1979 Gould Twin Dixie 125

1979 Atlanta 1

Race details
Race 2 of 14 in the 1979 IndyCar season
Atlanta International Speedway until 1996
Date	April 22, 1979
Official name	Gould Dixie Twin 125
Location	Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, Georgia, United States
Course	Oval 1.522 mi / 2.450 km
Distance	82 laps 124.804 mi / 200.900 km
Race 1
Weather	Unknown
Pole position
Driver	Johnny Rutherford (Team McLaren)
Time	27.166
Fastest lap
Driver	Unknown (Unknown)
Time	Unknown (on lap Unknown of 82)
Podium
First	Johnny Rutherford (Team McLaren)
Second	Lee Kunzman (Conqueste Racing Team)
Third	Tom Sneva (Jerry O'Connell Racing)
Race 2
Weather	Unknown
Pole position
Driver	Johnny Rutherford (Team McLaren)
Time	None (Awarded as the Winner of Race 1)^[citation needed]
Fastest lap
Driver	Unknown (Unknown)
Time	Unknown (on lap Unknown of 82)
Podium
First	Johnny Rutherford (Team Mclaren)
Second	Rick Mears (Team Penske)
Third	Al Unser (Chaparral Cars)

The 1979 Gould Dixie Twin 125 were the second and third rounds of the 1979 IndyCar season, held on April 22, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia.

Race 1

Summary

Johnny Rutherford won the pole for the first race, with Gordon Johncock starting second, Mike Mosley in third, Danny Ongais in fourth, and Tom Sneva in fifth.

In the race, Rutherford and Johncock dominated the first 60 laps. After a caution period ended with just 14 laps to go, Lee Kunzman managed to jump out to the lead. Johnny Rutherford caught up to him with eight laps to go, and the two dueled, with Rutherford passing him on the penultimate lap and holding on to win.^[1] Tom Sneva claimed third, Gordon Johncock fourth, and Rick Mears fifth.

Results

Pos	Sta	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Led	Pts
1	1	4	Johnny Rutherford	Team McLaren	82	47:28.000	30	250
2	9	21	Lee Kunzman	Conqueste Racing Team	82	-	12	200
3	5	1	Tom Sneva	Jerry O'Connell Racing	82	-	7	175
4	2	20	Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	82	-	32	150
5	11	9	Rick Mears	Team Penske	82	-	0	125
6	7	2	Al Unser	Chaparral Cars	82	-	0	100
7	8	12	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	82	-	1	75
8	16	11	Tom Bagley	Longhorn Racing	81	+ 1 Laps	0	63
9	13	10	Pancho Carter	Morales Motorsports	81	+ 1 Laps	0	50
10	14	77	Salt Walther	Walmotor	80	+ 2 Laps	0	38
11	6	40	Wally Dallenbach	Patrick Racing	79	+ 3 Laps	0	25
12	18	34	Vern Schuppan	Wysard Racing	75	+ 7 Laps	0	13
13	15	69	Joe Saldana	Hoffman Racing	58	Fire	0	5
14	4	25	Danny Ongais	Interscope Racing	56	Fuel Line	0	5
15	12	7	Steve Krisiloff	Bob Fletcher Racing	53	Transmission	0	5
16	17	41	Bill Alsup	WASP Racing	42	Over-Heating	0	5
17	3	36	Mike Mosley	All American Racers	20	Gearbox	0	5
18	10	19	Spike Gehlhausen	Gehlhausen Racing	12	Ignition	0	5

Lap Leader Breakdown

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	Total # Of Laps
Johnny Rutherford	1	10	10
Gordon Johncock	11	42	32
Johnny Rutherford	43	60	18
Bobby Unser	61	61	1
Tom Sneva	62	68	7
Lee Kunzman	69	80	12
Johnny Rutherford	81	82	2

Points standings after this race

Note: Only top ten are listed

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff	Pos Change
1	Johnny Rutherford	460		+2
2	Gordon Johncock	450	-10	-1
3	Rick Mears	365	-95	-1
4	Al Unser	280	-180	=0
5	Lee Kunzman	260	-200	+4
6	Bobby Unser	225	-235	-1
7	Tom Sneva	181	-279	+13
8	Tom Bagley	138	-322	=0
9	Mike Mosley	125	-335	-3
10	Wally Dallenbach	115	-345	-3

Race 2

Summary

Johnny Rutherford won the pole for the second straight race, with Lee Kunzman, Tom Sneva, Gordon Johncock, and Rick Mears rounding out the top five. The race was dominated by Rutherford, who led 61 of the 82 laps, being only challenged by Bobby Unser and Salt Walther, who led 13 laps thanks to pit shuffling. Rick Mears placed second, Al Unser, who ran out of fuel on the last lap ^[1] claimed third, Bobby Unser fourth and Tom Sneva fifth. This was the last race victory for McLaren in IndyCar until the 2021 XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway when Pato O'Ward took the win.

Results

Pos	St	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Led	Pts
1	1	4	Johnny Rutherford	Team McLaren	82	45:40.000	61	250
2	5	9	Rick Mears	Team Penske	82	-	1	200
3	6	2	Al Unser	Chaparral Cars	82	-	0	175
4	7	12	Bobby Unser	Team Penske	82	-	7	150
5	3	1	Tom Sneva	Jerry O'Connell Racing	81	+ 1 Lap	0	125
6	14	25	Tom Bagley	Longhorn Racing	81	+ 1 Laps	0	100
7	8	11	Danny Ongais	Interscope Racing	81	+ 1 Lap	0	75
8	11	40	Wally Dallenbach	Patrick Racing	80	+ 2 Laps	0	63
9	4	20	Gordon Johncock	Patrick Racing	80	+ 2 Laps	0	50
10	10	77	Salt Walther	Walmotor	79	+ 3 Laps	13	38
11	9	10	Pancho Carter	Morales Motorsports	78	+ 4 Laps	0	25
12	12	34	Vern Schuppan	Wysard Racing	74	Out of Fuel	0	13
13	13	69	Joe Saldana	Hoffman Racing	72	+ 10 Laps	0	5
14	18	35	Larry Rice	S&M Electric	62	+ 20 Laps	0	5
15	15	41	Bill Alsup	WASP Racing	52	Over-Heating	0	5
16	17	19	Spike Gehlhausen	Gehlhausen Racing	13	Oil Leak	0	5
17	16	36	Mike Mosley	All American Racers	3	Engine	0	5
18	2	21	Lee Kunzman	Conqueste Racing Team	3	Gearbox	0	5

Lap Leader Breakdown

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Johnny Rutherford	1	7	7
Bobby Unser	8	14	7
Johnny Rutherford	15	25	11
Salt Walther	26	38	13
Johnny Rutherford	39	68	30
Rick Mears	69	69	1
Johnny Rutherford	70	82	13

Points standings after this race

Note: Only top ten are listed

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff	Pos Change
1	Johnny Rutherford	710		=0
2	Rick Mears	565	-145	+1
3	Gordon Johncock	500	-210	-1
4	Al Unser	455	-255	=0
5	Bobby Unser	375	-335	+1
6	Tom Sneva	306	-404	+1
7	Lee Kunzman	265	-445	-2
8	Tom Bagley	213	-497	=0
9	Wally Dallenbach	178	-532	+1
10	Mike Mosley	130	-580	-1

References

1. "Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey on April 23, 1979 · Page 40". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-10-01.

External links

• Full Weekend Times & Results

Previous race: 1979 Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150	Indy Car Indycar World Series 1979 season	Next race: 1979 Indianapolis 500
Previous race: - Not Held -	Gould Twin Dixie 125	Next race: 1979 Rich's Atlanta Classic Same Season