| 1981 National 500 NASCAR Cup Series Race 28 of 31 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race Information | Track Information | ||||
| Total Purse: | $306,025 | Race Date: | Oct 11, 1981 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | |
| Margin of Victory: | 31.800 Seconds | Race Duration: | 4h 15m 52s | Concord, North Carolina | |
| Lead Changes: | 27 | Average Speed: | 117.483 MPH | 1.5 Mile Paved Quad Oval | |
| No. of Cars: | 41 | No. of Cautions: | 12 For 78 Laps | charlottemotorspeedway.com | |
| Winner, Pole and Manufacturer Information | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner Information | Pole Information | Manufacturer Points | ||||||
| Driver: | Darrell Waltrip D. Waltrip | Driver: | Darrell Waltrip D. Waltrip | Buick: | 9 | |||
| Car No.: | #11 Buick | Car No.: | #11 Buick | Chevrolet: | 0 | |||
| Team: | Junior Johnson and Associates | Team: | Junior Johnson and Associates | Ford: | 0 | |||
| Crew Chief: | Tim Brewer | Crew Chief: | Tim Brewer | Dodge: | 0 | |||
| Laps Led: | 127 of 334 | Pole Speed: | 162.744 MPH | |||||
| Official 1981 National 500 Results |
|---|
| Finish | Start | Num | Driver | Sponsor | Status | Mfg | Points | Laps | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 11 | Darrell Waltrip | Mountain Dew | Running |  | 180 | 334 | 127 |
| 2 | 17 | 28 | Bobby Allison | Hardee's | Running |  | 175 | 334 | 17 |
| 3 | 8 | 88 | Ricky Rudd | Gatorade | Running | | 165 | 334 | 0 |
| 4 | 22 | 55 | Tommy Ellis | Industrial Boilers | Running | | 165 | 333 | 1 |
| 5 | 30 | 47 | Ron Bouchard (R) | J.D. Stacy | Running | | 155 | 332 | 0 |
| 6 | 19 | 72 | Rusty Wallace | Childs Tire | Running | | 150 | 331 | 0 |
| 7 | 14 | 1 | Geoffrey Bodine | Zervakis Racing | Running | | 151 | 331 | 11 |
| 8 | 34 | 24 | Morgan Shepherd (R) | Washington Freightliner | Running | | 142 | 331 | 0 |
| 9 | 18 | 13 | Jack Ingram | Carolina Tool & Equipment | Running |  | 138 | 329 | 0 |
| 10 | 33 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Kyle Petty's Boot Barn | Running |  | 134 | 328 | 0 |
| 11 | 21 | 4 | Connie Saylor (R) | Apache Stove | Running |  | 130 | 328 | 0 |
| 12 | 37 | 8 | Jimmy Means | Negre Racing | Running | | 127 | 327 | 0 |
| 13 | 25 | 62 | Rick Wilson (R) | Florida Equipment & Service | Running | | 124 | 326 | 0 |
| 14 | 41 | 99 | D.K. Ulrich | Ulrich Racing | Running | | 121 | 326 | 0 |
| 15 | 13 | 90 | Jody Ridley | Truxmore Industries / Sunny Ki | Running | | 123 | 326 | 1 |
| 16 | 36 | 36 | H.B. Bailey | Almeda Auto Parts | Running |  | 115 | 324 | 0 |
| 17 | 40 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | Bailey Excavating | Running | | 112 | 322 | 0 |
| 18 | 5 | 37 | Tim Richmond (R) | Roger's Auto Leasing | Engine | | 114 | 317 | 10 |
| 19 | 10 | 2 | Joe Ruttman (R) | J.D. Stacy | Engine | | 106 | 276 | 0 |
| 20 | 15 | 42 | Kyle Petty | STP | Accident | | 108 | 259 | 6 |
| 21 | 23 | 6 | Bob Senneker | J.D. Stacy | Accident | | 0 | 256 | 0 |
| 22 | 28 | 64 | Tommy Gale | Sunny King Ford & Honda | Clutch | | 97 | 246 | 0 |
| 23 | 6 | 44 | Terry Labonte | J.D. Stacy Racing | Engine | | 99 | 234 | 6 |
| 24 | 11 | 75 | Gary Balough (R) | Chaparral Trailers | Accident | | 91 | 226 | 0 |
| 25 | 24 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Wrangler Jeans | Ignition | | 93 | 220 | 2 |
| 26 | 26 | 23 | Charlie Glotzbach | Oxford Speedway | Handling | | 85 | 218 | 0 |
| 27 | 27 | 98 | Johnny Rutherford (R) | Levi Garrett | Engine | | 82 | 216 | 0 |
| 28 | 29 | 14 | Sterling Marlin | Coors | Clutch | | 79 | 193 | 0 |
| 29 | 7 | 21 | Neil Bonnett | Warner Hodgdon / National Engi | Bearings | | 86 | 190 | 135 |
| 30 | 9 | 43 | Richard Petty | STP | Engine | | 78 | 180 | 15 |
| 31 | 3 | 27 | Cale Yarborough | Valvoline | Engine | | 75 | 153 | 2 |
| 32 | 32 | 40 | Ronnie Thomas | McWhirter Grading | Ignition | | 67 | 137 | 0 |
| 33 | 16 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Mell-Gear Tuning Components | Timing Chain | | 64 | 130 | 0 |
| 34 | 38 | 66 | Lake Speed | Ron Steele | Engine | | 61 | 118 | 0 |
| 35 | 31 | 5 | Joe Millikan | Performance Connection | Accident | | 58 | 98 | 0 |
| 36 | 35 | 94 | Bobby Wawak | Louise Smith Special | Valves | | 55 | 66 | 0 |
| 37 | 4 | 1 | Buddy Baker | Uno | Steering | | 52 | 63 | 0 |
| 38 | 12 | 15 | Benny Parsons | Melling Tool Company | Clutch | | 49 | 50 | 0 |
| 39 | 39 | 38 | John Anderson | Copper Kettle Marina | Engine | | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| 40 | 20 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Norton Company | Engine | | 43 | 19 | 0 |
| 41 | 2 | 33 | Harry Gant | Skoal Bandit | Crankshaft | | 45 | 4 | 1 |
