1978 Capital City 400

1978 Capital City 400
Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 23 of 30 in the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Richmond Speedway
Date September 10, 1978 (1978-September-10)
Official name Capital City 400
Location Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.542 mi (0.872 km)
Distance 400 laps, 216.8 mi (348.9 km)
Weather Extremely hot with temperatures approaching 95 °F (35 °C); wind speeds up to 17.26 miles per hour (27.78 km/h)
Average speed 79.568 miles per hour (128.052 km/h)
Attendance 18,000
Pole position
Driver
DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Neil Bonnett Osterlund Motorsports
Laps 276
Winner
No. 5 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1978 Capital City 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 10, 1978, at Richmond Fairgrounds (now Richmond Raceway) in Richmond, Virginia.

By 1980, 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.

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond.[5] The original track was paved in 1968.[6] In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration

The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway".

Summary

Four hundred laps were completed on an oval track spanning 0.546 miles (0.879 km) per lap for a grand total of 216.8 miles (348.9 km) of racing.[2] The race was completed within two hours and forty-three minutes of the first official green flag of the race.[2] Darrell Waltrip would end up defeating Bobby Allison (who drove a 1978 Ford Thunderbird) by only one second.[2][4] Neil Bonnett started chasing down Waltrip on pit road and slammed into Waltrip's vehicle; forcing Bill France, Jr. to put them on probation for the remainder of the year. The spectators were incredibly disgruntled after Darrell Waltrip's victory so Waltrip needed police protection in order to make it to the post-race interviews.[7]

When I passed Neil, I was on the inside and he was on the outside. It think it's pretty poor strategy when he doesn't move up. He actually cut into me.

— Darrell Waltrip

Eighteen thousand people were a live witness to five yellow flags being used for twenty-seven laps in addition to 16 lead changes by the drivers.[2] The pole position speed was acquired by Darrell Waltrip's Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a qualifying speed of 91.964 miles per hour (148.002 km/h) during his solo run.[2][4] Meanwhile, the average speed of the actual race would be 79.568 miles per hour (128.052 km/h).[2][4]

Notable crew chiefs for this race included Darrell Bryant, Junie Donlavey, Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, and Tim Brewer.[8]

Ed Negre would receive the last-place finish for a brake problem acquired on lap 6 of the race.[2][3][4] The top prize of the race was $13,800 ($51,778.16 when adjusted for inflation) while last placed awarded the driver with a meager $300 ($1,125.61 when adjusted for inflation).[2][3][4] Cale Yarborough would retain his lead in the championship points after this race.[2][3] 30 drivers would attend this race; all of them were born in the United States of America.[2]

Qualifying

Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 88Darrell WaltripChevroletDiGard Racing
2 15Bobby AllisonFordBud Moore
3 5Neil BonnettChevroletRod Osterlund
4 29Dave DionFordDave Dion
5 43Richard PettyChevroletPetty Enterprises
6 72Benny ParsonsChevroletL.G. DeWitt
7 90Dick BrooksFordJunie Donlavey
8 48James HyltonChevroletJames Hylton
9 54Lennie PondChevroletHarry Ranier
10 11Cale YarboroughOldsmobileJunior Johnson
11 2Dave MarcisChevroletRod Osterlund
12 70J.D. McDuffieChevroletJ.D. McDuffie
13 92Terry LabonteChevroletBilly Hagan
14 17Roger HambyChevroletRoger Hamby
15 3Richard ChildressOldsmobileRichard Childress
16 30Tighe ScottChevroletWalter Ballard
17 25Ronnie ThomasChevroletDon Robertson
18 67Buddy ArringtonDodgeBuddy Arrington
19 4Gary MyersChevroletGary Myers
20 45Baxter PriceChevroletBaxter Price
21 52Jimmy MeansChevroletJimmy Means
22 64Tommy GaleFordElmo Langley
23 81Ferrel HarrisChevroletRobert Gee
24 1Ed NegreChryslerEd Negre
25 24Cecil GordonChevroletCecil Gordon

Top ten finishers

Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps led Points Time/Status
1 188Darrell WaltripChevrolet400651802:43:19
2 215Bobby AllisonFord40044175+1 seconds
3 35Neil BonnettChevrolet400276175Lead lap under green flag
4 1011Cale YarboroughOldsmobile3990160+1 lap
5 790Dick BrooksOldsmobile3970155+3 laps
6 672Benny ParsonsFord3970150+3 laps
7 1392Terry LabonteChevrolet3920146+8 laps
8 1270J.D. McDuffieChevrolet3910142+9 laps
9 112Dave MarcisChevrolet3881143+12 laps
10 1417Roger HambyChevrolet3880134+12 laps

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

  • Start of race: Darrell Waltrip started the race with the pole position
  • Lap 6: Ed Negre abused his vehicle's brakes, causing him to exit the race prematurely
  • Lap 16: Wayne Morgan's vehicle overheated, causing him to leave the race
  • Lap 28: Ferrel Harris' vehicle also overheated, with the same consequences
  • Lap 49: Tighe Scott had a terminal crash, causing him to withdraw from the event
  • Lap 52: Dave Marcis gained the lead from Darrell Waltrip
  • Lap 53: Lennie Pond gained the lead from Dave Marcis
  • Lap 54: Neil Bonnett gained the lead from Lennie Pond
  • Lap 85: The rear end of Dave Dion's vehicle was unserviceable, causing him to leave the race
  • Lap 172: Nelson Oswald's vehicle overheated, ending his day on the track early
  • Lap 182: Darrell Waltrip gained the lead from Neil Bonnett
  • Lap 183: Bobby Allison gained the lead from Darrell Waltrip
  • Lap 184: Darrell Waltrip gained the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 191: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip
  • Lap 198: Tommy Gale's engine became problematic, causing him not to finish the race
  • Lap 256: Frank Warren's vehicle had some handling issues, ending his race prematurely
  • Lap 265: Richard Petty took over the lead from Neil Bonnett
  • Lap 266: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty
  • Lap 267: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 274: Richard Petty took over the lead from Neil Bonnett
  • Lap 286: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Richard Petty
  • Lap 343: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Neil Bonnett
  • Lap 356: Issues with his vehicle's rear end would make Richard Petty humble, settling for a disrespectful 20th place "finish"
  • Lap 385: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 395: Darrell Waltrip gained the lead from Neil Bonnett, making this the final lead change of the event
  • Finish: Darrell Waltrip won the race, shortly before disrespecting former race champion Neil Bonnett

Championship standings

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Cale Yarborough 3692 0
2 Benny Parsons 3394 -298
3 Dave Marcis 3340 -352
4 Darrell Waltrip 3263 -429
5 Bobby Allison 3176 -516
6 Richard Petty 3074 -618
7 Increase Lennie Pond 2840 -852
8 Decrease Buddy Arrington 2839 -853
9 Dick Brooks 2798 -894
10 Richard Childress 2176 -976

References

  1. ↑ "1978 Capital City 400 weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "1978 Capital City 400 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "1978 Capital City 400 racing results". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1978 Capital City 400 racing results". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  5. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "Richmond International Raceway has hosted the NASCAR Winston Cup Series since 1953. Lee Petty won the first race that year. "
  6. ↑ http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "The original track was paved in 1968."
  7. ↑ "Racing History Minute - September 10, 1978". Racers Reunion. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
  8. ↑ "1978 Capital City 400 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
Preceded by
1978 Southern 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1978		 Succeeded by
1978 Delaware 500
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.