|| *Comments on the 1981 Mason-Dixon 500:* View the most recent comment <#47> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Mike Lindeen posted: 01.02.2005 - 6:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Neil Bonnett was ahead by TWO LAPS over the entire field when his engine went bye bye. You can see how much NASCAR has changed by looking at the results. Can you imagine today someone finishing 20 laps down but finishing 10th? 2. Mike Lindeen posted: 01.02.2005 - 6:56 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Oh and this was the only win EVER for owner Junie Dunleavy 3. Anonymous posted: 01.21.2005 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Bonnett dominated, and Yarborough also led, but in the end it was Jody Ridley and Junie Donvaley "stumbling" into the win. 4. Andy Sinatra posted: 05.03.2005 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wasn't Cale leading when his engine let go? 5. STbastien posted: 10.12.2005 - 10:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Judy Donlavey & Jody Ridley lone win. 6. Darrell posted: 11.25.2005 - 7:06 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) 22 second margin of victory. Not bad. If you're going to win once, you might as well win big. 7. STbastien posted: 12.14.2005 - 4:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was Elmo Langley's last race, hmmm laps also, even if he completed lots more in the pace car. 8. Dalejrfan14 posted: 03.14.2006 - 8:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) YAY SHEP!6th 9. Steve posted: 05.04.2006 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) How about Ricky Rudd in 5th, 10 laps down? D.K. Ulrich gets his only Top 5 finish. 10. myself posted: 02.14.2007 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes. Cale was leading when his engine blew up. I have this race on tape. 11. Lawrence posted: 02.21.2007 - 7:39 pm Rate this comment: (6) (0) Feel good win for Junie Donlevey though. 12. Destiny posted: 04.13.2007 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's the only win for Jody and Junie. 13. Steve.M. posted: 05.09.2007 - 4:59 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) ESPNs 3rd ever broadcast, it was tape delayed 14. Matt posted: 01.08.2009 - 3:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 2 cautions in the first 20 laps, then caution free for the final 476. 15. 18fan posted: 01.23.2010 - 7:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pearson first lost his engine, driving for the same team Gant dominated with Martinsville. 16. Clayton posted: 09.22.2010 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Yarborough, Bonnett and Pearson blew up while leading in this event. Controversy struck when in a 1981 issue of Grand National Scene, car owner Harry Rainer had said that Bobby Allison had won the race and that NASCAR had a "scoring communications difficulty." During the late stages of the event, with everyone falling out, the scoring system messed up a few times. D.K. Ulrich was listed at being 9 laps down at one lap and the following lap was listed as laps down, confussing fans and everyone. On lap 480, there was no rundown on the scoring monitor and that's when NASCAR annoucned that they had had "scoring communications difficulty." Nothing was done and Ridley was credited with the win, but Harry Rainer was not very happy. 17. ii posted: 10.31.2010 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #90's lone win 18. Anonymous posted: 11.27.2010 - 1:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) What was it about Bobby Allison that made his owners whine almost as much as he always did? 19. Jim posted: 02.18.2012 - 10:40 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Just found short video on You Tube. Enter Junie Donleavy. 20. Anonymous posted: 06.03.2012 - 9:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) Bobby was a winner,not a whiner.Just another fan of that blabber mouth hee-haw DW. 21. AnonymousEFR posted: 06.09.2012 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Best finish for DK Ulrich, let alone in his home race. 22. Bobby posted: 07.11.2012 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Bobby Allison is one of the greatest drivers ever and I admire him greatly for what he's been through. However, if I had a dollar for every time he complained that he was done wrong, I'd be a rich man. 23. Jim posted: 07.31.2012 - 11:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Car owner Kennie Childers last pole 24. JL70fan posted: 02.05.2013 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) D.K. Ulrich's only top 5 as a driver and as an owner 25. wrank fakefield posted: 10.22.2013 - 3:49 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Not only did Bonnett lead 2nd place Cale Yarborough by 2 laps when he retired, Yarborough led 2nd place Jody Ridley by 5 lap when Yarborough's engine blew. This is not said to disparage Ridley or Dunleavey; as the old adage goes, to finish first you must first finish. 26. Walleyewhacker posted: 02.15.2014 - 9:08 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Junie Donleavy's #90 almost won the 1987 Firecracker 400 at Daytona, but Ken Schrader crashed on the last lap. 27. mkl62 posted: 02.21.2014 - 11:23 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I was listening to this race on the radio and remember how Jody Ridley took the lead after Cale went out. As it was obvious that he was going to win, the announcers said that every fan in the stands was standing up cheering. No matter who their favorite driver was, they were glad to see someone get their first win. I just wish that Ridley could have won some more races. 28. Eric posted: 06.10.2014 - 11:49 am Rate this comment: (5) (0) The only win for Junie. He passed away earlier today. R.I.P. junie. Proof you didn't need 200 wins to be great 29. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 07.09.2014 - 11:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution 1: Lap 2-13: #15,17,47,71,94 accident turn 3 Caution 2: Lap 18-28: #2,11,17,33,37 accident frontstretch 30. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 07.09.2014 - 11:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) correction caution 2 went from laps 18 to 29 31. bayley01 posted: 03.28.2016 - 11:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allison is a whinebag. Let him have his cheese. Let Junie and Jody have a win. 32. nascar_vd / racing-reference.info posted: 04.05.2016 - 1:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Note: complete lineup and DNQ are now available for this race. Note: Bobby Wawak drove the car #94 in qualifying but Bob Riley (initially DNQ)drove the car in the race. 33. Ryan Daley posted: 09.22.2016 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: #75 Joe Millikan Gray Racing Buick Owner: Henley Gray Source: Grand National Scene 34. {}{}{}{}{} posted: 08.31.2017 - 3:09 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Only win EVER for a car numbered 90 in the Cup series 35. RaceFanX posted: 04.01.2018 - 9:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Pearson returns to the tour for the first time the Halpern team shut down after the owner's untimely death to take the wheel of Kennie Childers' #12 Kencoal Mining Oldsmobile. The new effort paired two legends of the sport with the Silver Fox driving and Jake Elder acting as crew chief with the pair winning the pole for this race. Unfortunately engine issues started to arise as the weekend progressed so while Pearson led early in the time one a blown engine eventually sent him to the sidelines just after the 1/10th mark. The partnership of Pearson and the Childers team ended up being just a one-off effort. Mike Joy quipped that Dave Marcis' #71 Chevrolet Malibu ended up with the dimensions of a Chevrolet Chevette compact car after it was smashed in the pileup at the start. Darrell Waltrip got his Mountain Dew #11 Buick in trouble early when he lost it off Turn 4 and set off a multi-car crash. The Junior Johnson team managed to make repairs and get him back out there, with the high attrition rate they salvaged a 12th place finish and maintained their third place position in the points. Richard Petty was another contender who fell by the wayside in this one. He was running fourth in this race when a rear end failure sent the #43 STP Buick to the sidelines done for the day. 36. TeamDCRfan posted: 12.10.2018 - 12:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elmo comes out of retirement in a one off for Lake Speed, and he was crew chiefed by former Cup winner Darel Dieringer 37. Maverick19 posted: 05.25.2019 - 2:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Most laps led in a DNF? Can't think of anything that comes even close to this. 38. Seb posted: 08.18.2019 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #47 Bouchard was a Pontiac, not a Buick. #52 Means was a Chevrolet (Nova), not a Pontiac. And Cowell was also a Nova. 39. _Pale_Writer_ posted: 08.18.2019 - 10:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @38... Novas were not legal in Cup in 1981. I think you meant Malibu 40. Seb posted: 08.18.2019 - 12:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Correct, thanks. 41. dennyfan11 posted: 09.27.2019 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @37, actually I do know of one more. In the 1964 Volunteer 500, Richard Petty led 442 laps, but had rear end failure on the last lap of the race. Fred Lorenzen won it. There might even be more in some early races, but that's the most I know for sure. 42. Fuzzy posted: 11.18.2019 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The number of times Junie's last name was misspelled in these comments is agonizing. It's DONLAVEY. 43. Anonymous posted: 02.04.2020 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only *POINTS PAYING* win for Donlavey. Didn't Ken Schrader win a Twin 125 or a similar non-points race at Daytona in the Red Baron car? 44. Mile501 posted: 02.04.2020 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @43 - Indeed he did! Schrader drove the #90 to victory lane in the first Twin 125 in 1987. 45. SweetRich posted: 02.16.2020 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Commentators For The Race Were Bob Jenkins And Dick Berggren. The Pit Road Reporter Was Ned Jarrett. 46. Mile501 posted: 12.11.2020 - 12:57 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) This race was mentioned towards the end of the 2004 spring Dover race, where Ridley had to run 5 laps to even take the lead after Yarborough's engine blew while he was leading. While that sort of thing must have been fairly common in NASCAR's early days, it is somewhat odd to think about in today's world. It would be like a modern-day live running order showing "lap 481" or "19 to go" and continuing to say that same thing, as if the lap counter was stuck, as the cars ran 5 circuits around the track. 47. Anonymous posted: 01.16.2021 - 7:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #94 was the #60 Pontiac renumbered for the race. It was not the Wawak Buick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: