"NASCAR Winston Cup Series"
"National 500"
October 11th, 1981
"Charlotte Motor Speedway"
Charlotte, North Carolina
Race 28 of 31 during the 1981 Season
"Past Winners"
Spring 1980: Richard Childress
Fall 1980: Rusty Wallace
Spring 1981: Bryan Dehn
"Qualifying"
"Race"
"#23 Bryan Dehn earns his 4th pole of the season and the 4th of his career in 59 starts"
"Season points leader #28 Bobby Allison has suspention issues on just lap 17 of the race forcing him to be the first one out of the race all, but loosing the point lead"
"On lap 33 the first caution of the day come out when #01 Geoff Bodine stops on the back stretch nearly taking out #11 Darrell Waltrip and his big points day"
"Just a happy #36 H.B. Bailey making his first race of the season stops on the backstretch to enjoy the view, but as luck would have it for the leaders....(See next picture)"
"#90 Jody Ridley while in the lead would over react and push #23 Bryan Dehn into the wall taking out the 1st & 2nd place cars along with....(See next picture)"
"Damn near half of the field as the backstretch turns into a junk yard instantly removing 13 cars from the race and ending the day of many, many more"
"#23 Bryan Dehn's ride finally gie out on lap 84 as many more cars days would end due to engine failure throughout the rest of the race"
"After leading a couple laps and looking like the man that is the current Winston Cup Champion, #27 Benny Parsons car erupts into flames right after his pit stop on lap 150"
"The last yellow flag comes out on lap 156 when #10 Cale Yarborough has engine issues from the earlier wreck and has to put his Junior Johnson prepared Burger King Buick behind pit wall"
"With #11 Darrell Waltrip leading the final portion of the race #67 Buddy Arrington chases him down to win the race taking his 2nd checkered flag of the season and the 2nd career victory in 395 starts"
"Race Recap"
With the two sophomore drivers in #90 Jody Ridley & #23 Bryan Dehn taking each other out and the car problems of #28 Bobby Allison the race was still left up in the air all race between #11 Darrell Waltrip, #33 Harry Gant, #44 Terry Labonte and #67 Buddy Arrington to take home the checkered flag. Arrington get's the job done for the 2nd race this season winning the less prestigious of the two races at Darlington and Charlotte. With #28 Bobby Allisons major misfortunes the 3 point lead he had over #11 Darrell Waltrip in the season points standings were sure to be gone and replaced with a big deficit in which took place as Waltrip takes back over the lead with a 138 point cushion. There was 4 cautions on the day and all, but 1 were the result of that big wreck on lap 61 that took out nearly half of the field with drivers having engine problems late to bring out the rest of them. There is some not so good rumors from the infield care center that #42 Kyle Petty may have been seriously injured in the wreck when he took a shot to the drivers door by #12 Tim Richmond. It is all hear say and there has been no official word on the extent of his injuries or if they are going to keep him from being behind the wheel of the STP Buick for any future races. Only 9 different drivers lead a lap, but they exchanged them 32 times during the race.
"Lap Leaders"
#23 Bryan Dehn "Laps 1 through 29"
#90 Jody Ridley "Lap 30"
#68 Lennie Pond "Lap 31"
#23 Bryan Dehn "Laps 32 through 35"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Laps 36 through 43"
#90 Jody Ridley "Laps 44 through 61"
#21 Neil Bonnett "Lap 62"
#33 Harry Gant "Lap 63"
#21 Neil Bonnett "Laps 64 through 66"
#67 Buddy Arrington "Laps 67 through 70"
#44 Terry Labonte "Laps 71 through 86"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Laps 87 through 88"
#33 Harry Gant "Laps 89 through 95"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Laps 96 through 97"
#33 Harry Gant "Laps 98 through 99"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Lap 100"
#33 Harry Gant "Laps 101 through 103"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Laps 104 through 117"
#44 Terry Labonte "Laps 118 through 120"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Lap 121"
#27 Benny Parsons "Laps 122 through 125"
#44 Terry Labonte "Laps 126 through 127"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Laps 128 through 135"
#44 Terry Labonte "Laps 136 through 138"
#67 Buddy Arrington "Laps 139 through 140"
#44 Terry Labonte "Laps 141 through 144"
#67 Buddy Arrington "Laps 145 through 146"
#44 Terry Labonte "Laps 147 through 148"
#67 Buddy Arrington "Laps 149 through 150"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Laps 151 through 152"
#44 Terry Labonte "Lap 153"
#11 Darrell Waltrip "Laps 154 through 164"
#67 Buddy Arrington "Laps 165 through 167"
"Video Recap"
"#23 Bryan Dehn's Day"
Started on the pole and lead the race early. I dropped back a little bit after that restart and worked my way back up to 2nd place. I was content to just sit and ride behind Ridley which I have had some issues with in the past with us battling out for the rookie of the year last season, but never did I think he would pull such a move while leading and no only take himself out, but half of the field with us. It was a devastating wreck for many drivers, but on my end nothing will compare to the roll over I had at Talladega, but anyway. I guess I shouldn't talk because I have made many stupid mistakes all season. 3 races left and I am going to push the car to the limits and find a way to get into victory lane some more.
"Race Results"
"Point Standings"
"Next Race"
American 500
Rockingham, North Carolina
November 1st, 1981