1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings
Darrell Waltrip rallied from a 341-point deficit to bag his first NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National championship in 1981, as Bobby Allison finished second for the fourth time in his career.
 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Darrell Waltrip |
Waltrip was seemingly out of the title hunt in early June, but he began to whittle away at Allison's lead with a series of top-five finishes. With six races to go, Waltrip moved into the points lead with a runner-up finish at Dover. In the final six races, Waltrip extended his lead and finished 53 points ahead of Allison.
Waltrip won 12 races during the 1981 season, while Allison won five times. No one else was close in the points race. Harry Gant finished third, 670 points behind Waltrip, and failed to record a single victory. Terry Labonte and Jody Ridley rounded out the top-five finishers.
For the full standings for the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup season, see the chart below.
1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Standings
| Rank
|
Driver | Points | Wins | Earnings |
| 1
|
Darrell Waltrip |
4,880 | 12 | $799,134.00 |
| 2
|
Bobby Allison | 4,827 | 5 | 680,957.00 |
| 3
|
Harry Gant | 4,210 | 0 | 280,047.60 |
| 4
|
Terry Labonte | 4,052 | 0 | 348,702.84 |
| 5
|
Jody Ridley | 4,002 | 1 | 267,604.80 |
| 6
|
Ricky Rudd | 3,988 | 0 |
395,684.00 |
| 7
|
Dale Earnhardt | 3,975 | 0
|
353,971.40 |
| 8
|
Richard Petty | 3,880 | 3 |
396,071.80 |
| 9
|
Dave Marcis | 3,507 | 0
|
162,212.60 |
| 10
|
Benny Parsons | 3,449 | 3 |
311,092.60 |
| 11
|
Buddy Arrington | 3,381 | 0
|
133,927.60 |
| 12
|
Kyle Petty | 3,335 | 0
|
117,432.60 |
| 13
|
Morgan Shepherd |
3,261 | 1 |
170,472.60 |
| 14
|
Jimmy Means | 3,142 | 0
|
105,627.60 |
| 15
|
Tommy Gale | 3,140 | 0
|
110,517.60 |
| 16
|
Tim Richmond | 3,091 | 0
|
96,448.00 |
| 17
|
J.D. McDuffie | 2,996 | 0
|
105,498.40 |
| 18
|
Lake Speed | 2,817 | 0
|
94,068.40 |
| 19
|
James Hylton | 2,753 | 0 |
87,304.20 |
| 20
|
Joe Millikan | 2,682 | 0
|
148,399.20 |
| 21
|
Ron Bouchard | 2,594 | 1 |
152,855.00 |
| 22
|
Neil Bonnett | 2,449 | 3 |
181,670.00 |
| 23
|
Cecil Gordon | 2,320 | 0
|
55,980.00 |
| 24
|
Cale Yarborough | 2,201 | 2 |
150,840.00 |
| 25
|
Richard Childress | 2,144 | 0
|
71,125.00 |
| 26
|
Ronnie Thomas | 2,138 | 0 | 53,605.00 |
| 27
|
Buddy Baker | 1,904 | 0
|
115,095.00 |
| 28
|
Joe Ruttman | 1,851 | 0
|
137,275.00 |
| 29
|
Mike Alexander |
1,784 | 0
|
34,055.00 |
| 30
|
Bill Elliott | 1,442 | 0
|
70,320.00 |
| 31
|
Bobby Wawak | 1,212 | 0
|
21,790.00 |
| 32
|
D.K. Ulrich | 1,191 | 0 | 38,095.00 |
| 33
|
Johnny Rutherford | 1,140 | 0
|
38,095.00 |
| 34
|
Lennie Pond | 1,100 | 0
|
29,045.00 |
| 35
|
Elliott Forbes-Robinson | 1,020 | 0
|
27,350.00 |
| 36
|
Rick Newsom | 768 | 0
|
8,625.00 |
| 37
|
Dick May | 754 | 0 |
26,380.00 |
| 38
|
Stan Barrett | 718 | 0
|
28,540.00 |
| 39
|
Connie Saylor | 664 | 0
|
18,780.00 |
| 40
|
Gary Balough |
656 | 0
|
34,430.00 |
| 41
|
Rick Wilson |
639 | 0
|
15,625.00 |
| 42
|
Mark Martin |
615 | 0
|
13,950.00 |
| 43
|
Bruce Hill |
596 | 0
|
15,485.00 |
| 44
|
Donnie Allison |
527 | 0
|
38,745.00 |
| 45
|
Geoff Bodine |
420 | 0
|
15,000.00 |
| 46
|
Joe Fields |
418 | 0
|
7,750.00 |
| 47
|
Jack Ingram |
377 | 0
|
9,965.00 |
| 48
|
Randy Ogden |
367 | 0
|
3,905.00 |
| 49
|
Jim Robinson | 351 | 0
|
9,505.00 |
| 50
|
Don Waterman | 351 | 0
|
8,570.00 |
For more information on all things NASCAR, see:
