Article: 1979 Daytona 500 - The Race That Made Nascar

[Steve Holmes]

Through the opening laps, television viewers got an inside seat alongside Parsons at nearly 200mph, experiencing the effects of drafting, while the commentators rose to fever pitch. Donnie Allison was running like a dart, and drew several lengths ahead, until eventually the train of cars chasing him finally hauled him in, with Yarborough finally going by. A seven car train, which included Yarborough, Parsons, the Allison brothers, Waltrip, Foyt, and Dave Marcis, opened a sizable gap to the rest of the pack after 20 laps, while Baker slipped down the order.

Then, on lap 29, drama unfolded when the two Allison brothers touched coming out of Turn 2 while battling for the lead. The pair spun down through the infield, Donnie almost turning over, while they took a close following Yarborough with them. The three cars spun wildly through the soggy infield, water and mud flying everywhere, and while Donnie Allison and Yarborough eventually slithered to a halt without hitting anything, Bobby Allison crunched the inside wall, badly crumpling the rear of his Thunderbird.

The caution flags waved and the field dived into the pits for fuel, with Neil Bonnett emerging in front, ahead of Foyt and Petty. While neither Donnie Allison nor Yarborough hit anything, other than Allison clunking his brother a second time as they spun, both cars were stuck deep in the muddy infield, unable to gain traction, until assistance arrived. Donnie Allison lost one lap in the process, making several stops under caution while his crew made adjustments to correct the wheel alignment. Bobby Allison lost three laps, as his team straightened up his car as best they could, while Yarborough also lost three laps, as he was the last to be pushed from the mud, and had trouble getting his car to fire. However, these guys were still in a better position than pole man Baker, whose Oldsmobile had dropped on to seven cylinders, and would shortly be retired from the race.

Once the field got the green again, the lead was swapped several times, with nobody really being able to pull a gap. This lasted until lap 53, when a multi-car pile-up, triggered by Bruce Hill and Gary Balough, eliminated several cars, including David Pearson’s Mercury. At the green, Donnie Allison, who was the first car one lap down, and therefore starting on the bottom row alongside leader Petty, jumped ahead of Petty, and stayed ahead for a few laps, before being shuffled back briefly as Bonnett and the rookie Earnhardt moved forward. Allison then pushed back ahead, and was just holding out the new leader Parsons when Bonnett spun on lap 72, and was hit by Harry Gant, bringing out another caution, and allowing Allison to get back on the lead lap.

Geoff Bodine emerged in front following pit stops, and after several laps of lead swapping, Benny Parsons managed to make a breakaway, with Yarborough, three two laps down, going with him. And it remained this way at the halfway point, which, after the first 15 laps behind the pace-car, then the long delays for the cautions, had been the slowest Daytona 500 to date. Amazingly, Donnie Allison had worked his way back up to second.

The fifth caution period came when Johnny Utsman blew the motor in his Chevy Monte Carlo, which, for Yarborough, was timely, as he’d just gone ahead of race leader Parsons, and would get back one of his laps. Parsons made a stop for tyres and fuel under caution, but returned to his pits a lap later, with the car overheating. He returned again the next lap. Meanwhile, several other cars were suffering from fouled spark plugs due to all the laps run under caution. Waltrip stopped twice during the race to have his plugs replaced.

With Parsons being delayed, it was Donnie Allison who led the field towards the green once more, followed by the impressive rookie Dale Earnhardt, and Grant Adcox. After several laps at speed, Allison held the front, while the lapped cars of Yarborough and Bobby Allison sat right behind him, looking for a way past. On lap 119, Blackie Wangerin brought out another caution when smoke began billowing out behind his Mercury, and as the Allison’s and Yarborough raced for the line, Yarborough just got in front of Donnie as they went across the start/finish line, undoing another lap.

Allison held the lead throughout the next segment, with Yarborough, now just one lap down, right behind him and pushing hard. In behind the lapped Yarborough, Petty held second, with Earnhardt third, and powering down the back straight on lap 135, Yarborough pulled out of the draft, and went by Allison, just as Paul Fess lost the motor in his Oldsmobile, bringing out another caution. Yarborough was now on the lead lap.

To the green once more, and Donnie Allison again assumed control, until the young Earnhardt took over briefly, before Allison went by once more. Foyt held third, from the impressive Tighe Scott, and Petty. The high speed train continued through the laps, and Yarborough was working his way towards the front. With 45 laps to go, Yarborough broke into the top five for the first time since the beginning of the race.

Earnhardt dropped out of the running when he was forced to make a green flag pit stop as the rest of the field blasted along at full racing speed. For some reason Earnhardt chose not to stop when the rest of the front runners came in during the last caution, so he was now out of sync, and went down a lap.