|| *Comments on the 1978 Daytona 500:* View the most recent comment <#33> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. nascarman posted: 05.14.2006 - 1:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A.J Foyt fliped in this race. 2. Anonymous posted: 10.23.2006 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Buddy Baker, only four circuits away from the finish, had his motor go away. As he raised his fist in frustration from the cockpit, Bobby Allison drove by to the win. Allison and Baker had both tangled in their "125" Qualifying event, run under heavy fog and misty conditions. 3. Steve posted: 12.03.2006 - 1:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Frenchman Claude Ballot-Lena made his Winston Cup debut (22nd). 4. most posted: 03.07.2008 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby breaks the longest winless streak of his career 5. 18fan posted: 03.19.2010 - 11:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This site shows Allison leading the last 10 laps. 6. Anonymous posted: 11.17.2010 - 11:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Petty was leading on Lap 60 when he had a tire go flat in turn 4. He spun and collected David Pearson and Darrell Waltrip. 7. PAT C posted: 02.28.2011 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I WENT TO THIS RACE, SAW THE PETTY CRASH , AJ FOYT CRASH ALL YOU COULD SEE WAS A DUST CLOUD!! 8. cjs3872 posted: 05.13.2011 - 8:42 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) Actually, what happened was that, with Baker leading on the 173rd lap, having made his final scheduled pit stop, and with Allison still having one stop to make, Baker made an unscheduled pit stop with a cut left rear tire (which is what team reported to ABC and/or NASCAR, the third documented case of cut tire in this race. The first happened to Richard Petty, which caused him to spin out of turn four on the 61st lap, taking himself, David Pearson, and Darrell Waltrip out of the race, though Waltrip returned to earn points. The second occurred when the left rear tire on Benny Parsons' car exploded at end of the 70th lap, causing him to spin. Parsons was obviously able to continue. Behind Parsons, A.J. Foyt's car was hit as he slowed to avoid Parsons' car, which he didn't realize was already out of harm's way, and Foyt spun in the tri-oval grass, which caused his car to dig in to the wet grass and mud and overturn several times. Jackie Stewart, who was working tjhe race for ABC Sports, blamed the cut tires on the heavy rains that fell in the days preceeding the Daytona 500 that year.) Anyhow, Baker's extra pit stop, combined with the fact that his pit stops were considerably longer than Allison's, (Baker's two late-race pit stops were 18.9 and 18.8 seconds, while allison's final pit stop, which, like Baker's unscheduled stop, was for left side tires, was under 13 seconds. Oddly enough, Allison had also made an unscheduled pit stop at about the three-quarter mark due to damage from brushing the wall after an encounter with Ron Hutcherson's car, meaning that in about six laps, Allison went from being 40 seconds behind Baker to about 40 seconds ahead.) Allison was ahead, but Baker's car was faster, as he passed Allison. The unscheduled pit stops for Allison and Baker, combined with the top-end speed loss of Cale Yarborough, who was in third place at the time, actually allowed Pasrons to briefly go from two laps behind to the tail end of the lead lap, but that didn't last. Baker took the lead from Allison in turn on on the 187th lap in traffic, then lapped Parsons (also in traffic). Interestingly, Stewart commented on NASCAR's rule allowing the drivers to race to the S-F line when caution flags came out. Shortly after that comment, the caution did, indeed, come out for J.D. McDuffie's stalled car in the turn one infield (almost exactly where Foyt's car came to a rest after his accident). That occurred on the 189th lap, But Allison and Baker were racing for the lead, coming down for the completion of lap 190. On the back stretch, Allison drafted by Baker, and Baker tried to get back by Allison, but lost the race to the caution by about five feet at the completion of lap 190. Then when the race restarted, Dave Marcis, who was running seventh, and nearly three laps behind, got involved, and Allison used the draft from his car to pull himself by Baker after Baker briefly (but not offically) took the lead from Allison on the lap 193 restart. But Baker's car gave up the ghost three laps later, giving Allison an easy win, about 13 seconds ahead of Yarborough, who couldn't completely close up on the leaders due to the briefness of that last caution period. (He probably wouldn't have been able to run with Baker and Allison anyway, due to his minor engine problem.) Of note, there was a photo finish for third place between Parsons and Hutcherson, which after some time, went to Parsons, his fourth consecutive Daytona 500 finish of third or better, a record that isn't likely to ever be matched. Dick Brooks, Marcis, and Baker were next. As to how I know these details. Well, the original ABC broadcast of this race has surfaced on YouTube, with Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart in the booth, and Chris Economaki patrolling both the pits and the hospital area. Interstingly, how only once, that ABC mentioned Foyt as having won the Daytona 500 (in 1972, the year he won this race was never mentioned in the broadcast), but repeatedly mentioned him as the only 4-time Indy winner (which he was, at the time). Also, had it not been for that late caution period, Allison would almost certainly have joined Foyt as only the second 160+ MPH winner of this race. McKay did mentione that this was the first time since 1959 that a Thunderbird had won a NASCAR race, and that this was the first time one had ever won the Daytona 500. It wouldn't be until Bill Elliott's revolutionary Thunderbird won in 1985 that a Ford would win this race again. Allison also broke Benny Parsons' three-year old record of starting the furthest back to win this race, starting in 33rd place. (Parsons won in 1975 from 32nd and Allison, ironically, placed second in Roger Penske's AMC Matador.) This race was Allison's 48th victory and marked the rebirth of his career, and he would usurp Richard Petty as the speedway's most dominant driver over the next decade. (Though others, such as Yarborough and elliott might disagree.) Anyway, I think, with the coming inductions of both Allison and his car owner for this race, Bud Moore, that I think it's important highlight this race and its happenings. Also, while Allison would win the race twice more (1982, 1988), Allison considers this to be the most important victory of his legandary career, in which he won 85 races (third all-time), and ranks second all-time in both top-5 (336) and top 10 (446) finishes. But this race marked Moore's only Daytona 500 victory, though he came close numerous other times. His cars finished second four times (1961-Joe Weatherly, 1965-Darel Dieringer, 1973-Bobby Isaac, and 1980-Allison) and finished third three other times (1977-Baker, 1992-'93-Geoff Bodine). The last time Moore had a competitve car in the event was in 1996, when Wally Dallenbach, Jr., in the process of finishing sixth, actually pushed Dale Jarrett by Dale Earnhardt, Sr. in the race's winning pass on lap 177. 9. cjs3872 posted: 05.13.2011 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry about some of the misplellings in that rather long comment about this race. 10. Ryan posted: 07.27.2011 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) nice input... nice job 11. RaceFanX posted: 01.01.2012 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Allison finally win the Daytona 500 in his 15th attempt. Baker also had a long losing streak, this was his 16th try, but would have to wait until 1980 to finally claim his victory on the Florida high banks. This was also Bud Moore's 15th try to win the 500 as an owner. Given what number his Fords almost always ran it's somewhat ironic but very fitting this was the only 500 they would win. Allison's 33rd-place starting spot was the deepest in the field a winner had ever come to win the 500 until Matt Kenseth won after starting 39th in 2009. In the closing laps Dave Marcis was running a few laps down in sixth place but had a rather quick Chevy and unlapped himself as Allison and Baker fought for the lead, in the process of doing so it looked like perhaps Bobby got a little drafting help off the back of the #2 to help him pass Baker. Marcis crossed the finish line to take his white flag just before Allison took the checkered flag. Interesting to see the King had a great run going in this race as his potent Dodge Charger of previous years had been outlawed by NASCAR's rules regarding age of cars competing. Petty spent much of 1978 in the very brick-like Dodge Magnum and was uncompetitive most of the year because of it, yet he was leading here when he crashed the boxy Mopar and took out Waltrip and Pearson in the process. Defending Daytona 500 winner and NASCAR Winston Cup champion Cale Yarborough started from the pole in his white-and-yellow #11 Oldsmobile and fought Waltrip tooth-and-nail for the lead early before falling back. It may have been for the best as he was well out of harm's way when the leaders crashed and then battled with the almost identically painted white-and-yellow #72 Oldsmobile of Benny Parsons for the lead. BP eventually spun out of contention while Cale again faded back to leave Bobby and Buddy to battle it out up front but both came back to finish on the podium behind Allison. This was the last year to date the Daytona 500 was on ABC and its "Wide World of Sports" program. While ABC would continue to televise NASCAR races throughout the 80s and 90s the 500 moved to CBS the following year when it became a live flag-to-flag broadcast. Although ABC was eventually phased out of NASCAR coverage at the start of the 2001 season it returned with its cable partner ESPN in 2007 but only televises the latter half of the season making another Daytona 500 broadcast very unlikely. 12. 18fan posted: 02.05.2012 - 5:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At what point of the race did Cale's engine problem develop? 13. Schroeder51 posted: 07.12.2012 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQs: #33 Jim Hurtubise, #18 Joe Frasson, #45 Baxter Price, #25 Sam Sommers, #05 Bruce Hill, #34 Nestor Peles, #83 Claude Aubin, #59 Tommy Robbs, #00 John Utsman, #68 Janet Guthrie, #09 Nelson Oswald, #91 Earl Ross, #07 Steve Stolarek, #8 Ed Negre, #01 Earle Canavan, #19 Woody Fisher. 14. Schroeder51 posted: 09.25.2013 - 2:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also DNQed: #60 Tom Frank, #74 Bobby Wawak. 15. Jeff posted: 02.11.2014 - 1:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Elliott, Harry Gant, and Morgan Shepherd all made their Daytona 500 debuts. 16. nascarman posted: 09.09.2015 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: 1 / Hoss Ellington / Hawaiian Tropic / Hoss Ellington / Pontiac Hoss Ellington was entered in the race driving an Oldsmobile and Donnie Allison was driving a Pontiac. They were both entered as the same number. The Pontiac was so bad, they switched cars and Ellington couldn't get it to perform either so he ended his comeback and withdrew his entry. https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11951187_870234206395347_6780356883460074414_n.jpg?oh=78987f7da4f305192fdbd68e372e6ac7&oe=5677071D 17. nascarman posted: 09.10.2015 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some updates from the original entry list: DNQ: 01 / Earle Canavan / / Earle Canavan / Dodge 05 / Bruce Hill / Bearfinder / Harry Clary / Oldsmobile (Peter Knab was originally entered as driver) 07 / Steve Stolarek / Auto's Unlimited / Jerry Hansen / Chevy 09 / Nelson Oswald / Perfect Alignment / Nelson Oswald / Chevy 18 / Joe Frasson / / Joe Frasson / Dodge 19 / Woody Fisher / Belden Asphalt / Henley Gray / Chevy (Bill Dennis qualifyed the car) 33 / Jim Hurtubise / Jeff Handy's Automatic Transmission Service / Jeff Handy / Chevy (Jeff Handy was originally entered as driver) 45 / Baxter Price / / Baxter Price / Chevy 60 / Tom Frank / / Lou Viglione / Chevy 68 / Janet Guthrie / Kelly Girl / Lynda Ferreri / Chevy 74 / Bobby Wawak / / Bobby Wawak / Chevy 91 / Earl Ross / Sutherland Auto Parts / Harold Miller / Chevy (Harold Miller was originally entered as driver) Withdrew: 0 / John Kennedy / Avanti CB / John Kennedy / Ford 1 / Hoss Ellington / Hawaiian Tropic / Hoss Ellington / Pontiac 4 / Gary Myers / / Gary Myers / Pontiac 10 / Art Reno / / Bill Champion / Ford 23 / Larry LaMay / Schlitz / Larry LaMay / Chevy 29 / Bill Hollar / Bill Hollar Auto Parts / Bill Hollar / Chevy 31 / Jim Vandivar / / Jim Vandivar / Dodge 46 / Travis Tiller / Little B Coal Co. / Travis Tiller / Dodge 56 / Jim Bray / / Jim Bray / Chevy 63 / Jocko Maggiacomo / Jocko's Racing Inc. / Jocko Maggiacomo / Matador 66 / Terry Link / I.A.F.F. / Mike Link / Pontiac 75 / Butch Hartman / / Richard Hartman / Chevy 97 / Ralph Jones / / Ralph Jones / Ford / John Dineen / / George Starks / Ford / Fred Lovell / Carl's Johnnie on the Spot Inc. / Carl Colicher / Chevy / Paul Dean / / C.C. Holt / Ford / John Haver / / Ed Trahan / Chevy 18. Newt posted: 01.30.2016 - 7:16 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) AJ Foyt had to be extricated from his car and placed on to a stretcher following his big tumble. Here's proof straight from Dale Jr's Twitter account: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZ6RXooUcAAASv1.jpg 19. KW posted: 05.11.2016 - 1:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Stock Car portion of speedweeks kicked off with the ARCA 200 on February 12th. Jim Sauter driving a Dodge out of Dave Marcis's shop was the winner over Bruce Hill, Earl Ross, Delmar Calrk and Jim Hurlbert. Friday's race was for the Modifieds on the high banks for the second year. Darrell Waltrip won in a modified Camaro over Richie Evans, Satch Worley, Jerry Cook and Joe Thurman. Richard Childress was 21st, Harry Gant 28th and Geoffrey Bodine 30th. Saturday was the 300 miler for the Sportsman Division, also won by Darrell Waltrip followed by '77 winner Donnie Allison, '76 winner Joe Millikan, Ray Hendrick and Morgan Shepherd. Geoffrey Bodine was 6th, Neil Bonnett 26th, andHarry Gant 32nd. 20. The Great Dave posted: 11.25.2016 - 9:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Dean Holt likely withdrew because of a wreck he had in the ARCA 200. During the first lap of the race Holt tangled with Illinois State Trooper Gary Cooper and destroyed his Ford and broke some ribs in the process The car was #39 and sponsered by "Sports Shop" of Sweetwater, TN 21. cjs3872 posted: 11.26.2016 - 3:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 18fan (#12), Cale's engine problem occurred at almost the exact time when ABC came on the air for live coverage to the finish, at about the 300 mile mark. Until then, he was battling with Buddy Baker on even terms, and given the slow stops Baker had in the latter stages of the race (Bobby Allison gained about 5-6 seconds on each pit stop), if not for Cale's engine problem, he might have won the race, because the Oldsmobiles Yarborough, Baker, and Benny Parsons drove had more horsepower than the Ford of Allison had. 22. Turn 4 posted: 07.24.2017 - 10:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1978 would be final year for the AMC Matador with Jocko Maggiacomo's entry and does anyone on here knows what model of Pontiac Davey Allison and Terry Link drove (Grand Prix, Grand Am, Ventura?) 23. oldschoolracing519 posted: 07.24.2017 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @22 Davey Allison wasnt in this race what is the DD? for Terry Link 24. Turn4 posted: 07.25.2017 - 12:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I meant Donnie Allison. 25. R posted: 12.04.2017 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Of note, there was a photo finish for third place between Parsons and Hutcherson, which after some time, went to Parsons, his fourth consecutive Daytona 500 finish of third or better, a record that isn't likely to ever be matched. Dick Brooks, Marcis, and Baker were next." I know this happened after this comment, but.. Dale Jr. finishes from 2012-2015 Daytona 500's... 2nd, 2nd, 1st, and 3rd 26. cjs3872 posted: 12.31.2017 - 12:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @25, Dale, Jr.'s four successive top three finishes are a more impressive feat than what Benny accomplished from 1975-'78 for a number of reasons. First, his cumulative finishing positions were slightly better than Parsons (2-2-1-3 vs. Benny's 1-3-2-3 from 1975-'78). Secondly, what Dale, Jr. did came in a much more competitive era than the era Benny accomplished his four successive top threes in. And third, with the rare exception of the crash on the fourth lap of the 1975 race that took out about one-quarter of the starting field (and that Benny was just ahead of, having started 32nd in '75), they didn't have the huge metal-grinding crashes back then that they do in virtually every race at Daytona today (and sometimes more than one). One thing that did make what Benny accomplish so amazing was that it was so difficult to even finish 500-mile races back then, because the equipment was not nearly as reliable as it became even ten years later, much less today. So getting to the finish was so much more difficult, and it wasn't that Benny had a breeze getting to the finish of those races. In 1976, he developed an engine problem about 45 laps from the end and was able to nurse his car home in third place behind the Pearson-Petty finish. Then in the 1978 race, he cut a left rear tire, something Richard Petty, Jerry Jolly, and Buddy Baker also had problems with at varying stages in the race, and spun out on the 68th lap, and it was that incident that caused the chain reaction resulting in A.J. Foyt's blowover after contact from Lennie Pond. Parsons lost two laps as a result, but because of unscheduled pit stops by both Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker, as well as a minor engine problem on the part of Cale Yarborough, got one of them (and briefly both of them) back in the final 200 miles without the aid of a caution, and while Allison was drafting Dave Marcis to win the race, Parsons beat out Ron Hutcherson in a photo finish for third place that took some time for officials to decide the outcome of. 27. Jordan posted: 02.14.2018 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe this is the last Daytona 500 in which Richard Petty drove a Dodge. He switched to GM, winning the following year in an Oldsmobile and won again in 1981 in a Buick, later driving Grand Prix's. 28. Gray Gaulding's Distant Cousin posted: 05.30.2018 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update #40 D.K. Ulrich Ulrich Racing Chevy #98 Roland Wlodyka Osterlund Racing Chevy #61 Joe Mihalic Norris Racing Oldsmobile #39 Blackie Wangerin Wangerin Racing Ford #89 Jim Vandiver O.L. Nixon Chevrolet DNQ Sponsor updates #00 John Utsman Whitaker Racing Chevrolet #01 Earle Canavan Canavan Racing Dodge #07 Steve Stolarek Auto Parts Unlimited #8 Ed Negre Negre Racing Dodge #18 Joe Frasson Frasson Racing Dodge #19 Woody Fisher Belden Asphalt Chevy #25 Sam Sommers Hearne's Vette Shop Chevy #33 Jim Hurtibese Moran Electric Chevy #45 Baxter Price Price Racing Chevy #59 Tommy Robbs Porter & Queen Racing Chevy #60 Tom Frank Viglione Racing Chevrolet #74 Bobby Wawak Wawak Racing Chevrolet #83 Claude Aubin Ray Racing Chevy #91 Earl Ross Valvoline of Canada Chevy 29. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.02.2018 - 2:35 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) First Daytona 500 starts for Bill Elliott, Blackie Wangerin, Morgan Shepherd, and Harry Gant. Only Daytona 500 starts for Roger Hamby, Roland Wlodyka, Jerry Jolly, Claude Ballot-Lena, and Al Holbert. Last Daytona 500 starts for Ron Hutcherson, Ferrel Harris, Skip Manning, Dick May, Jimmy Lee Capps, and Joe Mihalic. 30. RaceFanX posted: 06.05.2018 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denver racer Jerry Jolly makes his NASCAR Winston Cup debut and finishes 20th, a performance that would prove to be his best in the series. This would be the only one of his five Winston Cup starts where he was running at the finish. 31. cjs3872 posted: 10.31.2018 - 3:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @30, and that was in spite of a cut tire on the 92nd lap that started a four-car incident that also involved the cars of Cecil Gordon, Jimmy Lee Capps, and Tighe Scott. All four wound up running at the finish of a race that had a remarkably low amount of attrition for a race of that era. Only 14 of the 41 cars that started failed to make it to the finish, making it that much more remarkable that such a high percentage of those who failed to make it to the finish were some of the sport's top drivers. 32. 34McDowellFan posted: 02.06.2019 - 10:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last Daytona 500 until the 2019 Daytona 500 without an Earnhardt in the field 33. Rich posted: 01.01.2021 - 7:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jim McKay and Sir Jackie Stewart were the commentators. Chris Economaki was the sole pit road reporter. McKay was the studio host. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: