The 1981 American 500 was a Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) event held at North Carolina Speedway on November 1, 1981. Darrell Waltrip, on a hot streak that propelled him to the points lead, won his fourth straight event, holding off Bobby Allison by two carlengths. Allison, however, was 2nd in the last three events and still was just 68 points behind Waltrip. Stats