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1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series facts for kids

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1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
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The 1978 NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Series was an exciting year for stock car racing in the United States. It was the 30th season of professional racing and the 7th season of the modern NASCAR Cup series. The races started on January 22 and finished on November 19. Cale Yarborough, driving the #11 Oldsmobile for Junior Johnson, made history by winning his third NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup in a row! Ronnie Thomas was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year after a close competition with Roger Hamby.

Exciting Races of the Season

  • Winston Western 500 - This race was special because Oldsmobile cars won for the first time since 1959! Cale Yarborough drove his Olds to victory. New rules allowed different types of cars, like Monte Carlos and Buicks, to use Chevrolet engines.
  • Daytona 125s - These were two qualifying races before the big Daytona 500. New car models were tested, and some drivers, like Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison, worried about how stable the cars were at high speeds. A. J. Foyt won the first race in a Buick, and Darrell Waltrip won the second in a Monte Carlo.
  • Daytona 500 - This was a very dramatic race! Richard Petty led many laps, but then he blew a tire and crashed. Other drivers, like Benny Parsons and A. J. Foyt, also had crashes. In the end, Bobby Allison took the lead with only ten laps left and won his first Cup race since 1975.
  • Richmond 400 - Lennie Pond led for a long time, but a blown tire changed everything. Benny Parsons took the lead and won the race by almost three seconds!
  • Carolina 500 - David Pearson achieved a huge milestone in this race. He won his 100th Grand National race, catching up to Benny Parsons on a very cold day.
  • Atlanta 500 - NASCAR made cars have bigger spoilers to help them be more stable. Bobby Allison was amazing in this race, leading 261 laps and winning easily.
  • Southeastern 500 - Darrell Waltrip had an early crash, but his team worked hard to fix his car. He then drove to victory at Bristol, praising his crew for their excellent work.
  • Rebel 500 - Benny Parsons earned his second win of the season. His team had to change engines before the race, and Parsons said the new engine was like "a stick of dynamite."
  • World 600 - This race was one of the most competitive at Charlotte, with the lead changing 43 times among six top drivers. Darrell Waltrip won his first of five World 600 races. A young driver named Dale Earnhardt also got a chance to drive in this race.
  • Music City 420 - Cale Yarborough was unstoppable in this race. He started in pole position and led every single one of the 420 laps! He finished two or more laps ahead of everyone else. This was the last time a Cup race was won from start to finish until the year 2000. Cale also took the lead in the season points from Benny Parsons.
  • Gabriel 400 - Cale Yarborough continued his amazing season. He made up a lap during the race's only yellow flag and led the final 59 laps to win easily.
  • Firecracker 400 - Cale Yarborough spun out while racing with David Pearson. Even though Yarborough tried to catch up on the last lap, Pearson managed to block him and win his record fifth Firecracker race.
  • Talladega 500 - This race had an incredible 67 lead changes, a record at the time! After Buddy Baker had engine trouble, Lennie Pond and Donnie Allison battled for the win. On the final lap, Pond took the lead and won his only career Winston Cup race.
  • Champion Spark Plug 400 - David Pearson won this race after a late yellow flag. Richard Petty debuted a new Chevrolet car and was running strong until a blown tire sent him into the wall.
  • Volunteer 500 - Cale Yarborough led 327 laps and won. There was a crash between Lennie Pond and Darrell Waltrip during the race, but Pond said it was "just an accident."
  • Southern 500 - Cale Yarborough won his fourth Southern 500 race, leading 203 laps. Terry Labonte finished a strong fourth in his first race for Billy Hagan's team.
  • Capital City 400 - Darrell Waltrip won this race, but he was booed by the crowd because he spun out Neil Bonnett, who was the defending champion of the race.
  • Delaware 500 - Bobby Allison got his first win since March. J.D. McDuffie won his only career pole position in this race.
  • Wilkes 400 - Cale Yarborough overcame a two-lap deficit without any yellow flags to help him. He led the final 19 laps to get his ninth win of the season.
  • National 500 - Bobby Allison won this race by almost a full lap over Darrell Waltrip. The lead changed 40 times among nine different drivers, making it a very exciting race.
  • American 500 - By winning this race, Cale Yarborough officially secured his third championship in a row, with two races still left in the season! Bobby Allison finished second in the race.
  • Dixie 500 - This race had a confusing finish due to a scoring error. Initially, it was announced that Richard Petty won, but after a review, it was confirmed that Donnie Allison was the true winner. Dale Earnhardt also finished a strong fourth in this race.
  • Los Angeles Times 500 - Bobby Allison led many laps and won this final race of the season. Cale Yarborough finished second. This race was also notable because Dale Earnhardt became a full-time driver for Rod Osterlund's team after this event.

Full Drivers’ Championship

Further information: List of NASCAR points scoring systems

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by owner's points. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.

Pos. Driver RSD DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT NSV RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL ONT Pts
1 Cale Yarborough 1* 2 3 18 4 4 15* 26 16 1* 2 4 1** 5* 1 2 1* 26 4* 2* 1* 1* 4 2 1* 1 22 1* 8 2 4841
2 Bobby Allison 30 1 6 2 1* 21 14 6 6 38 8 3 21 3 24 27 7 3 6 5 22 5 2 1* 7 3 1* 2 6 1* 4367
3 Darrell Waltrip 23 28 4 21 35 1 2 1* 1* 22 6* 1* 26 16 28* 3 2 1* 34 3 3 2 1 5 2 2* 2 3 28 5 4362
4 Benny Parsons 2 3 1 3 13 2* 1 3 15 31 4 6 20 1 3 26 6 29 3 13 2 10 6 26 3 6 28 4 5 8 4350
5 Dave Marcis 5 6 7 11 2 3 4 5 4 8 15 32 4 4 4 6 4 4 14 4 6 35 9 8 8 8 3 8 3 27 4335
6 Richard Petty 16 33 22 4 26 25 5 2 3 11 7 8 3 2 6 4 23 30 7 14 5 3 20 27 6 4 27 6 2 34 3949
7 Lennie Pond DNQ 10 2* 5 5 5 3 4 18 21 3 33 2 7 25 5 26 1 8 26 26 12 7 5 7 6 7 39 6 3794
8 Dick Brooks 15 5 5 28 6 19 35 8 27 15 9 19 14 26 7 36 8 7 9 6 4 25 5 6 13 9 10 5 12 9 3769
9 Buddy Arrington 11 16 15 9 14 8 18 11 5 12 13 15 9 18 12 34 12 14 15 12 12 8 16 22 10 13 14 9 16 35 3626
10 Richard Childress 20 13 8 8 15 6 28 10 8 9 33 20 8 15 20 24 3 24 25 31 7 27 11 12 12 14 9 10 30 11 3566
11 J. D. McDuffie 28 30 27 25 16 28 11 7 26 40 34 22 12 24 13 12 5 10 17 7 8 20 8 33 22 11 11 12 14 26 3255
12 Neil Bonnett 4 27 9 6 33 26 32 24 2 39 5 35 5 10 36 23 28 36 8 9 20 34 3* 29 4 5 30 31 34 37 3129
13 Tighe Scott 18 11 10 34 34 9 34 25 25 13 11 31 7 11 11 10 22 8 10 19 23 23 27 25 29 10 12 21 22 DNQ 3110
14 Frank Warren 13 24 14 12 19 13 17 22 22 29 27 23 16 29 20 17 13 18 33 24 15 12 23 21 21 24 25 16 33 23 3036
15 Dick May 18 29 17 12 36 18 28 23 21 13 18 21 19 16 18 11 16 11 25 38 15 10 17 25 8 11 19 31 2936
16 Jimmy Means 35 12 10 32 23 12 14 10 26 17 37 30 15 13 24 13 32 15 19 11 13 32 23 23 13 23 22 2756
17 David Pearson 3 34 1* 21 29 21 35 1 5 27 2 1* 2 5 1 28 4 25 5 24 32 38 2756
18 Ronnie Thomas (R) DNQ 18 13 24 20 31 21 20 14 32 30 15 25 18 25 10 33 24 26 11 9 14 11 16 19 33 15 30 2733
19 Cecil Gordon 25 21 17 22 17 18 33 17 9 25 25 19 12 17 32 19 40 17 13 17 14 30 26 15 18 15 2641
20 Tommy Gale 25 23 14 22 22 21 27 17 16 18 24 21 15 16 20 16 21 13 24 17 27 17 31 18 31 17 2639
21 Roger Hamby (R) DNQ 15 25 27 37 17 13 23 14 19 31 23 27 17 27 36 30 10 19 10 18 24 12 18 26 11 12 2617
22 D. K. Ulrich 10 17 16 26 11 11 20 13 13 17 16 29 10 14 14 19 20 25 19 23 9 29 DNQ 2452
23 Baxter Price (R) DNQ 20 23 16 16 19 11 20 22 25 17 26 20 27 28 23 21 16 15 22 23 19 21 29 19 DNQ 2418
24 Buddy Baker 7* 33 27 6 2 23 7 8 37 5 28 36 32 3 26 34 22 21* 4 2130
25 Donnie Allison 39 31 3 23 24 2 5 33 35 2 29 24 9 4 20 1 3 1993
26 James Hylton 11 15 7 12 7 10 11 39 41 35 17 7 18 34 11 16 15 14 16 1965
27 Gary Myers Wth 20 30 26 18 28 23 15 19 21 20 14 14 21 20 15 22 17 27 24 1915
28 Ed Negre DNQ DNQ 21 29 25 10 15 19 28 35 27 35 18 29 21 30 15 18 20 21 35 26 21 1857
29 Skip Manning 21 12 13 7 23 15 8 9 23 4 12 26 16 39 38 38 25 1802
30 Grant Adcox 14 30 7 25 5 11 6 22 22 11 22 31 33 38 1467
31 Ricky Rudd 37 10 27 28 9 21 6 39 28 36 23 25 9 DNQ 1260
32 Bruce Hill DNQ 9 36 19 10 25 29 40 14 17 35 34 40 13 36 DNQ 1214
33 Bill Elliott 8 38 9 6 14 9 13 6 17 37 1176
34 Al Holbert (R) 8 29 31 7 10 38 31 30 12 30 QL 13 35 1142
35 Ferrel Harris 9 7 8 9 20 11 10 18 28 36 20 34 20 19 1066
36 Coo Coo Marlin 26 39 41 22 38 26 30 7 10 765
37 Blackie Wangerin (R) 36 29 19 30 32 31 15 40 25 33 760
38 Bobby Wawak DNQ 29 12 28 DNQ 13 34 28 37 27 DNQ 680
39 Terry Labonte 4 7 9 24 13 659
40 Ralph Jones Wth 20 24 21 27 18 30 29 634
41 Janet Guthrie DNQ 10 11 31 29 27 35 13 592
42 Earle Canavan DNQ 24 24 22 20 33 31 32 39 16 DNQ 559
43 Dale Earnhardt 17 7 12 16 4 558
44 Roland Wlodyka DNQ 19 26 32 18 27 21 549
45 Joe Frasson DNQ 16 24 14 17 23 533
46 Nelson Oswald DNQ 30 38 DNQ 24 25 24 18 501
47 Joe Mihalic 31 19 24 26 30 DNQ 32 419
48 Jim Thirkettle 17 9 10 389
49 Jimmy Insolo 7 32 7 369
50 Satch Worley 14 DNQ 18 9 14 368
51 John Kennedy DNQ Wth 29 29 DNQ 30 27 40 350
52 Bill Schmitt 32 8 14 350
53 Harry Gant 41 36 28 19 7 325
54 Connie Saylor 8 34 16 318
55 Richard White 24 19 18 308
56 Chuck Bown 30 30 24 33 301
57 Nestor Peles DNQ 24 21 19 297
58 Rick McCray 12 13 39 297
59 John Utsman DNQ 40 32 16 32 292
60 Joey Arrington 22 19 31 273
61 Joe Booher 18 34 22 273
62 John Borneman 27 23 25 264
63 Rocky Moran 26 30 20 261
64 Jimmy Lee Capps 23 19 35 258
65 Dave Dion 40 38 26 28 256
66 Ray Elder 34 6 40 254
67 Elmo Langley 37 16 29 243
68 Woody Fisher DNQ 28 36 20 237
69 Sterling Marlin 9 25 226
70 Ron Hutcherson 4 34 39 221
71 Jerry Jolly 20 40 36 201
72 Junior Miller 15 28 197
73 Bill Hollar Wth 28 36 36 189
74 Norm Palmer 14 35 DNQ 179
75 Ernie Stierly 19 31 DNQ 176
76 Morgan Shepherd 40 12 170
77 Harry Goularte DNQ 20 33 167
78 Mel Larson 33 29 140
79 Roy Smith 9 DNQ 138
80 Chuck Wahl DNQ 28 36 134
81 Jim Vandiver 38 27 131
82 Sam Sommers DNQ 12 27 127
83 Wayne Morgan DNQ 39 29 122
84 Hershel McGriff 6 17 112
85 Marty Robbins 18 109
86 Glenn Jarrett 20 103
87 Bob Burcham 22 97
88 Don Graham 22 DNQ 97
89 Jack Simpson 22 DNQ 97
90 Butch Mock 22 19 31 85
91 Steve Moore 27 82
92 Don Noel 33 28 79
93 Billy McGinnis 28 79
94 Vince Giaformaggio 29 QL 76
95 Richard Waters 29 76
96 Raymond Williams 29 76
97 Bill Green 30 73
98 Johnny Halford 30 73
99 Don Puskarich 31 DNQ 70
100 Steve Pfeifer DNQ DNQ 32 67
101 Eddie Bradshaw 33 64
102 Bill Baker DNQ 34 61
103 Louis Gatto DNQ 35 58
104 Gary Johnson 35 DNQ 58
105 Butch Hartman Wth 36 55
106 Bill Dennis 37 52
107 Jocko Maggiacomo DNQ Wth 37 52
108 Jabe Thomas 37 52
109 Dick Trickle 39 46
110 Bobby Fisher 29 40 43
111 Claude Ballot-Léna 22 18 35 37
112 A. J. Foyt 32 3
113 Lynn Carroll 14
114 Dave Watson 17 DNQ
115 Kenny Brightbill 23
116 Paul Fess 28
117 Greg Heller 29
118 Charlie Blanton 32
119 Frank Hill 37
120 Pappy Pryor DNQ
121 John Soares DNQ
122 Evan Noyes Jr. DNQ
123 Glenn Francis DNQ
124 Bob Switzer DNQ
125 Mike Kempton DNQ
126 Bob Brown DNQ
127 Mike Brockman DNQ DNQ
128 John Dineen DNQ Wth DNQ
129 Dick Whalen DNQ DNQ DNQ
130 Ron McGee DNQ DNQ
131 Dick Kranzler DNQ DNQ
132 Bennie Vaught DNQ DNQ
133 Steve Stolarek DNQ
134 Tommy Robbs DNQ
135 Tom Frank DNQ
136 Claude Aubin DNQ
137 Earl Ross DNQ
138 Terry Link DNQ
139 Robin Schildknecht DNQ
140 Keith Nebern DNQ
141 Hal Callentine DNQ
142 Mike Roche DNQ
143 Ross Kusah DNQ
144 John Krebs DNQ
145 Billy Hagan DNQ
146 Chris Monoleos DNQ
147 Johnny Kieper DNQ
148 Fred Lovell Wth
149 A. J. Reno Wth
150 Larry LaMay Wth
151 Paul Dean Holt Wth
152 Travis Tiller Wth
153 Jim Bray Wth
154 Keith Davis Wth
155 Hoss Ellington QL
156 Walter Ballard QL 30
Pos. Driver RSD DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL DOV CLT NSV RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL ONT Pts

Images for kids

  • Darrell Waltrip 1978

    Darrell Waltrip at the 1978 World 600.

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