July 12, 1980 - 250 Miles - Purse $85,440


Benny Parsons poses with his M.C. Anderson Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the background prior to the start of the Busch Nashville 420

  Dale Earnhardt captured his first Fairgrounds Speedway victory on his fourth attempt. He won the race by a one second margin over second place finisher Cale Yarborough.  This would be Earnhardt's fourth Winston Cup victory.

The race was ran with only four laps under caution.  This would be a track record for a 250 lap race.

This would be the last of 18 starts at the track for Cale Yarborough.  During his 18 races at the Fairgrounds, Yarborough would record 7 victories, 12 Top-Five, and 15 Top-Ten finishes.

This would be the first of 13 career Winston Cup wins for crew chief Doug Richert.  His last victory would be with driver Greg Biffle in the 2006 Ford 400 at Homestead FL.

Earnhardt and crew chief Richert would go on to capture the 1980 Winston Cup Championship.

This would be the last appearance at Nashville for the 115 inch wheelbase cars.


Travis Tiller's crew prepares the car for second-round qualifying for the Busch Nashville 420
Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty chat before the start of the race.  Earnhardt would win the race, while Petty won the previous race at Fairgrounds Speedway in May.


The Junior Johnson prepared Olds Cutlass 442 show car enters the track

The Race Hill Farm Chevrolet of
 Harry Gant
 

The Chevrolet Monte Carlo of second-generation driver Ronnie Thomas 

 

 

 

 

  
 

The Monte Carlo started life as the Chevrolet version of Pontiac’s Grand Prix.  Its first generation (1970 – 1972) would serve as the vehicle used to catapult Chevrolet’s corporate reentry into NASCAR.  Bobby Allison would capture the 1972 Nashville 420 while driving a first generation Monte Carlo. 

However, it’s the second generation (1973 – 1977) version of the Monte Carlo that dominated the sport for its eight-year model eligibility run.  The first appearance of the second generation Monte Carlo in NASCAR’s Winston Cup Series would be at the 1973 Nashville 420.  Car owner Junior Johnson would build a second generation model in an effort to take advantage of the car’s engine placement.  The engine was offset further to the rear than the team’s Chevrolet Malibu racers and Johnson believed that would help the car handle better in the turns. 

Johnson was correct about the cars handling and the statistics back him up. The second generation Monte Carlo won 9 out of 15 races (60%) contested at Nashville.  It also sat on the pole 11 times (74%).  No other model raced at Nashville comes close to those numbers.

For the 1981 Winston Cup season, NASCAR mandated the teams switch from the previous 115 inch wheelbase to a 110 inch wheelbase.  The second generation Monte Carlos would either be cut-down to 110 inch wheelbase cars or sold to ARCA teams. 

However, for eight seasons, the second generation Monte Carlo would reign supreme at Nashville along with many other NASCAR’s tracks.
Average Speed:     93.821 mph Time of Race:     2:40.05 Margin:  second
Pole Winner:           Cale Yarborough  104.871 Attendance:       16,700 Cautions:  1 for 4
Lap Leaders:          Yarborough 1-150, Parsons 151-153, Waltrip 154-155, Parsons 156-247, Earnhardt 248-278, Petty 279-295, Parsons 296-343, Earnhardt 344-385, Yarborough 386, Parsons 387-390, Earnhardt 391-420
 
Driver Fin Str Car Team  /  Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
Dale Earnhardt 1 7 2 Mike Curb - 
Rod Osterlund 		Chevrolet 420 14,600 Running 103
Cale Yarborough 2 1 11 Busch  - Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 420 10,160 Running 151
Benny Parsons 3 2 27 Melling Tool   - M.C. Anderson Chevrolet 420 7,910 Running 147
Darrell Waltrip 4 3 88 Gatorade -  DiGard Racing Chevrolet 419 5,750 Running 2
Richard Petty 5 10 43 STP   -  Petty Enterprises Chevrolet 416 6,630 Running 17
Bobby Allison 6 6 15 Hodgon  -  Bud Moore Ford 413 5,075 Running 0
Sterling Marlin 7 17 40 Waylon Jennings -
D.K. Ulrich 		Chevrolet 413 4,335 Running 0
Jody Ridley 8 8 90 Truxmore / Sunny King   Junie Donlavey Ford 412 4,185 Running 0
Richard Childress 9 14 3 CRC Chemicals  -  Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 411 3,315 Running 0
Buddy Arrington 10 18 67 Reid Trailer Sales -  Buddy Arrington Dodge 411 3,055 Running 0
J.D. McDuffie 11 12 70 Bailey Excavating -
J D McDuffie		 Chevrolet 408 2,735 Running 0
John Anderson 12 23 75 RahMoc Enterprises Chevrolet 408 2,225 Running 0
Slick Johnson 13 20 53 Johnson Racing
(J.D. Johnson )		 Chevrolet 407 700 Running 0
Dave Marcis 14 13 71 Buck Stove / Hudson Transmission   - Dave Marcis Chevrolet 403 1,890 Running 0
Roger Hamby 15 26 17 Kings Inn - Daytona  -  Roger Hamby Chevrolet 403 600 Running 0
Jimmy Means 16 27 52 Thompson Industries  -  Jimmy Means Chevrolet 400 1,630 Running 0
James Hylton 17 25 48 Palatine Auto Parts -  James Hylton Chevrolet 399 1,490 Running 0
Tommy Gale 18 22 64 Sunny King Ford -
Elmo Langley 		Ford 398 1,360 Running 0
Baxter Price 19 28 45 Iron Peddlers  -
Baxter Price 		Chevrolet 378 1,230 Running 0
Junior Miller 20 21 79 Frank Warren Chevrolet 338 1,115 Running 0
Cecil Gordon 21 24 09 Nelson Oswald Buick 335 450 Running 0
Terry Labonte 22 5 44 Apache Classic Stove   - Billy Hagan Chevrolet 330 690 Rear end 0
Bobby Wawak 23 30 74 Bobby Wawak Buick 328 430 Running 0
Don Sprouse 24 19 37 Rogers Auto Leasing   - Bob Rogers Chevrolet 296 520 A frame 0
Steve Spencer 25 15 19 Central AMC-Jeep  - Henley Gray Chevrolet 242 660 Head Gasket 0
Ronnie Thomas 26 16 25 Stone's Cafeteria  -   Don Robertson Chevrolet 193 650 Ball joint 0
Donnie Allison 27 11 12 Ramey's Chevy City   -  Kennie Childers Chevrolet 186 395 Engine 0
Ricky Rudd 28 9 7 Sanyo -  Nelson Malloch Chevrolet 164 640 Engine 0
Harry Gant 29 4 47 Race Hill Farm - 
Jack Beebe 		Chevrolet 59 635 Engine 0
  Dick May 30 29 77 Reid Trailer Sales   -  Buddy Arrington Dodge 4 380 Brakes 0