Links for this race (some data may be unavailable):
Race Results	Qualifying Results	Loop Data Stats	Pit Stops
Comments (16)	Video Links (4)	Crew Chiefs

1981 Carolina 500

Previous race results / Next race results Previous at this track / Next at this track

Post

NASCAR Winston Cup race number 4 of 31
Sunday, March 1, 1981 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, NC
492 laps on a 1.017 mile paved track (500.364 miles)

Time of race: 4:21:59
Average speed: 114.594 mph
Pole speed: 140.448 mph

Cautions: 14 for 75 laps
Margin of victory: 5.3 sec
Attendance: 50000
Lead changes: 36

Glossary 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup results / 1981 standings

Pos	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Led	Pts
2	1	27	Cale Yarborough	Valvoline (M.C. Anderson)	Buick	492	12370	running	320	180
6	2	28	Bobby Allison	Tuf-Lon (Harry Ranier)	Pontiac	491	9470	running	17	155
3	3	43	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	492	14370	running	25	170
1	4	11	Darrell Waltrip	Mountain Dew (Junior Johnson)	Buick	492	21655	running	13	180
31	5	88	Ricky Rudd	Gatorade (DiGard Racing)	Oldsmobile	224	6045	crash	1	75
5	6	1	Buddy Baker	UNO (Hoss Ellington)	Oldsmobile	491	3895	running	3	160
18	7	47	Harry Gant	Race Hill Farm (Jack Beebe)	Buick	427	3070	engine	18	114
4	8	21	Neil Bonnett	Purolator (Wood Brothers)	Ford	492	6920	running	82	165
21	9	44	Terry Labonte	Apache Stove (Billy Hagan)	Buick	412	6270	crash	5	105
24	10	15	Benny Parsons	Melling Tool (Bud Moore)	Ford	379	6200	crash	0	91
26	11	2	Dale Earnhardt	Wrangler (Rod Osterlund)	Pontiac	285	8250	crash	0	85
25	12	53	Slick Johnson	Johnson Racing (J.D. Johnson)	Chevrolet	298	725	crash	0	88
28	13	5	Morgan Shepherd	Performance Connection (Cliff Stewart)	Pontiac	268	650	driveshaft	0	79
7	14	75	Joe Millikan	Rahilly & Grady Racing Engines (Rahmoc Enterprises)	Buick	488	6230	running	8	151
9	15	66	Lake Speed	George's T-Shirts (Lake Speed)	Oldsmobile	482	2770	running	0	138
22	16	3	Richard Childress	Childress Racing (Richard Childress)	Pontiac	409	2420	engine	0	97
15	17	71	Dave Marcis	Buck Stove (Dave Marcis)	Dodge	452	3810	running	0	118
34	18	12	Donnie Allison	The 5 Racers (Kennie Childers)	Oldsmobile	109	580	oil line	0	61
33	19	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating (J.D. McDuffie)	Pontiac	188	1805	transmission	0	64
30	20	16	David Pearson	Halpern Enterprises (Joel Halpern)	Chevrolet	225	675	engine	0	73
20	21	48	James Hylton	Palatine Auto Parts (James Hylton)	Pontiac	421	2730	running	0	103
16	22	99	Tim Richmond	UNO (D.K. Ulrich)	Buick	450	3500	running	0	115
11	23	25	Ronnie Thomas	Thomas Racing (Ronnie Thomas)	Pontiac	476	4680	running	0	130
13	24	37	Mike Alexander	Rogers Auto Leasing (Bob Rogers)	Oldsmobile	470	1700	running	0	124
37	25	67	Buddy Arrington	Reid Trailer Sales (Buddy Arrington)	Dodge	34	1770	engine	0	52
8	26	42	Kyle Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Buick	486	2670	running	0	142
35	27	62	Rick Wilson	Florida Equipment & Service (Rick Wilson)	Oldsmobile	97	575	brakes	0	58
12	28	98	Johnny Rutherford	Levi Garrett (Ron Benfield)	Pontiac	473	1870	running	0	127
29	29	52	Jimmy Means	Broadway Motors (Jimmy Means)	Pontiac	254	1855	crash	0	76
14	30	94	Bobby Wawak	Louise Smith (Bobby Wawak)	Buick	469	1570	running	0	121
36	31	22	Stan Barrett	Skoal Bandit (Hal Needham)	Pontiac	61	570	crash	0	55
10	32	86	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	Howard & Egerton (Richard Howard)	Buick	477	3170	running	0	134
27	33	17	Glenn Jarrett	Kings Inn Daytona (Roger Hamby)	Chevrolet	277	1915	overheating	0	82
17	34	79	Jody Ridley	Miller Roofing (Junior Miller)	Oldsmobile	443	4290	engine	0	112
23	35	24	Cecil Gordon	South Hill Texaco (Cecil Gordon)	Buick	395	2235	running	0	94
32	36	20	Rick Newsom	Newsom Racing (Rick Newsom)	Chevrolet	218	590	clutch	0	67
19	37	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda (Elmo Langley)	Ford	424	2860	running	0	106

Condition	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Caution flag breakdown:
	1	16	16
	17	24	8
	25	64	40
	65	72	8
	73	127	55
	128	135	8
	136	182	47
	183	188	6
	189	205	17
	206	209	4
	210	223	14
	224	227	4
	228	254	27
	255	258	4
	259	265	7
	266	270	5
	271	275	5
	276	282	7
	283	285	3
	286	287	2
	288	289	2
	290	294	5
	295	296	2
	297	300	4
	301	306	6
	307	313	7
	314	383	70
	384	386	3
	387	492	106
Percent of race run under caution: 15.2% Average green flag run: 27.8 laps

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Cale Yarborough	1	65	65
Terry Labonte	66	66	1
Joe Millikan	67	68	2
Cale Yarborough	69	103	35
Bobby Allison	104	117	14
Cale Yarborough	118	125	8
Bobby Allison	126	128	3
Richard Petty	129	129	1
Cale Yarborough	130	183	54
Terry Labonte	184	184	1
Harry Gant	185	188	4
Cale Yarborough	189	206	18
Ricky Rudd	207	207	1
Neil Bonnett	208	224	17
Terry Labonte	225	225	1
Darrell Waltrip	226	229	4
Neil Bonnett	230	255	26
Joe Millikan	256	256	1
Richard Petty	257	259	3
Buddy Baker	260	262	3
Cale Yarborough	263	276	14
Terry Labonte	277	277	1
Joe Millikan	278	282	5
Darrell Waltrip	283	288	6
Neil Bonnett	289	307	19
Harry Gant	308	321	14
Neil Bonnett	322	329	8
Cale Yarborough	330	330	1
Neil Bonnett	331	332	2
Cale Yarborough	333	365	33
Neil Bonnett	366	370	5
Cale Yarborough	371	381	11
Terry Labonte	382	382	1
Neil Bonnett	383	387	5
Cale Yarborough	388	468	81
Richard Petty	469	489	21
Darrell Waltrip	490	492	3

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff
Points Standings after this race:
1	Richard Petty	680
2	Bobby Allison	614	-66
3	Dale Earnhardt	556	-124
3	Joe Millikan	556	-124
5	Jody Ridley	546	-134
6	Darrell Waltrip	537	-143
7	Ricky Rudd	531	-149
8	Harry Gant	476	-204
9	Richard Childress	435	-245
10	Benny Parsons	431	-249
11	Dave Marcis	417	-263
12	Terry Labonte	408	-272
13	Jimmy Means	406	-274
14	Kyle Petty	403	-277
15	Buddy Arrington	390	-290
16	J.D. McDuffie	383	-297
17	Tim Richmond	376	-304
18	James Hylton	370	-310
19	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	364	-316
20	Tommy Gale	327	-353
21	Lake Speed	326	-354