On October 8, 1978, the NAPA National 500 was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway as the 27th race of the 30-race NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, drawing an estimated attendance of 80,000 for a 40-car field contesting 334 laps on the 1.5-mile track.
David Pearson captured the pole in the #21 Purolator Mercury for the Wood Brothers. Bobby Allison, starting eighth in the #15 Norris Industries Ford for Bud Moore Engineering, scored the victory by 30.2 seconds over Darrell Waltrip. Dave Marcis finished third, followed by Donnie Allison and David Pearson. Allison collected $40,000 for the win—his 50th career Grand National/Winston Cup victory—and led a race-high 108 laps. He averaged 141.826 mph in a race that featured 40 lead changes and was slowed by four cautions for 21 laps.
