SEASON IN REVIEW
Horse Shoe, North Carolina driver Cecil Gordon picked up his second LASTCAR Cup Series title in 1981 when he finished last in three races out of twenty-five starts in a thirty-one-race season. He beat Rick Wilson for the title in LASTCAR’s first bottom-ten tiebreaker since 1974, 9-4. It was Gordon’s first LASTCAR title in eleven years, still the longest gap between a driver’s first two LASTCAR championships.
Gordon was competing in his fourteenth season on the NASCAR Cup Series tour, driving for his own #24 team in eighteen of his twenty-five starts. His seven remaining starts were divided between Jimmy Means, Henley Fray, D.K. Ulrich, Rick Newsom, and a #94 Louise Smith tribute car fielded by Bobby Wawak at Nashville, Tennessee on July 11.
Gordon’s first last-place finish of 1981 came in the season-opening Winston Western 500 at Riverside, California on January 11, a strange race that featured a mix of full-sized 115-inch wheelbase cars and new 110-inch cars that would become mandatory the next month at Daytona. Only a handful of drivers drove the smaller cars that day, and Gordon stuck with his 115-inch Oldsmobile, which blew its engine after two laps. In the February 15 Daytona 500, Blackie Wangerin became the first driver to finish last in the 110-inch cars when his #39 Wangerin / Clements Ford crashed out after 17 laps.
Gordon’s second last-place of the year came at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina on April 5, when he was driving a second Buick for fellow owner-driver Jimmy Means. Gordon finished last after his #53 Broadway Motors Buick had a rear end problem eight laps into the race while Means’ #52 finished 14th in the 31-car field.
The third finish came fifteen races later in Bristol, Tennessee on August 22 while driving defending LASTCAR Cup Champion D.K. Ulrich’s #40 Dixie Engineering Buick. Gordon quit after three laps and watched Morgan Shepherd drive his #24 to an impressive run, leading 104 of the first 155 laps before the rear end on the #24 Buick gave out after 339 laps. Shepherd would finish 6th in Gordon’s car at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina on October 4, leading to Gordon’s decision to scale back on his driving career.
Gordon made just twelve more starts after 1981, including seven starts for the struggling Chrysler manufacturer in 1983. Gordon made his 449th and final start on February 24, 1985 at Richmond, Virginia driving a car prepared by Greg Sacks, that year’s surprise winner in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Gordon finished last for the 12th time that day when his #51 Sacks & Sons Chevrolet suffered steering problems after seven laps. Gordon passed away on September 19, 2012.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
On May 9, a rough-and-tumble newcomer from the ASA ranks named Mark Martin scored his first last-place finish when his #02 Ams Oil / Prototype Pontiac qualified 6th for the Melling Tool 420 at Nashville, Tennessee, only to suffer a broken cam after two laps. Martin would go on to win two poles that year, but struggled to stay competitive and returned to the short tracks briefly before his tremendous 1988 comeback as driver of Jack Roush’s #6 Stroh Light Ford.
Third-generation racer Kyle Petty also scored his first last-place finish in 1981, his coming in the November 1 running of the American 500 in Rockingham, North Carolina. Petty also qualified 6th, but his #42 STP Buick blew the engine after nineteen laps. Petty would go on to win eight races in his career, including three dominating wins at the Rockingham track, all of them from the pole and in consecutive seasons from 1990-1992.
Curiously, six different manufacturers finished last in the season’s first six races. Following Cecil Gordon’s Oldsmobile at Riverside, California and Blackie Wangerin’s Ford at Daytona Beach, Florida were Baxter Price’s Buick at Richmond, Virginia; Buddy Arrington’s Dodge at Rockingham, North Carolina; Bobby Wawak’s Pontiac at Hampton, Georgia; and Dave Marcis’ Chevrolet at Bristol, Tennessee.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Cecil Gordon [4 B5s, 9 B10s], Rick Wilson [4 B5s, 4 B10s] (3)
2nd) Mike Alexander, Benny Parsons, Baxter Price, Ronnie Thomas (2)
3rd) Buddy Arrington, H.B. Bailey, Joe Booher, Bill Elliott, Tommy Ellis, Harry Gant, Jimmy Insolo, Terry Labonte, Dave Marcis, Mark Martin, Dick May, Kyle Petty, Ricky Rudd, Don Satterfield, Connie Saylor, Blackie Wangerin, Bobby Wawak (1)
