April 13, 1980 - Darlington's Rebel 500

Following a pit stop during the 1979 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500, the wheels fell off David Pearson's car. Because of a miscommunication, Pearson thought the Wood Brothers planned to change two tires whereas the crew actually planned a four-tire stop and removed the left side lugnuts. 

Pearson parted ways with the Woods a few days after Darlington - a reality few could envision. As it turns out, the wheels had apparently begun to also fall off the driver-team relationship well before the embarrassing incident at Darlington.

A year later, Pearson found himself on the positive side of a driver change. Car owner Hoss Ellington began 1980 with Donnie Allison as his driver for a fifth part-time season. After only three races, however, Allison was released with Pearson hired as his replacement. 

Source: Raleigh News and Observer

 The first race for the new combo was at Darlington - a track on which Pearson flourished and one where Ellington's cars had never won.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Benny Parson captured the pole, and Pearson slotted second in his new ride. Three-time and reigning Cup champion Cale Yarborough, Ricky Rudd in D.K. Ulrich's independent effort, and 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Dale Earnhardt rounded out the top five starters.

The race started as a bit of a cluster fudddggge. As the cars barreled into turn 1 of the first lap, seventh-place starting Richard Petty and Rudd made a move for the same real estate. And it didn't go well.

Source: Raleigh News and Observer

The tangle quickly ensnared second year driver Terry Labonte, Buddy Baker, James Hylton, and Neil Bonnett. All but Bonnett continued though Baker fell by the wayside seven laps later. Bonnett's DNF sent him home dead last. It was quite the coincidence since he was the driver to replace Pearson in the Wood Brothers Mercury a year earlier.

Source: Charlotte Observer

Following the clean-up on aisle four, Pearson got the jump on Parsons and led the first dozen laps. Earnhardt - a driver who eventually developed a mastery of Darlington nearly on par with Pearson - passed the Silver Fox to lead 14 laps of his own.

Drivers then and now will chirp - and rightfully so - that a race is won on the last lap and not the first one. During the 1980 Rebel 500, however, the drivers had a greater urgency to get to the front. Alll anticipated they'd likely be racing to halfway vs. the full distance for the win because of the threat of rain.

With dark skies and low clouds, Earnhardt, Parsons, Pearson, Waltrip, and Yarborough battled to get to the point. Once there, the next goal was to stay there as the rain loomed nearby. 

Sure enough, the moisture arrived near lap 90. After a few laps under caution, however, the race returned to green as the rain dissipated. Yet a few laps later, Mother Nature chuckled as she delayed the race once more. Again, NASCAR bowed up, waited it out, and restarted the race after only a few more laps under yellow. 

Then She reminded Bill France, Jr. that he only thought he was in charge on race day. Heavy rains began to pour, and the race went under the red flag. After more than two hours, however, the track caught a break. The showers moved out of the area, track drying began, and drivers returned to their steeds. 

As the green was unfurled, the new reality was darkness would determine the length of the race - particularly since DST was still two weeks away. 

Earnhardt lost the engine in his Rod Osterlund Chevy shortly after the race restarted. Yarborough made his way back to the front around lap 120 before fading and having his day doomed by the same fate as Earnhardt. 

With daylight fading, the race became a battle of the top two starters: Parsons and Pearson. Waltrip made it interesting by leading a few laps of his own, but he couldn't hang and eventually finished P4.

Pearson got back by Parsons on lap 158 and led an additional 30+ laps before NASCAR finally displayed the checkered flag. The rain and darkness resulted in the drivers completing only 189 of the scheduled 367 laps - just a few laps beyond halfway.

Few could have anticipated it at the time, but the win turned out to be the 105th and final career Cup win for the Silver Fox. Fittingly, his final win came at Darlington. AND he doubled-up after narrowily edging fellow Cup racer Dave Marcis the day before in the late model sportsman (pre-Xfinity Series) race. 

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Audio of Universal Racing Network's radio broadcast of the race is available on Appalachian State's library website. 

Source: Raleigh News and Observer

TMC