|| *Comments on the 1977 Rebel 500:* View the most recent comment <#19> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Destiny posted: 09.21.2007 - 6:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) G.C. Spencer's last top ten. G.C. passed away yesterday at age 82. Rest in Peace, G.C. 2. jr88fan posted: 08.26.2008 - 5:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) R.I.P G.C Spencer 3. allen posted: 04.25.2010 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Bobby Allison was driving Donnie's car at the end of this race in relief.... 4. v2v1v5 posted: 02.04.2013 - 11:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I believe this is the race that was controversial because it should have been yet annother win for Pearson and the Wood Bros.Mercury at Darlington.When they wrecked in turn 3,the leaders were aproaching.(back then you could race thru a wreck back to the finish line,the drivers always felt this was too dangerous so they had a "gentlemans agreement" to hold your position)Pearson,being the leader slowed aproaching the wreck,Waltrip,Allison,and Petty went by Pearson(so much for the "gentlemans agreement")dangerously racing thru the wreck back to the caution flag,which the race ended there giving Waltrip a questionable win.Nascar should have upheld the drivers agreement.1st for safety ,2nd for sportsmanship.For as many wins Pearson had at Darlington,he lost a lot of them many different ways. 5. Billy P posted: 01.17.2014 - 11:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Rudd stood on his first day qualifying time. The track picked up speed the 2nd day and Rudd missed the show. 6. Billy P posted: 01.20.2014 - 11:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My mistake,the above observation,concerning Rudd, happened at the 1976 Southern 500. 7. mkl62 posted: 11.16.2014 - 8:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first of two races there that I would see Darrell Waltrip win (1979). 8. Anonymous posted: 07.13.2015 - 1:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Robert Yates was the engine builder for DiGard and Darel Dieringer was sort of a team manager. 9. Anonymous posted: 07.13.2015 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Herb Nab was Cale's crew chief and Leonard Wood was David Pearson's. 10. RaceFanX posted: 03.30.2017 - 8:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrel Waltrip picks up his fourth career Winston Cup win and his first at Darlington. Waltrip would go on to win five races at the track "Too Tough to Tame." 11. joey2448 posted: 06.23.2018 - 5:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Waltrip claims that this race, and his next win several races later at Talladega, was the race that he knew he "made it" in NASCAR. Up until then, Darrell has only won on short tracks, which were his bread and butter, but this was his first superspeedway win. 12. zuel660 posted: 08.22.2019 - 7:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @9 I would imagine that Herb Nab was Cale's crew chief for the entire 1977 season, not just this race? (& Leonard Wood was the #21's crew chief til the mid-90s) 13. Rob posted: 08.30.2019 - 8:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To poster #4. Bobby Allison in his brother's #1 had actually passed Pearson for the lead just before the melee in turn four. 14. Rob posted: 08.30.2019 - 8:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Amazing that the television crew was not able to determine where Waltrip made the winning pass. All it,Would have took was a replay of the cars coming to the caution flag. 15. ThomasNester posted: 12.07.2019 - 9:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ulrich and Gale are both shown as starting 20th, no driver is shown as starting 21st 16. BOBO83329521 posted: 04.03.2020 - 2:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lennie Pond was standing by for Petty in the end of this race, who was struggling with back pain. Petty never gave up the seat to Pond at any point, though. At the finish, as described in post #4 above, Donnie Allison, who was being relieved by his brother Bobby at this point, took the lead in Turn 1 of lap 361, meanwhile, the #70 of J. D. McDuffie was spun out and in the inside wall off Turn 4. Many drivers of the time had an agreement amongst themselves that it was safest for them to slow down for a crash in front of them, and as such, both Pearson and Allison slowed down as they approached the crash scene. Meanwhile, Darrell Waltrip, who had been about 2 to 3 seconds behind the lead battle ever since Richard Petty got loose off Turn 2 about 10 laps earlier, came up on the crash at full speed, nullifying the other two drivers' agreement to slow down and craftily weaving his way through all of the lapped traffic and the 1 car to take the win away. Unfortunately the video of this full race has been lost to history, but judging on the final 60 laps and the incredible battle for the win, it must have been a treat to those who were there. Did DW go to college? In the interview he did, he said that he went to college, however, when Smiff premiered this race, a YouTuber by the name of TheNASCARJeff noted that his Wikipedia page had him as a highest level of education was a high school diploma. Also, I thought he was born in Kentucky? 17. BOBO83329521 posted: 04.03.2020 - 2:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Allison did protest the finish, but because the rule at the time was that you had to get to the start/finish line first when racing back to the caution, Darrell was awarded the win. 18. RaceFanX posted: 04.03.2020 - 7:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DW was from Kentucky but moved to Tennessee beforr starting his racing career. Hometown isn't necessarily a driver's birthplace although much of the time it is. 19. rateus posted: 02.14.2021 - 11:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dick May qualified for Tighe Scott. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: