1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1978 NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Series was the 30th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 7th modern era NASCAR Cup series. The season began on Sunday, January 22 and ended on Sunday, November 19. Cale Yarborough driving the Junior Johnson #11 First National City Travelers Checks Oldsmobile won his then record third consecutive NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Winston Cup. Ronnie Thomas was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year in a tight battle with Roger Hamby.

Notable races

Winston Western 500 - NASCAR banned the Chevrolet Laguna S3 racecar but also allowed Chevrolet engines to be used in other General Motors brands; as a result teams were fielding Monte Carlos, Chevrolet Malibus, Buick Centuries, and Oldsmobile Cutlasses. The Oldsmobile brand reached its first win since 1959 as Cale Yarborough drove Junior Johnson's Olds to the win. Bobby Allison, making his debut in Bud Moore's Ford, fell out after 40 laps, while Richard Petty finished 16th after rearend failure; Petty was driving the 1974 Dodge Charger for the final time as the car's Winston Cup Grand National eligibility ended after this race.

Daytona 125s - The two qualifying races for the Daytona 500 were the first superspeedway test of the new 1977-78 model racecars now eligible for NASCAR competition. Preseason testing had exposed serious stability issues with the cars, particularly the Olds Cutlass with its shorter rear deck and open rear side windows; Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were pointed in their concerns about the instability of the Olds ; Richard Petty was similarly critical of the Dodge Magnum he now was fielding. Cale won the pole for the 500 while Ron Hutcherson timed second. In the 125s the lead changed a combined 25 times. Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker crashed out of the first 125 while A. J. Foyt drove a superspeedway Buick to win it. Darrell Waltrip drove a Monte Carlo, edging Richard Petty's Magnum in the second; Waltrip said after the win, "Richard Petty has the fastest car here."

Race 1 results:

Race 2 results:

Daytona 500 - Richard Petty led 26 laps in his 125, and his Magnum was pronounced the fastest car in Daytona by Waltrip after the Twins. Petty raced to the lead with Waltrip and David Pearson drafting him. By Lap 61 they had put all but Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker a lap down, but in Turn Four Petty blew a tire and all three hit the wall, then slid into the inside wall. Following the restart Benny Parsons spun out after blowing a tire while A. J. Foyt was drop-kicked by Lennie Pond and tumbled through the infield grass; he was cut from the car and hospitalized. Allison took the lead with ten to go and Buddy Baker blew his engine, leaving Allison uncontested for his first Cup win since 1975.

Richmond 400 - Lennie Pond took the lead after Cale Yarborough led 69 laps and by the final 100 laps seemed in control of the race, but a blown tire put Benny Parsons into the lead and Parsons won by nearly three seconds over Pond. The 142 laps led were the most Pond had led in a race to date, surpassing the 113 laps led at the 1976 American 500.

Carolina 500 - Pearson reached a NASCAR milestone with his 100th Grand National win, running down Benny Parsons on a frigid raceday.

Atlanta 500 - NASCAR mandated larger spoiler sizes to combat the instability of the new racecars beginning with the Atlanta 500. Bobby Allison led 261 laps and put the entire field a lap down en route to the win. Darrell Waltrip blew his engine after 146 laps then publicly called out his pit crew; "Every time I pitted, I fell further behind."

Southeastern 500 - After his crew repaired damage in an early crash, Darrell Waltrip drove to victory at Bristol and praised his crew for their work. It was the first of his record 12 Cup Series wins at the circuit.

Rebel 500 - Benny Parsons grabbed his second win of the season, leading 83 laps after his team had to change engines before the race. "This one was a stick of dynamite," Parsons said of the new engine.

Winston 500 - Rain delayed the Winston 500 from May 7 to Mother's Day May 14 - and also pushed back the scheduled Music City 420 at Nashville as well. The Talladega race saw 44 official lead changes as Cale Yarborough battled Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty, and others; Benny Parsons and Dick Brooks stormed to the lead on the opening lap and Parsons led it, but fell out with clutch failure 121 laps in. Petty battled for the lead but on a late caution his transmission acted up, and he lost five laps getting it fixed. Yarborough drafted past Buddy Baker on the final lap for only his second win of the year.

World 600 - Darrell Waltrip, Donnie Allison, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, and Benny Parsons dominated the 600 as the lead changed 43 times between them, the most competitive Charlotte race to that point. A last-lap crash knocked out Pearson and Parsons as Waltrip took the first of five 600s. Richard Petty finished a distant eighth and was more and more frustrated by the Dodge Magnum; it took several trips through the inspection line before he was cleared to race. Willy T. Ribbs, noted road racer, was slated to drive an ex-Bud Moore Torino purchased by Will Cronkite in the 600 but did not attend two scheduled test sessions then was arrested for driving the wrong way up a one-way street; Cronkite hired local racer Dale Earnhardt to drive the car.

Music City 420 - Yarborough stormed past pole-sitter Lennie Pond and led all 420 laps, putting the entire field two laps or more down. It was the last wire-to-wire win in a Cup race until 2000. Cale also took the point lead from Benny Parsons.

Gabriel 400 - Cale's domination of the season continued as he made up a lap on the race's only yellow and led the last 59 laps to an easy win. "Surely he must have a big engine," Pearson said after the race, while Glen Wood said, "He's made up some laps in mysterious fashion."

Firecracker 400 - Cale Yarborough spun out while drafting David Pearson with some 33 laps to go; he recovered and his last-lap attempt was foiled when Pearson boxed him behind Baxter Price and grabbed a three-length win, his record fifth in the event.

Nashville 420 - Yarborough's domination of the season continued as he led 411 laps and finished two laps ahead of Waltrip.

Coca-Cola 500 - Darrell Waltrip grabbed his second big-track win of the season, beating David Pearson by nearly a second. Richard Petty led briefly but fell out with engine failure following announcement that he would park the Dodge Magnum after the Talladega 500 in favor of a Chevrolet he'd purchased from Cecil Gordon.

Talladega 500 - Cale and Buddy Baker fought it out as the lead changed 67 times overall. Baker's engine failure left Yarborough seemingly alone but the final eleven laps became a showdown between Lennie Pond and Donnie Allison; on the final lap Bill Elliott's blown tire slowed Allison enough for Pond to storm to his only career Winston Cup win. Richard Petty fought for the lead but ran out of fuel past halfway and finished two laps down in seventh in his final race in a Dodge.

Champion Spark Plug 400 - Petty debuted a Chevrolet he'd purchased from Cecil Gordon and ran strong in the 400 before a blown tire sent him hard into the guardrail with ten laps to go. Darrell Waltrip pitted under the yellow; Dave Marcis ran dry and had to be pushed by D.K. Ulrich; Pearson got four tires under the yellow and when the green and white flags flew he blew past Waltrip; Cale Yarborough grabbed second while Marcis finished fourth.

Volunteer 500 - Cale led 327 laps en route to the win, but the story of the race was an ugly set-to between pole-sitter Lennie Pond and Darrell Waltrip; Waltrip had declared before the race that he would drive the Ranier Racing car Pond presently drove in 1979 and would buy out his contract with DiGard; on Lap 104 Waltrip sideswiped Pond's Chevy, and three laps later a tire blew, sending Pond hard into Waltrip; Pond was later eliminated when he collided with Cecil Gordon and climbed the frontstretch wall. The race was scheduled to Saturday night by new track promoter Gary Baker.

Southern 500 - Cale led 203 laps en route to his fourth Southern 500 win, while finishing a distant fourth was Terry Labonte, hired to drive Billy Hagan's car after Skip Manning, citing lack of sponsorship, left the team.

Capital City 400 - Darrell Waltrip's controversial career took a major popularity hit after winning at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. He spun out winless Neil Bonnett, the race's defending champion, and was booed loudly by the crowd.

Delaware 500 - Bobby Allison grabbed his first win since March, but his postrace interview centered on a trip to the Mayo Clinic days before the race. J.D. McDuffie won his only career pole, doing so on McCreary tires, a first for the tire company.

Wilkes 400 - Unaided by yellows, Cale Yarborough erased a two-lap deficit and led the final 19 laps for his ninth win of the season.

National 500 - Richard Petty raced to the lead and battled Bobby Allison and company, looking for his first win of the season; Petty's Chevrolet led 102 laps but fell out when the ignition failed after 220 laps. Allison won by nearly a lap over Darrell Waltrip. David Pearson led 35 laps after winning his 11th straight Charlotte pole but fell out of contention late, finishing fifth. The lead changed 40 times among nine drivers.

American 500 - By winning this race, Cale Yarborough clinches his third straight championship with two races remaining in the season, even with second place in the title hunt Bobby Allison finishing a strong second in the race.

Dixie 500 - NASCAR suffered an embarrassing scoring breakdown as Donnie Allison made up a lap and stormed past Richard Petty and Dave Marcis with three laps to go. Allison was flagged the winner, but NASCAR announced scoring showed Petty beating Marcis by a wheel for the win. Scorer Earl Sappenfield, however, thought something still wasn't right; chief scorer Morris Metcalfe was told by one of his scorers - 16-year-old Brian France - that Donnie had in fact run a lap that hadn't been properly scored, and was thus the winner. When the announcement was made that Allison indeed had won, Bill France Jr. said, "First we need to wipe the egg off our face." Finishing fourth - following a strong second to Bobby Allison in a 300-mile Late Model Sportsman race at Charlotte the previous month - was Dale Earnhardt in a second Rod Osterlund car.

Los Angeles Times 500 - Cale Yarborough had to pit on the pace lap to correct ignition problems; he joined the field as the leaders were on the backstretch of the opening lap. The lead officially changed 11 times in the opening 21 laps and twice a lap several times; ultimately the lead changed 30 official times. Bobby Allison led 134 laps while Richard Petty was his strongest challenger, leading 30 laps before his engine failed. Allison took the win with Yarborough second. Dave Marcis finished 27th; his team owner Rod Osterlund entered two cars as he'd done at Atlanta; to preserve the rookie of the year status for 1979 for Dale Earnhardt, West Coast ace Jimmy Insolo started the race in the second Osterlund car and Earnhardt drove in relief, finishing seventh. The hiring of Earnhardt upset Marcis, who was already upset with team manager Roland Wlodyka; Marcis disliked the rookie's attitude coming into the series and left Osterlund's team; Osterlund thus named Earnhardt full-time driver. This was the last race without Terry Labonte in the field until the 2000 Brickyard 400.

Full Drivers’ Championship

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

	Driver	RIV	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT	NSV	RIV	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT
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 '	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 '	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 '		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 '	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			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																											26		24		85
91	Steve Moore																			27												82
92	Don Noel														33																28	79
93	Billy McGinnis					28																										79
94		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		DNQ	Wth																37													52
108	Jabe Thomas																								37							52
109	Dick Trickle																											39				46
110	Bobby Fisher																	29										40				43
111			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
	Driver	RIV	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT	NSV	RIV	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT