• NASCAR reduces the wheelbase from 115 to 110 inches for its Winston Cup Series cars.

• Twelve different models from eight different manufacturers are eligible for competition in the first season for downsized automobiles.

• Richard Petty snares his seventh Daytona 500 title, beating Bobby Allison.

• Bobby Allison comes from seventh to first place in the final green-flag lap to win the June 21 400-miler at Michigan International Speedway.

• Rookie Ron Bouchard passes Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte in the final half-mile to win the Aug. 2 Talladega 500 in a three-abreast, photo finish at Talladega Superspeedway.

• ESPN, the new 24-hour-a-day sports programming network, televises its first Winston Cup race at Atlanta International Raceway on Nov. 8.

• ESPN executives say they are interested in televising more Winston Cup events.

• Darrell Waltrip wins 12 races on his way to the Winston Cup championship. Waltrip makes up a 341-point deficit in early June to post one of the greatest comebacks in NASCAR history.

• Waltrip is officially honored at New York's Waldorf-Astoria, the first time the Winston Cup awards presentation is held outside Daytona Beach, Fla.