The 1981 Mason-Dixon 500 was 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 racing event that took place on May 17, 1981 at Dover Downs International Speedway

Dover International Speedway

Dover International Speedway is a NASCAR-sanctioned race track located in Dover, Delaware, owned by, and serving as the corporate headquarters of, Dover Motorsports, Inc. It is co-located with a harness racing track, Dover Downs, and shares the complex with Dover Downs Hotel & Casino...

 (now Dover International Speedway) in the American

United States

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

 community of Dover

Dover, Delaware

The city of Dover is the capital and second largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, and the principal city of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County. It is located on the St. Jones River in the Delaware...

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

.

Summary

Five hundred laps took place on a paved track spanning 1 miles (1.6 km). It took four hours and seventeen minutes for Jody Ridley

Jody Ridley

Jody Ridley is a former NASCAR driver. He won the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award and one race at Dover International Speedway the next year, the only Cup victory for Donlavey Racing....

 to defeat 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....

 by 22 seconds in front of 40000 live spectators. However, this victory was controversial because Bobby Allison's team blamed a scoring error for his loss (even though Allison himself didn't actually protest the win). The winner would win $22,560 in prize money ($ in today's money) while the last place winner would take home only $5,980 ($ in today's money). Two cautions were given out for 24 laps and the average racing speed was 116.925 miles per hour (188.2 km/h). David Pearson would acquire the pole position with a speed of 138.425 miles per hour (222.8 km/h).

All of the 32 drivers on the racing grid were American-born males. Benny Parsons

Benny Parsons

Benjamin Stewart Parsons was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst on TBS, ESPN, NBC and TNT...

 would acquire a last-place finish on the first lap due to a crash with Dave Marcis

Dave Marcis

Dave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...

. The lowest finishing driver to finish the race was Cecil Gordon

Cecil Gordon

Cecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....

; who was 42 laps behind the lead lap.

Finishing order

1. Jody Ridley
2. Bobby Allison
3. Dale Earnhardt
   Dale Earnhardt
   Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
   
   
4. D.K. Ulrich
5. Ricky Rudd
   Ricky Rudd
   Ricky Rudd is a former American NASCAR driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and Nationwide Series driver Jason Rudd. Rudd is known as the "Iron Man" of NASCAR; holding the record for most consecutive starts in NASCAR racing. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, Rudd had made 788...
   
   
6. Morgan Shepherd
   Morgan Shepherd
   Clay Morgan Shepherd has been a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver since 1977. He has also raced in the Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. He is a born again Christian who serves as a lay minister to the racing community...
   
   
7. Buddy Arrington
   Buddy Arrington
   Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...
   
   
8. Terry Labonte
   Terry Labonte
   Terrance Lee Labonte is a semi-retired NASCAR driver who occasionally drives in the Sprint Cup Series when called upon and is a two-time Winston Cup and IROC champion. He currently drives the #32 U.S. Chrome Ford for FAS Lane Racing. Labonte was introduced to the sport through his father, who had...
   
   
9. Jimmy Means
   Jimmy Means
   James "Jimmy" Means is a former Winston Cup/Nextel Cup owner/driver. Currently, he is an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Means Racing. He competed in NASCAR for eighteen years in mostly his own equipment, posting seventeen career top-tens...
   
   
10. 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...
    
    *
11. Donnie Allison
    Donnie Allison
    Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...
    
    
12. 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 ,...
    
    
13. Neil Bonnett
    Neil Bonnett
    Lawrence Neil Bonnett was a NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. The Alabama native currently ranks 35th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film Stroker Ace and the 1990 film Days of Thunder...
    
    *
14. Tommy Gale
    Tommy Gale
    Thomas "Tommy" Gale was an English footballer who played for Sheffield Wednesday and York City in the Football League.-Career:...
    
    
15. Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....
    
    
16. Harry Gant
    Harry Gant
    Harry Phil Gant is a retired American racecar driver best known for driving the #33 Skoal Bandit car on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit during the 1980s and 1990s.-Nicknames:...
    
    *
17. Richard Childress
    Richard Childress
    Richard Childress is a former NASCAR driver and the current team owner of Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. As a business entrepreneur, Childress became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina...
    
    *
18. James Hylton
    James Hylton
    James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72...
    
    *
19. Richard Petty
    Richard Petty
    Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
    
    *
20. Kyle Petty
    Kyle Petty
    Kyle Eugene Petty is a former American NASCAR driver and is currently a co-host for NASCAR RaceDay and panel member for NASCAR Smarts which are both on SPEED. He also commentates for TNT in the summer. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of the late Adam...
    
    *
21. Mike Alexander*
22. Joe Fields
    Joe Fields
    Joseph Charles Fields, Jr. is a former professional American football center and guard in the National Football League for the New York Jets and the New York Giants...
    
    *
23. J.D. McDuffie
    J.D. McDuffie
    John Delphus McDuffie was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career...
    
    *
24. Ronnie Thomas*
25. David Pearson*
26. Junior Miller
    Junior Miller
    Junior Miller is a former professional American football player. A 6'4", . tight end from the University of Nebraska, Miller played five seasons from 1980 to 1984 for the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, and was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1980 and 1981 seasons. Miller played...
    
    *
27. Ron Bouchard
    Ron Bouchard
    Ron Bouchard is a former NASCAR driver who was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His brother Ken Bouchard was the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.-Local driving career:...
    
    *
28. Lowell Cowell
    Lowell Cowell
    Lowell Cowell is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. He would drive for Oldsmobile , Buick , and Chevrolet during his NASCAR career.-Summary:...
    
    *
29. Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...
    
    *
30. Bob Riley
    Bob Riley
    Bob Riley may refer to:* Bob Riley, 52nd Governor of Alabama* Bob C. Riley, acting Governor of Arkansas for 11 days in 1975* Bob Riley , sports car designer and founder of Riley Technologies...
    
    *
31. Dave Marcis
    Dave Marcis
    Dave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...
    
    *
32. Benny Parsons*

* Driver failed to finish race