1976 Dixie 500

1976 Dixie 500

Race details[1]
Race 29 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Atlanta International Speedway, used until 1996
Date	November 7, 1976
Official name	Dixie 500
Location	Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance	328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km)
Weather	Chilly with temperatures approaching 66.9 °F (19.4 °C); wind speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed	127.396 miles per hour (205.024 km/h)
Attendance	46,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Buddy Baker	Bud Moore Engineering
Most laps led
Driver	Dave Marcis	K&K Insurance Racing
Laps	224
Winner
No. 71	Dave Marcis	K&K Insurance Racing
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ken Squier

The 1976 Dixie 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on November 7, 1976, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Background

Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate track to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.^[3] However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.

The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.^[4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.^[4]

Summary

Three hundred and twenty eight laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 1.522 miles (2.449 km) for a grand total of 499.2 miles (803.4 km).^[2] The total time of the race was three hours and fifty-five minutes.^[2] Four cautions were made for forty-one laps.^[2] Dave Marcis defeated David Pearson by two car lengths.^[2] Chevrolet vehicles managed to fill out the majority of the racing grid.^[5]

Speeds for this race were: 127.396 miles per hour (205.024 km/h) as the average and 161.652 miles per hour (260.154 km/h) for the pole position.^[2] Forty-six thousand fans attended this live race.^[2] Total winnings for this race were $132,625 ($552,449.05 when adjusted for inflation). Canadian driver Jack Donohue would finish the race in last place without completing any laps of the race due to an engine problem;^[6] he was granted 55 championship points just for qualifying.^[2] Richie Panch, son of Marvin Panch, would retire after the end of this race while Billy McGinnis would make his official NASCAR Cup Series debut.^[7]

Dale Earnhardt survived a huge crash when Richard Brooks slid down the banking of Turn 3; Earnhardt hit Brooks and tumbled to Turn 4.^[8] Future NASCAR superstar Bill Elliott had a role wiping the windshield of 16th-place finisher Gene Felton's stock car; Elliott would go on to have a successful Cup Series career of his own 14 years later.^[9]

Finishing order

1. Dave Marcis
2. David Pearson
3. Donnie Allison (highest winning Chevrolet driver)
4. Cale Yarborough
5. Buddy Baker† (highest winning Ford driver)
6. Benny Parsons†
7. Darrell Waltrip
8. Neil Bonnett†
9. Sam Sommers
10. Bobby Wawak†
11. Bruce Hill
12. James Hylton
13. J.D. McDuffie†
14. Skip Manning
15. Sonny Easley†
16. Gene Felton
17. Jimmy Means
18. D.K. Ulrich
19. Dale Earnhardt*†
20. Grant Adcox*†
21. Richie Panch*†
22. Terry Bivins*
23. Cecil Gordon†
24. Lennie Pond*
25. Richard Childress*
26. Bobby Allison*
27. Frank Warren*
28. Richard Petty*
29. Dick Brooks*†
30. Coo Coo Marlin*†
31. Chuck Bown*
32. Dick May*†
33. David Sisco*
34. Billy McGinnis*
35. G.C. Spencer*†
36. Jack Donohue*

† 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	4545	0
2	Richard Petty	4362	-183
3	Benny Parsons	4139	-406
4	Bobby Allison	4033	-512
5	Dave Marcis	3784	-761
6	Lennie Pond	3760	-785
7	Buddy Baker	3699	-846
8	Darrell Waltrip	3462	-1083
9	Richard Childress	3373	-1172
10	David Pearson	3298	-1247

References

1. "1976 Dixie 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
2. "1976 Dixie 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
3. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
4. "NASCAR Tracks—The Atlanta Motor Speedway". Atlanta Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
5. "Official Race Results: Dixie 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on 11-07-1976". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
6. "1976 Dixie 500 information (Jack Donohue information)". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
7. "Debuts and retirements". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
8. "1976 Dixie 500 information (third reference)". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
9. "Mister Versatility". Hemmings. Retrieved 2014-04-04.