The 1979 Daytona 500, held on February 18 before a crowd of 120,000 at Daytona International Speedway, featured a 41-car field and marked the first live flag-to-flag national television broadcast of the race. Buddy Baker claimed the pole with a qualifying speed of 196.049 mph and also won the first of the Thursday 125-mile qualifying races, while Darrell Waltrip took the second. Richard Petty, starting 13th, captured his sixth Daytona 500 victory by a single car length over Waltrip, with A.J. Foyt third, Donnie Allison fourth, and Cale Yarborough fifth. The race averaged 143.977 mph and was slowed by seven cautions totaling 57 laps; Petty earned $73,900.
On the final lap, leaders Donnie Allison and Yarborough collided on the backstretch while battling for the win—Yarborough trying a low pass, Allison blocking—sending both into the wall and allowing the half-lap-behind Petty to surge ahead. The wreck sparked a post-race fistfight involving Yarborough and the Allison brothers that, along with the dramatic finish, helped propel NASCAR into national prominence.
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