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1981 Atlanta Journal 500

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NASCAR Winston Cup race number 30 of 31
Sunday, November 8, 1981 at Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, GA
328 laps on a 1.522 mile paved track (499.216 miles)

Time of race: 3:49:43
Average speed: 130.391 mph
Pole speed: 163.266 mph

Cautions: 7 for 50 laps
Margin of victory: 1 cl
Attendance: 47500
Lead changes: 36

Glossary 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup results / 1981 standings

Pos	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Led	Pts
1	5	21	Neil Bonnett	Warner Hodgdon / National Eng. (Wood Brothers)	Ford	328	31500	running	200	185
2	2	11	Darrell Waltrip	Mountain Dew (Junior Johnson)	Buick	328	17350	running	11	175
3	21	27	Cale Yarborough	Valvoline (M.C. Anderson)	Buick	328	8800	running	14	170
4	6	28	Bobby Allison	Hardee's (Harry Ranier)	Buick	328	12090	running	0	160
5	25	90	Jody Ridley	Truxmore / Sunny King (Junie Donlavey)	Ford	328	11700	running	1	160
6	4	9	Bill Elliott	Mell-Gear (George Elliott)	Ford	328	6200	running	0	150
7	12	44	Terry Labonte	J.D. Stacy (Billy Hagan)	Buick	328	9630	running	12	151
8	19	42	Kyle Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	328	6155	running	12	147
9	13	1	Buddy Baker	UNO (Hoss Ellington)	Buick	328	3040	running	1	143
10	15	5	Joe Millikan	Performance Connection (Cliff Stewart)	Pontiac	327	7820	running	0	134
11	32	62	Rick Wilson	Florida Equipment & Service (Rick Wilson)	Oldsmobile	327	3000	running	1	135
12	33	4	Connie Saylor	Spencer Racing (G.C. Spencer)	Oldsmobile	323	2550	running	0	127
13	28	13	Dick Brooks	Carolina Tool (Bobby Hawkins)	Ford	323	2350	running	0	124
14	18	66	Lake Speed	Ronnie Steele (Lake Speed)	Buick	321	4900	running	0	121
15	26	16	Chuck Bown	Rose Auto Wrecking (Dick Bown)	Buick	320	2125	engine	0	118
16	39	17	John Anderson	Kings Inn Daytona (Roger Hamby)	Buick	316	4545	running	0	115
17	34	67	Buddy Arrington	Kyle Petty's Boot Barn (Buddy Arrington)	Dodge	315	4310	running	0	112
18	40	0	Delma Cowart	Coastal Transmissions (Heyward Grooms)	Buick	315	1940	running	0	109
19	24	48	James Hylton	Palatine Auto Parts (James Hylton)	Buick	303	4045	running	0	106
20	1	33	Harry Gant	Skoal Bandit (Hal Needham)	Pontiac	291	5565	engine	25	108
21	16	37	Tim Richmond	Rogers Auto Leasing (Bob Rogers)	Buick	287	2945	engine	0	100
22	35	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley)	Ford	277	3300	running	0	97
23	37	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating (J.D. McDuffie)	Pontiac	259	3035	water pump	0	94
24	9	3	Dale Earnhardt	Wrangler (Richard Childress)	Pontiac	222	4290	engine	0	91
25	8	2	Joe Ruttman	J.D. Stacy (Jim Stacy)	Buick	207	6420	engine	7	93
26	3	43	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	207	6380	engine	44	90
27	30	99	D.K. Ulrich	Ulrich Racing (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	198	2195	engine	0	82
28	22	71	Dave Marcis	J.D. Stacy (Dave Marcis)	Buick	174	2175	valve	0	79
29	31	72	Rusty Wallace	KangaRoos (John Childs)	Buick	156	1900	oil pressure	0	76
30	10	01	Geoffrey Bodine	Downey's Auto Parts (Emanuel Zervakis)	Buick	143	890	engine	0	73
31	20	96	Morgan Shepherd	Levi Garrett (Ron Benfield)	Buick	123	860	oil pump	0	70
32	38	46	Travis Tiller	Ring Enterprises (Travis Tiller)	Chevrolet	111	850	engine	0	67
33	7	55	Tommy Ellis	Industrial Boiler (Tommy Ellis)	Chevrolet	97	840	engine	0	64
34	17	75	Gary Balough	Chaparral Trailers (Rahmoc Enterprises)	Buick	89	2085	crash	0	61
35	36	52	Jimmy Means	Broadway Motors (Jimmy Means)	Pontiac	66	2055	engine	0	58
36	11	15	Benny Parsons	Melling Tool (Bud Moore)	Ford	42	6250	steering	0	55
37	27	98	Johnny Rutherford	Levi Garrett (Ron Benfield)	Buick	39	640	transmission	0	52
38	14	88	Ricky Rudd	Gatorade (DiGard Racing)	Buick	36	6070	engine	0	49
39	23	47	Ron Bouchard	J.D. Stacy (Jack Beebe)	Buick	23	1065	engine	0	46
40	29	36	H.B. Bailey	Almeda Auto Parts (H.B. Bailey)	Pontiac	1	550	crash	0	43

Pos	Name	Nbr	Sponsor	Owner	Car
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:
	Ronnie Sanders	18	Sanders Racing	Ronnie Sanders	Buick
	Mike Alexander	24	Gordon Racing	Cecil Gordon	Buick
	Billie Harvey	31	Graf Lear Jets	Billie Harvey	Pontiac
	Dick May	40	Price Racing	D.K. Ulrich	Buick
	Bruce Hill	50	Hill Racing	Bruce Hill	Buick
	Bobby Wawak	94	Louise Smith	Bobby Wawak	Buick
	Bob Schacht	97	Test Tube	Bob Schacht	Oldsmobile

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Darrell Waltrip	1	8	8
Neil Bonnett	9	19	11
Richard Petty	20	23	4
Neil Bonnett	24	38	15
Jody Ridley	39	39	1
Neil Bonnett	40	65	26
Richard Petty	66	103	38
Joe Ruttman	104	106	3
Neil Bonnett	107	108	2
Harry Gant	109	109	1
Neil Bonnett	110	122	13
Rick Wilson	123	123	1
Harry Gant	124	127	4
Richard Petty	128	128	1
Neil Bonnett	129	129	1
Richard Petty	130	130	1
Neil Bonnett	131	136	6
Joe Ruttman	137	140	4
Neil Bonnett	141	183	43
Harry Gant	184	191	8
Kyle Petty	192	203	12
Neil Bonnett	204	209	6
Terry Labonte	210	221	12
Neil Bonnett	222	268	47
Harry Gant	269	275	7
Darrell Waltrip	276	277	2
Cale Yarborough	278	284	7
Buddy Baker	285	285	1
Harry Gant	286	290	5
Neil Bonnett	291	291	1
Cale Yarborough	292	292	1
Neil Bonnett	293	293	1
Cale Yarborough	294	299	6
Neil Bonnett	300	326	27
Darrell Waltrip	327	327	1
Neil Bonnett	328	328	1

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff
Points Standings after this race:
1	Darrell Waltrip	4725
2	Bobby Allison	4642	-83
3	Harry Gant	4071	-654
4	Ricky Rudd	3948	-777
5	Terry Labonte	3882	-843
6	Jody Ridley	3864	-861
7	Dale Earnhardt	3818	-907
8	Richard Petty	3737	-988
9	Dave Marcis	3417	-1308
10	Benny Parsons	3365	-1360
11	Buddy Arrington	3293	-1432
12	Kyle Petty	3283	-1442
13	Jimmy Means	3145	-1580
14	Morgan Shepherd	3135	-1590
15	Tim Richmond	3118	-1607
16	Tommy Gale	3058	-1667
17	J.D. McDuffie	2865	-1860
18	Lake Speed	2705	-2020
19	James Hylton	2644	-2081
20	Ron Bouchard	2559	-2166
21	Joe Millikan	2527	-2198