The ''1980

CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 The Goodyear 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. A race was held in May at the track in 1952, however the event did not become a regular one on the NASCAR schedule until 1957, as a race in t ...

'' was a

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 hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

racing event that was held on April 13, 1980, at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...

Darlington, South Carolina Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. Darlington ...

. Forty-five thousand fans would attend the event, interrupted by of precipitation, shortened to the shortest race in what is now the Cup Series by percentage in Darlington history (51.50%, 189 laps, which is six laps more than an official race, which would be 184 laps), as the race was shortened because of impending darkness (Darlington did not add lights until the 2004 Southern 500).

Race report

There were 36

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born drivers on the grid. A multiple-car crash where

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was named ...

and

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 notabl ...

collided in Turn 1 collected numerous cars, with

Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby an ...

never completing the first lap. David Pearson would earn his 105th win in the NASCAR Cup Series as he defeated

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, and ...

by three seconds, second all-time. Lake Speed would finish in the top ten only three races after his Cup Series debut. This would be the seventh Spring Darlington win for Pearson in addition to two victories in a row at Darlington for David Pearson. Hoss Ellington would receive his final NASCAR Winston Cup Series win for the #1 Hawaiian Tropic team.''1980 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500''
racing information at Racing Reference Most of the cars in this race were

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

s. The race took two hours and twenty-three minutes to complete. Almost the entire "top ten" grid were driving Chevrolet vehicles. Harry Gant would achieve his first top five finish; marking a precedence for more than 100 top five finishes. Winnings for this race varied from $21,340 for the winner ($ when adjusted for inflation) to $1,800 for the last-place finisher ($ when adjusted for inflation). The total purse was $173,565 ($ when adjusted for inflation). The 105th win was Pearson's last NASCAR Cup Series win, with him winning consecutive races at Darlington for his final two wins. Notable crew chiefs were

Junie Donlavey Wesley Christian "Junie" Donlavey Jr. (April 8, 1924June 9, 2014), a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the owner of Donlavey Racing; he began fielding the team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers. Donlavey e ...

Joey Arrington Joey Arrington (born July 25, 1956) is an American former NASCAR driver, team owner, and crew chief from Rocky Mount, Virginia. He made nine Winston Cup Series starts with a best finish of 12th. He made his first start in 1974 as a 17-year-old a ...

Darrell Bryant Darrell Bryant is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose claim to fame was his two "top ten" finishes in addition to racing 2389 laps - for a distance of . Bryant has driver for Chevrolet, Dodge, Oldsmobile, and Mercury during his drivi ...

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three de ...

D.K. Ulrich Donald Keith (D. K.) Ulrich (born April 10, 1944) is a former driver/owner in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. As a driver, he had sixteen top ten finishes in 273 starts. His last race came in 1992. As car owner, he fielded cars for many years fo ...

Waddell Wilson Waddell Wilson (born December 29, 1936) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup Series crew chief and engine builder. He was the winning crew chief for the Daytona 500 in 1980 Daytona 500, 1980, 1983 Daytona 500, 1983, and 1984 Daytona 500, 1984. He was cr ...

Kirk Shelmerdine Edward Kirk Shelmerdine V (born March 8, 1958) is an American stock car racing driver and former championship-winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt. Crew chief After spending his early NASCAR career as an engineer for Hylton Engineering, in 1984 ...

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 pas ...

among others.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference: # David Pearson (No. 1) # Benny Parsons (No. 27) #

Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...

(No. 47) #

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...

(No. 88) #

Dick Brooks Richard Brooks (April 14, 1942 – February 1, 2006) was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500. Brooks held off veteran Buddy Baker b ...

(No. 7) #

Lennie Pond Lennie Wayne Pond (August 11, 1940 – February 10, 2016) was an American NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier. Pond ...

(No. 68) #

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 majori ...

(No. 72) #

Lake Speed Lake Chambers Speed (born on January 17, 1948) is an American retired stock car racing driver. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, scoring one career win in 402 starts. Background Lake was named after the best friend of his fat ...

(No. 66) #

(No. 43) #

Jody Ridley Jody Ridley (born May 19, 1942) is a former NASCAR driver. He won the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award and one race at Dover International Speedway the next year, the only Cup victory for Donlavey Racing. His career statistics in ...

(No. 90) #

Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...

(No. 5) #

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

* (No. 11) #

Bobby Wawak Robert Laurence Wawak (September 4, 1939 – April 17, 2004) was an American NASCAR driver from Villa Park, Illinois. He made 141 Grand National/Winston Cup Series starts, with fourteen top-10 finishes.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 1 ...

(No. 67) # Tommy Gale (No. 64) #

Roger Hamby Roger Hamby (born July 2, 1943 in Ferguson, North Carolina) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and NASCAR team owner whose career spanned from 1977 to 1981. He was one of the runners-up for the 1978 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award and ...

(No. 17) #

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

(No. 19) #

James Hylton James Harvey Hylton (August 26, 1934 – April 28, 2018) was an American stock car racing driver. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition and was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished second i ...

(No. 48) #

(No. 40) #

Bill Elswick Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

(No. 75) #

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 opene ...

(No. 3) #

J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

(No. 70) #

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final ...

* (No. 71) #

Dick May Richard May (November 7, 1930June 9, 2009) was a NASCAR driver who competed in 185 races in the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series between 1967 and 1985. In the 1975 running of the Mason-Dixon 500, May drove five different cars but did ...

(No. 99) #

Slick Johnson Julius David "Slick" Johnson III (February 23, 1948 – February 14, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. A veteran of short track competition in the Carolinas, he competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during the 1980s; his best fi ...

(No. 53) #

Ronnie Thomas Ronald Darrell "Ronnie" Thomas (born March 8, 1955) is a retired NASCAR driver who drove in the Winston Cup series from 1977 to 1989 and the Busch Series in 1982 and 1985. He was the 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, edging out Roger Ha ...

* (No. 25) #

Buck Simmons Buck may refer to: Common meanings * A colloquialism for a dollar or similar currency * An adult male in some animal species - see List of animal names * Derby shoes, nicknamed "bucks" for the common use of buckskin in their making People *Buck ...

* (No. 12) #

Jimmy Means James Means (born May 29, 1950) is a retired American racing driver and owner, who competed in the Winston Cup Series as an owner-driver. He is currently an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Jimmy Means Racing. He compet ...

(No. 25) #

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

* (No. 2) #

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...

* (No. 15) #

Baxter Price Baxter Price (born November 29, 1938) is an American racing driver from Monroe, North Carolina who competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He made 90 Winston Cup starts from 1973 to 1981, never recording a top ten. Racing career Price ran ne ...

* (No. 45) #

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 ...

* (No. 44) # Melvin Revis* (No. 59) #

Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon (June 21, 1941 – September 19, 2012) was an American stock car racing driver. A competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1968 and 1985, he competed in 449 events without winning a race. NASCAR Career as driver Gordon d ...

* (No. 82) #

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 198 ...

* (No. 28) #

* (No. 21) ''* Driver failed to finish race''

Timeline

Section reference:
Some details sourced from Universal Racing Network broadcast, archived at the

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

Belk Library in Boone, North Carolina. Hank Schoolfield, who owned the Universal Racing Network, donated Universal Racing Network broadcasts from 1964 to 1982 to the school. The broadcasts are archived in MP3 format by the library. * Start of race: David Pearson was leading the racing grid as the green flag was waved. Richard Petty and Ricky Rudd collide in Turn 1. Terry Labonte, Buddy Baker, James Hylton, and Neil Bonnett are collected, Bonnett is out, first Safety Car of race, officially scored as starting on Lap 2 (safety car rules prior to September 2003 rule change allowed cars to race to line for caution flag, and official start of caution is at the start of Lap 2). * Lap 7: Restart * Lap 14: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 27: Safety Car, Melvin Revis engine failure (scored on Lap 28). Leaders pit. Lennie Pond scored as leader because of car's position at scoring line (prior to 1993 adoption of transponder-based timing, leading laps were based on position of cars past scoring line and hand scoring by NASCAR). * Lap 29: Dave Marcis, who stayed out, scored as leader following pit stops. * Lap 32: Marcis pits on one to go before restart, Dale Earnhardt took over the lead before restart. David Pearson, who was in the No. 2 Rod Osterlund car that Earnhardt was driving in this race at the last Darlington race because of injury, passes Earnhardt and is officially scored leader on Lap 33. * Lap 34: Safety Car, Baxter Price engine failure (scored on Lap 35). * Lap 41: Restart with Pearson in lead. * Lap 86: Safety Car, Rain in Turn 1 and 2 (scored on Lap 87). Leaders pit, Lennie Pond took over the lead crossing scoring line for Lap 87. * Lap 87: Because of Pond's position in relation to scoring line, he is scored leader while pitting. Cale Yarborough scored leader on Lap 88 after pit stops. * Lap 90: Restart. Joe Milliken passes cars with a low line in Turn 1. * Lap 93: Safety Car, Rain (scored on Lap 94). * Lap 95: Restart. Yarborough keeps lead. Safety Car, Rain after less than one lap (scored as started on Lap 96). Parsons and Pearson race hard to reach scoring line. * Lap 102: Restart. * Lap 104: Safety Car, Rain. Engine failure for Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (scored on Lap 105). * Lap 107: Red Flag, Weather. Cars parked next to pit wall. Delayed over two hours for track drying. Safety Car situation after track drying. * Lap 122: Track drying continues, leaders make pit stops. Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough. * Lap 128: At 1750, NASCAR believes track is sufficiently dry and a restart occurs. Less than one hour before sunset, NASCAR intends to run 56 laps before sunset to reach official status on Lap 184. By rule, if Safety Car situations continue to be called, and NASCAR be unable to finish the 184 lap before darkness, the race would continue Monday morning. * Lap 135: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Benny Parsons. * Lap 150: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip. * Lap 156: Dave Marcis engine failure. * Lap 158: David Pearson took over the lead from Benny Parsons. * Lap 179: NASCAR sends teams the indication ten laps will remain once the leader crosses the start-finish line. The race will end on Lap 189. * Lap 189: Chequered flag waves short of finish, David Pearson was pronounced the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

References

{{authority control

NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway