Petty, Waltrip put on show in 1979 season finale

Thanks in part to the Chase format, the 2010 championship is one of the closest in NASCAR history. But Richard Petty needed no resetting of the points to wage an incredible head-to-head battle with Darrell Waltrip late in the 1979 season, with Petty ultimately recording his seventh title by just 11 points.

Much is made of the last-lap crash between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison that handed Petty the victory at the Daytona 500 that season, but that was sandwiched between two finishes of 32nd. Petty suffered an engine failure in the season opener at Riverside and was caught up in the second Yarborough-Allison tussle early on at Rockingham, although he returned to the race as a relief driver.

When he finished 30th at Dover after being caught up in a multi-car accident involving Richard Childress and Jimmy Means, Petty found himself 199 points behind Bobby Allison, and even more importantly, 169 behind Waltrip.

From that point on, Petty put on one of the most consistent performances ever. He recorded 19 consecutive top-10 finishes, including wins at Michigan, Dover and Rockingham. During that span, he finished no worse than ninth.

But while Petty was consistent, Waltrip was downright spectacular. He led at least one lap in 14 consecutive races, won the spring race at Darlington and followed that up with victories at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 and at Texas World Speedway. His sizzling summer continued with wins at Nashville, Talladega and Bristol.

While Allison eventually faded from the championship picture, Petty doggedly stayed within shouting distance of Waltrip. But two slip-ups in strategy would eventually haunt Waltrip by season's end.

After crashing his primary car in practice at Pocono, Waltrip bought a car from Al Rudd, Ricky's father. The weekend was plagued by rain and the race eventually was run on Monday. With five laps remaining, more rain forced NASCAR officials to throw the caution.

Waltrip, running second at the time, and Neil Bonnett decided to pit for new tires, expecting the race to be resumed. That didn't happen, as the last four laps were run behind the pace car. That wound up costing Waltrip five positions and 24 points.

However, the key momentum change that season might have come in the Southern 500. Starting third, Waltrip worked his way to the front by Lap 63 and appeared to have the dominant car, eventually leading 165 laps. But with a commanding lead, the Lady in Black jumped up and bit Waltrip at the most inopportune time.

With more than a lap lead over the field, Waltrip could have coasted to the win. Instead, he continued to drive aggressively and wound up hitting the wall, doing extensive damage to his car. The crew tried to repair the car but he crashed again, eventually finishing 11th, 12 laps down. That, coupled with a poor finish at Dover two races later, gave Petty some all-important momentum with the season winding down.

With a win at Rockingham, Petty took the points lead for the first time all season. But Waltrip led 10 laps and finished one position better than Petty at Atlanta, giving him a two-point cushion with one race to go.

The series returned to California with the finale at Ontario Motor Speedway. Petty started sixth and Waltrip 10th, and Petty took the early advantage when he passed Buddy Baker to lead a lap. Under pressure to keep pace with Petty, Waltrip stayed out under an early caution to get his five bonus points, then pitted and restarted in the back of the field.

That strategy blew up in Waltrip's face when a car spun in front of him and he spun to avoid contact. He eventually wound up one lap down, and without the Lucky Dog or wave-around rules of today's NASCAR, was never able to get back on the lead lap. Waltrip rallied to finish eighth, but Petty was three positions better, good enough to win the title by a scant 11 points.

There were a couple of controversial late-season calls that rankle Waltrip fans to this day. There was the decision by officials at Rockingham to black-flag Waltrip for smoke while he was running second, even though no oil leak was found. And at Ontario, there are allegations the pace car mistakenly picked up Waltrip instead of the race leader after his spin, which caused him to get lapped when the race resumed.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.