The 1981 Talladega 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 2, 1981, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama.
Background Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of , and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.
Race report 42 drivers would appear at this race; Joe Booher would receive credit for the last-place finish due to an engine issue on the fourth lap.1981 Talladega 500 at Racing Reference It took more than three hours to resolve the 188 lap race. There were eight caution periods for 36 laps with 39 lead changes. Harry Gant would win the pole position with a speed of . Rick Wilson crashed at least four times in this race before finally finishing his Oldsmobile off on lap 148.
This race marked the end for an iconic sponsorship as the Wood Brothers' #21 Ford hit the track in its famous Purolator colors for the final time, ending a partnership that dated back to 1971. Neil Bonnett qualified well and led early before a mechanical gremlin put the #21 out. Morgan Shepherd and his crew chief Darrell Bryant and a few of his own crew members got into a fight before this race. That led to Shepherd being released and Joe Millikan being hired for the rest of the season. Shepherd would qualify for the race in 15th place. He would drop out of the race on lap 55 due to engine problems and finish 36th.
Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, and Ron Bouchard were nose-to-tail going into the final lap. Coming through the trioval to the finish line, Labonte tried to pass Waltrip on the outside, Waltrip forcing him high, up against the wall. Bouchard, in third place, slipped by on the inside and won by in a spectacular 3-wide photo finish in front of 75,000 spectators.1981 Talladega 500 results at Talladega Superspeedway1981 Talladega 500 Finish at YouTube It would be the only Cup victory of his career. The thrilling win would propel him to that year's NASCAR Rookie of the Year award. Bouchard and Pete Hamilton are the only NASCAR Cup Series winners from Massachusetts to date.
Terry Herman would make his first NASCAR Cup start in this race while Sandy Satullo, II would make his last.1981 Talladega 500 racing information at Race Database Stan Barrett would make the best finish of his career in this race; he would go on to father independent driver Stanton Barrett. Richard Childress would make one of his final driving appearances before becoming a full-time owner of Richard Childress Racing.
The finish of the race was shown on the CBS Evening News that night, due to the technical difficulties that happened during the final seven minutes of the race. CBS Sports commentator Ken Squier confirms that the problems were caused by a breakdown of its microwave transmitter owned by Southern Bell. Despite video loss, the audio of the race was immediately picked up by a backup audio line. Squier managed to call the photo finish while viewers were stuck with the CBS Sports Saturday logo on-screen, they aired the final lap the following week during CBS Sports Spectacular.
Qualifying Grid Driver Manufacturer Owner 1 33 Harry Gant Buick Hal Needham 2 28 Bobby Allison Buick Harry Ranier 3 2 Dale Earnhardt Pontiac Jim Stacy 4 44 Terry Labonte Buick Bill Hagan 5 27 Cale Yarborough Buick M.C. Anderson 6 21 Neil Bonnett Ford Wood Brothers 7 1 Buddy Baker Buick Hoss Ellington 8 6 Joe Ruttman Buick Jim Stacy 9 62 Rick Wilson Oldsmobile Rick Wilson 10 47 Ron Bouchard Buick Jack Beebe
Finishing order
Ron Bouchard† Darrell Waltrip Terry Labonte Harry Gant Bobby Allison Lake Speed Kyle Petty Jody Ridley Stan Barrett Dave Marcis Bill Elliott Elliott Forbes-Robinson Benny Parsons† Terry Herman Dick May† Jimmy Means Cecil Gordon† Tommy Gale† Bobby Wawak† Rick Wilson* Rusty Wallace* Joe Ruttman* Ricky Rudd Lennie Pond* Gary Balough* Richard Childress* Mike Potter* Cale Yarborough* Dale Earnhardt*† Bruce Hill* Sandy Satullo, II* Buddy Baker*† Connie Saylor*† Tim Richmond*† Mike Alexander* Morgan Shepherd* Neil Bonnett*† Jack Ingram* James Hylton*† Richard Petty* Buddy Arrington* Joe Booher*
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased * Driver failed to finish race
Standings after the race Pos Driver Points Differential 1 Bobby Allison 3029 0 2 Darrell Waltrip 2935 -94 3 Harry Gant 2782 -247 4 Ricky Rudd 2664 -365 5 Dale Earnhardt 2608 -421 6 Terry Labonte 2573 -456 7 Jody Ridley 2566 -463 8 Richard Petty 2562 -467 9 Benny Parsons 2417 -612 10 Kyle Petty 2272 -757
References