Daytona 6 Hours 1979

Racing version of the AMC Spirit

The 1979 Daytona 6-Hour Race , also known as the 6 Hour Champion Spark Plug Challenge, Daytona International Speedway , took place on July 1 at Daytona International Speedway and was the eleventh round of the Sports Car World Championship that year.

The race

In 1979 the 6-hour race in Daytona was also part of the World Challenge for endurance drivers and thus part of the 1979 World Sports Car Championship . With the exception of the two Puerto Ricans Diego Febles and Bonky Fernandez , all other starters were US Americans . The race ended with the overall victory of Dennis Shaw , as well as Don and Bill Whittington in the AMC Spirit .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	RS	6th	Amos Johnson	Dennis Shaw Don Whittington Bill Whittington	AMC spirit	151
2	RS	61	Brant Doell	Tom Waugh Lyn St. James Buzz Carson	AMC Concord	151
3	RS	38	Roger Mandeville	Roger Mandeville Diego Febles	Mazda RX-3	150
4th	RS	27	Mike Meyer	Mike Meyer Rusty Bond	Mazda RX-3	150
5	RS	7th	Amos Johnson	Amos Johnson Dick Barbour	AMC spirit	148
6th	RS	44	Joe Amato	Carson Baird Joe Amato	AMC spirit	148
7th	RS	99	Kal Showket	Kal Showket Phil Currin	AMC Concord	148
8th	RS	4th	EJ Pruitt	Gary Ouellette Tony Garcia	Mazda RX-2	148
9	RS	91	Warren Phelps	Warren Phelps Bill McDill	Chevrolet Vega	146
10	RS	52	Atlanta Racing Enterprises	James Reeve Ren Tilton	Buick Skyhawk	145
11	RS	08	SC Racing	Bonky Fernandez Keith Swope	AMC spirit	145
12	RS	66	Jim Downing	John Maffucci Chris Doyle	Mazda RX-2	143
13	RS	15th	Rob Jackson	Rob Jackson Robert Weaver	AMC Gremlin	142
14th	RS	47	Bob Crosby	Jim Crosby Bob Crosby	AMC Gremlin	141
15th	RS	72	Tampa Bay Racing	Craig Ross Charles Mendez	Datsun 200SX	140
16	RS	93	Russ Boy	Russ Boy Art Yarosh	AMC Gremlin	134
17th	RS	2	Wheels import	Ray Pericles Matt Pericles	Mazda RX-2	134
18th	RS	30th	Dave Yerger	Del Russo Taylor Steve Edward Dave Yerger	Alfa Romeo Alfetta	132
19th	RS	68	Randy Blue	Randy Blue John Watterson	AMC Gremlin	131
20th	RS	22nd	Linda Sharp	Jim Fitzgerald Linda Sharp Bill Harriss	Datsun B210	128
21st	RS	33	Music City Racing	Eric Morrow Charles Moseley	Plymouth Arrow	127
22nd	RS	07	Rich Lee	Bill Warner Rich Lee	Honda Civic	127
23	RS	03	Joe Varde	Robert Dielhl Doug Kenny	AMC Gremlin	126
24	RS	82	North Star Racing	Bill Johnson Corky Bell	Datsun 710	125
25th	RS	04	Rozinante Enterprises	Jim Story John Story Ray Barnes	Ford Capri	124
26th	RS	09	Bennett Aiken	Bennett Aiken Bobby Dumont	Ford Pinto	123
27	RS	11	Dick Starita	Don Devendorf Dick Starita GH Sharp	Datsun B210	120
28	RS	86	Hoerr Brothers	Leroy Dickson Elizabeth Kleinschmidt Charles Kleinschmidt	AMC spirit	116
29	RS	12	Jim Stricklin	Jim Stricklin John Eckelberry	Datsun 510	112
30th	RS	87	Robert Buchler	John Evans Jay Elmore	Ford Pinto	110
31	RS	84	William Kull	Daniel Bonner William Kull	Ford Pinto	82
32	RS	82	J. Speight Sugg	J. Speight Sugg, M.L. Speer	BMW 2002	68
Failed
33	RS	63	Jim Downing	Jim Downing John Paul Sr.	Mazda RX-3	139
34	RS	88	MAS Racing	Jon McKnight Judy Stropus	Datsun 510	113
35	RS	5	Bob Esseltine	Bob Esseltine Paul Lambke	Datsun 510	103
36	RS	0	Bob Lee	Glenn Worthington Bob Lee	Chevrolet Vega	90
37	RS	42	American Raceway Leasing	Bob Field Rick Gaines	AMC Gremlin	87
38	RS	64	Wayne Stradley	Wayne Stradley Ray Mummery	AMC Pacer	85
39	RS	01	Varde Llauget	Joe Varde Dave Cowart	AMC spirit	83
40	RS	78	Performance innovations	Hurley Haywood Rob McFarlin	Mazda RX-3	80
41	RS	48	International Racing System	Nort Northam Bill Shaw	Honda Civic	76
42	RS	31	R&R Racing	Randy Davis Herb Canada	AMC Gremlin	76
43	RS	59	Milton Moise	Milton Moise Emory Donaldson Don Courtney	AMC spirit	73
44	RS	16	Danny Smith	Danny Smith Rodney Ashcraft	AMC Gremlin	68
45	RS	21st	Andy Vann	Andy Vann Ed Mottern	AMC Gremlin	63
46	RS	50	Eddie Mecum	Eddie Mecum Javier Garcia	Buick Skyhawk	62
47	RS	54	Wever Palmer	Byron Wever Bill Whittington	Mazda RX-3	58
48	RS	54	Balboa Datsun	Pat Daily Tim Kuykendall	Datsun 200SX	40
49	RS	19th	Southwind Enterprises	Rick Knoop Bob Akin	AMC Gremlin	34
50	RS	96	Gene Felton	Gene Felton Tom Sheehy Luis Sereix	Buick Skyhawk	32
51	RS	92	Rolls Canard	Manny Matz Jerry Hoopert	BMW 2002	32
52	RS	9	Rolls Canard	Mark Mellon Jerry Reid Gary Tiller	Ford Pinto	23
53	RS	3	Bob Dearduff	Jeff Dearduff Bob Dearduff	Mazda RX-3	22nd
54	RS	83	Milt Griswold	Chuck Grantham Milt Griswold	Ford Pinto	22nd
55	RS	73	Foreign Car Clinic	Gerry Cohen Stephen Behr	BMW 320i	21st
56	RS	81	MAS Racing	James Jordan Alan Marsh	Datsun 510	20th
57	RS	39	George Clark	George Clark George Hair Dave Sloyer	Oldsmobile Starfire	20th
58	RS	06	Preston Henn	Bonnie Henn Preston Henn Byron Henn	AMC Pacer	10
59	RS	49	Richard Wagner	Paul McDonald Ernie Smith	Ford Maverick	8th
60	RS	57	Rick Jaeschke	Van McDonald Rick Jaeschke	Datsun 200SX	7th
61	RS	75	Ron Oyler	Ron Oyler Ron Reisinger Don Jones	AMC Pacer	5
62	RS	55	Dick Read	Lee White Dick Read	Ford Pinto	1
Not started
63	RS	02	Kim Kenyon	Kim Kenyon Cary Palmer	AMC Gremlin	1
64	RS	05	Donnie Ard	Ralston Long Donnie Ard Foy Gilmore	AMC Gremlin	2
65	RS	14th	Tenn Tec Racing	Cliff Rickmers Donnie Crider	Ford Capri	3
66	RS	23	Nes Gurley	Nes Gurley James Jeralds	Ford Capri	4th
67	RS	46	GH Sharp	GH Sharp Bob Bergstrom	AMC spirit	5
68	RS	51	Brant Doell	Rick Knoop Bob Akin	AMC spirit	6th
69	RS	69	Ecurie fribourgeoise	Phil Currin Kal Showket	AMC Pacer	7th

¹ not started ² not started ³ not started ⁴ not started ⁵ not started ⁶ not started ⁷ not started

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
70	RS	00	SC Racing	Dale Swope	AMC Gremlin
71	RS	1	Walt Drilling	Walt Drilling	Mazda RX-2
72	RS	28	Burns Moore	Burns Moore Randy Keller	Ford Pinto
73	RS	60	Pete Harrison	Pete Harrison	Buick Skyhawk
74	RS	77	Skip Grenier	Skip Grenier	Mazda RX-2

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
RS	Dennis Shaw	Don Whittington	Bill Whittington	AMC spirit	Overall victory

Racing data

• Registered: 74
• Started: 62
• Rated: 32
• Race classes: 1
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: hot and humid
• Route length: 6.180 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 6:00: 59.440 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 151
• Total distance of the winning team: 933.162 km
• Winner's average: 155.101 km / h
• Pole position: Gene Felton - Buick Skyhawk (# 96) - 2: 16.169 = 163.382 km / h
• Fastest race lap: James Reeve - Buick Skyhawk (# 52) - 2: 17.380 = 161.942 km / h
• Racing series: 11th round of the 1979 World Sports Car Championship

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

• Race results

Previous race 6 Hours of Pergusa 1979

Sports car world championship

Successor to the 6-hour race at Watkins Glen 1979