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1981 Southern 500

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NASCAR Winston Cup race number 23 of 31
Monday, September 7, 1981 at Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC
367 laps on a 1.366 mile paved track (501.3 miles)

Time of race: 3:57:57
Average Speed: 126.41 mph
Pole Speed: 152.693 mph

Cautions: 8 for 45 laps
Margin of Victory: 1 cl
Attendance: 65,000
Lead changes: 23

Glossary 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup results / 1981 standings

Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Led	Points
1	3	21	Neil Bonnett	Warner Hodgdon (Wood Brothers)	Ford	367	33,375	running	216	185
2	11	11	Darrell Waltrip	Mountain Dew (Junior Johnson)	Buick	367	19,365	running	2	175
3	4	71	Dave Marcis	U.S. Army (Dave Marcis)	Buick	367	14,330	running	9	170
4	6	44	Terry Labonte	J.D. Stacy (Billy Hagan)	Buick	367	13,225	running	3	165
6	10	3	Dale Earnhardt	Wrangler (Richard Childress)	Pontiac	366	10,695	running	0	150
14	1	33	Harry Gant	Skoal Bandit (Hal Needham)	Pontiac	360	9,960	running	78	126
9	17	28	Bobby Allison	Hardee's (Harry Ranier)	Chevrolet	365	9,625	running	1	143
15	16	2	Joe Ruttman	Neo-Life (Jim Stacy)	Pontiac	358	8,850	running	0	118
30	8	43	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	278	8,000	engine	31	78
18	19	5	Joe Millikan	Performance Connection (Cliff Stewart)	Pontiac	353	7,950	running	0	109
23	7	88	Ricky Rudd	Gatorade (DiGard)	Chevrolet	343	7,850	crash	0	94
11	5	47	Ron Bouchard	J.D. Stacy (Jack Beebe)	Buick	363	7,575	running	0	130
12	23	90	Jody Ridley	Truxmore / Sunny King (Junie Donlavey)	Ford	362	7,365	running	0	127
39	15	15	Benny Parsons	Melling Tool (Bud Moore)	Ford	62	6,800	valve	0	46
5	9	1	Buddy Baker	UNO (Hoss Ellington)	Buick	367	6,500	running	3	160
13	22	66	Lake Speed	Speed Racing (Lake Speed)	Buick	362	6,155	running	0	124
10	2	27	Cale Yarborough	Valvoline (M.C. Anderson)	Buick	363	5,925	running	24	139
16	12	24	Morgan Shepherd	Gordon Racing (Cecil Gordon)	Buick	358	5,600	running	0	115
7	14	9	Bill Elliott	Mell-Gear (George Elliott)	Ford	366	5,300	running	0	146
8	13	01	David Pearson	Ronnie Steele (Hoss Ellington)	Buick	365	4,850	running	0	142
21	34	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating (J.D. McDuffie)	Pontiac	351	4,715	running	0	100
25	20	75	Gary Balough	Chaparral Trailers (RahMoc Enterprises)	Buick	333	4,680	engine	0	88
26	38	48	James Hylton	Palatine Auto Parts (James Hylton)	Pontiac	331	3,770	running	0	85
27	37	25	Ronnie Thomas	Thomas Racing (Ronnie Thomas)	Pontiac	311	3,360	running	0	82
28	36	17	Mike Potter	Kings Inn Daytona (Roger Hamby)	Buick	309	3,265	running	0	79
29	30	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley)	Ford	294	3,155	running	0	76
17	21	68	Lennie Pond	The 5 Racers (Lennie Pond)	Buick	356	3,150	running	0	112
31	26	99	D.K. Ulrich	Ulrich Racing (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	269	3,060	engine	0	70
19	33	8	Dick May	Brooks Honda (Norman Negre)	Dodge	353	2,875	running	0	106
20	29	37	Mike Alexander	Rogers Auto Leasing (Bob Rogers)	Oldsmobile	352	2,700	running	0	103
22	27	12	Tim Richmond	UNO (Kennie Childers)	Buick	349	2,450	running	0	97
24	40	94	Bobby Wawak	Louise Smith (Bobby Wawak)	Buick	334	2,375	running	0	91
37	28	67	Buddy Arrington	Hills Racing (Buddy Arrington)	Dodge	85	1,950	lug bolt	0	52
38	35	52	Jimmy Means	Broadway Motors (Jimmy Means)	Pontiac	64	1,925	engine	0	49
32	32	13	Jack Ingram	Carolina Tool (Bobby Hawkins)	Ford	253	1,650	engine	0	67
33	25	98	Johnny Rutherford	Levi Garrett (Ron Benfield)	Pontiac	190	1,625	water pump	0	64
34	18	42	Kyle Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	130	1,625	engine	0	61
35	24	40	Slick Johnson	Ulrich Racing (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	110	1,425	engine	0	58
36	39	36	H.B. Bailey	Almeda Auto Parts (H.B. Bailey)	Pontiac	93	1,325	crash	0	55
40	31	4	Connie Saylor	Spencer Racing (G.C. Spencer)	Oldsmobile	6	1,200	engine	0	43

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Harry Gant	1	31	31
Cale Yarborough	32	55	24
Harry Gant	56	67	12
Dave Marcis	68	68	1
Bobby Allison	69	69	1
Neil Bonnett	70	77	8
Harry Gant	78	99	22
Buddy Baker	100	100	1
Harry Gant	101	104	4
Neil Bonnett	105	116	12
Harry Gant	117	125	9
Neil Bonnett	126	133	8
Richard Petty	134	163	30
Neil Bonnett	164	218	55
Richard Petty	219	219	1
Neil Bonnett	220	285	66
Buddy Baker	286	286	1
Dave Marcis	287	294	8
Darrell Waltrip	295	295	1
Terry Labonte	296	298	3
Neil Bonnett	299	345	47
Darrell Waltrip	346	346	1
Buddy Baker	347	347	1
Neil Bonnett	348	367	20

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff
Points standings after this race:
1	Bobby Allison	3488
2	Darrell Waltrip	3470	-18
3	Harry Gant	3203	-285
4	Ricky Rudd	3098	-390
5	Terry Labonte	3029	-459
6	Dale Earnhardt	2978	-510
7	Jody Ridley	2928	-560
8	Richard Petty	2916	-572
9	Benny Parsons	2703	-785
10	Dave Marcis	2659	-829
11	Kyle Petty	2518	-970
12	Buddy Arrington	2417	-1071
13	Morgan Shepherd	2399	-1089
14	J.D. McDuffie	2380	-1108
15	Jimmy Means	2380	-1108
16	Tim Richmond	2316	-1172
17	Tommy Gale	2292	-1196
18	James Hylton	2159	-1329
19	Richard Childress	2144	-1344
20	Lake Speed	2089	-1399

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