The 1978 Capital City 400 is a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 10, 1978 at Richmond Fairgrounds

Richmond International Raceway

Richmond International Raceway is a 3/4-mile , D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series...

 in the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 community of Richmond

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

.

Summary

Four hundred laps were completed on an oval track spanning 0.546 mile (0.87869964 km) per lap for a grand total of 216.8 miles (348.9 km) of racing. The race was completed within two hours and forty-three minutes of the first official green flag of the race. Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Lee Waltrip is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion , 3-time runner-up , winner of the 1989 Daytona 500 and 5-time winner of the prestigeous Coca-Cola 600 ,...

 would end up defeating Bobby Allison

Bobby Allison

Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....

 (who drove a 1978 Ford Thunderbird

Ford Thunderbird

The Thunderbird , is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005...

) by only one second. Eighteen thousand people were a live witness to five yellow flags being used for twenty-seven laps in addition to 16 lead changes by the drivers. The pole position

Pole position

The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...

 speed was acquired by Darrell Waltrip's Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Chevrolet Monte Carlo

The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American-made two-door coupe introduced for model year 1970, and manufactured over six generations through model year 2007. It was marketed as a personal-luxury coupe through most of its history, with the last model version being classified as a full-sized coupe...

 with a qualifying speed of 91.964 miles per hour (148 km/h) during his solo run. Meanwhile, the average speed of the actual race would be 79.568 miles per hour (128.1 km/h).

Ed Negre

Ed Negre

Ed Negre is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979....

 would receive the last-place finish for a brake

Brake

A brake is a mechanical device which inhibits motion. Its opposite component is a clutch. The rest of this article is dedicated to various types of vehicular brakes....

 problem acquired on lap 6 of the race. The top prize of the race was $13,800 ($ in today's money) while last placed awarded the driver with a meager $300 ($ in today's money). Cale Yarborough

Cale Yarborough

William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...

would retain his lead in the championship points after this race. 30 drivers would attend this race; all of them were born in the United States of America.