1981 Winston 500 - NASCAR Race

Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It was constructed in the 1960s in place of abandoned airport runways by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by NASCAR's founding France family along with Daytona International Speedway and several other racetracks.

At 2.66 miles long, Talladega is the largest oval track in the Nextel Cup Series and has seating provisions for over 175,000 patrons. The start/finish line is placed after the pit exit; the unusual placement has affected the outcome of several races (the start/finish line is normally placed across from the center of pit road). The track is adjacent to and visible from Interstate 20.

Talladega got off to a controversial start when the Professional Drivers Association, a union of drivers led by the great Richard Petty, went on strike the night before the inaugural Talladega 500. The union was concerned with the speed which could be attained due to the track's length and steep banking, and the perceived threat to driver safety that this posed.

NASCAR founder Bill France took to the track himself in a car and drove around it at high speeds. NASCAR also ran a successful support race, but it was not enough, and the PDA drivers went on strike. Replacement drivers from the previous day's race were asked to race, and tickets were good for future races.

The race was the only win for Richard Brickhouse and was the debut race for Richard Childress.

Speeds well in excess of 200 mph were commonplace at Talladega. Talladega Superspeedway has the record for the fastest recorded time in a stock car - 212.809 mph set by Bill Elliott on April 30, 1987. Elliott circled the 2.66-mile trioval in 44.998 seconds.

Early in that race, Bobby Allison's Buick flew into the catch fence, injuring fans. NASCAR imposed rule changes to slow the cars after the incident, with a 1988 rule requiring cars running there and at Daytona run to use restrictor plates. The plates limit the amount of air and fuel entering the intake manifolds of the car, greatly reducing the power of the cars and hence their speed. This has led to the style of racing held at Talladega and Daytona to be somewhat different from that at other superspeedways and to be referred to by NASCAR fans as "restrictor-plate racing".

The reduced power affects not only the maximum speed reached by the cars but the time it takes them to achieve their full speed as well, which can be nearly one full circuit of the track.

The racing seen at Talladega today is extremely tight; often in rows of three or four cars throughout most of the field. Such close quarters makes it extremely difficult to control the car, and the slightest mistake often leads to massive (and often frightening) accidents - dubbed "the Big One" by fans and drivers - and Talladega is notorious for such, and always has been. (Such huge crashes are less frequent at Daytona as handling plays a greater role there).

Talladega hosts two Nextel Cup races and one Busch Series race annually. Both of the Nextel Cup races are 500.08 miles (188 laps) in length. The names by which the races are called now vary due to the purchase of naming rights, with the spring Nextel Cup race since spring 2002 being referred to as the Aaron's 499 after the Atlanta-based rent-to-own chain. On July 26, 2005 it was announced that the Craftsman Truck Series would begin holding a race at Talladega starting in 2006.

The Winston 500 was known as one of the sport's four legs of the traditional "Winston Million", with the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500 being the other three. With the demise of the Southern 500 by a lawsuit, there are only three majors remaining. (From 1985 until 1997, a driver who won three of the four majors won a one million dollar bonus.)

1981 Winston 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1981 Winston 500, in order of finishing place.