1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series (Jayverse)

The 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the thirty-third season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 10th modern-era Cup Season. The season began at Riverside International Raceway with the Winston Western 500 on February 18, 1981 and ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway on November 22, 1981.

Teams and drivers

Team	Make	No.	Driver	Car Owner	Crew Chief
Arrington Racing	Dodge Mirada	67	Buddy Arrington	Buddy Arrington
Benfield Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix Buick Regal	98	Johnny Rutherford (R)	Ron Benfield	Buddy Parrott
Bud Moore Engineering	Ford Thunderbird	15	Darrell Waltrip	Bud Moore	Bud Moore
Cliff Stewart Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix	5	Joe Millikan	Cliff Stewart	Darrell Bryant
DiGard Motorsports	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	88	Ricky Rudd	Bill Elliog	Gary Nelson
Donlavey Racing	Ford Thunderbird	90	Jody Ridley	Junie Donlavey
Ellington Racing	Oldsmobile Cutlass Buick Regal	1	Buddy Baker	Hoss Ellington	Runt Pittman
Gordon Racing	Buick Regal	24	Cecil Gordon	Cecil Gordon
			Morgan Shepherd (R)
Hagan Racing	Buick Regal	44	Terry Labonte	Billy Hagan	Jake Elder
Howard & Egerton Racing	Buick Regal	86	Elliott Forbes-Robinson (R)	Richard Howard
Hylton Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix	48	James Hylton	James Hylton
Osterlund Racing16	Pontiac Grand Prix	2	Dale Earnhardt 20	Rod Osterlund	Doug Richert
Jim Stacy Racing15	Buick Regal			Jim Stacy
			Joe Ruttman (R) 11		Dale Inman
Junior Johnson & Associates	Buick Regal	11	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson	Tim Brewer
		41	Richard Childress 1
Langley Racing	Ford Thunderbird	64	Tommy Gale	Elmo Langley
Kelly Girl Racing	Buick Regal	68	Janet Guthrie
M. C. Anderson Racing	Buick Regal	27	Benny Parsons	M. C. Anderson	David Anderson
Mach 1 Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix	22	Stan Barrett (R)	Hal Needham
		33	Harry Gant		Travis Carter
Marcis Auto Racing	Buick Regal	71	Dave Marcis	Dave Marcis	Claude Queen
McDuffie Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix	70	J. D. McDuffie	J. D. McDuffie
Means Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix	52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means
Elliott Racing	Ford Thunderbird	9	Bill Elliott 13	George Elliott	Ernie Elliott
Petty Enterprises	Buick Regal	42	Richard Petty 1	Richard Petty	Mike Beam
			Kyle Petty 30
		43	Kyle Petty 1		Steve Hmiel
			Richard Petty 30
Race Hill Farm Team	Buick Regal	47	Ron Bouchard	Jack Beebe	Bob Johnson
RahMoc Enterprises	Buick Regal	75	Gary Balough (R)	Bob Rahilly	Bob Rahilly
Ranier-Lundy Racing	Pontiac LeMans Buick Regal	28	Bobby Allison	Harry Ranier	Waddell Wilson
		54	Lennie Pond
Richard Childress Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix	3	Richard Childress 20	Richard Childress	Kirk Shelmerdine
			Dale Earnhardt 11
		8	Kirk Shelmerdine 1
Roger Hamby Motorsports	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	17	Skip Manning
Rogers Racing	Buick Regal	37	Mike Alexander (R)	Bob Rogers	Raymond Kelly
			Tim Richmond (R)
Speed Racing	Oldsmobile Cutlass	66	Lake Speed	Lake Speed
Thomas Racing	Pontiac Grand Prix	25	Ronnie Thomas	Ronnie Thomas
Ulrich Racing	Buick Regal	99	D. K. Ulrich	D. K. Ulrich
Wawak Racing	Buick Regal	94	Bobby Wawak	Bobby Wawak
Wood Brothers Racing	Ford Thunderbird	21	Neil Bonnett	Glen Wood	Leonard Wood

Season schedule and recap

Round	Date	Event	Track	Winner
1	January 11	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway	Bobby Allison
	February 8	Busch Clash	Daytona International Speedway	Lennie Pond
	February 12	UNO Twin 125 Qualifier		Mike Alexander
				Don Whittington
	February 13	Daytona 500 Consolation Race		Dick May
2	February 15	Daytona 500		Buddy Baker
3	February 22	Richmond 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway	Lennie Pond
4	March 1	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway	Buddy Baker
5	March 15	Coca-Cola 500	Atlanta International Raceway	Lennie Pond
6	March 29	Valleydale 500	Bristol International Raceway	Jimmy Means
7	April 5	Northwestern Bank 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Jimmy Means
8	April 12	CRC Rebel 500	Darlington International Raceway	Benny Parsons
9	April 26	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway	Joe Millikan
10	May 3	Winston 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway	JD McDuffie
11	May 9	Melling Tool 420	Nashville Speedway	Benny Parsons
12	May 17	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway	Lennie Pond
13	May 24	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Benny Parsons
14	June 7	Golden Gate 300	Sears Point International Raceway	Bobby Allison
15	June 14	Hodgdon 400	Riverside International Raceway	Lennie Pond
16	June 21	Gabriel 400	Michigan International Speedway	Ricky Rudd
17	July 4	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway	Darrell Waltrip
18	July 11	Budweiser 400	Texas World Speedway	Richard Childress
19	July 26	Mt. Dew 500	Pocono Raceway	Cale Yarborough
20	August 2	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway	Jimmy Means
21	August 16	Champion Spark Plug 400	Michigan International Speedway	Buddy Arrington
22	August 22	Busch 500	Bristol International Raceway	Buddy Arrington
23	September 7	Southern 500	Darlington International Raceway	Bobby Allison
1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Playoffs
24	September 13	Wrangler SanforSet 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway	Benny Parsons
25	September 20	CRC Chemicals 500	Dover Downs International Speedway	Benny Parsons
26	September 27	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway	Lennie Pond
27	October 4	Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Darrell Waltrip
28	October 11	National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Lennie Pond
29	November 1	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway	Mike Alexander
30	November 8	Atlanta Journal 500	Atlanta International Raceway	Benny Parsons
31	November 15	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	Benny Parsons

Final Standings

1. Benny Parsons - 4,305
2. Buddy Baker - 4,133
3. Dale Earnhardt - 4,120
4. Lennie Pond - 4,085
5. Cale Yarborough - 4,035
6. Harry Gant - 3,928
7. Dave Marcis - 3,858
8. Ron Bouchard - 3,803
9. Darrell Waltrip - 3,800
10. Ricky Rudd - 3,694
11. Bobby Allison - 3,690
12. Richard Childress - 3,462
13. Skip Manning - 3,455
14. Terry Labonte - 3,450
15. Tim Richmond - 3,361
16. Richard Petty - 3,360
17. Buddy Arrington - 3,342
18. Kyle Petty - 3,330
19. JD McDuffie - 3,326
20. Jimmy Means - 3,297