1981 NASCAR Cup Series Head-to-Head Playoff Results

Originally published on Jul. 17, 2024

By Zane Miller

First round

(8) #90 Jody Ridley v. (1) #28 Bobby Allison

(7) #3 Dale Earnhardt v. (2) #11 Darrell Waltrip

(6) #43 Richard Petty v. (3) #33 Harry Gant

(5) #44 Terry Labonte v. (4) #88 Darrell Waltrip

With the first round getting underway at the Southern 500 at Darlington, Bobby Allison outlasted Jody Ridley thanks to a ninth-place finish, while Darrell Waltrip captured the runner-up spot to Dale Earnhardt’s sixth. Despite Harry Gant finishing 14^th, it would still be enough to surpass Richard Petty, who suffered an engine failure in the last 100 laps of the race. Ricky Rudd crashed out of the race with just 25 laps to go, leaving Terry Labonte on track to a fourth-place finish to claim the opening win of the series.

Incredibly, as the first round shifted to Richmond, every series would end with a series sweep, as Allison eliminated Ridley with a fifth-place finish while Waltrip did the same to Earnhardt by grabbing a third-place finish, continuing with Gant finishing runner-up to knock out Petty and Labonte ending up in fourth to bring Rudd’s postseason to a close. This being the first time in series history that all four first-round series were over in just two races, the anticipated deciding race at Dover was effectively skipped over to set up the start of the semifinal at Martinsville.

Semifinal

(5) #44 Terry Labonte v. (1) #28 Bobby Allison

(3) #33 Harry Gant v. (2) #11 Darrell Waltrip

At Martinsville, Waltrip wasted no time in staking his claim for his first championship, grabbing the race win while leading 149 laps. Meanwhile, Labonte beat out Allison for the opening win of the series, finishing ninth as Allison followed two laps behind in 10^th. Waltrip kept his streak of dominance going into North Wilkesboro, literally lapping the field and leading 318 of the race’s 400 laps to topple Gant’s title hopes. On the opposite side of the coin, Labonte lasted just 60 laps before blowing his engine, allowing Allison to tie the series up with a second-place finish. The race at Charlotte would be the determining race of the Labonte-Allison series, which unfortunately ended early thanks to another blown engine from Labonte. Allison again took second while Waltrip won his third straight race. Most importantly, he earned his chance at a third championship against Waltrip.

Final

(2) #11 Darrell Waltrip v. (1) #28 Bobby Allison

As the finals got underway at Rockingham, both Waltrip and Allison put their best foot forward as Waltrip started from the pole and led the most laps, while Allison rebounded from a 14^th-place start to make his way into the lead with a dozen laps to go. However, Waltrip would not go down so easily, retaking the lead from Allison with six laps remaining and never looking back as he grabbed his fourth consecutive win.

At Atlanta, Waltrip started from the pole once again, although it was clear from the get-go that eventual race winner Neil Bonnett would be the class of the field. Despite his quest for five straight race wins being thwarted, Waltrip had bigger fish to fry as he desperately tried to hold off Allison, who also had one of the fastest cars on track. However, despite losing the battle to Bonnett, Waltrip would win the war against Allison, taking second place while Allison trailed in fourth to capture his first career championship to avenge his heartbreaking defeats in 1975 and 1978.

Darrell Waltrip’s stats for 1981 were an impressive 12 wins, 21 top-fives and 25 top-10s, winning the real-life championship along with the head-to-head title.