May 12, 1979 - 250 Miles - Purse $70,100

Pole Winner Joe Milikan leads Dale Earnhardt and Bobby Allison into turn three at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

   Cale Yarborough won his third straight NASCAR Winston Cup event at Nashville.

J.D. McDuffie led 111 laps and ran an extremely competitive race. This would be McDuffie's fourth fifth place finish at the track. The Sanford NC driver ran the race on McCreary tires while the rest of the field were on Goodyear.

This would also be the final Top-Five finish of J.D. McDuffie's 653 race career.

This would be the only NASCAR Winston Cup start for Darrell Basham.

Dale Earnhardt made his first of 12 Nashville starts.  He would record two wins at the track.

Joe Milikan won his only pole in his 79 race NASCAR career.

 


Long-time ARCA fan favorite Darrell Basham made his only career Winston Cup start at the Music City 420

Music City 420 Pole Winner Joe Milikan
   

The Coo Coo Marlin Saga

Local driver Coo Coo Marlin and his son Sterling had not missed a race at the Fairgrounds since 1966.  The 47 year old Columbia, Tennessee native did not run in the 1979 edition of the Music City 420 due to the track’s new policy of charging pit crew members admission coupled with the lack of support money provided to independent drivers.

The elder Marlin stated “It’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of principle.” In the past a few of the more prominent independent drivers were given deal money in order to offset expenses. 

New track owner Larry Hester stated “This will be the biggest purse ever offered for a race in Nashville.  It’s up about $15,000 from last year.  I don’t do deal money in Grand National; I put it in the purse. It’s there for the drivers to race for.”  

Average Speed:   88.652   Time of Race:     2:49:25 Margin:     2.8 seconds
Pole Winner:         Joe Milikan  104.155 Attendance:        16,000 Cautions:   3 for 27 Laps

Lap Leaders:         Milikan 1-31, McDuffie 32-43, Waltrip 44-72, McDuffie 73-139, Waltrip 140-141, McDuffie 142-146, Petty 147-249, McDuffie 250-276, Petty 277-337. Yarborough 338-420
 
Driver Fin Str Car Team  /  Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
Cale Yarborough 1 4 11 First National City  - Junior Johnson & Assoc Oldsmobile 420 12,275 Running 83
Richard Petty 2 5 43 STP  - 
Petty Enterprises 		Chevrolet 420 8,150 Running 164
Bobby Allison 3 6 15 Hodgdon -  Bud Moore Ford 419 6,450 Running 0
Dale Earnhardt 4 7 2 Rod Osterlund Chevrolet 419 5,350 Running 0
J.D. McDuffie 5 9 70 Bailey Excavating -
J D McDuffie		 Chevrolet 418 3,080 Running 111
Richard Childress 6 21 3 CRC Chemicals  -  Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 418 2,450 Running 0
Benny Parsons 7 8 27 M.C. Anderson Chevrolet 417 1,830 Running 0
Buddy Baker 8 2 28 Spectra -  Harry Ranier Chevrolet 412 3,910 Running 0
Terry Labonte 9 10 44 Stratagraph  -
Billy Hagan 		Chevrolet 411 1,875 Running 0
Ricky Rudd 10 12 90 Truxmore  -
Junie Donlavey 		Ford 410 1,850 Running 0
Jimmy Means 11 16 52 Mr. Transmission  -  Jimmy Means Chevrolet 408 1,685 Running 0
Steve Spencer 12 15 19 Belden Asphalt   - Henley Gray Buick 405 1,595 Running 0
Tommy Gale 13 19 64 Sunny King Ford & Honda   -  Elmo Langley Ford 396 1,415 Running 0
Bobby Wawak 14 26 74 Bobby Wawak Chevrolet 390 525 Running 0
Al Elmore 15 18

40

 Midwestern Farm Lines   (D.K. Ulrich ) Chevrolet 389 1,265 Running 0
D.K. Ulrich 16 13 24 Cecil Gordon Oldsmobile 383 1,135 Running 0
Ronnie Thomas 17 25 25 Shoney's -
Ronnie Thomas 		Chevrolet 378 2,020 Running 0
Mike Kempton 18 28 69 Pro Shoppe -
Mike Kempton		 Chevrolet 364 455 Running 0
Baxter Price 19 22 45 Baxter Price Chevrolet 356 890 Clutch 0
Frank Warren 20 17 79 Native Tan  -
Frank Warren 		Dodge 355 675 Engine 0
Darrell Waltrip 21 3 88 Gatorade    -
DiGard Racing		 Chevrolet 335 3,115 Running 31
James Hylton 22 14 48 Palatine Auto Parts -  James Hylton Chevrolet 324 655 Running 0
Joe Millikan 23 1 72 Appliance Wheels   -
L G DeWitt		 Chevrolet 124 5,345 Engine 31
Darrell Basham 24 24 34 Marine Welding  -
Jim Patrick		 Mercury 101 385 Rear end 0
Nelson Oswald 25 27 09 Nelson Oswald Chevrolet 95 375 Ignition 0
Buddy Arrington 26 23 67 Reid Trailer Sales -  Buddy Arrington Dodge 63 620 Engine 0
Dick Brooks 27 20 05 Bearfinder -
Nelson Malloch 		Chevrolet 36 365 Transmssn 0
Harry Gant 28 11 47 Race Hill Farm -
Jack Beebe 		Chevrolet 18 360 Engine 0