1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400
Race details[1]
Race 27 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 program cover
1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 program cover
Date September 29, 1996 (1996-09-29)
Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.006 km)
Distance 400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km)
Weather Temperatures up to 66 °F (19 °C); wind speeds up to 6.9 miles per hour (11.1 km/h)[2]
Average speed 96.837 mph (155.844 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Roush Racing
Time 19.059
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 207
Winner
No. 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Allen Bestwick and Barney Hall
Turn Announcers Joe Moore (Backstretch)

The 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the twenty-seventh stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on September 29, 1996 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in Wilkes County, North Carolina. The 400-lap race was won by Jeff Gordon of the Hendrick Motorsports team after he started from second position. Dale Earnhardt finished second and Dale Jarrett came in third.

The victory was Gordon's tenth of the season, and the nineteenth of his career. It was also the last NASCAR race to be held at North Wilkesboro Speedway until the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race.

Entry list

Driver[3] Car # Hometown Make Sponsor Team Crew Chief
Rick Mast 1 Rockbridge Baths, VA Pontiac Hooters Richard Jackson
Rusty Wallace 2 St. Louis, MO Ford Miller Roger Penske
Dale Earnhardt 3 Kannapolis, NC Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service Richard Childress
Sterling Marlin 4 Columbia, TN Chevrolet Kodak Film Larry McClure
Terry Labonte 5 Corpus Christi, TX Chevrolet Kellogg's Corn Flakes Rick Hendrick
Mark Martin 6 Batesville, AR Ford Valvoline Jack Roush
Geoff Bodine 7 Chemung, NY Ford QVC Geoffrey Bodine
Hut Stricklin 8 Calera, AL Ford Circuit City Stavola Brothers
Lake Speed 9 Jackson, MS Ford Spam / Melling Harry Melling
Ricky Rudd 10 Chesapeake, VA Ford Tide Ricky Rudd
Brett Bodine 11 Chemung, NY Ford Lowe's Brett Bodine
Derrike Cope 12 Spanaway, WA Ford Badcock Bobby Allison
Wally Dallenbach Jr. 15 Ford Hayes Modems Bud Moore
Ted Musgrave 16 Franklin, WI Ford Family Channel / Primestar Jack Roush
Darrell Waltrip 17 Franklin, TN Chevrolet Parts America Darrell Waltrip
Bobby Labonte 18 Corpus Christi, TX Chevrolet Interstate Batteries Joe Gibbs
Michael Waltrip 21 Owensboro, KY Ford Citgo Wood Brothers
Jimmy Spencer 23 Berwick, PA Ford Camel Cigarettes Travis Carter
Jeff Gordon 24 Vallejo, CA Chevrolet DuPont Refinishes Rick Hendrick
Ken Schrader 25 Fenton, MO Chevrolet Budweiser Rick Hendrick
Ernie Irvan 28 Modesto, CA Ford Texaco / Havoline Yates Racing
Jeff Green 29 Owensboro, KY Chevrolet Cartoon Network Gary Bechtel
Johnny Benson Jr. 30 Grand Rapids, MI Pontiac Pennzoil Chuck Rider
Robert Pressley 33 Asheville, NC Chevrolet Skoal Bandit Leo Jackson
Jeremy Mayfield 37 Owensboro, KY Ford Kmart / Little Caesars Michael Kranefuss
Ricky Craven 41 Newburgh, ME Chevrolet Kodiak Larry Hedrick
Kyle Petty 42 Trinity, NC Pontiac Coors Light Felix Sabates
Bobby Hamilton 43 Nashville, TN Pontiac STP Petty Enterprises
Dave Marcis 71 Wausau, WI Chevrolet Prodigy Dave Marcis
Morgan Shepherd 75 Conover, NC Ford Remington Arms Butch Mock
Bobby Hillin Jr. 77 Ford Jasper Engines / Federal Mogul Doug Bawel
Kenny Wallace 81 St. Louis, MO Ford Square D Fil Martocci
Joe Nemechek 87 Lakeland, FL Chevrolet Burger King Joe Nemechek
Dale Jarrett 88 Hickory, NC Ford Quality Care / Ford Credit Yates Racing
Bill Elliott 94 Dawsonville, GA Ford McDonald's Bill Elliott
John Andretti 98 Bethlehem, PA Ford RCA Cale Yarborough
Jeff Burton 99 South Boston, VA Ford Exide Batteries Jack Roush

Report

Background

Before the race Jeff Gordon led the Drivers' Championship with 3,903 points, eighty-one ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Terry Labonte in second, with Dale Jarrett a further eighty-one points adrift in third. Dale Earnhardt was fourth on 3,562, and Mark Martin was a further seventy-nine behind in fifth place.[4] Martin was the race's defending champion.[5]

It was announced shortly beforehand that the Tyson Holly Farms 400 would be the last NASCAR race held at North Wilkesboro Speedway after the track was sold to promoters Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre following the death of its previous owner Enoch Staley in 1995. North Wilkesboro's two races would be taken over by Smith's Texas Motor Speedway in the spring and Bahre's New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the fall starting from 1997 as part of a schedule realignment.[6]

First round qualifying

First-round qualifying started at 3 p.m. on Friday. Bobby Hamilton, driving the popular #43 Petty Enterprises Pontiac, had the fastest run before rain interrupted qualifying with 13 of the 40 drivers still waiting to make their run. After a 2+12-hour delay qualifying resumed with Jeff Gordon, the defending series champion, being the first driver to make a qualifying lap. Gordon put his #24 Chevrolet on top of the charts with a lap of 117.937 mph. Gordon's run held until Ted Musgrave, driving for Jack Roush in the #16 Family Channel/Primestar Ford Thunderbird, won the pole with a lap of 118.054 mph. It was Musgrave's first pole of the season and the fifth and final pole of his career. Hamilton ended up 3rd, with defending race winner Mark Martin and Ernie Irvan filling out the top five starting spots.

Second round qualifying

With only the top 25 locked in times from the first round qualifying the previous day, Second-round qualifying allowed drivers to stand on their first-round times or make a second attempt. Only 6 drivers made a second-round attempt on Saturday. Hut Stricklin was the fastest in second-round qualifying, and Dale Jarrett also improved on his first day's effort. Race provisionals went to Geoffrey Bodine, Lake Speed, Robert Pressley, and Jeff Green. Darrell Waltrip got the past champion's provisional. Three drivers, Ward Burton, Dick Trickle and Gary Bradberry, failed to qualify.

Final Practice

Rain cut final practice short for Cup teams. Jeff Gordon completed just 15 laps when his car developed engine problems, later found to be debris in the carburetor.

Race Day

More than 40,000 fans were in attendance to see the final Winston Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro on Sunday. Many fans carried signs with messages such as, "We'll miss you North Wilkesboro," or "Farewell Old Friend". ESPN provided television coverage of the race as it had since 1982. It was the 30th Winston Cup Series race broadcast from the track by ESPN.

Race

The race started at 1 P.M. on Sunday. From the 2nd starting spot, Jeff Gordon jumped out past pole sitter Ted Musgrave to lead the first few laps of the race. On lap 22 the first caution came out for debris on the track. Gordon had a dominant car throughout the race. An accident on the front-stretch between Ernie Irvan, Kyle Petty and Bobby Hamilton brought out the 2nd caution on lap 72. At halfway, Gordon lead and collected the $10,000 halfway leader bonus. Another caution came out on lap 261 for oil on the track. Robert Pressley's accident in turn 3 brought out the final caution on lap 315. With 79 laps to go, Gordon moved past Dale Earnhardt on a restart and took the lead for the final time. Gordon would win the race by 1.73 seconds over Earnhardt. Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Terry Labonte rounded out the top five. It was Gordon's 10th win of the season and third win in a row after victories at Dover and Martinsville. The highest-finishing rookie, Johnny Benson, finishing 17th. Pole sitter Ted Musgrave failed to lead a lap and ended up finished 19th in the 37-car field. The race featured 18 Lead changes between 8 different drivers throughout the day with Gordon leading a race-high 207 laps. Every car that started the race was running at the finish.

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Status Laps Led Points
1 224Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet400running207185
2 113Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet400running35175
3 3088Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord400running0165
4 1499Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord400running2165
5 165Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet400running0155
6 281Rick MastPrecision Products RacingPontiac400running0150
7 2110Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord400running17151
8 343Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac400running48147
9 46Mark MartinRoush RacingFord400running29143
10 92Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord400running43139
11 134Sterling MarlinMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet400running0130
12 1021Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord399running0127
13 1818Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet399running0124
14 1975Morgan ShepherdButch Mock MotorsportsFord399running0121
15 2781Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord399running0118
16 268Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord399running0115
17 630Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac398running0112
18 2425Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet398running0109
19 116Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord398running0106
20 3223Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord398running0103
21 1294Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord398running0100
22 2041Ricky CravenLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet397running097
23 3111Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord397running094
24 2398John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord397running091
25 349Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord397running088
26 2987Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet396running085
27 3717Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet396running082
28 1537Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord395running079
29 2271Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet395running076
30 337Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord394running073
31 2542Kyle PettyTeam SABCOPontiac394running070
32 3629Jeff GreenDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet394running067
33 3533Robert PressleyLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet392running064
34 1715Wally Dallenbach Jr.Bud Moore EngineeringFord391running061
35 877Bobby Hillin Jr.Jasper MotorsportsFord389running058
36 528Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord388running1960
37 712Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord369running052

Race statistics

  • Time of race: 2:34:54
  • Average Speed: 96.837 mph
  • Pole Speed: 118.054 mph
  • Cautions: 4 Cautions for 29 laps
  • Margin of Victory: 1.73 seconds
  • Lead changes: 18 between 8 drivers
  • Percent of race run under caution: 7.25%
  • Average green flag run: 74.2 Laps

Post-race

The results meant Gordon extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship, ahead of Labonte and Jarrett. Earnhardt and Martin rounded out the top five positions.[7] The race took two hours. thirty-four minutes and fifty-four seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 1.73 seconds.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  2. "Weather Information for North Wilkesboro, North Carolina". Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  3. "1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Tyson Holly Farms 400 Entry List - North Wilkesboro Speedway". frcs.pro. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  4. "1996 Official Driver Standings: Hanes 500". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  5. McKee, Sandra (September 28, 1996). "NASCAR takes last lap at roots Racing: With tomorrow's Holly Farms 400, NASCAR bids goodbye to its oldest track, North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway". The Baltimore Sun. North Wilkesboro, North Carolina: Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  6. Harris, Mike (September 26, 1996). "NASCAR says goodbye to North Wilkesboro". The Advocate-Messenger. North Wilkesboro, North Carolina: Schurz Communications. Associated Press. p. 16. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  7. "1996 Official Driver Standings: Tyson/Holly Farms 400". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
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