Allison's win drew controversy after his rear
bumper fell off very early in the race. On lap 4,
Harry Gant led
Terry Labonte, with
Bobby Allison and
Cale Yarborough battling nose-to-tail for third. Going through turns three and four, Allison's rear bumper fell off and flew high into the air before landing back on the racing surface. Several cars took evasive action to avoid it, before it was run over by
Joe Millikan (running in 20th position), causing him to veer to the outside wall coming out of turn four. This triggered a much larger crash, involving several cars towards the back of the pack, and brought out the first caution of the race. Three cars were out of the race (Millikan,
Lake Speed, and
Geoffrey Bodine), while others suffered minor damage. After the bumper was off Allison's car, it was consistently faster than the competition allowing him to pull away to a significant lead despite other drivers working together in the draft. Yarborough's crew chief,
Tim Brewer, later intimated that Allison's team had intended for the bumper to come off because they knew it would offer a major aerodynamic advantage, either using hollow bolts or very thin wire to attach it superficially to the car. Other observers also believed that the bumper was manipulated by the team to intentionally fall off, possibly by using simple
tack welds, because the result would have the car underweight and give the car improved handling. Allison's crew chief
Gary Nelson denied that and continues to deny it to this day. On
The Dale Jr. Download, Nelson stated that crew members pop-riveted the bumper to the fenders due to the NASCAR officials stating that the bumper needed to be lower on the car instead of welding brackets to hold it on. Allison himself also denied the allegations until his death in 2024. ==Results==