1976 World 600
Race details[1]
Race 13 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Date May 30, 1976 (1976-May-30)
Official name World 600
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures of 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed 137.352 mph (221.047 km/h)
Attendance 103,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Wood Brothers Racing
Time 33.9341 seconds
159.132 mph (256.098 km/h)
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Laps 230
Winner
No. 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ken Squier

The 1976 World 600, the 17th running of the event, was a Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 30, 1976, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Race report

The five drivers that dominated the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season were David Pearson (average finish of 7th place), Cale Yarborough (average finish of 8th place), Richard Petty (average finish of 9th place), Benny Parsons (average finish of 10th place), and Bobby Allison (average finish 12th place).

Four hundred laps took place spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km).[2] It took four hours and twenty-two minutes for David Pearson to defeat Richard Petty under the race's final yellow flag in front of 103,000 spectators. [2]

Pearson would earn the pole position with a speed of 159.132 miles per hour (256.098 km/h) while the race's average speed would be 137.352 miles per hour (221.047 km/h); he would clinch his third career World 600 win at this event along with his final win ever at Charlotte.[2] Dale Earnhardt ran a #30 Army Special Chevrolet scheme at this event.[2] Terry Ryan was the last-place finisher due to a hub problem on lap 11. [2] Wisconsin short track ace Dick Trickle did a one-off in a second car, the #99 Ford, for the Junie Donlavey team, blew an engine and retired before halfway.[2] Seven cautions slowed the race for 38 laps (including the 400th lap of the race).[2]

For the first 245 laps the primary battle was between Pearson and Yarborough as the lead officially changed 33 times in that span and 37 in all. Yarborough cut a tire and finished a lap down in third.

David Pearson's next pole position would be at Riverside International Raceway two weeks later; he would win eight poles overall that year including at the 1976 National 500; which took place that October.[3]

Bobby Isaac blew his engine and spun at Lap 46; it would be his final Winston Cup start. It was ironic that Isaac’s career ended in the World 600, as his debut came fifteen years earlier when, as a favor, he started and parked Junior Johnson's car in the qualifying race for this historic event.

Janet Guthrie would make her debut here.[4] She was invited to attempt this race by Humpy Wheeler after failing to qualify for the 1976 Indianapolis 500. Guthrie finished her first stock car race in 15th place and drove well over 500 miles in the process, silencing some of the era's critics who thought women wouldn't be able to go the distance in long oval races.[2]

Notable crew chiefs who participated in this race included Junie Donlavey, Jake Elder, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, and Bud Moore.[5]

Race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $49,990 ($257,083 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's earnings of $885 ($4,551 when adjusted for inflation). The total prize purse sanctioned by NASCAR for this event was $225,025 ($1,157,234 when adjusted for inflation).[6]

Qualifying

Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer
1 21David PearsonMercury
2 43Richard PettyDodge
3 11Cale YarboroughChevrolet
4 2Bobby AllisonMercury
5 71Dave MarcisDodge
6 15Buddy BakerFord
7 28Donnie AllisonChevrolet
8 14Charlie GlotzbachChevrolet
9 88Darrell WaltripChevrolet
10 90Dick BrooksFord
11 18Harry GantChevrolet
12 48James HyltonChevrolet
13 54Lennie PondChevrolet
14 79Frank WarrenDodge
15 99Dick TrickleFord
16 72Benny ParsonsChevrolet
17 19Cecil GordonChevrolet
18 3Richard ChildressChevrolet
19 47Bruce HillChevrolet
20 41Grant AdcoxChevrolet
21 67Buddy ArringtonDodge
22 92Skip ManningChevrolet
23 27Sam SommersChevrolet
24 60Jackie RogersChevrolet
25 30Dale EarnhardtChevrolet
26 9Bill ElliottFord
27 68Janet GuthrieChevrolet
28 8Ed NegreDodge
29 70J.D. McDuffieChevrolet
30 50Darrell BryantChevrolet
31 81Terry RyanChevrolet
32 05David SiscoChevrolet
33 26Bobby WawakChevrolet
34 6Bobby IsaacChevrolet
35 52Jimmy MeansChevrolet
36 25Dick MayChevrolet
37 7D.K. UlrichChevrolet
38 95Gary MyersChevrolet
39 29Walter BallardChevrolet
40 91Bob BurchamChevrolet

Box Score

Cautions: 7 for 38 laps
Margin of victory: under caution

Fin Grid Car
#
Driver Car Make Laps Status Laps
Led
Points
1121David PearsonMercury4004:22:06230185 (10)
2243Richard PettyDodge400Running56175 (5)
3311Cale YarboroughChevrolet399Running108170 (5)
442Bobby AllisonMercury397Running0160
51672Benny ParsonsChevrolet396Running1160 (5)
6728Donnie AllisonChevrolet396Running0150
71090Dick BrooksFord391Crash0146
81354Lennie PondChevrolet391Running0142
91118Harry GantChevrolet387Running0138
103205David SiscoChevrolet386Running0134
11988Darrell WaltripChevrolet384Running0130
122041Grant AdcoxChevrolet383Crash0127
131248James HyltonChevrolet383Running0124
142167Buddy ArringtonDodge379Running0121
152768Janet GuthrieChevrolet379Running00
16377D.K. UlrichChevrolet378Running0115
17183Richard ChildressChevrolet373Running0112
181479Frank WarrenDodge371Running0109
193050Darrell BryantChevrolet371Running0106
201719Cecil GordonChevrolet365Running0103
213625Dick MayChevrolet361Running0100
223929Walter BallardChevrolet356Running097
23269Bill ElliottFord343Engine094
242327Sam SommersChevrolet343Running091
252970J.D. McDuffieChevrolet303Running088
263326Bobby WawakChevrolet276Engine085
27288Ed NegreDodge245Running082
28615Buddy BakerFord230Crash079
29571Dave MarcisDodge230Engine581 (5)
303895Gary MyersChevrolet164Engine073
312530Dale EarnhardtChevrolet156Engine070
321599Dick TrickleFord142Engine067
332292Skip ManningChevrolet137Engine064
34814Charlie GlotzbachChevrolet121Engine061
354091Bob BurchamChevrolet99Sway bar058
362460Jackie RogersChevrolet88Steering055
371947Bruce HillChevrolet51Transmission052
38346Bobby IsaacChevrolet39Engine049
393552Jimmy MeansChevrolet32Engine046
403181Terry RyanChevrolet11Hub043

(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap
(10) Indicates 10 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap & leading the most laps.

Lap Leader Breakdown

Lead changes: 37

Driver From
Lap
To
Lap
Number
of Laps
Cale Yarborough111
David Pearson232
Cale Yarborough452
David Pearson661
Cale Yarborough74640
Dave Marcis47482
Cale Yarborough496113
David Pearson628524
Benny Parsons86861
David Pearson879711
Cale Yarborough981047
David Pearson10511713
Richard Petty1181192
Cale Yarborough1201267
David Pearson12714519
Dave Marcis1461472
David Pearson1481503
Cale Yarborough1511522
David Pearson1531564
Cale Yarborough1571626
David Pearson1631697
Cale Yarborough1701712
David Pearson17218514
Cale Yarborough18619611
Dave Marcis1971971
Cale Yarborough1982036
David Pearson20421916
Cale Yarborough2202201
David Pearson2212211
Cale Yarborough2222221
David Pearson2232231
Cale Yarborough2242329
David Pearson23325119
Richard Petty25230049
David Pearson30136363
Richard Petty3643685
David Pearson36940032

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Benny Parsons 1996 0
2 Cale Yarborough 1982 -14
3 Richard Petty 1898 -98
4 Bobby Allison 1816 -180
5 Increase Lennie Pond 1730 -266
6 Decrease Dave Marcis 1693 -303
7 Richard Childress 1628 -368
8 Increase Darrell Waltrip 1514 -482
9 Decrease Buddy Baker 1508 -488
10 Frank Warren 1480 -516

References

  1. "1976 World 600 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "1976 World 600 race information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  3. "David Pearson's pole position accomplishment". Scene Daily. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
  4. "Janet Guthrie's NASCAR debut". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on 2017-06-01. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
  5. "1976 World 600 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  6. "1976 World 600 prize winnings information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
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