1980 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500


The 1980 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on April 13, 1980, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the early-1980s.
Forty-five thousand fans would attend the event, interrupted by of precipitation, shortened to the shortest race in what is now the Cup Series by percentage in Darlington history, as the race was shortened because of impending darkness.

Race report

There were 36 American-born drivers on the grid for this event. A multiple-car crash where Ricky Rudd and Richard Petty collided in Turn 1 collected numerous cars, with Neil Bonnett never completing the first lap. David Pearson would earn his final victory ever as a NASCAR Cup Series driver as defeated Benny Parsons by three seconds. Lake Speed would finish in the top ten only three races after his Cup Series debut.
Most of the cars used in this racing event were Chevrolets. The race took two hours and twenty-three minutes to complete. Almost the entire "top ten" grid were driving Chevrolet vehicles. Harry Gant would achieve his first top five finish in this event; marking a precedence for more than 100 top five finishes. Winnings for this race varied from $21,340 for the winner to $1,800 for the last-place finisher. The total purse was $173,565.
Melvin Revis would retire from NASCAR Cup Series competition after this race while David Pearson would not win again.
Notable crew chiefs for this event were Junie Donlavey, Joey Arrington, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, D.K. Ulrich, Waddell Wilson, Kirk Shelmerdine, Jake Elder among others.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference:
  1. David Pearson
  2. Benny Parsons
  3. Harry Gant
  4. Darrell Waltrip
  5. Dick Brooks
  6. Lennie Pond
  7. Joe Millikan
  8. Lake Speed
  9. Richard Petty
  10. Jody Ridley
  11. Sterling Marlin
  12. Cale Yarborough*
  13. Bobby Wawak
  14. Buddy Arrington
  15. Tommy Gale
  16. Roger Hamby
  17. John Anderson
  18. James Hylton
  19. Ricky Rudd
  20. Bill Elswick
  21. Richard Childress
  22. J.D. McDuffie
  23. Dave Marcis*
  24. Dick May
  25. Slick Johnson
  26. Ronnie Thomas*
  27. Buck Simmons*
  28. Jimmy Means
  29. Dale Earnhardt*
  30. Bobby Allison*
  31. Baxter Price*
  32. Terry Labonte*
  33. Melvin Revis*
  34. Cecil Gordon*
  35. Buddy Baker*
  36. Neil Bonnett*
* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: