Today In NASCAR History

 
1980: Pole-winner Cale Yarborough wards off Dale Earnhardt’s charge by two car-lengths to win the Volunteer 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Yarborough led 379 of 500 laps in what would be his last Bristol appearance; the NASCAR Hall of Famer continued on a limited schedule from 1981 on. Darrell Waltrip finished third — come spring, Waltrip would embark on a streak of seven straight Bristol victories. The win allowed Yarborough to chop 10 points off Earnhardt’s lead in the standings, but Earnhardt ultimately prevailed in the championship fight by 19 points for the first of his seven Cup titles.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.