|| *Comments on the 1979 Los Angeles Times 500:* View the most recent comment <#33> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Steve posted: 04.06.2006 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first really exciting point battle. Richard Petty comes in 2 points behind Darrell Waltrip. Richard leads a lap and gets 5 bonus points, so Darrell stays out under a caution to get his 5 points. He pits after leading, and he's at the back of the field. A car spins in front of Darrell, he spins to miss him, and loses a lap that he never gets back while trying to refire the car. It was either Buddy Baker or Benny Parsons that Richard Petty made a deal with before the race to help him win his 7th and final championship. Active drivers (as of April 6th, 2006) in this race are Terry Labonte and Kyle Petty (13th and 14th, both 4 laps down). 2. myself posted: 02.14.2007 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cale 3-year run of dominance has ended. 3. myself posted: 08.20.2009 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Perfect evidence of why the stupid cha$e isn't necessary! 4. Bud Talley posted: 09.27.2009 - 8:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell Waltrip got screwed out of that championship, pure & simple. Late in the year, Bobby Allison wrecked him at Wilkesboro, NASCAR black flagged him at Rockingham for minor smoke while he was running 2nd...held him a few laps then sent him back on the track with nothing changed, then Baker moved over to let Petty lead a lap at Ontario....and to top it off, the NASCAR pace car later picked up Darrell instead of the leader during a caution...effectively making Darrell a "sitting duck" to go a lap down (on a 2.5 mile track) when the green flag came out. A total "shaft job" to give the Winston Cup to the popular Petty and deny it to the guy who deserved it....Darrell Waltrip! (And I'm from Randleman....16 years on the town board....and I know Richard Petty. He's a great guy....but he & NASCAR stole that championship from Darrell Waltrip!) 5. Steve posted: 12.31.2009 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thirty years later, the only active driver in this race is Terry Labonte. Unless he made a retirement announcement that I'm not aware of. 6. RaceFanX posted: 01.01.2010 - 11:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) He did...in 2006...and then he broke it. 7. 18fan posted: 04.08.2010 - 3:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell definitely outperformed Petty most of the year, but Petty didn't self destruct like Darrell did(darlington). 8. myself posted: 05.14.2010 - 12:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Wierd how Darrell's self destruction led to a veteran winning a title. Then in 1985, the upstart, Elliott, self destructed & led to a veteran (Waltrip) winning the title. 9. Alex posted: 07.26.2011 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hal Callentine's second, and final start. 10. Ryan posted: 08.12.2011 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell can only blame himself for what happened at Darlington and Pocono. 11. Jim posted: 07.27.2012 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Saw a pic of Jimmy Insolo replacing Earnhardt in this race and maybe Dale getting back in his car ? 12. Timberwolf Frenzel posted: 08.08.2012 - 2:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cecil Gordon becomes the first "Flash" Gordon to drive the #24 car. 13. CBASS posted: 12.12.2012 - 9:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some sponsor updates #64 Sunny King Ford-Honda #78 San Fernando Valley Lumber Co. #44 Stratagraph/ Technicraft Inc. #3 CRC High Performance Chemicals #15 Hodgdon #01 Lakes Drywall Special 14. Jeff Wagoner (ARCA Results Archive) posted: 08.06.2013 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cautions: 8-11 Ulrich, Rezek, Accident, Turn 2 41-46 Rezek, Waltrip, Spin, Turn 3 51-55 Gale, Blown Engine 56-63 Giaformaggio spin, Turn 3 153-158 - Thomas, Blown Engine 185-191 - Hylton stalled Turn 4 From 11/21/79 issue of NSSN. 15. Jeff Wagoner (ARCA Results Archive) posted: 08.07.2013 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 11/21/79 issue of NSSN also lists Tommy Gale as out of the race due to "Engine". 16. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 04.08.2014 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Maybe I'm not alone, but 2010's finale feels kind of like this race for me. 17. FloridaFan88 posted: 07.14.2014 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Failed To Qualify: #91-John Krebs 18. The Great Dave posted: 02.19.2016 - 11:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #22 Lindsey #44 Technicraft / Stratagraph #78 San Fernando Valley Lumber / All Cities Roofing Supplies 19. The Great Dave posted: 02.19.2016 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #22 should actually be "Lindsey Auto Parts" Also DNQ #6 Dick Whalen Whalen Service Station Chevy (Dick Whalen) #14 Dick Kranzler Parnelli Jones Enterpises Chevy (Dick Kranzler) #93 Norm Palmer Palmer Racing Dodge (Norm Palmer) There are two other cars I've seen in photos that DNQed but aren't listed. the #69 and #0 cars. 20. mike mackenzie posted: 03.27.2017 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another DNQ #29 Hershel McGriff, Tropical Rent a Car Chevy (Dick Midgley Owner) 21. kup posted: 11.14.2017 - 1:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) UPS: universal points system. Driver's UPoints = Miles / Aver.Finish 1979 UPS _ Driver = Miles / AF 1708 _ Richard Petty 10933 / 6.4 1681 _ Darrell Waltrip 11768 / 7.0 1307 _ Bobby Allison 11237 / 8.6 1301 _ Cale Yarborough 11192 / 8.6 936 _ Benny Parsons 10574 / 11.3 874 _ Dale Earnhardt 9357 / 10.7 834 _ Joe Millikan 10509 / 12.6 820 _ Ricky Rudd 9917 / 12.1 710 _ Richard Childress 10442 / 14.7 642 _ Buddy Arrington 10333 / 16.1 607 _ Terry Labonte 9886 / 16.3 & TOTAL: UPS! 31 years 1949-1979: Richard Petty 7 in: '63, '64, '67, '71, '72, '75, '79. Lee Petty 5 in: '50, '52, '54, '58, '59. David Pearson 4 in: '66, '68, '69, '76. Cale Yarborough 3 in: '74, '77, '78. Buck Baker 2 in: '56, '57. Rex White 2 in: '60, '61. Bill Blair 1 in: '49. Fonty Flock 1 in: '51. Herb Thomas 1 in: '53. Tim Flock 1 in: '55. Joe Weatherly 1 in: '62. Ned Jarrett 1 in: '65. Bobby Isaac 1 in: '70. Benny Parsons 1 in: '73. 22. Brandon posted: 03.31.2018 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) A total of 8 manufacturers raced in the 31 races in 1979, here is how many races each showed up to. Buick: 24 Chevrolet: 31 Chrysler: 3 Dodge: 31 Ford: 31 Mercury: 24 Oldsmobile: 31 Pontiac: 4 23. RaceFanX posted: 06.20.2019 - 9:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Benny Parsons went winless through most of 1979 but won two of the last four races down the stretch. He'd win both of the last two NASCAR races held at the Indianapolis of the West in Ontario, having never finished better than a third in 1976 during any of the prior races here. 24. Dennyfan05 posted: 03.14.2020 - 7:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If 1979 had the 2017- playoff format (without stages) Round 1: Bristol, Darlington, Richmond 1. Darrell Waltrip 499 2. Bobby Allison 341 3. Richard Petty 283 4. Cale Yarborough 277 5. Buddy Baker 134 5. Neil Bonnett 134 7. Dale Earnhardt 131 8. Benny Parsons 70 9. Joe Millikan 67 10. Richard Childress 61 11. JD McDuffie 58 12. Buddy Arrington 55 13. James Hylton 0 13. DK Ulrich 0 13. Terry Labonte 0 13. Ricky Rudd 0 Eliminated: Baker, Earnhardt, Bonnett, Hylton Round 2: Dover, Martinsville, Charlotte 1.Darrell Waltrip 566 2.Bobby Allison 408 3.Richard Petty 283 4.Cale Yarborough 277 5.Benny Parsons 70 6.Joe Millikan 67 7.Richard Childress 61 8.JD McDuffie 58 9.Buddy Arrington 55 10.Ricky Rudd 0 10.DK Ulrich 0 10.Terry Labonte 0 Eliminated: Arrington, Labonte, Ulrich, McDuffie Round 3: North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, Atlanta 1.Darrell Waltrip 566 2.Bobby Allison 408 3.Richard Petty 350 4.Cale Yarborough 344 5.Benny Parsons 70 6.Joe Millikan 67 7.Richard Childress 61 8.Ricky Rudd 0 Eliminated: Yarborough, Millikan, Childress, Rudd Champ 4: Ontario 1.Benny Parsons 1st 2.Bobby Allison 2nd 3.Richard Petty 5th 4.Darrell Waltrip 8th 25. SweetRich posted: 03.14.2020 - 9:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Ken Squier and David Hobbs. The sole pit road reporter was Brock Yates. 26. JSPorts posted: 03.14.2020 - 9:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Interesting. Benny Parsons wins the title, despite the fact that he finished a distant 5th in the real-life point standings, over 3 full races behind champion Richard Petty. 27. Anonymous posted: 03.26.2020 - 6:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Earnhardt goes from 8th to 7th in the final point standings in the season finale. He gained that spot from his future car owner Richard Childress. 28. Seb posted: 04.23.2020 - 9:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lake Speed claims he DNQed this Ontario race by one spot. He said the car was a former Harry Hide/Darrell Waltrip car. At the time it was owned by a John somewone from Chicago, a Waltrip partner. They took it to the Winston West race at Phoenix after this Cup failure (in that race car #0 Monte Carlo). They rebuilt the engine and all and went to Daytona for the 1980 Arca race with it also (#6 Monte Carlo, future cup scheme with a 6 of 66 removed). 29. Anonymous posted: 08.03.2020 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Winner Parsons was sponsored by Zoom. 30. possum posted: 08.03.2020 - 7:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @29 - fraid not good buddy, MC Anderson's car carried no sponsorship in that race. (neither, incidently, did Harry Ranier's car, so I'm not sure why this site shows it as "WIN"). 31. Anonymous posted: 08.03.2020 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @30 It's on film, written on hood and trunk (there is a good view when Parsons enters the winner's circle). 32. GGDC posted: 08.03.2020 - 10:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @29 @31 The Zoom was "Zoom Clutches" 33. rateus posted: 02.13.2021 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ed Negre qualified for Frank Warren. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: