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1981 American 500

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NASCAR Winston Cup race number 29 of 31
Sunday, November 1, 1981 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, NC
492 laps on a 1.017 mile paved track (500.4 miles)

Time of race: 4:39:32
Average Speed: 107.399 mph
Pole Speed: 138.164 mph

Cautions: 12 for 97 laps
Margin of Victory: 2 cl
Attendance: 35,000
Lead changes: 33

Glossary 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup results / 1981 standings

Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Led	Points
1	1	11	Darrell Waltrip	Mountain Dew (Junior Johnson)	Buick	492	23,410	running	163	185
2	14	28	Bobby Allison	Hardee's (Harry Ranier)	Buick	492	17,100	running	31	175
3	2	33	Harry Gant	Skoal Bandit (Hal Needham)	Pontiac	492	10,150	running	125	170
4	12	43	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	492	10,400	running	92	165
5	16	2	Joe Ruttman	J.D. Stacy (Jim Stacy)	Pontiac	492	9,700	running	3	160
6	24	15	Benny Parsons	Melling Tool (Bud Moore)	Ford	491	8,750	running	0	150
7	10	44	Terry Labonte	J.D. Stacy (Billy Hagan)	Buick	490	8,350	running	0	146
8	22	9	Bill Elliott	Mell-Gear (George Elliott)	Ford	490	3,000	running	17	147
9	5	3	Dale Earnhardt	Wrangler (Richard Childress)	Pontiac	489	7,360	running	16	143
10	19	90	Jody Ridley	Truxmore / Sunny King (Junie Donlavey)	Ford	487	6,190	running	0	134
11	37	47	Ron Bouchard	J.D. Stacy (Jack Beebe)	Buick	485	4,730	running	0	130
12	26	71	Dave Marcis	J.D. Stacy (Dave Marcis)	Chevrolet	483	4,270	running	2	132
13	27	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley)	Ford	475	3,980	running	0	124
14	31	67	Buddy Arrington	Kyle Petty's Boot Barn (Buddy Arrington)	Dodge	470	3,740	running	0	121
15	34	24	Cecil Gordon	Washington Freightliner (Cecil Gordon)	Buick	457	3,530	running	0	118
16	4	1	Buddy Baker	UNO (Hoss Ellington)	Buick	445	1,425	rear end	2	120
17	32	99	D.K. Ulrich	Ulrich Racing (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	435	3,220	engine	0	112
18	3	88	Ricky Rudd	Gatorade (DiGard)	Chevrolet	434	7,000	running	16	114
19	17	5	Joe Millikan	Performance Connection (Cliff Stewart)	Pontiac	425	6,100	running	0	106
20	36	52	Jimmy Means	Broadway Motors (Jimmy Means)	Pontiac	404	2,760	running	0	103
21	23	13	Dick Brooks	Carolina Tool (Bobby Hawkins)	Ford	379	825	valve	0	100
22	13	37	Tim Richmond	Rogers Auto Leasing (Bob Rogers)	Buick	334	800	crash	0	97
23	35	92	Joe Fields	Richmond Printing (Joe Fields)	Buick	262	775	crash	0	94
24	29	17	John Anderson	Kings Inn Daytona (Roger Hamby)	Buick	226	2,290	suspension	0	91
25	8	27	Cale Yarborough	Valvoline (M.C. Anderson)	Buick	214	1,225	crash	0	88
26	25	48	James Hylton	Palatine Auto Parts (James Hylton)	Pontiac	214	2,230	push rod	0	85
27	15	96	Morgan Shepherd	Levi Garrett (Ron Benfield)	Buick	205	675	crash	25	87
28	28	16	Chuck Bown	Rose Auto Wrecking (Dick Bown)	Buick	193	650	engine	0	79
29	11	98	Johnny Rutherford	Levi Garrett (Ron Benfield)	Buick	172	625	crash	0	76
30	30	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating (J.D. McDuffie)	Pontiac	165	2,130	engine	0	73
31	18	66	Lake Speed	Speed Racing (Lake Speed)	Oldsmobile	162	2,125	engine	0	70
32	21	75	Gary Balough	Ferrailuolo & Sons Excavating (RahMoc Enterprises)	Buick	117	1,395	crash	0	67
33	33	40	Don Hume	Newton Oil & Gas (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	101	590	crash	0	64
34	7	77	Dean Combs	Captains Table (Irv Sanderson)	Buick	89	585	crash	0	61
35	9	21	Neil Bonnett	Warner Hodgdon / National Eng. (Wood Brothers)	Ford	55	1,080	crash	0	58
36	20	68	Lennie Pond	J.D. Stacy (Lennie Pond)	Buick	54	575	crash	0	55
37	6	42	Kyle Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	19	870	engine	0	52

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Darrell Waltrip	1	3	3
Harry Gant	4	21	18
Ricky Rudd	22	37	16
Dave Marcis	38	39	2
Bill Elliott	40	43	4
Harry Gant	44	56	13
Joe Ruttman	57	57	1
Richard Petty	58	58	1
Buddy Baker	59	59	1
Morgan Shepherd	60	84	25
Harry Gant	85	92	8
Bobby Allison	93	93	1
Dale Earnhardt	94	107	14
Bill Elliott	108	108	1
Dale Earnhardt	109	110	2
Harry Gant	111	175	65
Buddy Baker	176	176	1
Bill Elliott	177	188	12
Harry Gant	189	209	21
Darrell Waltrip	210	284	75
Richard Petty	285	285	1
Darrell Waltrip	286	300	15
Joe Ruttman	301	301	1
Darrell Waltrip	302	309	8
Richard Petty	310	384	75
Darrell Waltrip	385	387	3
Bobby Allison	388	398	11
Richard Petty	399	413	15
Joe Ruttman	414	414	1
Darrell Waltrip	415	460	46
Bobby Allison	461	473	13
Darrell Waltrip	474	480	7
Bobby Allison	481	486	6
Darrell Waltrip	487	492	6

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff
Points standings after this race:
1	Darrell Waltrip	4550
2	Bobby Allison	4482	-68
3	Harry Gant	3963	-587
4	Ricky Rudd	3899	-651
5	Terry Labonte	3731	-819
6	Dale Earnhardt	3727	-823
7	Jody Ridley	3704	-846
8	Richard Petty	3647	-903
9	Dave Marcis	3338	-1212
10	Benny Parsons	3310	-1240
11	Buddy Arrington	3181	-1369
12	Kyle Petty	3136	-1414
13	Jimmy Means	3087	-1463
14	Morgan Shepherd	3065	-1485
15	Tim Richmond	3018	-1532
16	Tommy Gale	2961	-1589
17	J.D. McDuffie	2771	-1779
18	Lake Speed	2584	-1966
19	James Hylton	2538	-2012
20	Ron Bouchard	2513	-2037

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