On March 19, 1978, the Atlanta 500 was held at Atlanta International Raceway as the fifth race of the 30-race 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, drawing an estimated attendance of 60,000 for a 40-car field contesting 328 laps.
Cale Yarborough captured the pole with a qualifying speed of 162.006 mph in the #11 Junior Johnson Oldsmobile. Bobby Allison, starting fourth in the #15 Norris Industries Ford for Bud Moore Engineering, scored the victory by one lap over Dave Marcis. Donnie Allison finished third, followed by polesitter Cale Yarborough and Lennie Pond. Allison collected $11,225 for the win—his second of the season—and led 261 laps. He averaged 142.520 mph in a race slowed by four cautions for 16 laps.








