Official NASCAR Race Results
Darrell Waltrip won the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Busch 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
08-22-1981 | Busch 500 | Bristol Motor Speedway
Table initially ordered on Finish Position. Click a column header to re-sort by that value.
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Make | Sponsor | Pts | Laps | Led | Status | Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 11 | Darrell Waltrip | Buick | Mountain Dew | 185 | 500 | 251 | Running | 18,800 |
| 2 | 3 | 88 | Ricky Rudd | Chevrolet | Gatorade | 175 | 499 | 92 | Running | 12,375 |
| 3 | 16 | 44 | Terry Labonte | Buick | Stratagraph | 165 | 498 | 0 | Running | 8,800 |
| 4 | 6 | 28 | Bobby Allison | Buick | Hardee's | 165 | 497 | 4 | Running | 7,075 |
| 5 | 7 | 47 | Ron Bouchard | Buick | J.D. Stacy | 155 | 497 | 0 | Running | 5,650 |
| 6 | 8 | 15 | Benny Parsons | Ford | Melling Tool | 150 | 497 | 0 | Running | 6,250 |
| 7 | 15 | 66 | Lake Speed | Oldsmobile | Speed Racing | 146 | 493 | 0 | Running | 4,170 |
| 8 | 9 | 12 | Tim Richmond | Oldsmobile | UNO | 142 | 488 | 0 | Crash | 1,315 |
| 9 | 5 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Buick | Bowlin Coal | 138 | 487 | 0 | Running | 3,600 |
| 10 | 20 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Dodge | Hills Racing | 134 | 486 | 0 | Running | 3,780 |
| 11 | 2 | 33 | Harry Gant | Pontiac | Skoal Bandit | 130 | 485 | 0 | Running | 3,695 |
| 12 | 22 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Pontiac | Broadway Motors | 127 | 480 | 0 | Running | 3,035 |
| 13 | 23 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | Pontiac | Bailey Excavating | 124 | 479 | 0 | Running | 2,875 |
| 14 | 26 | 68 | Lennie Pond | Buick | Bekaert | 121 | 478 | 0 | Running | 1,000 |
| 15 | 25 | 64 | Tommy Gale | Ford | Sunny King Ford & Honda | 118 | 471 | 0 | Running | 2,615 |
| 16 | 28 | 48 | James Hylton | Pontiac | Palatine Auto Parts | 115 | 464 | 0 | Running | 2,475 |
| 17 | 18 | 5 | Joe Millikan | Pontiac | Performance Connection | 112 | 434 | 0 | Running | 4,965 |
| 18 | 21 | 25 | Ronnie Thomas | Pontiac | Thomas Racing | 109 | 392 | 0 | Running | 2,255 |
| 19 | 13 | 24 | Morgan Shepherd | Buick | Gordon Racing | 111 | 339 | 104 | Rear end | 1,905 |
| 20 | 4 | 90 | Jody Ridley | Ford | Truxmore / Sunny King | 103 | 317 | 0 | Sway bar | 2,875 |
| 21 | 12 | 2 | Joe Ruttman | Pontiac | J.D. Stacy | 105 | 302 | 49 | Oil pan | 5,100 |
| 22 | 29 | 20 | Rick Newsom | Chevrolet | Newsom Racing | 97 | 248 | 0 | Handling | 635 |
| 23 | 24 | 99 | Elliott Forbes-Robinson | Buick | Ulrich Racing | 94 | 246 | 0 | Brakes | 870 |
| 24 | 10 | 43 | Richard Petty | Buick | STP | 91 | 73 | 0 | Cylinder head | 5,060 |
| 25 | 17 | 37 | Mike Alexander | Buick | Rogers Auto Leasing | 88 | 49 | 0 | Crash | 595 |
| 26 | 27 | 17 | Mike Potter | Chevrolet | Kings Inn Daytona | 85 | 32 | 0 | Steering | 1,130 |
| 27 | 14 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Pontiac | Wrangler | 82 | 31 | 0 | Crash | 2,620 |
| 28 | 11 | 42 | Kyle Petty | Buick | STP | 79 | 28 | 0 | Transmission | 860 |
| 29 | 30 | 08 | Joel Stowe | Pontiac | Don Satterfield | 76 | 14 | 0 | Flagged | 540 |
| 30 | 19 | 40 | Cecil Gordon | Buick | Dixie Engineering | 73 | 3 | 0 | Quit | 530 |
Race Recap
- Date: 08-22-1981
- Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
- Race: Busch 500
- Race #: 22
- Cars: 30
- Winner: Darrell Waltrip
- Start Position: 1st
- Car Make: Buick
- Avg Speed: 84.723 mph
- Distance: 267 miles
- Purse: $117,450
- Cautions: 7
- Caution Laps: 52
- Lead Changes: 11
- Pole: 110.818 mph
