On May 2, Dave Fulton posted about Buddy Baker's win in the 1976 Winston 500 at Talladega - his third consecutive victory at Talladega and all were with Bud Moore's 15 Ford team.
Over his multi-decade career, Buddy won 19 races. Of the 19, almost half were at 2 tracks. Four were at Charlotte, and four were at Talladega. Of his four Talladega victories, TWO happened to fall on the same day: May 4th.
His three-race winning streak at Talladega began on May 4, 1975. Baker let the field know early he was the man to beat by winning the pole for what turned out to be a FIFTY car field.
Jim Vandiver won the preliminary race - the ARCA 200 - on Saturday May 3. In an odd scheduling twist, Coo Coo Marlin won the pole for the ARCA race ... a week earlier.
Vandiver's Dodge was sponsored by H.B. Ranier, father of Cup team owner Harry Ranier. The "Ranier" name figured prominently into Baker's 4th Talladega win 5 years later. - Gadsden Times
Donnie Allison in his DiGard Chevy qualified alongside Baker. Brother Bobby Allison and Davie Pearson comprised the second row. The pace lap as the field lines up 2x2 for the start.
The Cup raced was overshadowed by tragedy - which seemed to be a part of the fabric of Talladega in the 70s. Randy Owens - Richard Petty's crewman and brother-in-law - was killed during a pit stop when a pressurized water tank exploded as he tried using it to extinguish a wheel bearing fire on the 43.
A unique participant in both the 1975 and 1980 races was Marty Robbins. He wrecked out of the 75 race and lost an engine in the 1980 event.
Baker was certainly the class of the field as he led 99 of the race's 188 laps. However, David Pearson led a sizable chunk as well by pacing the field for 27 laps. And Petty's 43 was out front for 22 laps as the Charger was pretty stout that day. But once Petty had to make the unexpected stop and Owens was killed, the Petty crew parked the 43 and withdrew from the remainder of the race.
Though Baker led more than half the race, his win was hardly assured as is the case more often than not at Talladega. But Baker manage to nip Pearson by about a foot to earn the win.
Following the race, the King was clearly distraught as he tried to speak with reporters about the accident in the pits that took Randy's life. - Gadsden Times
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Buddy Baker | '75 Ford |
| 2 | David Pearson | '73 Mercury |
| 3 | Dick Brooks | '73 Ford |
| 4 | Darrell Waltrip | '75 Chevrolet |
| 5 | Coo Coo Marlin | '75 Chevrolet |
| 6 | Harry Jefferson | '73 Ford |
| 7 | Grant Adcox | '75 Chevrolet |
| 8 | Bruce Jacobi | '75 Chevrolet |
| 9 | Joe Mihalic | '75 Chevrolet |
| 10 | Richard Childress | '75 Chevrolet |
| 11 | Bill Champion | '73 Ford |
| 12 | Walter Ballard | '75 Chevrolet |
| 13 | Dave Marcis | '74 Dodge |
| 14 | Elmo Langley | '73 Dodge |
| 15 | Skip Manning | '75 Chevrolet |
| 16 | David Sisco | '75 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Earle Canavan | '74 Dodge |
| 18 | Joe Frasson | '75 Pontiac |
| 19 | Richard Petty | '74 Dodge |
| 20 | Tom Williams | '74 Chevrolet |
| 21 | Cecil Gordon | '75 Chevrolet |
| 22 | G.C. Spencer | '74 Dodge |
| 23 | Travis Tiller | '74 Dodge |
| 24 | Frank Warren | '74 Dodge |
| 25 | Jabe Thomas | '74 Dodge |
| 26 | Lennie Pond | '75 Chevrolet |
| 27 | Jim Vandiver | '74 Dodge |
| 28 | Randy Tissot | '75 Chevrolet |
| 29 | J.D. McDuffie | '75 Chevrolet |
| 30 | Ramo Stott | '75 Chevrolet |
| 31 | Marty Robbins | '74 Dodge |
| 32 | Ed Negre | '73 Ford |
| 33 | James Hylton | '74 Chevrolet |
| 34 | Harold Miller | '75 Chevrolet |
| 35 | Bobby Allison | '75 Matador |
| 36 | Gordon Johncock | '75 Chevrolet |
| 37 | Red Farmer | '73 Ford |
| 38 | Buddy Arrington | '73 Plymouth |
| 39 | Dean Dalton | '74 Dodge |
| 40 | Cale Yarborough | '75 Chevrolet |
| 41 | Rick Newsom | '73 Ford |
| 42 | Donnie Allison | '75 Chevrolet |
| 43 | Benny Parsons | '75 Chevrolet |
| 44 | Carl Adams | '73 Ford |
| 45 | Ferrel Harris | '74 Dodge |
| 46 | Dan Daughtry | '73 Ford |
| 47 | Bruce Hill | '75 Chevrolet |
| 48 | Johnny Ray | '75 Chevrolet |
| 49 | Richie Panch | '75 Chevrolet |
| 50 | John Banks | '74 Dodge |
Baker nabbed his next-to-last career win on May 4, 1980 in Harry Ranier's #28 'gray ghost' Oldsmobile by nipping 1979 ROTY Dale Earnhardt by about 3 feet - not quite as close as the win over Pearson but still one for the ages.
In the preliminary Saturday race, a driver who'd made his name known on the bullrings of the midwest and started his first Cup race at Atlanta earlier in the 1980 season won: Rusty Wallace. He won from the pole in the short-lived Grand American series Alabama 300.
David Pearson continued to show folks he still had gas in the tank after parting ways with the Wood Brothers in 1979. In 1980, he took over from Donnie Allison in Hoss Ellington's Hawaiian Tropic #1 car. The two had some immediate success with a win in the Rebel 500 at Darlington and capturing the pole for the Talladega race. Baker lined up alongside Pearson in his Waddell Wilson prepared Olds 442.
As was the case in 1975, Baker led the most laps. However, the competition was more balanced in 1980. Baker led only about a third of the race vs. the 99 laps he led 5 years earlier. Earnhardt led 55 laps to Baker's 61. Cale Yarborough and Pearson took turns for double-digit laps as well.
Earnhardt had a sizable lead as the laps wound down. But Baker was relentless in his pursuit of the Osterlund Olds, and he was able to get around Dale with the checkers in sight. Using Buddy Arrington as a pick on the backstretch, Baker was able to break Dale's momentum limiting his chances to pass the 28. Some footage of the final few laps of the race is available on YouTube. Unfortunately, the video can't be embedded here. But you can watch Baker eke out a win over Earnhardt at this link: http://youtu.be/MkT0QOZQR_E
Baker's win was the second at Talladega for car owner Harry Ranier in 3 seasons. Lennie Pond won the 1978 Talladega 500 for Ranier as well.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Buddy Baker | Oldsmobile |
| 2 | Dale Earnhardt | Oldsmobile |
| 3 | David Pearson | Oldsmobile |
| 4 | Lennie Pond | Oldsmobile |
| 5 | Tighe Scott | Oldsmobile |
| 6 | Cale Yarborough | Oldsmobile |
| 7 | Lake Speed | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Benny Parsons | Oldsmobile |
| 9 | Dick Brooks | Oldsmobile |
| 10 | Jody Ridley | Mercury |
| 11 | Coo Coo Marlin | Chevrolet |
| 12 | Richard Childress | Oldsmobile |
| 13 | James Hylton | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Steve Moore | Chevrolet |
| 15 | Dick May | Dodge |
| 16 | Tommy Gale | Ford |
| 17 | Roger Hamby | Chevrolet |
| 18 | Buddy Arrington | Dodge |
| 19 | Frank Warren | Dodge |
| 20 | Ronnie Thomas | Buick |
| 21 | Bill Elliott | Mercury |
| 22 | Gary Baker | Chevrolet |
| 23 | Cecil Gordon | Oldsmobile |
| 24 | Buck Simmons | Oldsmobile |
| 25 | Donnie Allison | Oldsmobile |
| 26 | John Anderson | Buick |
| 27 | Neil Bonnett | Mercury |
| 28 | Dick Skillen | Buick |
| 29 | Dave Marcis | Oldsmobile |
| 30 | Bobby Wawak | Dodge |
| 31 | Richard Petty | Oldsmobile |
| 32 | Terry Labonte | Oldsmobile |
| 33 | Marty Robbins | Dodge |
| 34 | Don Whittington | Oldsmobile |
| 35 | Bill Elswick | Oldsmobile |
| 36 | Bruce Hill | Oldsmobile |
| 37 | Harry Gant | Oldsmobile |
| 38 | Phil Finney | Oldsmobile |
| 39 | Jim Vandiver | Oldsmobile |
| 40 | Bobby Allison | Mercury |
| 41 | J.D. McDuffie | Buick |
| 42 | Darrell Waltrip | Oldsmobile |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 05/04/19 12:22:14AM