1978 Capital City 400

The 1978 Capital City 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 10, 1978, at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway (now Richmond Raceway) in Richmond, Virginia.

By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

The track did not have an official name until 1969, when it was christened the Fairgrounds Raceway. Its name would change to the Richmond International Raceway in 1988, and again in 2018, when it would be rechristened the Richmond Raceway, the name it now bears.

In 1953, Fairgrounds Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond. The original track was paved in 1968.^[5] In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration.

Four hundred laps were completed on an oval track spanning 0.546 miles (0.879 km) per lap for a grand total of 216.8 miles (348.9 km) of racing.^[2] The race was completed within two hours and forty-three minutes of the first official green flag of the race.^[2] Darrell Waltrip would end up defeating Bobby Allison (who drove a 1978 Ford Thunderbird) by only one second.^[2][4]

Neil Bonnett started chasing down Waltrip on the pit road and slammed into Waltrip's vehicle; creating a brutal race ending battle and forcing Bill France Jr. to put them on probation for the remainder of the year. The spectators were displeased after Darrell Waltrip's victory, so Waltrip needed police protection in order to make it to the post-race interviews.^[6]

When I passed Neil, I was on the inside and he was on the outside. It think it's pretty poor strategy when he doesn't move up. He actually cut into me.

Eighteen thousand people attended the race. Five yellow flags were used in twenty-seven laps, and the lead swapped hands 16 times.^[2] The pole position speed was acquired by Darrell Waltrip's Chevrolet Monte Carlo with a qualifying speed of 91.964 miles per hour (148.002 km/h) during his solo run.^[2][4] Meanwhile, the average speed of the actual race would be 79.568 miles per hour (128.052 km/h).^[2][4]

Dave Dion had his best start of fourth place and had a fast car in the race until an incident took him out of the race on lap 85.^[2][4] Roger Hamby matched his best Cup finish of tenth place.^[2][4]

Notable crew chiefs for this race included Darrell Bryant, Junie Donlavey, Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, and Tim Brewer.^[7]

Ed Negre would receive the last-place finish because of a brake problem acquired on lap 6 of the race.^[2][3][4] The top prize of the race was $13,800 ($68,120 adjusted for inflation) while last place awarded the driver with $300 ($1,481 when adjusted for inflation).^[2][3][4] Cale Yarborough would retain his lead in the championship points after this race.^[2][3] 30 drivers would attend this race; all of them were born in the United States of America.^[2]

Section reference:^[2]

• Start of race: Darrell Waltrip started the race with the pole position.
• Lap 6: Ed Negre abused his vehicle's brakes, causing him to exit the race prematurely.
• Lap 16: Wayne Morgan's vehicle overheated, causing him to leave the race.
• Lap 28: Ferrel Harris' vehicle also overheated, with the same consequences.
• Lap 49: Tighe Scott had a terminal crash, causing him to withdraw from the event.
• Lap 52: Dave Marcis gained the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
• Lap 53: Lennie Pond gained the lead from Dave Marcis.
• Lap 54: Neil Bonnett gained the lead from Lennie Pond.
• Lap 85: The rear end of Dave Dion's vehicle was unserviceable, causing him to leave the race.
• Lap 172: Nelson Oswald's vehicle overheated, ending his day on the track early.
• Lap 182: Darrell Waltrip gained the lead from Neil Bonnett.
• Lap 183: Bobby Allison gained the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
• Lap 184: Darrell Waltrip gained the lead from Bobby Allison.
• Lap 191: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
• Lap 198: Tommy Gale's engine became problematic, causing him not to finish the race.
• Lap 256: Frank Warren's vehicle had some handling issues, ending his race prematurely.
• Lap 265: Richard Petty took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
• Lap 266: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
• Lap 267: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
• Lap 274: Richard Petty took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
• Lap 286: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Richard Petty.
• Lap 343: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
• Lap 356: Issues with his vehicle's rear end would make Richard Petty settle for a 20th place finish.
• Lap 385: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
• Lap 395: Darrell Waltrip gained the lead from Neil Bonnett, making this the final lead change of the event.
• Finish: Darrell Waltrip won the race.