|| *Comments on the 1981 Winston Western 500:* View the most recent comment <#35> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. nascarman posted: 05.29.2006 - 1:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The last year where the season ended on the same track where it started. 2. STbastien posted: 06.11.2006 - 2:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The gap between Waltrip/Allison & the pack in the standings is impressive. 3. Darrell posted: 11.23.2006 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Childress' last start as a racer, driving in a a start and park for Junior Johnson. 4. biffle16 posted: 03.14.2007 - 1:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, Darrell, you like Elton? He's my favorite! :) 5. bj posted: 11.02.2008 - 8:22 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This is funny- not only did they run the Winston Western 500 twice in the same year, it was won by Bobby Allison both times. 6. RaceFanX posted: 11.28.2008 - 5:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Millikan's last top 5 7. WillG_46 posted: 11.29.2008 - 7:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First time in 14 races that Darrell Waltrip didn't finish in the top 3. 8. Mike posted: 02.02.2009 - 12:57 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Waltrip was the first champion not from the Carolinas since Virginia's Joe Weatherly in 1963. 9. 18fan posted: 04.19.2009 - 1:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) They actually raced 3 times at Riverside, the first time I think since the 1950s when there were 4 races at Portland Speedway. Bobby beat two of the J.D. Stacy sponsored cars 10. RaceFanX posted: 05.19.2009 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Best career finish, 18th, for former F1 racer and racing school owner Bob Bondurant. This was also Bondurant's final Cup series start. 11. RaceFanX posted: 10.11.2009 - 11:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lone Cup race for Canadian West Coast racer Gary Kershaw, he finishes an impressive 12th 12. Anonymous posted: 02.07.2011 - 5:22 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This race featured a great battle for the win between Allison and Ruttman for the last 20 laps. Bobby passed Joe with 9 laps to go and Ruttman got back alongside Allison several times but was never able to complete the pass. 13. The Great Dave posted: 08.31.2011 - 9:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ #64 Ferrell Harris #61 Don Staley 14. myself posted: 01.23.2012 - 11:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) 12. Anonymous posted: 02.07.11 - 5:22 am This race featured a great battle for the win between Allison and Ruttman for the last 20 laps. Bobby passed Joe with 9 laps to go and Ruttman got back alongside Allison several times but was never able to complete the pass. And that.........is why he's Joe Rutman. 15. Aaron posted: 07.17.2012 - 1:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Ruttman registers his first of three 2nd place finishes, but this was by far his best chance to get a win. 16. CBASS posted: 12.12.2012 - 10:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some sponsor updates #15 Melling Oil Pumps #90 Truxmore/ Sunny King Ford-Honda #43 STP Oil Treatment #73 Bill Schmitt #2 Wrangler #99 UNO 17. CBASS posted: 12.13.2012 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some more #17 Kings Inn #21 Hodgdon #2 should be J.D. Stacy instead of Wrangler, mistake on my part 18. James W. McLaughlin posted: 10.23.2014 - 10:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm surprised that hardly anyone has noticed that NASCAR ran three Cup Series races at Riverside in 1981. Three races at the same track, in the same year! Weird, huh? 19. myself posted: 04.07.2015 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I wonder why 3 @ Riverside? 20. robby burns posted: 04.30.2015 - 12:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I bet 1 of the 3 races at Riverside was probably a make up west coast date for the loss of Ontario Speedway. It had been the season finale in previous years while Riverside had the opening date in January and the race in June. Then they changed it leaving the June Riverside race and putting the other race as the final from 1982 to 1986 before Atlanta got the finale until 2000. Riverside kept it's two races until 1988 when they ran the last race in June of 1988 and the later date went to Phoenix. Then they added a second Pocono race in 1982 but then lost Texas World Speedway. 21. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 08.06.2015 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update #41 Mountain Dew 22. Evan posted: 03.08.2017 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Childress ran a second Junior Johnson car(probably one of DW's backups) if Darrell Waltrip was to have trouble or if he needed a car to drop out to win the championship but this obviously was not needed as Darrell finished 6th in the race and cruised to his first title. 23. kup posted: 11.15.2017 - 1:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) UPS: universal points system. Driver's UPoints = Miles / Aver.Finish 1981 UPS _ Driver = Miles / AF 1707 _ Bobby Allison 11609 / 6.8 1524 _ Darrell Waltrip 10974 / 7.2 862 _ Harry Gant 10253 / 11.9 842 _ Jody Ridley 10528 / 12.5 829 _ Terry Labonte 10530 / 12.7 745 _ Dale Earnhardt 10062 / 13.5 721 _ Ricky Rudd 9878 / 13.7 559 _ Richard Petty 8602 / 15.4 545 _ Cale Yarborough 7133 / 13.1 522 _ Buddy Arrington 9443 / 18.1 517 _ Dave Marcis 9255 / 17.9 & TOTAL: UPS! 33 years 1949-1981: 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 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. Dale Earnhardt 1 in: '80. Bobby Allison 1 in: '81. 24. Brandon posted: 04.01.2018 - 12:15 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) A total of 7 manufacturers raced in the 31 races in 1981, here is how many races each showed up to. Buick: 31 Chevrolet: 29 Chrysler: 2 Dodge: 30 Ford: 31 Oldsmobile: 31 Pontiac: 31 25. Ryan posted: 06.04.2018 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Harry Gant raced for five different teams (and car numbers) and finished 3rd in the standings with seven 2nd places finishes. Impressive! 26. zuel660 posted: 11.13.2018 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Marcis finishes the '81 season at Riverside in a Pontiac, after racing a Chevy, Buick, Olds, Dodge, & Chrysler throughout the rest of the year. 27. AutoRockinRacing94 posted: 04.30.2020 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Until Darlington and Charlotte in 2020 (for now), it was last year a track hosted three Cup points races. 28. JSPorts posted: 04.30.2020 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) That's an interesting fact. A span of over 38 years since that's happened. I wonder if we'll get any 3-race tracks for the revamped 2021 schedule. I doubt it, but if they did shorter races or more doubleheaders, it's not impossible. 29. possum posted: 04.30.2020 - 8:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @27, 28 - that was kind of a fluke. For many years NASCAR had made Riverside the first and last race of the season to save teams on travel costs - they'd haul a car out in November, race, store it in California, go out in Jan and race again, then sell the car to a West series team and start using their new car at Daytona. By 1981 the cost of hauling a car cross-country wasn't seen as such a big deal, and France really really wanted the season to start at his track, Daytona. So they revamped the schedule to move Riverside's first race to June - but they did it too late for all the teams who'd planned on a January race and left cars on the west coast. So 1981 got the last Jan race, first June race, and the usual November race. 30. KW posted: 04.30.2020 - 9:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Riverside was January and June from 1970 thru 1980, but Ontario was the last race of the year from 1974-1980. I'm not sure if there was supposed to be a race at Ontario in 1981 and it got cancelled late or what but Riverside replaced it for 81 and then the schedule switched for Riverside to be June-November for 82-87. 31. Gary24fan posted: 04.30.2020 - 10:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Interesting to note that, based on photos I hacve seen on FB and elsewhere, Don Stanley's DNQ was actually in one of the older 115-inch wheelbase cars, a Chevelle. I'm guessing the West Coast guys probably were allowed to run under Winston West rules and they allowed older body styles then. 32. Canadianfan posted: 05.07.2020 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) DNQ update on Harris, he was driving a Dodge Mirada owned by Norman Negre. Sponsor was Weldon's Truck Repair. 33. RaceFanX posted: 08.03.2020 - 10:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Bobby Allison's sixth and final NASCAR road course win. All of his victories on the twisty circuits came here at Riverside during a 10-year period from 1971 to 1981. He had 25 top-10s here in 43 starts overall. 34. KW posted: 08.15.2020 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Saturday race was the Warner Hodgdon 300 for Grand American cars. The winner was Glen Steurer followed by Jim Neal, Rod Hetrick, Doug Taylor and Frank Swords, Hershel McGriff was 7th. 35. rateus posted: 02.10.2021 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ferrel Harris actually qualified his Dodge 37th fastest but come race day Tommy Gale replaced him in his Ford. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: