By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
January 25, 2005
04:13 PM EST (21:13 GMT)
Buddy Baker had nearly a lap on the field when his engine expired with five laps remaining in the 20th Daytona 500 on Feb. 19, 1978. That handed the victory to Bobby Allison, whose Ford beat Cale Yarborough's Oldsmobile to the line by more than 33 seconds.  |  | NASCAR ACCELERATION | |
| ALSO IN 1978 ... |
| • | Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcasted on radio for the first time (Feb. 8) |
| • | Ted Bundy is captured in Florida (Feb. 15) |
| • | The U.S. Senate votes 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on Dec. 31, 1999 (April 18) |
| • | David Berkowitz, also known as "Son of Sam," is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison (June 12) |
| • | United States President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal (Aug.27) |
Courtesy: Wikipedia
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A 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass two-door coupe with the 442 package listed for $5,033. With his first-place check for $56,300, Allison could have snapped up 11 Cutlasses and still had enough money left over to buy 1,487 gallons of gas, at an average price of 63 cents a gallon. Driving the No. 15 Ford, Allison snapped a 67-race winless streak. Wearing No. 14, Cincinnati's Pete Rose had a 44-game hitting streak, the second-longest in Major League Baseball history, which was ended by Atlanta on Aug. 1. If Allison had wanted to take in a Reds game at Riverfront Stadium during Rose's streak, he could have made the 480-mile journey from Hueytown, Ala. to Cincinnati in almost nine hours at freeway speeds -- or exactly three hours at his race-winning average of 159.73 mph. Fifty-three-year-old Mavis Hutchinson took 69 days to run 2,871 miles from Los Angeles to New York -- the first woman to do so. Ron Hutcherson drove the No. 53 Oldsmobile to a fourth-place finish in the 1978 Daytona 500. In 1978, Midway Games imported the "Space Invaders" arcade game from Taito, going head-to-head with Atari's "Football," the first game to use a trackball. When the football season ended, so did the popularity of "Football." However, "Space Invaders" caused coin shortages in Japan and school truancy in the United States. Israel invaded Lebanon and Vietnam invaded Cambodia that year. The 1950s horror classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was remade in 1978. The No. 1 song in the country on Feb. 19 was "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees. On Aug. 6, 80-year-old Pope Paul VI died. His successor, John Paul I, died unexpectedly after 34 days in office on Sept. 28. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland became Pope John Paul II on Oct. 16. The movie "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -- starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees singing songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney -- was widely panned following its release. On March 15, the U.S. Senate approved a treaty that would relinquish ownership of the Panama Canal by Dec. 31, 1999. In the summer of 1978, Van Halen was the opening act for Aerosmith and Pat Travers at a Day On The Green at the Oakland Coliseum. Van Halen would release "Panama" in 1984. Panama Red claims to be a legal herbal bud alternative to marijuana. The comic strip "Garfield" debuted in newspapers on June 19, chronicling the adventures of Garfield the cat and Odie the dog. According to the Web site "White House Pets," President James Garfield had a dog named Veto. On June 22, astronomers discovered Pluto's moon, Charon. Drummer for The Who, Keith Moon, died of an overdose on Sept. 7. In "National Lampoon's Animal House," members of the Delta House wrapped themselves in bedsheets and held a toga party. More than 10,000 University of Wisconsin students held a toga party in 1978. However, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt beat them to the punch when she held a toga party to spoof the loyal followers of the "Caesar," her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. On July 25, Louise Brown became the first baby born by in-vitro fertilization. Dianne Feinstein became the first woman mayor of San Francisco on Dec. 4. The first Susan B. Anthony dollar entered circulation on Dec. 13. On March 26, the Camp David peace agreement was formalized on the White House lawn with the signatures and handshakes of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. They would share the Nobel Peace Prize. Current drivers born in 1978:
•Kurt Busch (Aug. 4)
•Kevin Grubb (April 19)
•Casey Mears (March 12)
•Johnny Sauter (May 1) → Click here for more Daytona Countdown. | 
