1979 in NASCAR

The 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 31st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 8th modern-era Cup series. It began on Sunday, January 14 and ended on Sunday, November 18. Richard Petty won his seventh and final Winston Cup championship, winning by 11 points over Darrell Waltrip. Dale Earnhardt was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

The 1979 Winston Western 500 was run on January 14 at Riverside International Raceway at Riverside, California. David Pearson won the pole.

Top Ten Results

The inaugural Busch Clash, a non-points race for all of the pole winners from the previous season, was run on February 11 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Benny Parsons started on the pole via a random draw.

Results

The two Daytona 500 125-mile qualifying races were run on February 15 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Buddy Baker and Donnie Allison started on the pole for races one and two, respectively.

Cale Yarborough was pessimistic about rivals' chances
against Baker, saying, "Baker is just pure horsepower."

The 21st annual Daytona 500 was run on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Buddy Baker won the pole. The race, the first televised nationally in its entirety, ended in spectacular fashion, as races leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed on the last lap in turn three, allowing Richard Petty to take the lead and win his sixth Daytona 500. During the cool-down lap, Allison and Yarborough got into a heated argument which later escalated into a fist-fight, which was later joined by Bobby Allison, who stepped to try to defend his brother. TV ratings were bolstered that day due to much of the U.S. Northeast being snowed in by a major blizzard. Petty would use the win as a springboard to his record seventh and final, championship but the going was anything but easy.

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