The 1979 Coca-Cola 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 30, 1979, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

By the following season, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

During qualifying an unnamed driver dared James Hylton to turn the slowest lap he could while qualifying. Hylton turned in a blistering 45 mph average for the lap, and NASCAR officials promptly fined him $500.

Background Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.

Race report While originally scheduled for July 29, 1979, it was postponed one day due to rain. The race was run on Monday, so most of the NASCAR fans had to go work that day.

Two hundred laps were completed in four hours and twenty minutes. Seven cautions flags slowed the race for 49 laps; Cale Yarborough eventually defeated Richard Petty under the race's final yellow flag. This would result in Yarborough's third win of the year. Forty thousand fans attended a live racing event where the average speed of the vehicles would be . None of the drivers on the starting grid were born in Wisconsin; which is still true in 2016. Harry Gant qualified for the pole position with a speed of . The majority of the vehicles involved in the race had Chevrolet as their manufacturer. Steve Gray would make his NASCAR debut that resulted in a last-place finish. He crashed on the very first lap of the race with Roger Hamby and Al Holbert; taking home only $1,305 in winnings ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Dale Earnhardt fractured both of his clavicles when on Lap 98 his right rear tire exploded and he hammered the boilerplate barrier in Turn Two. As a result, he had to miss the next four races (re-emerging at the 1979 running of the Capital City 400).

Darrell Waltrip's championship aspirations took a hit by pitting late in the race and losing the lead for good on lap 187 regulating him to a seventh-place finish while top rival for the championship Richard Petty finished in second place. Had Darrell Waltrip finished ahead of rival Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip would have probably won the championship in 1979.

A freight train of cars ended up drafting and swapping positions for a majority of the event. Multiple times the lead changed up to four times in a single lap, notably the first two laps and Lap 120 when Waltrip, Yarborough, Petty, and Bonnett raced five abreast with Bobby Allison, a lap down after a distributor wire had to be replaced under yellow, and all nearly crashed in Turn One.

It took 62 starts, but Ricky Rudd finally collects his first lead-lap finish in Winston Cup, nevertheless managing to collect 20 top-10s prior to this event.

Cale Yarborough would take home $21,465 in winnings for finishing first in the race ($ when adjusted for inflation). 56 lead changes were recorded in this race; a rarity outside Talladega Superspeedway and a definite record setter for Pocono Raceway. All of the 39 drivers that qualified for the race were American-born men.

Race results Fin St # Driver MakeTeam/Owner Sponsor Laps Led StatusPtsWinnings 1 2 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Junior Johnson & Associates Busch 200 61 running180$21465 2 10 43 Richard Petty Chevrolet Petty Enterprises STP 200 17 running175$15465 3 9 28 Buddy Baker Chevrolet Ranier-Lundy Racing W.I.N. 200 7 running170$8490 4 5 27 Benny Parsons Chevrolet M.C. Anderson Racing Harrisburg East Mall 200 0 running160$7765 5 6 90 Ricky Rudd Mercury Donlavey Racing Truxmore 200 0 running155$6215 6 15 72 Joe Millikan Chevrolet L. G. DeWitt Appliance Wheels 200 0 running150$7215 7 18 22 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet Al Rudd Auto Gatorade 200 62 running156$2715 8 7 21 Neil Bonnett Mercury Wood Brothers Racing Purolator 200 8 running147$2815 9 4 15 Bobby Allison Ford Bud Moore Engineering Hodgdon, Moore 199 1 running143$5915 10 16 30 Tighe Scott Buick Walter Ballard Russ Togs 198 0 running134$4295112340D.K. UlrichChevroletD.K. UlrichMidwestern Farm Lines1970running130$368512393Richard ChildressChevroletRichard Childress RacingCRC Chemicals1960running127$3525131370J. D. McDuffieChevroletJ. D. McDuffieBailey Excavating1960running124$3305141725Ronnie ThomasChevroletDon RobertsonStone's Cafeteria1960running121$409515147Harry GantChevroletJack Beebe (owner)Race Hill Farm1951running123$2915162052Jimmy MeansChevroletJimmy Means RacingMr. Transmission1940running115$2785172464Tommy GaleFordElmo LangleySunny King Ford & Honda1900running112$2555182524Cecil GordonOldsmobileCecil Gordon1890running109$2370192879Frank WarrenDodgeFrank WarrenNative Tan1880ignition106$2135201905Dick BrooksChevroletNelson MallochBearfinder1880running103$1600213634Steve PelesChevroletSteve Peles1870running100$1180222167Buddy ArringtonDodgeBuddy ArringtonReid Trailer Sales1870ignition97$2025231244Terry LabonteChevroletHagan RacingStratagraph1840running94$1980242963Jocko MaggiacomoOldsmobileJocko MaggiacomoShaw Motors1720running91$1105253309Nelson OswaldChevroletNelson OswaldJ & S Truck Service1680engine88$1080263420Rick NewsomOldsmobileRick NewsomMARS1660running85$1055273201Earle CanavanDodgeEarle CanavanGreen's Auto Parts1400engine82$1030282257Dick MayFordAlfred McClureMcClure Motors1030engine79$10052932Dale EarnhardtChevroletOsterlund RacingRod Osterlund9843crash81$4680303561Wayne BroomeOldsmobileJim Norris (owner)Jim Norris920engine73$955313145Baxter PriceChevroletBaxter PriceIron Peddlers880engine70$1430322755Wayne WatercutterChevroletWard Racing Enterprises480crash0$905333848James HyltonChevroletJames Hylton MotorsportsPalatine Automotive Parts400engine64$1380341112Lennie PondOldsmobileKennie ChildersKencoal Mining150steering61$850351487Gary BaloughOldsmobileBillie HarveyFast Lane Ltd.90clutch58$840363723Louis GattoChevroletL & J Automotive50ignition55$8203787Al HolbertChevroletAl HolbertHolbert Porsche-Audi10crash52$1065382617Roger HambyOldsmobileRoger HambyKings Inn10crash49$1310393019Steve GrayChevroletHenley GrayBelden Asphalt10crash46$1305 Source:

Standings after the race Pos Driver Points Differential 1 Darrell Waltrip 3061 0 2 Richard Petty 2852 -209 3 Cale Yarborough 2850 -211 4 Bobby Allison 2845 -216 5 Dale Earnhardt 2588 -473 6 Benny Parsons 2557 -504 7 Joe Millikan 2471 -590 8 J.D. McDuffie 2263 -798 9 Richard Childress 2256 -805 10 D.K. Ulrich 2197 -864

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