Winston Western 500

Riverside International Raceway — January 1, 1979

Darrell Waltrip

Winner

119

Laps

Entries

Leaders

Darrell Waltrip won the 1979 Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 1, 1979, leading 87 of 119 laps. David Pearson finished second; Cale Yarborough rounded out the podium. The race featured 5 different leaders.

Race Details

Date

Monday, January 1, 1979

Track

Riverside International Raceway

Season

1979

Winner

Darrell Waltrip

Leaders

5 drivers

Sort by

Pos	Start	+/-	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Interval	Status	Led	Pts
1	4	+3	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports		119	—	Running	87	185
2	1	-1	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	119	—	Running	9	175
3	2	-1	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates		119	—	Running	3	170
4	8	+4	Bill Schmitt	Schmitt Racing		118	—	Running	—	160
5	17	+12	Donnie Allison	Ellington Racing		118	—	Running	—	155
6	15	+9	Joe Millikan	DeWitt Racing		118	—	Running	—	150
7	11	+4	Buddy Baker	Ranier Racing		118	—	Running	—	146
8	14	+6	Jim Thirkettle			117	—	Running	—	142
9	26	+17	Tim Williamson	Tim Williamson (Owner)		116	—	Running	—	138
10	21	+11	Harry Gant	Kennie Childers (Owner)		116	—	Running	—	134
11	16	+5	James Hylton	Hylton Engineering		114	—	Running	—	130
12	24	+12	Ronnie Thomas	Robertson Racing		114	—	Running	—	127
13	34	+21	Vince Giamformaggio	Gray Racing		113	—	Running	—	124
14	12	-2	D.K. Ulrich	Ulrich Racing		113	—	Running	—	121
15	23	+8	Richard Childress	Richard Childress Racing		112	—	Running	—	118
16	7	-9	Jimmy Insolo	Gerald Craker (Owner)		111	—	DNF	—	115
17	20	+3	J.D. McDuffie	McDuffie Racing		109	—	Running	—	112
18	30	+12	Buddy Arrington	Arrington Racing		109	—	Running	—	109
19	3	-16	Bobby Allison	Bud Moore Engineering		105	—	DNF - Engine	15	111
20	13	-7	Al Holbert	Al Holbert (Owner)		104	—	Running	5	108
21	10	-11	Dale Earnhardt	Osterlund Motorsports		103	—	Running	—	100
22	35	+13	Don Graham	Rodney Friesen (Owner)		100	—	DNF - Engine	—	97
23	33	+10	Harry Goularte	Go-Em Racing		82	—	Running	—	94
24	9	-15	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing		81	—	Running	—	91
25	19	-6	Cecil Gordon	Gordon Racing		66	—	DNF - Engine	—	88
26	5	-21	Benny Parsons	M.C. Anderson Racing		56	—	DNF	—	85
27	18	-9	Frank Warren	Warren Racing	Dodge	48	—	DNF - Engine	—	82
28	32	+4	Don Puskarich	Puskarich Racing		47	—	Running	—	79
29	27	-2	Richard White	Mike White (Owner)		32	—	DNF - Engine	—	76
30	31	+1	Jim Robinson	Borneman Motorsports		17	—	DNF - Engine	—	73
31	29	-2	Don Noel	Don Noel (Owner)		15	—	DNF	—	70
32	6	-26	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises		14	—	DNF - Engine	—	67
33	22	-11	Dick Brooks	Nelson Malloch (Owner)		12	—	DNF	—	64
34	28	-6	Neil Bonnett	Jim Stacy Racing		10	—	DNF	—	61
35	25	-10	Terry Labonte	Hagan Enterprises		7	—	DNF - Engine	—	58