1980 Winchester 400

The eleventh annual Dri-Power 400 was held under American Speed Association sanction on October 5, 1980, at the Winchester Speedway.

The wildest “Dri-Power 400” in history had a familiar name in victory, but a surprise winner as Terry Senneker, younger brother of five-time winner Bob Senneker, captured the 1980 running of the fall classic. Battling for the lead with just eight laps to go, ASA standouts Mark Martin and Mike Eddy tangled while racing side-by-side and crashed out of the event. That allowed the third-place machine of Terry Senneker to take the victory.

Martin’s Dillon Chevrolet flew around the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” in 15.741 seconds (114.351 MPH) and was the fastest qualifier among the 44 competitors. The “400” began in very clean fashion as Martin led the initial 45 laps before giving way to Bob Sensiba. The first caution did not appear until lap 50, when Dick Dunlevy Jr. exploded an engine. Sensiba would remain in the lead until he pitted on lap 134, giving the lead to Martin for the second time. Martin would then lead until he headed for pit road on lap 175, turning over control of the field to Terry Senneker for the first time.

Defending race winner Don Gregory passed T. Senneker for the lead on lap 197 and would remain in front until he too headed pit side for a stop on lap 239. Those stops cycled Martin back to the race lead, but tire problems would cause him to slow and give the point back to T. Senneker on lap 276. The stage for the final drama began to be set when Eddy passed T. Senneker to make his first appearance at the top of the leader board on lap 289. Lurking just behind the race lead, five-time winner Bob Senneker saw his chances end as a blown tire sent him into the fourth turn wall and out of the race on lap 300. Under that caution, Eddy pitted for tires giving the lead back to Gregory. Charging back through the field on fresh tires, Eddy retook the lead on lap 325 as Gregory’s machine began to suffer from overheating problems.

On lap 341, Terry Senneker looped his Chevrolet off turn four and narrowly missed hitting the inside retaining wall on the main straight. This caution allowed period allowed Martin to make up a lost lap and have a shot at race leader Eddy. The lead duo began their battle within the final 25 laps of the event. Picking his spots carefully, Martin repeatedly dove under Eddy’s mount, but was unable to complete the maneuver for the lead. On the 391st lap, Martin again ducked under Eddy heading into the third turn. The duo raced side-by-side through the corner and down the front stretch into the first and second turns. Coming off turn two on onto the back straight, Martin’s car broke loose and shot up the track into the side of Eddy. The contact sent Eddy bouncing hard off the back stretch wall and back into Martin, severely damaging and knocking both cars out of the race.

T. Senneker, who was a lap behind the leaders at the time of their crash, motored to the lead under the caution as Eddy and Martin were being towed back to the pits. Back under green and suddenly seven laps ahead of his nearest running competitor, Senneker cruised around the final few laps to collect the biggest win of his career and a $9,200 payday. Ray Young picked up his second-consecutive runner-up finish. Despite not finishing, Eddy and Martin completed enough laps to be scored third and fourth respectively, with Carl Smith rounding out the top-five.

External links

* [http://www.winchesterspeedway.com/ Winchester Speedway website]
* [http://www.craracing.net/ Official CRA Website]