379:; who was 42 laps behind the lead lap. The tenth-place driver would finish 20 laps down from the lead lap drivers. In today's NASCAR, he would have finished more towards the middle of the pack. There was a "communications meltdown" on lap 480 which put the race in jeopardy. Ridley's win was considered controversial because Allison claimed to have "won the race"; according to NASCAR team owner
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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 one-tenth mark. The partnership of Pearson and the Childers team ended up being just a one-off effort.
359:
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
363:
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 a 19th-place finish. Elmo comes out of retirement in a one-off for Lake Speed. Neil
Bonnett was ahead by two laps over
355:
would acquire the pole position with a speed of 138.425 miles per hour (222.773 km/h). 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
350:
The winner would win $ 22,560 in prize money ($ 75,607 when adjusted for inflation) while the last place winner would take home only $ 5,980 ($ 20,041 when adjusted for inflation). Two cautions slowed the race for 24 laps and the average racing speed was 116.925 miles per hour (188.173 km/h).
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by 22 seconds in front of 40,000 live spectators. This race was the only win for a car numbered 90 in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was also the only Cup Series win for Ridley and the only points paying win for
Donlavey Racing. However, this victory was controversial because Allison's team blamed a
288:, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.
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the entire field when he failed to finish the race after leading 404 laps; quite possibly the most number of laps led in NASCAR history while getting a DNF. In today's NASCAR, it is impossible for someone to finish 20 laps down but in 10th place.
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The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the time that this race was held.
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Five hundred laps took place on a paved track spanning a distance of 1.000 mile or 1.609 kilometres per lap. It took four hours and seventeen minutes for
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at twenty-four degrees, and both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the backstretch are banked at nine degrees.
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high attrition rate they salvaged a 12th place finish and maintained their third place position in the points.
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Lap 2: Caution called due to an accident involving Benny
Parsons and four other drivers, ended on lap 13.
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Lap 18: Caution due to an accident involving Dale
Earnhardt and four other drivers, ended on lap 29.
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Temperatures reaching of 69.1 °F (20.6 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
945:
Lap 412: Richard
Childress' engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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236:
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Lap 480: Cale
Yarborough's engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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Lap 297: Mike
Alexander's engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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Lap 161: J.D. McDuffie's engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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Lap 459: Neil Bonnett's engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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Lap 57: David Pearson's engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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Lap 448: Harry Gant's engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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Lap 342: Kyle Petty's engine just could not stand up to the pressures of high-speed racing.
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scoring error for his loss (even though Allison himself did not actually protest the win).
322:. The NASCAR race makes use of the track's standard configuration, a four-turn short track
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Start of race: David Pearson had the pole position to start things off.
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would acquire a last-place finish on the first lap due to a crash with
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Finish: Jody Ridley was officially declared the winner of the event.
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Lap 104: Richard Petty took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
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Lap 460: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Neil Bennett.
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Lap 196: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
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Lap 191: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Neil Bennett.
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Lap 100: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
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Lap 481: Jody Ridley took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
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Lap 85: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
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Lap 84: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
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Lap 59: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
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Lap 58: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
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Lap 107: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Richard Petty.
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All 32 drivers on the racing grid were American-born males.
16:
Auto race held at Dover Downs International Speedway in 1981
903:
Lap 42: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from David Pearson.
302:, now called Dover International Speedway, is one of five
326:
that is 1 mile (1.6 km) long. The track's turns are
375:. The lowest finishing driver to finish the race was
879:† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
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273:racing event that took place on May 17, 1981, at
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1339:"NASCAR Tracks—The Dover International Speedway"
1312:. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from
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1341:. Dover International Speedway. Archived from
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120:116.595 miles per hour (187.641 km/h)
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277:(now Dover International Speedway) in
47:Layout of Dover International Speedway
306:to hold NASCAR races; the others are
7:
1487:NASCAR races at Dover Motor Speedway
1399:information at Wilson's Race Report
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300:Dover Downs International Speedway
275:Dover Downs International Speedway
80:Dover Downs International Speedway
14:
1450:NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
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1426:Qualifying information for the
1293:information at Racing Reference
231:Television in the United States
1482:1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1378:information at Driver Averages
1244:information at Database Racing
875:* Driver failed to finish race
312:Richmond International Raceway
34:1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1:
320:Phoenix International Raceway
104:500 laps, 500.0 mi (804.6 km)
1218:Weather information for the
1223:at The Old Farmers' Almanac
1503:
1477:1981 in sports in Delaware
1455:
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1413:information at NASCAR.com
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94:Permanent racing facility
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968:Standings after the race
689:Bobby Allison (No. 28)
308:Bristol Motor Speedway
56:May 17, 1981
1444:1981 Melling Tool 420
316:Martinsville Speedway
32:Race 12 of 31 in the
21:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
1428:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
1410:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
1389:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
1368:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
1345:on 21 September 2010
1316:on 12 September 2010
1304:"NASCAR Race Tracks"
1290:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
1241:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
1220:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
686:Jody Ridley (No. 90)
286:the preceding season
264:1981 Mason-Dixon 500
190:Wood Brothers Racing
1431:at Racing Reference
96:1.000 mi (1.609 km)
23:
1395:2012-03-23 at the
1374:2011-10-05 at the
889:Section reference:
680:Section reference:
643:Petty Enterprises
271:Winston Cup Series
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1456:Succeeded by
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777:Richard Childress
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747:Darrell Waltrip
735:Cale Yarborough
717:Buddy Arrington
711:Morgan Shepherd
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675:Finishing order
554:Cale Yarborough
543:Junior Johnson
529:Darrell Waltrip
454:Morgan Shepherd
414:Qualifying time
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279:Dover, Delaware
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224:Donlavey Racing
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158:Kennie Childers
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84:Dover, Delaware
71:Mason-Dixon 500
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1459:1981 World 600
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984:Differential
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723:Terry Labonte
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604:Bobby Allison
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429:David Pearson
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405:Manufacturer
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369:Benny Parsons
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173:Most laps led
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148:David Pearson
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134:Pole position
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117:Average speed
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68:Official name
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1349:23 September
1347:. Retrieved
1343:the original
1320:23 September
1318:. Retrieved
1314:the original
1307:
1298:
1289:
1240:
1219:
1213:
1004:
997:
887:
878:
874:
873:
849:Elmo Langley
837:Ron Bouchard
783:James Hylton
765:Cecil Gordon
753:Neil Bonnett
678:
668:Hal Needham
593:Billy Hagan
479:Neil Bonnett
381:Harry Ranier
377:Cecil Gordon
366:
362:
358:
349:
337:
304:short tracks
298:
290:
283:
263:
261:
183:Neil Bonnett
27:Race details
1086:Jody Ridley
869:*† (No. 15)
861:Dave Marcis
851:*† (No. 66)
839:*† (No. 47)
827:*† (No. 12)
815:*† (No. 70)
785:*† (No. 48)
755:*† (No. 21)
729:Jimmy Means
699:D.K. Ulrich
373:Dave Marcis
340:Jody Ridley
334:Race report
217:Jody Ridley
60:1981-May-17
1471:Categories
1205:References
1065:Harry Gant
1023:Ricky Rudd
863:* (No. 71)
857:* (No. 94)
845:* (No. 17)
833:* (No. 79)
821:* (No. 25)
809:* (No. 64)
807:Joe Fields
803:* (No. 37)
797:* (No. 42)
795:Kyle Petty
791:* (No. 43)
773:* (No. 33)
771:Harry Gant
767:† (No. 24)
761:† (No. 40)
759:Tommy Gale
737:* (No. 27)
705:Ricky Rudd
654:Harry Gant
504:Ricky Rudd
433:Oldsmobile
387:Qualifying
342:to defeat
295:Background
248:Announcers
125:Attendance
855:Bob Riley
779:* (No. 3)
695:† (No. 2)
658:Chevrolet
1393:Archived
1372:Archived
884:Timeline
749:(No. 11)
743:(No. 77)
731:(No. 52)
725:(No. 44)
719:(No. 67)
707:(No. 88)
701:(No. 99)
252:Mike Joy
101:Distance
76:Location
981:Points
978:Driver
713:(No. 5)
662:135.725
637:135.998
612:136.075
587:136.081
562:136.276
537:136.333
518:DiGard
512:136.773
487:137.826
462:138.249
458:Pontiac
437:138.425
402:Driver
284:During
237:Network
109:Weather
58: (
1309:NASCAR
665:26.524
640:26.471
615:26.456
590:26.455
565:26.417
540:26.406
515:26.321
490:26.120
465:26.040
440:26.007
418:Owner
328:banked
318:, and
268:NASCAR
266:was a
242:Mizlou
211:No. 90
205:Winner
178:Driver
168:26.007
140:Driver
128:40,000
91:Course
36:season
1453:1981
1198:-528
1195:1373
1177:-499
1174:1402
1156:-446
1153:1455
1135:-371
1132:1530
1114:-347
1111:1554
1093:-342
1090:1559
1072:-325
1069:1576
1051:-207
1048:1694
1030:-168
1027:1733
633:Buick
608:Buick
583:Buick
558:Buick
533:Buick
508:Buick
409:Speed
394:Grid
1351:2010
1322:2010
1005:1900
975:Pos
483:Ford
324:oval
262:The
197:Laps
165:Time
53:Date
1182:10
648:10
398:No.
200:404
1473::
1418:^
1359:^
1330:^
1306:.
1249:^
1228:^
1161:9
1140:8
1119:7
1098:6
1077:5
1056:4
1035:3
1014:2
1009:0
989:1
651:33
626:43
623:9
601:28
598:8
576:44
573:7
551:27
548:6
526:11
523:5
501:88
498:4
476:21
473:3
448:2
426:12
423:1
383:.
314:,
310:,
281:.
82:,
1353:.
1324:.
451:5
86:.
62:)
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