July 15, 1978 - 250 Miles - Purse $59,395

Cale Yarbrough would lead 411 laps of the 420 lap event, totally dominating the event.

The Timmonsville, South Carolina driver sat a track record in June 1978 by leading all 420 laps of the event.

 Cale Yarborough would win his second straight NASCAR Winston Cup event at the Fairgrounds.  Coupled with his 420 lead-lap performance in June, Yarborough led 833 laps out of a possible 840 (99 percent) contested for the 1978 Nashville Cup races.

This would be the last Nashville start for Walter Ballard.  He competed in 10 events with his best finish being a sixth place at the 1971 Nashville 420.

The race would mark the career best finish of Richard Childress.  The Winston-Salem NC native finished third in his 14th start at the track. The seven laps led by Childress during the event would be his only laps led at the track.

This would be the third 5th place finish at Nashville for J.D. McDuffie. The other two came in 1970 and 1971.

The race would be the last Nashville appearance for veteran driver Elmo Langley (left).  He competed in 19 events at the Fairgrounds with two Top-Fives and five Top-Ten finishes.

The Charlotte, North Carolina driver ranks 25th in career Top-Tens at the track with 5 in only 19 races. Langley ranks 12th on the career stats board and 17th in laps completed. Langley ran 4,680 laps at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway during his career.

After retirement, Langley would become the pace car driver for NASCAR's Winston Cup Series.


Eventual fifth-place finisher J.D. McDuffie leads Benny Parsons (top) and Darrell Waltrip in the 88 car into the speedway's third turn. (Fred Marchman Photo)

The cars of Richard Childress and Cale Yarborough await qualifying for the 1978 Nashville 420.

Childress would record a career best finish of third in the event.
         


Lennie Pond would capture the poles for both 1978 races at the Fairgrounds. For 1978, he would capture five poles in Cup competition
  

Second-generation driver Ronnie Thomas finished an impressive tenth in only his second appearance at the 5/8 mile track		  

The King Richard Petty dropped out of the race with engine problems on lap 341.

This would be the last short-track appearance in a Chrysler product for Petty.  After races at Pocono and Talladega, he would switch to Chevrolets.
Average Speed:    88.924 mph Time of Race:    2:48:54 Margin:     2 Laps
Pole Winner:         Lennie Pond  104.257 mph Attendance:      16,500 Cautions:  3 for 15 Laps
Lap Leaders:         Yarborough 1-37, Waltrip 38, McDuffie 39, Childress 40-46, Yarborough 47-420
 
DriverDDriver Fin Str Car Team / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
Cale Yarborough 1 2 11 1st National City Travelers Checks  -
Jr Johnson & Assoc		 Oldsmobile 420 11,240 Running 411
Darrell Waltrip 2 8 88 Gatorade -  DiGard Racing Chevrolet 418 6,715 Running 1
Richard Childress 3 9 3 Kansas Jack -
Richard Childress 		Oldsmobile 415 3,860 Running 7
Dave Marcis 4 5 2 Shoney's -
Rod Osterlund 		Chevrolet 414 2,690 Running 0
J.D. McDuffie 5 4 70 Bailey Excavating  -
J D McDuffie		 Chevrolet 413 2,445 Running 1
Benny Parsons 6 6 72 1st National City Travelers Checks   -
L G DeWitt		 Chevrolet 412 3,865 Running 0
Bobby Allison 7 11 15 Norris Industries -
Bud Moore		 Ford 411 2,765 Running 0
Dick Brooks 8 13 90 Truxmore  -
Junie Donlavey 		Ford 409 1,985 Running 0
Ferrel Harris 9 15 81 Autowize -
Robert Gee		 Chevrolet 405 1,115 Running 0
Ronnie Thomas 10 26 25 Louise Smith   -
Don Robertson 		Chevrolet 405 2,265 Running 0
Grant Adcox 11 24 41 Krystal   -
Herb Adcox 		Chevrolet 405 915 Running 0
Buddy Arrington 12 18 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge 402 1,505 Running 0
Frank Warren 13 17 79 Native Tan  -
Frank Warren 		Dodge 396 1,420 Running 0
Bruce Hill 14 10 5 Bearfinder  -
Harry Clary		 Oldsmobile 394 815 Running 0
Gary Myers 15 23 4 Spencer's Baby Wear  -  Gary Myers Chevrolet 390 765 Running 0
Elmo Langley 16 25 64 Sunny King Ford & Honda 
Elmo Langley 		Ford 389 1,165 Running 0
Roger Hamby 17 19 17 Roger Hamby Chevrolet 383 1,005 Running 0
Dick May 18 29 19 Belden Asphalt  - Henley Gray Chevrolet 380 850 Running 0
Cecil Gordon 19 28 24 Transmissions Unlimited  -
Cecil Gordon 		Chevrolet 379 610 Running 0
D.K. Ulrich 20 21 40 D.K. Ulrich Chevrolet 377 600 Running 0
Ralph Jones 21 27 97 Jones Supply -
Ralph Jones 		Ford 372 595 Running 0
Tighe Scott 22 16 30 Russ Togs -
Walter Ballard		 Chevrolet 357 585 Running 0
Richard Petty 23 12 43 STP   - 
Petty Enterprises 		Dodge 341 3,025 Engine 0
Jimmy Means 24 14 52 WIXC  -  Bill Gray Chevrolet 201 565 Ignition 0
Sterling Marlin 25 7 14 Cunningham-Kelley - H.B. Cunningham Chevrolet 197 555 Brakes 0
Lennie Pond 26 1 54 W.I.N. -
Harry Ranier 		Chevrolet 171 795 Engine 0
Baxter Price 27 22 45 Baxter Price Chevrolet 91 535 Engine 0
Neil Bonnett 28 3 5 Armor All   -
Rod Osterlund		 Chevrolet 50 3,125 Clutch 0
  Bobby Fisher 29 20 71 Bobby Fisher Chevrolet 30 515 Crash 0
Walter Ballard 30 0 48 James Hylton Chevrolet 0 505 dns 0