Official name Talladega 500 | ||
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Date August 2, 1981 (1981-August-02) Course Permanent racing facility2.660 mi (4.280 km) Distance 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km) Weather Warm with temperatures approaching 84 °F (29 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h) | ||
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.
Contents
During the preceding 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.
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 2.66 miles (4.28 km), and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.
Summary
An all-American grid of 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. There was 188 laps in the race; it took more than three hours to resolve the race. There were eight caution periods for 36 laps while 39 different changes were made concerning the leader of the race. Harry Gant would make the pole position for this race with a qualifying speed of 195.897 miles per hour (315.266 km/h). Most of the participants used Buick as their manufacturer of the choice for the race.
Ron Bouchard managed to defeat Darrell Waltrip by 2 feet or 0.61 metres in front of 75,000 live spectators. Labonte managed to get his revenge on Talladega (for causing his third-place finish) by defeating Joe Nemechek at the 1999 Aaron's 312 race that was sanctioned on the Busch Series level by less than 0.010 seconds. Bouchard and Pete Hamilton are the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners from Massachusetts as of 2015.
Terry Herman would make his introduction to NASCAR during this race while Sandy Satullo would retire from the series after this race. 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 appearance before becoming a full-time owner of Richard Childress Racing. Talladega would reach the peak of competitive racing opportunities during in the 1984 Winston 500. After that, legendary driver Bill Elliott - along with restrictor plates during the most recent years - would ruin the chances for truly competitive racing.
Finishing order
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race