1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400

1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400

Race details[1]
Race 15 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Michigan International Speedway
Date	June 20, 1976
Official name	Cam 2 Motor Oil 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	Warm with temperatures up to 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed	141.149 miles per hour (227.157 km/h)
Attendance	46,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps	129
Winner
No. 43	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 20, 1976, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

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

David Pearson managed to defeat Cale Yarborough by three car lengths in front of an audience of 46,000 members.^[2][4] There were 17 lead changes and three cautions were done in 20 laps out of the 200 laps of regulation racing.^[2] It took two hours and fifty minutes for the checkered flag to end the race.^[2][4] While Richard Petty earned the pole position with a speed of 158.569 miles per hour (255.192 km/h), the average speed of the race was 141.148 miles per hour (227.156 km/h).^[2][4][5] Joe Frasson "earned" his last-place finish due to an engine problem on lap 2.^[2] All 36 of the drivers on the racing grid were American-born males.^[2] The field was dominated by Chevrolet vehicles because they were cheaper to operate in the 1970s as opposed to Ford and Mercury vehicles.^[2][4][5]

Cale Yarborough would re-take the points lead after this race^[2][4] and eventually become the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion. David Pearson would also consider the 1976 NASCAR Cup Series season to be his "personal playground" with fast and consistent results throughout the year.

The grand total of this race's prize purse would be $105,355 ($438,855.94 when considering inflation).^[5]

Top ten finishers

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps
1	8	21	David Pearson	Mercury	200
2	6	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	200
3	2	2	Bobby Allison	Mercury	200
4	1	43	Richard Petty	Dodge	200
5	3	15	Buddy Baker	Ford	199
6	13	90	Dick Brooks	Ford	197
7	7	54	Lennie Pond	Chevrolet	196
8	16	05	David Sisco	Chevrolet	196
9	14	60	Jackie Rogers	Chevrolet	194
10	11	24	Cecil Gordon	Chevrolet	193

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Cale Yarborough	2318	0
2	Benny Parsons	2267	-51
3	Richard Petty	2201	-117
4	Bobby Allison	2161	-157
5	Lennie Pond	1964	-354
6	Dave Marcis	1905	-413
7	Richard Childress	1867	-451
8	Buddy Baker	1823	-495
9	David Pearson	1743	-575
10	Darrell Waltrip	1740	-578

References

1. "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
2. "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
3. "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
4. "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
5. "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-03-24.