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1981 Coca-Cola 500

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NASCAR Winston Cup race number 5 of 31
Sunday, March 15, 1981 at Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, GA
328 laps on a 1.522 mile paved track (499.216 miles)

Time of race: 3:44:10
Average speed: 133.619 mph
Pole speed: 162.94 mph

Cautions: 5 for 39 laps
Margin of victory: 33 sec
Attendance: 61500
Lead changes: 23

Glossary 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup results / 1981 standings

Pos	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Led	Pts
1	17	27	Cale Yarborough	Valvoline (M.C. Anderson)	Buick	328	28950	running	71	180
2	2	47	Harry Gant	Race Hill Farm (Jack Beebe)	Buick	328	32705	running	94	180
3	5	2	Dale Earnhardt	Wrangler (Rod Osterlund)	Pontiac	327	19400	running	0	165
4	30	28	Bobby Allison	Tuf-Lon (Harry Ranier)	Pontiac	327	14415	running	4	165
5	13	15	Benny Parsons	Melling Tool (Bud Moore)	Ford	326	11975	running	4	160
6	7	90	Jody Ridley	Truxmore / Sunny King (Junie Donlavey)	Ford	326	9680	running	0	150
7	15	51	A.J. Foyt	Gilmore / Valvoline (A.J. Foyt)	Oldsmobile	325	4425	running	0	146
8	20	5	Morgan Shepherd	Performance Connection (Cliff Stewart)	Pontiac	325	4765	running	0	142
9	10	9	Bill Elliott	Mell-Gear (George Elliott)	Ford	323	3705	running	0	138
10	25	6	Joe Ruttman	The 5 Racers (Jim Stacy)	Buick	322	3485	running	0	134
11	31	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating (J.D. McDuffie)	Pontiac	321	5380	running	0	130
12	33	98	Johnny Rutherford	Levi Garrett (Ron Benfield)	Pontiac	321	2575	running	0	127
13	35	57	Bill Elswick	Performance Boat (Rahmoc Enterprises)	Buick	317	2445	running	0	124
14	26	67	Buddy Arrington	Hills Racing (Buddy Arrington)	Dodge	316	4880	running	0	121
15	12	75	Joe Millikan	Rahmoc Enterprises	Buick	315	4630	fuel pump	0	118
16	27	22	Stan Barrett	Skoal Bandit (Hal Needham)	Pontiac	315	1885	running	0	115
17	8	3	Richard Childress	Downey's Auto Parts (Richard Childress)	Pontiac	311	4160	running	1	117
18	32	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley)	Ford	310	3940	running	0	109
19	1	44	Terry Labonte	Stratagraph (Billy Hagan)	Buick	308	9155	running	0	106
20	39	20	Rick Newsom	City (Rick Newsom)	Chevrolet	294	1725	running	0	103
21	41	52	Jimmy Means	Broadway Motors (Jimmy Means)	Pontiac	282	3250	running	0	100
22	16	88	Ricky Rudd	Gatorade (DiGard Racing)	Buick	280	7760	running	0	97
23	36	7	Bruce Hill	Hill Racing (Bruce Hill)	Buick	275	2990	running	0	94
24	34	79	Dick May	Miller Roofing (Junior Miller)	Oldsmobile	267	2805	oil pump	0	91
25	22	48	James Hylton	Palatine Auto Parts (James Hylton)	Pontiac	254	2510	engine	0	88
26	19	99	Tim Richmond	UNO (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	241	2420	crash	0	85
27	28	71	Dave Marcis	Bowlin Coal (Dave Marcis)	Oldsmobile	238	2635	crash	0	82
28	4	21	Neil Bonnett	Purolator (Wood Brothers)	Ford	234	1605	water pump	84	84
29	23	12	Donnie Allison	The 5 Racers (Kennie Childers)	Oldsmobile	189	1080	engine	0	76
30	40	17	Steve Spencer	Kings Inn Daytona (Roger Hamby)	Buick	170	2290	oil pump	0	73
31	42	25	Ronnie Thomas	Thomas Racing (Ronnie Thomas)	Pontiac	159	1510	clutch	0	70
32	6	16	David Pearson	Halpern Enterprises (Joel Halpern)	Chevrolet	153	1000	engine	4	72
33	18	37	Mike Alexander	Rogers Auto Leasing (Bob Rogers)	Buick	139	990	engine	0	64
34	29	53	Slick Johnson	Johnson Racing (J.D. Johnson)	Chevrolet	138	980	cam	0	61
35	21	66	Lake Speed	Speed Racing (Lake Speed)	Buick	133	970	oil pump	0	58
36	11	11	Darrell Waltrip	Mountain Dew (Junior Johnson)	Buick	131	6390	engine	32	60
37	37	24	Cecil Gordon	Gordon Racing (Cecil Gordon)	Buick	124	1430	engine	0	52
38	14	43	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	113	6370	engine	34	54
39	24	86	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	Howard & Egerton (Richard Howard)	Buick	97	910	crash	0	46
40	3	1	Buddy Baker	UNO (Hoss Ellington)	Oldsmobile	86	900	engine	0	43
41	9	42	Kyle Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	17	900	engine	0	40
42	38	94	Bobby Wawak	Louise Smith (Bobby Wawak)	Pontiac	10	900	piston	0	37

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Harry Gant	1	22	22
Richard Childress	23	23	1
Benny Parsons	24	24	1
David Pearson	25	28	4
Darrell Waltrip	29	54	26
Richard Petty	55	79	25
Darrell Waltrip	80	85	6
Bobby Allison	86	89	4
Harry Gant	90	90	1
Richard Petty	91	99	9
Neil Bonnett	100	118	19
Cale Yarborough	119	122	4
Neil Bonnett	123	139	17
Harry Gant	140	166	27
Benny Parsons	167	169	3
Neil Bonnett	170	217	48
Cale Yarborough	218	218	1
Harry Gant	219	238	20
Cale Yarborough	239	247	9
Harry Gant	248	259	12
Cale Yarborough	260	269	10
Harry Gant	270	281	12
Cale Yarborough	282	328	47

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff
Points Standings after this race:
1	Bobby Allison	779
2	Richard Petty	734	-45
3	Dale Earnhardt	721	-58
4	Jody Ridley	696	-83
5	Joe Millikan	674	-105
6	Harry Gant	656	-123
7	Ricky Rudd	628	-151
8	Darrell Waltrip	597	-182
9	Benny Parsons	591	-188
10	Richard Childress	552	-227
11	Terry Labonte	514	-265
12	J.D. McDuffie	513	-266
13	Buddy Arrington	511	-268
14	Jimmy Means	506	-273
15	Cale Yarborough	502	-277
16	Dave Marcis	499	-280
17	Tim Richmond	461	-318
18	James Hylton	458	-321
19	Kyle Petty	443	-336
20	Tommy Gale	436	-343
21	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	410	-369