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 | |||
| Date | August 22, 1976 | ||
| 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 ($499,963.79 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 ($49,777.69 when adjusted for inflation), the last-place finisher took home a meager paycheck of $1,250 ($5,206.87 when adjusted for inflation).[5]
John Haver would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at this event while David Hobbs would wrap up his professional stock car career afterwards.
Finishing order
- David Pearson (No. 21)
- Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
- Richard Petty (No. 43)
- Bobby Allison (No. 2)
- Dave Marcis (No. 71)
- Neil Bonnett† (No. 12)
- D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
- J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
- Benny Parsons† (No. 72)
- Bobby Wawak† (No. 36)
- Henley Gray (No. 19)
- Coo Coo Marlin† (No. 14)
- Richard Childress (No. 3)
- Skip Manning (No. 92)
- Terry Bivins (No. 10)
- Dick May† (No. 25)
- David Hobbs (No. 9)
- Dean Dalton (No. 7)
- Bruce Hill* (No. 47)
- Harold Miller (No. 91)
- James Hylton (No. 48)
- Joe Mihalic (No. 61)
- Frank Warren (No. 79)
- Jimmy Means (No. 52)
- Lennie Pond (No. 54)
- Cecil Gordon*† (No. 24)
- Darrell Waltrip* (No. 88)
- Joe Frasson (No. 18)
- Dick Brooks*† (No. 90)
- Ed Negre*† (No. 8)
- Buddy Baker*† (No. 15)
- David Sisco* (No. 05)
- John Haver* (No. 51)
- G.C. Spencer*† (No. 49)
- Jackie Rogers* (No. 60)
- 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 | Dave Marcis | 2652 | -374 |
| 6 | Lennie Pond | 2599 | -427 |
| 7 | Richard Childress | 2477 | -549 |
| 8 | Buddy Baker | 2420 | -606 |
| 9 | David Pearson | 2352 | -674 |
| 10 | J.D. McDuffie | 2263 | -763 |
References
- ↑ Weather information for the 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- 1 2 3 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Racing Reference
- 1 2 3 "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ↑ 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
- ↑ 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Driver Averages
| Preceded by 1976 Talladega 500 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Season 1976 |
Succeeded by 1976 Volunteer 400 |
| Preceded by 1975 |
Champion Spark Plug 400 races 1976 |
Succeeded by 1977 |