Atlanta Journal 500

Atlanta Motor Speedway — January 1, 1981

Neil Bonnett

Winner

328

Laps

Entries

Leaders

Neil Bonnett won the 1981 Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on January 1, 1981, leading 200 of 328 laps. Darrell Waltrip finished second; Cale Yarborough rounded out the podium. The race featured 11 different leaders.

Race Details

Date

Thursday, January 1, 1981

Track

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Season

1981

Winner

Neil Bonnett

Leaders

11 drivers

Sort by

Pos	Start	+/-	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Interval	Status	Led	Pts
1	5	+4	Neil Bonnett	Wood Brothers Racing		328	—	Running	200	185
2	2	—	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson & Associates		328	—	Running	11	175
3	21	+18	Cale Yarborough	M.C. Anderson Racing		328	—	Running	14	170
4	6	+2	Bobby Allison	Ranier Racing		328	—	Running	—	160
5	25	+20	Jody Ridley	Donlavey Racing		328	—	Running	1	160
6	4	-2	Bill Elliott	George Elliott Racing		328	—	Running	—	150
7	12	+5	Terry Labonte	Hagan Enterprises		328	—	Running	12	151
8	19	+11	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises		328	—	Running	12	147
9	13	+4	Buddy Baker	Ellington Racing		328	—	Running	1	143
10	15	+5	Joe Millikan	Cliff Stewart Racing		327	—	Running	—	134
11	32	+21	Rick Wilson	Wilson Racing		327	—	Running	1	135
12	33	+21	Connie Saylor	GC Spencer Racing		323	—	Running	—	127
13	28	+15	Dick Brooks	Bobby Hawkins (Owner)		323	—	Running	—	124
14	18	+4	Lake Speed	Lake Speed Racing		321	—	Running	—	121
15	26	+11	Chuck Bown	Bown Racing		320	—	DNF - Engine	—	118
16	39	+23	John Anderson	Hamby Racing		316	—	Running	—	0
17	34	+17	Buddy Arrington	Arrington Racing	Dodge	315	—	Running	—	112
18	40	+22	Delma Cowart	Heyward Grooms (Owner)		315	—	Running	—	109
19	24	+5	James Hylton	Hylton Engineering		303	—	Running	—	106
20	1	-19	Harry Gant	Mach 1 Racing		291	—	DNF - Engine	25	108
21	16	-5	Tim Richmond	Rogers Racing		287	—	DNF - Engine	—	100
22	35	+13	Tommy Gale	Langley-Woodfield Racing		277	—	Running	—	97
23	37	+14	J.D. McDuffie	McDuffie Racing		259	—	DNF	—	94
24	9	-15	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing		222	—	DNF - Engine	—	91
25	8	-17	Joe Ruttman	Jim Stacy Racing		207	—	DNF - Engine	7	93
26	3	-23	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises		207	—	DNF - Engine	44	90
27	30	+3	D.K. Ulrich	Ulrich Racing		198	—	DNF - Engine	—	82
28	22	-6	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing		174	—	DNF - Engine	—	79
29	31	+2	Rusty Wallace	John Childs (Owner)		156	—	DNF - Engine	—	0
30	10	-20	Geoffrey Bodine	Zervakis Enterprises		143	—	DNF - Engine	—	0
31	20	-11	Morgan Shepherd	Benfield Racing		123	—	DNF	—	70
32	38	+6	Travis Tiller	Morgan-McClure		111	—	DNF - Engine	—	67
33	7	-26	Tommy Ellis	Tommy Ellis (Owner)		97	—	DNF - Engine	—	64
34	17	-17	Gary Balough	RahMoc Enterprises		89	—	DNF - Crash	—	61
35	36	+1	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing		66	—	DNF - Engine	—	58
36	11	-25	Benny Parsons	Bud Moore Engineering		42	—	DNF	—	55
37	27	-10	Johnny Rutherford	Benfield Racing		39	—	DNF	—	52
38	14	-24	Ricky Rudd	DiGard Motorsports		36	—	DNF - Engine	—	49
39	23	-16	Ron Bouchard	Race Hill Farm Team		23	—	DNF - Engine	—	46
40	29	-11	H.B. Bailey	Bailey Racing		1	—	DNF - Crash	—	0