1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings
Richard Petty won an unprecedented seventh NASCAR Winston Cup championship as he posted a furious rally late in the 1979 season. Petty trailed Darrell Waltrip by 187 points with just seven races to go. From that point on, Petty never finished lower than sixth.
 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Richard Petty |
Waltrip led the points chase most of the season. He assumed command in May and built a healthy lead until his big advantage began to slip away. The lead in the standings changed in each of the last four races. Waltrip led after the 28th race at North Wilkesboro in October. Petty won at Rockingham the following week and took an eight-point lead. Waltrip finished one spot ahead of Petty at Atlanta and carried a two-point lead into the season finale at Ontario Motor Speedway in California.
In the final race, Waltrip spun out while trying to avoid another spinning car and was trapped a lap behind. Unable to make up the lost lap, Waltrip finished eighth, while Petty came home fifth and won the title by 11 points.
For the full standings for the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup season, see the chart below.
1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings
| Rank
|
Driver | Points | Wins | Earnings |
| 1
|
Richard Petty |
4,830 | 5 | $561,933.20 |
| 2
|
Darrell Waltrip | 4,819 | 7 | 557,011.60 |
| 3
|
Bobby Allison | 4,633 | 5 | 428,800.44 |
| 4
|
Cale Yarborough | 4,604 | 4 | 440,128.28 |
| 5
|
Benny Parsons | 4,256 | 2 | 264,929.12 |
| 6
|
Joe Millikan | 4,014 | 1 |
229,712.88 |
| 7
|
Dale Earnhardt | 3,749 | 1
|
274,809.96 |
| 8
|
Richard Childress | 3,735 | 0
|
132,921.64 |
| 9
|
Ricky Rudd | 3,642 | 0
|
150,897.48 |
| 10
|
Terry Labonte | 3,615 | 0
|
134,652.48 |
| 11
|
Buddy Arrington | 3,589 | 0
|
131,832.48 |
| 12
|
D.K. Ulrich | 3,508 | 0
|
113,457.48 |
| 13
|
J.D. McDuffie |
3,473 | 0
|
113,477.48 |
| 14
|
James Hylton | 3,405 | 0
|
97,427.48 |
| 15
|
Buddy Baker | 3,249 | 3 |
342,147.48 |
| 16
|
Frank Warren | 3,199 | 0 |
94,538.32 |
| 17 |
Ronnie Thomas | 2,912 | 0
|
100,078.32 |
| 18
|
Tommy Gale | 2,795 | 0
|
72,808.32 |
| 19
|
Cecil Gordon | 2,737 | 0
|
66,274.16 |
| 20
|
Dave Marcis | 2,736 | 0
|
56,433.32 |
| 21
|
Harry Gant | 2,664 | 0
|
47,185.00 |
| 22
|
Dick Brooks | 2,622 | 0
|
61,985.00 |
| 23
|
Jimmy Means | 2,575 | 0
|
55,560.00 |
| 24
|
Donnie Allison | 2,508 | 0
|
144,770.00 |
| 25
|
Baxter Price | 2,364 | 0
|
45,165.00 |
| 26
|
Neil Bonnett | 2,223 | 3 | 151,235.00 |
| 27
|
Tighe Scott | 1,879 | 0
|
88,010.00 |
| 28
|
Bill Elliott | 1,548 | 0
|
58,200.00 |
| 29
|
Lennie Pond |
1,415 | 0
|
42,970.00 |
| 30
|
Dick May | 1,390 | 0
|
26,345.00 |
| 31
|
Roger Hamby | 1,231 | 0
|
21,000.00 |
| 32
|
David Pearson | 1,203 | 1 | 99,180.00 |
| 33
|
Coo Coo Martin | 613 | 0
|
27,540.00 |
| 34
|
Bruce Hill | 594 | 0
|
17,260.00 |
| 35
|
Blackie Wangerin | 571 | 0
|
14,300.00 |
| 36
|
Grant Adcox | 560 | 0
|
15,290.00 |
| 37
|
Kyle Petty | 559 | 0
|
10,810.00 |
| 38
|
Chuck Bown | 523 | 0
|
31,380.00 |
| 39
|
John Anderson | 496 | 0
|
11,210.00 |
| 40
|
Ralph Jones |
477 | 0
|
12,785.00 |
| 41
|
Earle Canavan |
456 | 0
|
6,675.00 |
| 42
|
Slick Johnson |
431 | 0
|
5,360.00 |
| 43
|
Nelson Oswald |
431 | 0
|
3,610.00 |
| 44
|
Dave Watson |
413 | 0
|
7,170.00 |
| 45
|
Al Holbert |
402 | 0
|
14,710.00 |
| 46
|
Bobby Wawak |
376 | 0
|
7,295.00 |
| 47
|
Jody Ridley |
374 | 0
|
11,245.00 |
| 48
|
Bill Hollar |
371 | 0
|
2,545.00 |
| 49
|
Rick Newsom | 355 | 0
|
5,530.00 |
| 50
|
Bill Schmitt | 342 | 0
|
11,695.00 |
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