|| *Comments on the 1980 Atlanta 500:* View the most recent comment <#22> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Matt posted: 05.19.2005 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace finished second in his first career Winston Cup race as well as Roger Penske's last race for 11 years as an owner. 2. SPENCER posted: 12.13.2005 - 2:44 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Nice to see J.D. in 9th 3. Miller4Prez6 posted: 05.06.2006 - 9:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty finishing 2nd in his first start was awesome 4. mcmurrayfan posted: 06.19.2006 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the furthest back Earnhardt started (31st) and won from. 5. myself posted: 02.14.2007 - 5:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I bet all of the establishment, after seeing who finished 2nd, all collectively said, "WHO?!" 6. Bill posted: 04.11.2007 - 9:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kyle Petty finishes ahead of his dad in a Cup race for the first time. It's Kyle's seventh Cup race. 7. Mr. Etc posted: 05.09.2008 - 9:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Earnhardt won from 35th at this exact same event 20 years later. 8. RaceFanX posted: 09.24.2008 - 10:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Elliott was sponsored by a Toyota dealer in this race! That had to be unusual for 1980 9. Russ Shurtliff posted: 09.08.2009 - 7:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I WAS WONDERING IF IT WAS THE BLUE DUECE COUPE FINISHING FIRST OR SECOND? 10. Sébastien posted: 09.18.2009 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Earnhardt #2 was sponsored by Mike Curb / Hodgdon. 11. RaceFanX posted: 12.05.2009 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dale Earnhardt's second career Cup win I bet old Ironhead had no idea just how much of a thorn in his side Rusty would eventually become. 12. Ryan posted: 03.08.2010 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (6) lol, thorn? Rusty beat Dale in points one year ('89), and if it wasn't for the North Wilkesboro accident with Rudd, Rusty never would have beat him. Rusty was Dale's bitch. And Jeff Gordon's for that matter. Gordon cost Rusty a lot of money from the mid-90s to mid-2000s 13. 18fan posted: 03.13.2010 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Rusty also finished ahead of Dale in points in 1998. Ryan, I would say Rusty was a thorn in Dale's side because they battled for many wins, Dale just seemed to come out on top many more times than Rusty would. 14. myself posted: 05.14.2010 - 12:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I ain't forgot Talladeger neither!" 15. awesomegordonfan posted: 11.20.2010 - 10:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Earnhardt's first win in his stellar season, winning rookie of the year and then the championship in back-to-back seasons, never happening since, again, or before, although Gordon was close winnning rookkie of the year, winning his first race, and the championship in '93, '94, and '95 consecutively. 16. awesomegordonfan posted: 11.20.2010 - 10:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) SPENCER, this was one of J.D.'s last top 10s before his tragic death in 1991 at Watkins Glen. 17. Anonymous posted: 12.14.2010 - 11:27 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Ryan is probably one of those guys who started watching NASCAR after 2000 but thinks they're an expert because they can memorize statistics. 18. Jim posted: 04.23.2015 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes Rusty was in a Chevrolet, but it was a Caprice bodied car compared to most of the other Chevy's that were Monte Carlos. 19. Mr.Victory posted: 04.22.2019 - 9:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace, finishing 2nd to Dale Earnhardt, who drove the #2, the number of the car Rusty drove from 1991 to 2005. Also, Rusty had 2 starts in 1980, and would have 2 runner up finishes in the championship. Just a bunch of 2's... 20. RaceFanX posted: 08.13.2019 - 10:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was basically the last race for the relatively successful combination of driver Donnie Allison and owner Hoss Ellington, ending a partnership that dated back to 1975. The pairing had actually started off the season pretty well with a Twin 125 victory, two top-10s and a pretty strong run here. Allison qualified the #1 Hawaiian Tropic Chevrolet in the top-5 and contended for the win, leading a nice chunk of the race, until the motor let go. The pair would reunite for a final race at the end of the 1982 season. 21. TheDewCrew posted: 03.20.2020 - 9:55 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) From his very first Cup race, it was Rusty chasing Dale. Ironic that it was Dale in the #2 at the time. If only fans at this race knew what was to come with these two 22. rateus posted: 02.11.2021 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Wawak qualified for Joe Booher. Also Randy Ogden qualified 37th in a Chevrolet but withdrew and was not replaced in the line-up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: