1980 Holly Farms 400
Race details[1][2]
Race 26 of 31 in the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro Speedway
Date September 21, 1980 (1980-September-21)
Official name Holly Farms 400
Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.005 km)
Distance 400 laps, 250 mi (402 km)
Weather Temperatures between 68 °F (20 °C) and 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); average wind speeds of 3.5 miles per hour (5.6 km/h)
Average speed 75.51 miles per hour (121.52 km/h)
Attendance 25,000[3]
Pole position
Driver
Junior Johnson & Associates
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering
Laps 166
Winner
No. 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers unknown

The 1980 Holly Farms 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on September 21, 1980, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Its total prize purse was finalized as $105,515 ($374,757 when adjusted for inflation); with the winner taking home $17,725 ($62,954 when adjusted for inflation).

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.

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the early-1980s.

Background

During the 1980s, North Wilkesboro Speedway was noticeably lagging behind other speedways on the NASCAR circuit, but the fans were more interested in the great racing action between the legendary drivers. Enoch's focus was more on the fans' enjoyment rather than on building large suites and new facilities. Attendance and total purse for races at the track were the lowest in NASCAR, but the events continued to sell out and attract more fans each year.

Race report

Just months prior to the race, a new kind of asphalt was placed but did not get a chance to completely solve the disintegration problem.[4] The racetrack developed a slick surface; that made qualifying speeds 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h) slower and the cars more likely to spin and crash with each other.[4] Conditions for the race would become very poor by the standards of the early 1980s; causing the pace car to crash into a parked car getting back into pit lane.

Richard Childress, the current owner of Richard Childress Racing, would compete as a driver.[3] There were 30 American-born drivers on the racing grid; no foreigners or women competed in this race.[3] Bobby Allison managed to defeat Darrell Waltrip by half a second after more than three hours of racing.[3] Cale Yarborough would acquire the pole position through driving his qualifying session at an incredible top speed of almost 112 miles per hour (180 km/h).[3]

Bobby Allison scores his last win for Bud Moore and his last in a Ford Motor Company product.[3] This was his fourth win of 1980.[3] Future 2-time Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Junior Miller scores his best Winston Cup finish in 13th.[3] Slick Johnson scores a career-best 8th place finish, he'd later match it at Rockingham three races later.[3]

This was the last win for Ford at North Wilkesboro until the 1990 Tyson Holly Farms 400.[5]

D.K. Ulrich received credit for the last-place finish due to an oil pressure problem on the second lap of this 400-lap race.[3] Nine drivers failed to complete the race; including J.D. McDuffie, Lake Speed and Lennie Pond.[3] Bub Strickler would retire from NASCAR after this race.[6] Dale Earnhardt would maintain his championship points lead after this event.[6]

Two months after the race, the track was treated again.[4] The disintegration issue managed to solve itself throughout the harsh winter months and was completely prepared for the 1981 season.[4]

Notable crew chiefs who participated in the race were Junie Donlavey, Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Kirk Shelmerdine.[7]

Qualifying

Grid[3] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Junior Johnson
2 15 Bobby Allison Ford Bud Moore
3 68 Lennie Pond Chevrolet Jim Testa
4 27 Benny Parsons Chevrolet M.C. Anderson
5 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet DiGard Racing
6 71 Dave Marcis Chevrolet Dave Marcis
7 47 Harry Gant Chevrolet Jack Beebe
8 2 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Rod Osterlund
9 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Billy Hagan
10 90 Jody Ridley Ford Junie Donlavey
11 79 Junior Miller Chevrolet Junior Miller
12 40 D.K. Ulrich Chevrolet D.K. Ulrich
13 25 Ronnie Thomas Chevrolet Don Robertson
14 43 Richard Petty Chevrolet Petty Enterprises
15 7 Lake Speed Chevrolet Nelson Malloch
16 3 Richard Childress Chevrolet Richard Childress
17 70 J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet J.D. McDuffie
18 19 John Anderson Chevrolet Henley Gray
19 24 Cecil Gordon Oldsmobile Cecil Gordon
20 17 Roger Hamby Chevrolet Roger Hamby
21 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet Jimmy Means
22 64 Tommy Gale Ford Elmo Langley
23 07 Jeff McDuffie Buick J.D. McDuffie
24 53 Slick Johnson Chevrolet J.D. Johnson
25 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge Buddy Arrington

Top 10 finishers

Pos[3] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps led Points Time/Status
1 2 15 Bobby Allison Ford 400 166 185 3:18:39
2 5 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 400 131 175 +0.5 seconds
3 6 71 Dave Marcis Chevrolet 400 4 170 Lead lap under green flag
4 7 47 Harry Gant Chevrolet 399 0 160 +1 lap
5 8 2 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet 399 0 155 +1 lap
6 4 27 Benny Parsons Chevrolet 399 0 150 +1 lap
7 9 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 399 0 146 +1 lap
8 24 53 Slick Johnson Chevrolet 391 0 142 +9 laps
9 10 90 Jody Ridley Ford 390 0 138 +10 laps
10 1 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet 389 54 139 +11 laps

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[3] Differential
1 Dale Earnhardt 3847 0
2 Increase Cale Yarborough 3757 -90
3 Decrease Richard Petty 3741 -106
4 Benny Parsons 3708 -139
5 Darrell Waltrip 3662 -185
6 Bobby Allison 3537 -310
7 Jody Ridley 3273 -574
8 Harry Gant 3242 -605
9 Richard Childress 3125 -722
10 Increase Dave Marcis 3099 -748

References

  1. ^ Weather information for the 1980 Holly Farms 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ Total prize purse for 1980 Holly Farms 400 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 1980 Holly Farms 400 racing information at Racing Reference
  4. ^ a b c d September 21, 1980 Holly Farms 400 at SavetheSpeedway.net
  5. ^ Ford's next race victory at Google News Archive Search
  6. ^ a b 1980 Holly Farms 400 racing results at Race Database
  7. ^ 1980 Holly Farms 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
Preceded by1980 CRC Chemicals 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1980 Succeeded by1980 Old Dominion 500
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