoline	Buick	M.C. Anderson	David Anderson		328	3	14	running	8800	170
4	6	Bobby Allison	28	Hardee's	Buick	Ranier	Wilson		328	0	0	running	12090	160
5	26	Jody Ridley	90	Truxmore/Sunny King	Ford	Donlavey			328	1	1	running	11700	160
6	4	Bill Elliott	9	Mell-Gear Tuning Components	Ford	George Elliott	Elliott		328	0	0	running	6200	150
7	12	Terry Labonte	44	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Hagan	Elder		328	1	12	running	9630	151
8	19	Kyle Petty	42	STP	Buick	Petty			328	1	12	running	6155	147
9	13	Buddy Baker	1	UNO	Buick	Ellington	Pittman		328	1	1	running	3040	143
10	15	Joe Millikan	5	Performance Connection	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant		327	0	0	running	7820	134
11	32	Rick Wilson	62	Florida Equipment & Service	Oldsmobile	Rick Wilson			327	1	1	running	3000	135
12	33	Connie Saylor	4	Spencer Racing	Oldsmobile	G.C. Spencer			323	0	0	running	2550	127
13	28	Dick Brooks	13	Carolina Tool & Equipment	Ford	Hawkins			323	0	0	running	2350	124
14	18	Lake Speed	66	Ron Steele	Buick	Speed			321	0	0	running	4900	121
15	26	Chuck Bown	16	Rose Auto Wrecking	Buick	Dick Bown			320	0	0	engine	2125	118
16	39	John Anderson	17	Kings Inn/Busch	Chevrolet	Hamby			316	0	0	running	4545	0
17	34	Buddy Arrington	67	Kyle Petty's Boot Barn	Dodge	Arrington			315	0	0	running	4310	112
18	40	Delma Cowart	0	Coastal Transmission	Buick	H.L. Waters			315	0	0	running	1940	109
19	24	James Hylton	48	Palatine Automotive	Buick	Hylton			303	0	0	running	4045	106
20	1	Harry Gant	33	Skoal Bandit	Pontiac	Needham	Carter	163.266	291	5	25	engine	5565	108
21	16	Tim Richmond	37	Rogers Auto Leasing	Buick	Bob Rogers			287	0	0	engine	2945	100
22	35	Tommy Gale	64	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	Langley			277	0	0	running	3300	97
23	37	J.D. McDuffie	70	Bailey Excavating	Pontiac	McDuffie			259	0	0	water pump	3035	94
24	9	Dale Earnhardt	3	Wrangler Jeans	Pontiac	Childress	Shelmerdine		222	0	0	engine	4290	91
25	8	Joe Ruttman	2	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Stacy	Inman		207	2	7	engine	6420	93
26	3	Richard Petty	43	STP	Buick	Petty	Hmiel		207	4	44	engine	6380	90
27	30	D.K. Ulrich	99	Ulrich Racing	Buick	Ulrich			198	0	0	engine	2195	82
28	22	Dave Marcis	71	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Marcis			174	0	0	valve spring	2175	79
29	31	Rusty Wallace	72	Kangaroos	Buick	Childs			156	0	0	oil pressure	1900	0
30	10	Geoff Bodine	01	Downey's Auto Parts	Buick	Zervakis			143	0	0	engine	890	0
31	20	Morgan Shepherd	96	Levi Garrett	Buick	Benfield			123	0	0	oil pump	860	70
32	38	Travis Tiller	46	Ring Enterprises	Chevrolet	Tiller			111	0	0	engine	850	67
33	7	Tommy Ellis	55	Industrial Boilers	Chevrolet	Tommy Ellis			97	0	0	engine	840	64
34	17	Gary Balough	75	Chaparral Trailers	Buick	RahMoc	Rahilly		89	0	0	accident	2085	61
35	36	Jimmy Means	52	Broadway Motors	Pontiac	Means			66	0	0	engine	2055	58
36	11	Benny Parsons	15	Melling Tool Company	Ford	Moore	Moore		42	0	0	steering	6250	55
37	27	Johnny Rutherford	98	Levi Garrett	Buick	Benfield	Buddy Parrott		39	0	0	transmission	640	52
38	14	Ricky Rudd	88	Gatorade	Buick	DiGard	Nelson		36	0	0	engine	6070	49
39	23	Ron Bouchard	47	J.D. Stacy Racing	Buick	Jack Beebe			23	0	0	engine	1065	46
40	29	H.B. Bailey	36	Almeda Auto Parts	Pontiac	H.B. Bailey			1	0	0	accident	550	0

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Darrell Waltrip	4725	30	10	12	21	24
2	Bobby Allison	4642	30	2	4	20	25
3	Harry Gant	4066	30	3	0	13	17
4	Ricky Rudd	3948	30	3	0	14	17
5	Terry Labonte	3882	30	2	0	7	16
6	Jody Ridley	3864	30	0	1	3	17
7	Dale Earnhardt	3818	30	0	0	8	16
8	Richard Petty	3737	30	0	3	12	15
9	Dave Marcis	3417	30	1	0	4	9
10	Benny Parsons	3365	30	0	3	10	12
11	Buddy Arrington	3293	30	0	0	0	7
12	Kyle Petty	3283	30	0	0	1	10
13	Jimmy Means	3145	30	0	0	0	2
14	Morgan Shepherd	3140	28	1	1	3	10
15	Tommy Gale	3058	29	0	0	0	0
16	Tim Richmond	2991	28	0	0	0	6
17	J.D. McDuffie	2865	27	0	0	0	1
18	Lake Speed	2705	26	0	0	0	6
19	James Hylton	2644	27	0	0	0	0
20	Joe Millikan	2527	22	0	0	2	9
21	Ron Bouchard	2463	21	1	1	5	11
22	Neil Bonnett	2385	21	1	3	7	8
23	Cecil Gordon	2320	26	0	0	0	0
24	Cale Yarborough	2201	18	2	2	6	10
25	Richard Childress	2144	20	0	0	1	1