1977 Daytona 500

Auto race run in Florida in 1977 February 2025 1977 NASWINSTON 2 30 1977_Daytona_500_program_cover_and_logo.jpg 1977 Daytona 500 program cover 1977 2 20 200 500 804.672 Temperatures of 73.9 F C; wind speeds up to 24.1 mph km/hWeather information for the 1977 Daytona 500 at Old Farmers Almanac 153.218 mi/h Donnie Allison Ellington Racing Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates 137 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates ABC's WWOS Jim McKay Jackie Stewart Chris Economaki 12.9/35 (16.0 million viewers) The 1977 Daytona 500, the 19th running of the event, was held on February 20, 1977, as the second race of the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season.1977 Daytona 500 race overview at Racing Reference First Daytona 500 starts for Janet Guthrie, Ricky Rudd, Ron Hutcherson, Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Bobby Wawak. Only Daytona 500 start for Sam Sommers. Last Daytona 500 starts for Bob Burcham, Terry Ryan, Walter Ballard, Salt Walther, Ramo Stott, Ed Negre, and Jim Hurtubise. Summary Cale Yarborough won his second Daytona 500 and it would lead to his second straight Winston Cup title, and Donnie Allison won his second pole position for this event. Janet Guthrie made history at this race as the first female NASCAR Cup Series driver; getting a 12th place finish in the process. Bobby Wawak bailed out of his car while it was still moving and on fire on lap 3. Seconds later the car slammed the inside wall by the entrance to pit road. Wawak got 15% burns on his body on his face which was second degree, first degree on his hands and one of his legs and was taken to hospital. Chris Economaki who was reporting in the pits for ABC Sports said "The doctors told him if he had fire retardant underwear on (Gloves, socks and a balaclava) he would not be injured at all". Three Time Formula One World Champion Jackie Stewart who was commentating on the race for ABC Sports said "The drivers themselves are negligent, drivers should always wear flame resistant underwear and thermal underwear. The accident we seen today is just typical if your not properly protected". The race resulted in the first Top 10 finish for Jimmy Means, the final Top 10 finish for Bob Burcham, and the last Top 5 finish for the late Coo Coo Marlin. Jim Vandiver retired from the NASCAR Winston Cup Series after this race. Richard Petty started the race 7/8 from pit lane in last place. He caught a break with the caution for Wawak's fire then worked his way through the field back into contention only to later blow the engine and drop out. Donnie Allison blew a tire at the start/finish line on lap 88, and was forced to limp into the pits, where his team discovered too much damage had been done, so they pulled the car out of the race. Defending Daytona 500 David Pearson also had mechanical issues. The Silver Fox led two laps but like Petty, his #21 Purolator Mercury was sidelined with a blown engine before the 3/4 mark. USAC Champ Car racer Salt Walther's last NASCAR Cup start ended in a backstretch crash. A gust of wind caught Walther's self-owned #4 Chevrolet and caused him to lose it triggering a three-car incident that also included Buddy Baker and Dave Marcis. Baker recovered to finish third but Salt was done for the day. Once Petty and Pearson were gone the race came down to a battle between Cale Yarborough and Benny Parsons that saw Yarborough eventually prevail. Race results Pos Grid No. Car number Driver Entrant Manufacturer Laps Laps completed Winnings Laps led Laps as the lead driver Time/Status Points Points include 5 bonus points for leading a lap and an additional 5 bonus points for leading the most laps. 1 4 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 200 $63,700 137 3:15:48 185 2 6 72 Benny Parsons L. G. DeWitt Chevrolet 200 $38,825 16 +1.39 175 3 8 15 Buddy Baker Bud Moore Engineering Ford 199 $28,075 16 +1 Lap 170 4 13 14 Coo Coo Marlin H. B. Cunningham Chevrolet 198 $17,825 0 +2 Laps 160 5 15 90 Dick Brooks Donlavey Racing Ford 198 $18,100 0 +2 Laps 155 6 2 51 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 197 $13,800 13 +3 Laps – Not eligible for points 7 10 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Racing Chevrolet 193 $15,745 4 +7 Laps 151 8 23 52 Jimmy Means Bill Gray Chevrolet 192 $10,985 0 +8 Laps 142 9 30 19 Bob Burcham Henley Gray Chevrolet 191 $12,475 0 +9 Laps 138 10 37 48 James Hylton James Hylton Chevrolet 189 $11,090 0 +11 Laps 134 11 33 79 Frank Warren Frank Warren Dodge 188 $8,920 1 +12 Laps 135 12 39 68 Janet Guthrie Lynda Ferreri Chevrolet 188 $7,390 0 +12 Laps 127 13 24 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Chevrolet 184 $8,115 0 Engine 124 14 42 40 D. K. Ulrich J. R. DeLotto Chevrolet 168 $7,210 0 +32 Laps 121 15 7 12 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison Motorsports Matador 167 $6,560 0 Engine 118 16 35 30 Tighe Scott Walter Ballard Chevrolet 166 $6,285 0 Engine 115 17 41 24 Cecil Gordon Gordon Racing Chevrolet 164 $5,615 0 +36 Laps 112 18 34 81 Terry Ryan Bill Monaghan Chevrolet 159 $3,885 0 Engine 109 19 29 03 Walter Ballard Walter Ballard Chevrolet 153 $3,700 0 Engine 106 20 19 31 Jim Vandiver Ranier Racing Dodge 137 $3,520 0 +63 Laps 103 21 5 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 135 $5,440 2 Engine 105 22 21 22 Ricky Rudd Al Rudd Chevrolet 135 $2,935 0 Rear end 97 23 32 3 Richard Childress Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 127 $3,290 0 +73 Laps 94 24 25 4 Salt Walther Salt Walther Chevrolet 114 $2,725 0 Crash – Not eligible for points 25 18 47 Bruce Hill Bruce Hill Chevrolet 113 $2,750 0 Engine 88 26 3 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 111 $9,550 4 Engine 90 27 12 60 Ramo Stott Lou Viglione Chevrolet 107 $2,450 0 Crash 82 28 9 2 Dave Marcis Penske Racing Mercury 103 $6,150 1 +97 Laps 84 29 22 8 Ed Negre Ed Negre Dodge 101 $3,175 0 Engine 76 30 1 1 Donnie Allison Hoss Ellington Chevrolet 88 $7,575 6 Crash 78 31 36 27 Sam Sommers M. C. Anderson Chevrolet 87 $1,350 0 Water pump 70 32 31 83 Ron Hutcherson Norris Reed Chevrolet 85 $4,525 0 Transmission 67 33 20 26 Jimmy Lee Capps David Lee Sellers Chevrolet 77 $2,175 0 Rear end 64 34 14 41 Grant Adcox Herb Adcox Chevrolet 73 $2,325 0 Engine 61 35 26 95 Jim Hurtubise Junior Miller Chevrolet 69 $2,050 0 Oil cooler 58 36 27 92 Skip Manning Billy Hagan Chevrolet 65 $2,615 0 Engine 55 37 11 71 Neil Bonnett Nord Krauskopf Dodge 65 $5,525 0 Engine 52 38 38 67 Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington Dodge 51 $1,780 0 Engine 49 39 28 29 Roy Smith Dick Midgley Chevrolet 45 $2,020 0 Engine 46 40 16 87 Elliott Forbes-Robinson Ferrel Harris Dodge 44 $2,025 0 Engine 43 41 40 77 Johnny Rutherford Johnny Ray Chevrolet 29 $1,725 0 Vibration – Not eligible for points 42 17 32 Bobby Wawak John Gwinn Chevrolet 3 $2,400 0 Fire 37 Source:1977 Daytona 500 Media Television The Daytona 500 was covered by ABC for the sixteenth time. ABC only aired reports during the early stages of the race, live coverage started at 3:00pm - about two thirds of the way into the race. Live coverage continued until after the finish. Jim McKay and three time Formula One World Champion Jackie Stewart called the race from the broadcast booth. Chris Economaki handled pit road for the television side. ABC Booth announcers Pit reporters Lap-by-lap Color-commentators Jim McKay Jackie Stewart Chris Economaki References Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway Daytona 500 Dayton Daytona 500