The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the early-1980s.

[6] The 1980 NASCAR season was also a rare period in time where the "little teams" could compete almost on a completely equal level against the "big organizations" of stock car racing.

[2][5] Eight yellow flags slowed the race for 39 laps while Darrell Waltrip defeated Harry Gant[7][8] by almost ½ of a second.

[5] Meanwhile, John Callis and Joel Stowe used this racing event to make their respective NASCAR debuts.

[5] Steve Gray was the last-place driver with a head gasket incident; earning only a meager prize amount of $450 for his 35 laps of racing ($1,664 when adjusted for inflation).