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1976 Champion Spark Plug 400

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1976 Champion Spark Plug 400
Race details[1]
Race 20 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Michigan International Speedway
Layout of Michigan International Speedway
Date August 22, 1976 (1976-August-22)
Official name Champion Spark Plug 400
Location Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Permanent racing facility
2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 91 °F (33 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed 140.078 miles per hour (225.434 km/h)
Attendance 55,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 125
Winner
No. 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 22, 1976, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

During this era, Michigan International Speedway was a Mercury-dominated track. It was also a track that suited a smooth driver or a driver that could change his driving tactics for Michigan International Speedway.

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[3] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees.[3] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.[3]

Summary

A grand total of 36 drivers took part in this race; David Hobbs was the only foreigner involved. The closing portion of the race would see Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson jointly dominate the race. Meanwhile, the first 67 laps of the race would see fairly even competition. Tighe Scott's unfortunate last-place finish would be linked to his vehicle overheating on lap 6 of 200. Fifty-five thousand people would witness David Pearson defeating Cale Yarborough by slightly more than a second. The total time of the race was 171 minutes.[2]

NASCAR treasury officials handed out a grand total of $120,025 to all the qualifying drivers ($642,660.18 when adjusted for inflation). The majority of the vehicles raced here belonged to the Chevrolet manufacturer.[4]

While the winner took home $11,950 after competing in this event ($63,984.91 when adjusted for inflation), the last-place finisher took home a meager paycheck of $1,250 ($6,692.98 when adjusted for inflation).[5]

Notable crew chiefs for this race included Billy Hagan, Junie Donlavey, Jake Elder, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Sterling Marlin and Tim Brewer.[6]

John Haver would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at this event while David Hobbs would wrap up his professional stock car career afterward.

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 21 David Pearson Mercury
2 15 Buddy Baker Ford
3 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet
4 54 Lennie Pond Chevrolet
5 43 Richard Petty Dodge
6 2 Bobby Allison Mercury
7 71 Dave Marcis Dodge
8 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet
9 90 Dick Brooks Ford
10 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet
11 47 Bruce Hill Chevrolet
12 40 D.K. Ulrich Chevrolet
13 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet
14 92 Skip Manning Chevrolet
15 12 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet
16 05 David Sisco Chevrolet
17 36 Bobby Wawak Chevrolet
18 24 Cecil Gordon Chevrolet
19 7 Dean Dalton Chevrolet
20 48 James Hylton Chevrolet
21 18 Joe Frasson Chevrolet
22 9 David Hobbs Ford
23 60 Jackie Rogers Chevrolet
24 19 Henley Gray Chevrolet
25 51 John Haver Chevrolet

Finishing order

  1. David Pearson (No. 21)
  2. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
  3. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  4. Bobby Allison (No. 2)
  5. Dave Marcis (No. 71)
  6. Neil Bonnett† (No. 12)
  7. D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
  8. J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
  9. Benny Parsons† (No. 72)
  10. Bobby Wawak† (No. 36)
  11. Henley Gray (No. 19)
  12. Coo Coo Marlin† (No. 14)
  13. Richard Childress (No. 3)
  14. Skip Manning (No. 92)
  15. Terry Bivins (No. 10)
  16. Dick May† (No. 25)
  17. David Hobbs (No. 9)
  18. Dean Dalton (No. 7)
  19. Bruce Hill* (No. 47)
  20. Harold Miller (No. 91)
  21. James Hylton (No. 48)
  22. Joe Mihalic (No. 61)
  23. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  24. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
  25. Lennie Pond (No. 54)
  26. Cecil Gordon*† (No. 24)
  27. Darrell Waltrip* (No. 88)
  28. Joe Frasson† (No. 18)
  29. Dick Brooks*† (No. 90)
  30. Ed Negre*† (No. 8)
  31. Buddy Baker*† (No. 15)
  32. David Sisco* (No. 05)
  33. John Haver* (No. 51)
  34. G.C. Spencer*† (No. 49)
  35. Jackie Rogers* (No. 60)
  36. Tighe Scott* (No. 30)

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Cale Yarborough 3026 0
2 Benny Parsons 2952 -74
3 Richard Petty 2936 -90
4 Bobby Allison 2832 -194
5 Increase Dave Marcis 2652 -374
6 Decrease Lennie Pond 2599 -427
7 Richard Childress 2477 -549
8 Buddy Baker 2420 -606
9 David Pearson 2352 -674
10 Increase J.D. McDuffie 2263 -763

References

  1. ^ Weather information for the 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Racing Reference
  3. ^ a b c "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  4. ^ 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  5. ^ 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Driver Averages
  6. ^ 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1976 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Champion Spark Plug 400 races
1976 		Succeeded by
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