1979 Champion Spark Plug 400

The 1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place on August 19, 1979, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees. The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.

Race report

There were 36 American-born male drivers on the grid.

David Pearson, driving the Rod Osterlund No. 2 as a substitute Dale Earnhardt after his crash at Pocono, earned the pole position with a speed of 162.992 miles per hour (262.310 km/h) .Richard Petty defeated Buddy Baker by one second in essentially a fuel mileage race that determined whoever could preserve the most fuel. There were 21 lead changes and five caution flags for 35 laps; making the race three hours and four minutes long while the average speed was 130.376 miles per hour (209.820 km/h).

Blackie Wangerin would receive the last-place finish due to a crash with H.B. Bailey on lap 2 which resulted in Wangerin's car flipping outside of the track in Turn 3 which resulted in a lengthy red flag to rebuild the turns 3 and 4 guardrail. John Anderson got his only top five finish in his Cup debut.

Al Rudd, Jr. qualified for his second, and final, Cup race. At Pocono, he qualified 18th but when DiGard Racing's Darrell Waltrip crashed in post-qualifying practice, and under rules of the time, had to withdraw and DiGard leased his car for that race for points purposes. Rudd ran this car, which was rebuilt by DiGard for Pocono, for his only NASCAR Cop start, which he did with hia NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025 brother Ricky, who drove for Wesley Donlavey that season.

The entire purse was $142,905 ($633,932.08 when adjusted for inflation). Notable crew chiefs for this race were Buddy Parrott, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Harry Hyde, Bud Moore, Tim Brewer, and Jake Elder.

USAC Championship Trail standout Jan Opperman, in a car owned by Will Cronkite was the only driver to not qualify.

Qualifying

Failed to qualify: Jan Opperman (#96)

Finishing order

Source:

Standings after the race