1981 Champion Spark Plug 400 - NASCAR Race
| Name of Race: | 1981 Champion Spark Plug 400 |
| Name of Track: | Michigan International Speedway |
| Date: | August 16th |
Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile, moderate-banked, tri-oval superspeedway.
This NASCAR sanctioned race track is located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,200 acres near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. It is used for NASCAR and high-level open wheel motor racing events.
One Of NASCAR's Fastest TracksMichigan is now one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 190 mph and corner entry speeds easily exceed 200.
The track opened in 1968 and is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (to open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest to stock car standards).
From 1996 to 2000, the track was referred to as Michigan Speedway. This was to keep consistency with other tracks owned by Roger Penske's Motorsports International before its merger with ISC.
Courtesy of Wikipedia.1981 Champion Spark Plug 400 NASCAR Race Results
Below are the race results for 1981 Champion Spark Plug 400, in order of finishing place.
| Fin | Driver | Num | Start | Money | Laps | Pts | Status | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Petty | 43 | 7 | $23,750 | 200 | 0 | running | STP |
| 2 | Darrell Waltrip | 11 | 15 | $17,525 | 200 | 0 | running | Mountain Dew |
| 3 | Ricky Rudd | 88 | 9 | $15,150 | 200 | 0 | running | Gatorade |
| 4 | Harry Gant | 33 | 8 | $6,000 | 200 | 0 | running | Skoal Bandit |
| 5 | Buddy Baker | 1 | 19 | $5,175 | 200 | 0 | running | UNO |
| 6 | Joe Ruttman | 2 | 5 | $9,375 | 200 | 0 | running | J.D. Stacy |
| 7 | Bobby Allison | 28 | 12 | $8,950 | 200 | 0 | running | Hardee's |
| 8 | Bill Elliott | 9 | 6 | $3,525 | 200 | 0 | running | Mell-Gear |
| 9 | Dale Earnhardt | 3 | 10 | $7,955 | 200 | 0 | running | Wrangler |
| 10 | Mike Alexander | 37 | 20 | $3,700 | 200 | 0 | running | Rogers Auto Leasing |
| 11 | Dave Marcis | 71 | 21 | $5,295 | 200 | 0 | running | Transmissions Unlimited |
| 12 | Jody Ridley | 90 | 18 | $6,275 | 200 | 0 | running | Truxmore / Sunny King |
| 13 | Johnny Rutherford | 98 | 16 | $2,175 | 199 | 0 | running | Levi Garrett |
| 14 | Terry Labonte | 44 | 4 | $7,550 | 199 | 0 | running | Stratagraph |
| 15 | Lake Speed | 66 | 22 | $4,155 | 199 | 0 | running | Speed Racing |
| 17 | Cale Yarborough | 27 | 2 | $2,445 | 198 | 0 | running | Valvoline |
| 18 | Gary Balough | 75 | 3 | $3,975 | 198 | 0 | running | Chaparral Trailers |
| 19 | Kyle Petty | 42 | 17 | $3,250 | 197 | 0 | running | STP |
| 20 | Rick Knoop | 99 | 30 | $3,405 | 197 | 0 | running | Kargas Sports |
| 21 | Tommy Gale | 64 | 31 | $2,760 | 197 | 0 | running | Sunny King Ford & Honda |
| 22 | Joe Booher | 40 | 29 | $1,020 | 196 | 0 | running | Booher Farms |
| 24 | Cecil Gordon | 24 | 26 | $2,470 | 195 | 0 | running | Gordon Racing |
| 26 | Benny Parsons | 15 | 13 | $6,725 | 173 | 0 | valve | Melling Tool |
| 27 | James Hylton | 48 | 36 | $2,520 | 156 | 0 | running | Palatine Auto Parts |
| 28 | Neil Bonnett | 21 | 11 | $1,700 | 155 | 0 | valve | Warner Hodgdon / Natl. Eng. |
| 29 | Ron Bouchard | 47 | 1 | $3,540 | 85 | 0 | engine | J.D. Stacy |
| 30 | Tim Richmond | 12 | 23 | $765 | 53 | 0 | engine | UNO |
| 33 | Bruce Hill | 50 | 32 | $1,130 | 21 | 0 | drive shft | Hill Racing |
| 34 | Morgan Shepherd | 2 | 14 | $1,120 | 20 | 0 | crash | Ams Oil |
| 35 | Buddy Arrington | 67 | 27 | $1,945 | 13 | 0 | valve | Hills Racing |
