The 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 8, 1980, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. The Sharon Hodgdon 200 for Grand American Stock cars was run the same day as this race. Ron Esau was the winner, Roy Smith was second Ray Elder third.
By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day. Road courses were one of the more attractive features for NASCAR during the 1980 Winston Cup Series season. NASCAR would develop a liking for tracks with a lap duration of a mile and a half by the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the time that this race was held.
Race report Darrell Waltrip would beat Neil Bonnett by less than half a second in front of 18000 fans in attendance; getting the season sweep at the Riverside road course. There were 18 different changes in the first-place position while there would be five different caution periods for 15 laps. Cale Yarborough would qualify for the pole position with a qualifying speed of while the average speed of the race would be . Cecil Gordon would earn his last top-ten finish at this race. Other famous drivers who raced here included: Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Terry Labonte, and Richard Childress (now the owner of Richard Childress Racing).
D.K. Ulrich would finish last in the race due to an engine issue on the pace laps of this 95-lap race.1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 racing information at FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com He would make $1,000 just for qualifying ($ when adjusted for inflation) while Waltrip went home with an extra $22,100 in his bank account ($ when adjusted for inflation).1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at DriverAverages.com Notable crew chiefs who were actively participating in this race included Junie Donlavey, Joey Arrington, Darel Dieringer, Darrell Bryant, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Kirk Shelmerdine among others.1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
The race was named after famous race team owner/sponsor, owner of 12 race tracks, local city redeveloper, and philanthropist Warner Hodgdon.
Roy Smith was the only Canadian to appear in a 36-driver grid of mostly American-born competitors. J.D. McDuffie tallies his third and final top-10 of the season, all of being ninth-place runs.1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at Racing-Reference.info Smith would drive for NASCAR team owner Robert Beadle.
Don Waterman would make his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut at this race.1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at Race-Database.com
The only known DNQ for the race was Gene Thoensen; an independent driver who was the driver of the unsponsored No. 77 machine.Qualifying information for the 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 at Racing Reference
Qualifying Grid Driver Manufacturer Owner 1 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Junior Johnson 2 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet DiGard Racing 3 15 Bobby Allison Ford Bud Moore 4 73 Bill Schmitt Oldsmobile Bill Schmitt 5 2 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Rod Osterlund 6 43 Richard Petty Chevrolet Petty Enterprises 7 21 Neil Bonnett Mercury Wood Brothers 8 27 Benny Parsons Chevrolet M.C. Anderson 9 71 Dave Marcis Chevrolet Dave Marcis 10 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Billy Hagan 11 3 Richard Childress Chevrolet Richard Childress 12 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge Buddy Arrington 13 12 Donnie Allison Chevrolet Kennie Childers 14 75 Harry Gant Chevrolet RahMoc Enterprises 15 45 Roy Smith Oldsmobile Robert Beadle 16 25 Ronnie Thomas Chevrolet Don Robertson 17 40 D.K. Ulrich Chevrolet D.K. Ulrich 18 70 J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet J.D. McDuffie 19 66 Lake Speed Chevrolet Lake Speed 20 48 James Hylton Chevrolet James Hylton
Top 20 finishers Pos Driver Manufacturer Time/Status 188Darrell WaltripChevrolet9523 2:26:38 221Neil BonnettMercury9520 +0.3 seconds 327Benny ParsonsChevrolet950 Lead lap under green flag 411Cale YarboroughChevrolet953 Lead lap under green flag 52Dale EarnhardtChevrolet9521 Lead lap under green flag 671Dave MarcisChevrolet941 +1 lap 775Harry GantChevrolet941 +1 lap 843Richard PettyChevrolet930 +2 laps 970J.D. McDuffieDodge930 +2 laps 1024Cecil GordonOldsmobile930 +2 laps 1190Jody RidleyFord920 +3 laps 1248James HyltonChevrolet920 +3 laps 1373Bill SchmittOldsmobile920 Running 1467Buddy ArringtonDodge920+3 laps 1515Bobby AllisonFord9123Valve problem 1625Ronnie ThomasChevrolet910+4 laps 1713Don PuskarichChevrolet900 +5 laps 183Richard ChildressChevrolet890 +6 laps 1979Joe BooherDodge830 +12 laps 2078Jim RobinsonChevrolet820 +13 laps
Standings after the race Pos Driver Points Differential 1 Dale Earnhardt 2255 0 2 Richard Petty 2219 -36 3 Cale Yarborough 2174 -81 4 Darrell Waltrip 2159 -96 5 Bobby Allison 2027 -228 6 Benny Parsons 2009 -246 7 Jody Ridley 1908 -347 8 Harry Gant 1861 -394 9 Dave Marcis 1842 -413 10 Richard Childress 1791 -464
References