1979 Champion Spark Plug 400

Race details [1] [2] [3]
Race 21 of 31 in the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
Date	August 19, 1979 (1979-August-19)
Official name	Champion Spark Plug 400
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Mild with temperatures of 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed	130.367 miles per hour (209.805 km/h)
Attendance	60,000 [4]
Pole position
Driver	David Pearson	Osterlund Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver	Buddy Baker	Ranier Racing
Laps	115
Winner
No. 43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network
Booth Announcers	Jack Arute & Barney Hall
Turn Announcers	Turns 1 & 2: Mike Joy Turns 3 & 4: Eli Gold Pit Reporter: Ned Jarrett

The 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 19, 1979, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. ^[5] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees. ^[5] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long. ^[5]

Race report

There were 36 American-born male drivers on the grid. ^{[4] [3]}

David Pearson driving in place of an injured Dale Earnhardt earned the pole position with a speed of 162.992 miles per hour (262.310 km/h) . ^{[4] [2]} Richard Petty defeated Buddy Baker ^[3] by one second in essentially a fuel mileage race that determined whoever could preserve the most fuel. ^{[4] [2]} There were 21 lead changes and five caution flags for 35 laps; making the race three hours and four minutes long while the average speed was 130.376 miles per hour (209.820 km/h). ^{[4] [2]}

Blackie Wangerin would receive the last-place finish due to a crash with H.B. Bailey on lap 2 which resulted in Wangerin's car flipping outside of the track in Turn 3 which resulted in a lengthy red flag to rebuild the turns 3 and 4 guardrail. John Anderson got his only top five finish in his Cup debut. ^{[4] [2] [3]}

Al Rudd, Jr. would race his only NASCAR event here. The entire purse was $142,905 ($599,925.8 when adjusted for inflation). ^[6] Notable crew chiefs for this race were Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Harry Hyde, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder. ^[7]

Jan Opperman, in a car owned by Will Cronkite was the only driver to not qualify.

Qualifying

Failed to qualify: Jan Opperman (#96) ^[8]

Finishing order

Source: ^[9]

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points [4]	Differential
1	Darrell Waltrip	3352	0
2	Richard Petty	3197	-155
3	Cale Yarborough	3063	-289
4	Bobby Allison	3023	-329
5	Benny Parsons	2827	-525
6	Joe Millikan	2719	-633
7	Dale Earnhardt	2588	-764
8	Richard Childress	2524	-828
9	J.D. McDuffie	2510	-842
10	Buddy Arrington	2415	-937

References