# 1979 Gould Twin Dixie 125

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. 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 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 |