1979 Gabriel 400

The 1979 Gabriel 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on June 17, 1979, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.
The NASCAR Winston Cup Series races that were being shown at Michigan International Speedway between the late-1970s and the late-1980s were exceptionally good by modern standards.

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. 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. The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.

Race report

Two hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning. The total time of the race was two hours, fifty-six minutes, and forty-four seconds. There were six cautions for thirty-three laps with the race finishing under caution. Speeds were: as the average and as the pole position speed.
Sixty-two thousand fans managed to see Buddy Baker defeat Donnie Allison under caution. The race was also Bill Seifert's final start in addition to being Bill Elliott's 33rd start in the NASCAR Cup Series; Elliott would lead the first lap of his NASCAR Cup Series career during this event. Other famous drivers like Darrell Waltrip, Richard Childress, Benny Parsons, and Terry Labonte have participated in this race.
This was Marty Robbins' last race in his signature #42. He would switch to using a variety of different numbers from here on out, normally the #6. He changed numbers to free up the #42 for young Kyle Petty to use it, reviving his family's use of the digit his grandfather Lee Petty had made so famous.
Engine problems took out Bill Seifert on lap 32 in addition to Marty Robbins on lap 64 and Bill Green on lap 76. Problems with the vehicle's shocks eliminated Tommy Gale from the race on lap 84. Lap 97 would be very unkind to Paul Fess and Benny Parsons; whose vehicles would suffer from faulty engines. Joe Millikan would notice that his vehicle's engine stopped working on lap 103 while Roger Hamby would inflict terminal vehicle damage on lap 122. Further engine problems knocked David Sosebee out of the race on lap 135 and Ronnie Thomas on lap 150. Dave Marcis would inflict terminal vehicle damage on lap 173. Bob Burcham noticed that his vehicle's engine stopped working on lap 184. Frank Warren inflicted terminal vehicle damage on lap 186 while Darrell Waltrip had to leave the race due to a faulty engine on lap 197.
While substituting for Roger Hamby during the middle of this racing event, Steve Pfieffer lost control of his car during a caution period and injured a couple of spectators on the pit wall while attempting to stop his vehicle for maintenance. He would be later sent to Foote West Hospital in nearby Jackson; where the doctors gave him a good prognosis and eventually released him with cuts on his right knee and chest.
The lead changed 47 times among 11 drivers. Dale Earnhardt was criticized by Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty when he nearly spun out trying to pass Neil Bonnett late in the race in front of both.
Notable crew chiefs to actively participate in the race were Buddy Parrott, Tex Powell, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Innman, Harry Hyde, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder. The total winnings of this race were $148,505. Buddy Baker earned $16,780 in cash prizes for his win while Bill Seifert walked away only $960 wealthier.

Finishing order

Section reference:

POS	ST	#	DRIVER	SPONSOR / OWNER	CAR	LAPS	MONEY	STATUS	LED	PTS
1	3	28	Buddy Baker	Spectra	Chevrolet	200	16870	running	121	185
2	2	1	Donnie Allison	Hawaiian Tropic	Chevrolet	200	12970	running	25	175
3	5	11	Cale Yarborough	Busch	Oldsmobile	200	12620	running	4	170
4	1	21	Neil Bonnett	Purolator	Mercury	200	7410	running	9	165
5	10	43	Richard Petty	STP	Chevrolet	200	8325	running	23	160
6	13	2	Dale Earnhardt	Rod Osterlund	Chevrolet	200	7540	running	1	155
7	6	15	Bobby Allison	Hodgdon / Moore	Ford	200	6830	running	1	151
8	8	90	Ricky Rudd	Truxmore	Mercury	199	5665	running	0	142
9	12	30	Tighe Scott	Russ Togs	Buick	199	5480	running	0	138
10	34	05	Dick Brooks	Bearfinder	Chevrolet	199	4650	running	0
11	19	12	Lennie Pond	Kencoal Mining	Chevrolet	199	2425	running	0	130
12	11	9	Bill Elliott	Knutsons Ski-Doo	Mercury	198	2315	running	1	132
13	9	88	Darrell Waltrip	Gatorade	Chevrolet	197	5655	engine	8	129
14	22	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating	Chevrolet	196	4060	running	0	121
15	30	67	Buddy Arrington	Reid Trailer Sales	Dodge	196	3865	running	0	118
16	26	52	Jimmy Means	Mr. Transmission	Chevrolet	193	3625	running	0	115
17	24	47	Harry Gant	Race Hill Farm	Chevrolet	193	1440	running	0	112
18	27	0	John Kennedy	Avanti CB	Chevrolet	192	1385	running	0	109
19	36	38	Sandy Satullo	Copper Kettle Marina	Buick	192	1345	running	0	106
20	21	48	James Hylton	Palatine Automotive Parts	Chevrolet	190	3125	running	0	103
21	31	40	D.K. Ulrich	Midwestern Farm Lines	Buick	190	2830	running	0	100
22	20	79	Frank Warren	Native Tan	Dodge	186	2585	crash	0	97
23	23	3	Richard Childress	CRC Chemicals	Oldsmobile	186	2380	running	0	94
24	25	19	Bob Burcham	Belden Asphalt	Chevrolet	184	2085	engine	0	91
25	7	44	Terry Labonte	Stratagraph	Chevrolet	184	2050	running	0	88
26	15	71	Dave Marcis	Transmissions Unlimited	Chevrolet	173	1765	crash	4	90
27	17	25	Ronnie Thomas	Stone's Cafeteria	Chevrolet	150	2970	engine	1	87
28	35	81	David Sosebee	Gober Sosebee	Chevrolet	135	1060	engine	0
29	18	17	Roger Hamby	Kings Inn	Chevrolet	122	1545	crash	0	76
30	4	72	Joe Millikan	Appliance Wheels	Chevrolet	103	4725	engine	0	73
31	16	27	Benny Parsons	Griffin Marine	Chevrolet	97	1510	engine	0	70
32	28	82	Paul Fess	Lasky Construction	Oldsmobile	97	1000	engine	0	67
33	32	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda	Ford	84	1490	shocks	0	64
34	14	49	Bill Green	A.K. Cartage	Chevrolet	76	980	engine	2
35	29	42	Marty Robbins	Robbins Racing	Dodge	64	970	engine	0	58
36	33	09	Bill Seifert	CRC Chemicals	Oldsmobile	32	960	engine	0	55

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
''* Driver failed to finish race''