1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
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1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 31st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 8th modern-era Cup series. It began on Sunday, January 14, and ended on Sunday, November 18. Richard Petty won his seventh and final Winston Cup championship, winning by 11 points over Darrell Waltrip. Dale Earnhardt was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year. The season was the last until 2006 without Rusty Wallace. Teams and drivers Complete schedule Limited schedule Schedule Races Winston Western 500 The 1979 Winston Western 500 was run on January 14 at Riverside International Raceway at Riverside, California. David Pearson won the pole. Top Ten Results # 88–Darrell Waltrip # 21– David Pearson # 11–Cale Yarborough # 73–Bill Schmitt # 1–Donnie Allison # 72–Joe Millikan # 28–Buddy Baker # 51– Jim Thirkettle # 74– Tim Williamson # 12–Harry Gant Busch Clash The inaugural Busch Clash, a non-points race for all of the pole winners fro ...
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Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driving the No. 43 Plymouth/Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. He was the first driver to win the Cup Series championship seven times (a record now tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson), while also winning a record 200 races during his career. This included winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times and winning a record 27 races (10 of them consecutively) in one season (1967). Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport, and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports as a whole. Petty remains very active in the sport as both a NASCAR team owner (Petty GMS Motorsports) in the Cup Series, and owner of Petty's Garage (car restoration and modification shop) in Level Cross, North Carolina. D ...
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Travis Carter
Travis Carter (born November 21, 1949) is a former car owner and crew chief in the NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ... Winston Cup Series. He served as crew chief for two decades, winning a championship with Benny Parsons in 1973. Carter was the winning crew chief when Parsons won the 1975 Daytona 500. He owned Travis Carter Motorsports from 1970 to 2003. He is the uncle of NASCAR crew chief Larry Carter, and the father of NASCAR driver Matt Carter. References External links * * * Living people 1949 births People from Denver, North Carolina NASCAR crew chiefs NASCAR team owners People from Ellerbe, North Carolina {{NASCAR-bio-stub ...
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Richard Childress
Richard Childress (born September 21, 1945 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American former race car driver in NASCAR. As the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR), he became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. In 2004, he opened a vineyard in the Yadkin Valley AVA near Lexington. He was on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association. His grandsons Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon are NASCAR drivers. Driving career Childress's career in NASCAR started in 1969 when a drivers' strike at Talladega Superspeedway left NASCAR president William France Sr. looking for replacement drivers. By 1971, Childress was racing as an independent driver, using the number 96. He changed to number 3 in 1976 as a tribute to Junior Johnson. Although he never won as a driver, he nonetheless proved to be capable and consistent behind the wheel, registering six top-5 finishes, seventy-six top-10 finishes, and five Top 10 point finishes, with a career-best ranking of fifth in 1975 ...
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Richard Childress Racing
Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard Childress. In the Cup Series, the team currently fields three Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 teams: the No. 3 full-time for Austin Dillon and the No. 8 full-time for Kyle Busch. In the Xfinity Series, the team currently fields three Chevrolet Camaro teams: the No. 2 full-time for Sheldon Creed and the No. 21 full-time for Austin Hill. RCR has had at least one car successfully qualify for every Cup race since 1972, the longest such active streak, and is known for the longstanding use of the number 3 on its primary race car. In addition to its in-house Cup Series teams, RCR has several technical alliances and partnerships with other teams. In the Cup Series, it is allied with Kaulig Racing, Petty GMS Motorsports, and Trackhouse Racing Team, while Big ...
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Joe Millikan
Joseph "Joe" Milikan (born April 30, 1950 in Randleman, North Carolina) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup race car driver who competed from the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season to the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Career The majority of Millikan's races were done in Chevrolet vehicles (either Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Chevrolet Laguna, or Chevrolet Impala). However, other races in Joe Milikan's career were done in Pontiac (Pontiac Grand Prix) and Oldsmobile (Oldsmobile Cutlass) vehicles but rarely in Ford (Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...) vehicles. His highest amount of winnings earned was at the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series with $199,460 ($ adjusted for inflation). References External links * ESPN SportsDriver Averages - NASCAR ...
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DeWitt Racing
L. G. DeWitt (1912-1990) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car owner from 1965 to 1980. Career summary His ownership career consists of employing the famous names in NASCAR history like John Sears, Henley Gray, Elmo Langley, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Benny Parsons, and Joe Millikan. DeWitt's vehicles competed in 530 races in 16 years with 12 wins, 177 finishes in the "top five", and 315 finishes in the "top ten". Becoming one of the first millionaires in Cup Series history, DeWitt ended his NASCAR ownership career earning a grand total of $1,802,759 ($ when considering inflation). His vehicles started tenth place on average and finished in 13th on average. Vehicles under DeWitt's employment would end up leading 4,318 laps out of 132,425. Traveling the equivalent of on regular roads, DeWitt would eventually see his drivers become veterans. Benny Parsons would help DeWitt win a championship in 1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and ...
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Buddy Arrington
Buddy Rogers Arrington (July 26, 1938 – August 2, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. Racing career Arrington has the second-most starts without a win, and finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1978 (ninth) and 1982 (seventh). Arrington was loyal to his Mopar cars and engines, as he ran Chryslers and Dodges until 1985 (Chrysler stopped production of raceable body styles in 1983 and they became ineligible two years later) when the company stopped supporting them. His best career race and finish was at Talladega in 1979, where he had a powerful enough car to lead a few laps towards the end, and finished third. Arrington finished one lap ahead of Richard Petty, driving one of Petty's cast-off Dodge Magnums that were left when Petty abandoned Mopar and began driving General Motors vehicles a year earlier, and several other top NASCAR drivers. Arrington almost always ran his own car, and his operation was a very money-conscious effort. ...
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Terry Labonte
Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A two-time Cup Series champion and 1989 IROC champion, he is the older brother of 2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte, and the father of former Nationwide Series driver Justin Labonte. He also co-owns a Chevrolet dealership in Greensboro, North Carolina with Rick Hendrick. He appeared on the CBS series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' in 1984, where he played an unnamed pit crew member. Early life Terry Labonte was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1956. He was introduced to racing through his father, who had worked on race cars as a hobby for his friends. He started racing quarter midgets when he was seven and won a national championship at nine before moving onto the local short tracks in a stock car as a teenager. Driving on both dirt and asphal ...
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Hagan Racing
Billy Joe Hagan (March 22, 1932 – November 16, 2007) was a NASCAR owner/driver. He owned Hagan Racing and was known with winning the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship with Terry Labonte. Career He made three starts in NASCAR's Grand National/Winston Cup division, finishing eighth in his first start, the inaugural Talladega 500 in a self-owned 1968 Mercury Cyclone. He did not field another car until 1975, finishing 19th once again at Talladega. He also fielded a car for five races for Skip Manning. In 1976, he fielded the #92 Stratagraph Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna for Manning, and he won Rookie of the Year honors. Manning was released in 1978, and replaced by Terry Labonte. Hagan hired Petty Enterprises crew chief Dale Inman for the 1984 season. Labonte won the Southern 500, and won the 1984 championship. Labonte left the team in 1986, and was replaced by Sterling Marlin. Labonte returned to the team in 1991, but was unable to continue their success. 1994, marked H ...
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David Pearson (racing Driver)
David Gene Pearson (December 22, 1934 – November 12, 2018) was an American stock car driver, who raced from 1960 to 1986 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driving the No. 21 Mercury for Wood Brothers Racing. Pearson won the 1960 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award and three Cup Series championships (1966, 1968, and 1969). He never missed a race in the years he was active. NASCAR described his 1974 season as an indication of his "consistent greatness", finishing third in the season points having competed in only 19 of 30 races. Pearson's career paralleled Richard Petty's, the driver who has won the most races in NASCAR history. They accounted for 63 first/second-place finishes, with the edge going to Pearson. Petty had 200 wins in 1,184 starts, while Pearson had 105 wins in 574 starts. Pearson was nicknamed the "Fox" (and later the "Silver Fox") for his calculated approach to racing. At his finalist nominatio ...
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Jake Elder
J. C. "Jake" Elder (November 22, 1936 – February 24, 2010) was a NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief. He was the championship crew chief for two years and for part of a third season. Elder had these successes despite never passing through third grade. Elder was known as "Suitcase Jake" because he could never settle down at one organization for long period of time, hopping from one organization to the next. Elder was known for being a great chassis man and had great knowledge of car setups. When asked a question, he frequently answered "Huh?" Racing career Elder starting working for Petty Enterprises in 1960s as a fabricator. Richard Petty said that Elder did not engineer the cars, it was all off the cuff. Petty said: He'd put something on the car and say, ‘OK, now it's right. Here, you go drive it. And don't come back in complaining to me, because I got the car fixed. You go learn how to drive it.' Elder was certainly a leader. He might not always be right, ...
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Rod Osterlund Racing
Rod Osterlund was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series car owner spanning from 1977–1981, and then again from 1989–1991. He earned his money off rental property in California. Osterlund's first race as a car owner was at the 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 while his final race as a car owner was at the 1991 Daytona 500. In 2010, Osterlund was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. Team history Rod Osterlund started his first team in 1977. In 1979 he hired rookie Dale Earnhardt, who went on to win Rookie of the Year, and then the championship in 1980. Osterlund sold this team to Jim Stacy in the middle of the 1981 season. Earnhardt drove four races for Stacy before he left for Richard Childress Racing. Drivers Osterlund fielded cars for drivers from which Earnhardt won Osterlund his only Winston Cup Championship in 1980. Other notable drivers include Neil Bonnett in 1977, Dave Marcis in 1978, David Pearson subbing in for an injured Dale Earnhardt in 1979, Hut Stricklin Way ...
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