On April 23, 1978, the Virginia 500 was held at Martinsville Speedway as the ninth race of the 30-race 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, drawing an estimated attendance of 35,000 for a 30-car field contesting 500 laps on the 0.525-mile track.
Lennie Pond captured the pole with a qualifying speed of 88.637 mph in the #54 W.I.N. Chevrolet for Harry Ranier. Darrell Waltrip, starting third in the #88 Gatorade Chevrolet for DiGard Motorsports, scored the victory by three laps over Neil Bonnett. Richard Petty finished third, followed by Dave Marcis and Buddy Arrington. Waltrip collected $20,300 for the win—his third of the season—and led 310 laps. He averaged 77.971 mph in a race slowed by four cautions for 27 laps. Benny Parsons finished 15th and had his points lead cut to 61 points over Dave Marcis.
