The 1981 Gabriel 400 was a Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) event held at Michigan International Speedway on June 21, 1981. The race was known for an extremely strange incident in the closing laps that involved some of the leaders. The incident started when Kyle Petty's car blew an engine in turn 1, leaving a massive trail of oil between turn 1 and the back straightaway. Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip were in a dogfight for the lead at the time, with Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons and Harry Gant also in contention. As soon as Yarborough approached turn 2, he got into the oil and slammed into the Armco barrier. Moments after Yarborough hit the wall, Baker and Lake Speed spun in roughly the same area. Meanwhile, in the backstretch, Earnhardt and Waltrip were also spinning. Point