1996 First Union 400

Seventh race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series February 2025 NASWINSTON 1996 7 31 1996_First_Union_400.jpeg The 1996 First Union 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. 46th Annual First Union 400 North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina 400 0.625 1.006 250 402.336 96.37 mph km/h Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports 19.287 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports 167 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports ESPN Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons MRN First Union 400 April 14 The 1996 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 46th and to date, final iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 14, 1996, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 mi km oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would manage to take advantage of a late-race restart with 20 to go and pull away to take his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.Higgins Tom April 15, 1996 Labonte wins, catches Petty http://www.thatsracin.com/96/docs/4_14firs.htm dead https://web.archive.org/web/20000815213953/http://www.thatsracin.com/96/docs/4_14firs.htm August 15, 2000 October 13, 2022 That's Racin' The Charlotte ObserverMacenka Joe April 15, 1996 Labonte ties record in grand style 19 Star-Gazette https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111219314/labonte-ties-record-in-grand-style/ October 13, 2022 Newspapers.com To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively. Background thumb|The layout of North Wilkesboro Speedway, the venue where the race was held. North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625 mi km on and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing. Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. #DriverTeamMake1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingPontiac2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord8Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord9Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord15Wally Dallenbach Jr.Bud Moore EngineeringFord16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet19Dick TrickleTriStar MotorsportsFord21Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27Elton SawyerDavid Blair MotorsportsFord28Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord29Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Johnny Benson Jr. (R)Bahari RacingPontiac33Robert PressleyLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet37Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord41Ricky CravenLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kyle PettyTeam SABCOPontiac43Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Morgan ShepherdButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Bobby Hillin Jr.Jasper MotorsportsFord78Randy MacDonaldTriad MotorsportsFord81Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord87Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Mike WallaceDonlavey RacingFord94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord98Jeremy MayfieldCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 12, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, April 13, at 9:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-32 would be decided on time,April 12, 1996 First Union 400 13 The Charlotte Observer https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111219465/first-union-400/ October 13, 2022 Newspapers.com and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points. Terry Labonte, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 19.287 and an average speed of 116.659 mph km/h.McCollister Tom April 13, 1996 Labonte earns pole, goes for record next 71 The Atlanta Constitution https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111219552/labonte-earns-pole-goes-for-record-next/ October 13, 2022 Newspapers.com Five drivers would fail to qualify: Dave Marcis, Randy MacDonald, Mike Wallace, Ward Burton, and Bobby Hillin Jr. Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed15Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.287116.659227Elton SawyerDavid Blair MotorsportsFord19.370116.15936Mark MartinRoush RacingFord19.373116.141443Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac19.375116.129525Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.382116.087616Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord19.405115.949741Ricky CravenLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.414115.89684Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet19.437115.759999Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord19.437115.7591098Jeremy MayfieldCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord19.443115.7231133Robert PressleyLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet19.457115.640122Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord19.469115.5681342Kyle PettyTeam SABCOPontiac19.472115.551149Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord19.480115.5031512Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord19.489115.4501681Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord19.506115.3491724Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet19.511115.3201823Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord19.512115.3141911Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord19.536115.1722037John AndrettiKranefuss-Haas RacingFord19.537115.1662175Morgan ShepherdButch Mock MotorsportsFord19.539115.1542228Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord19.540115.1482315Wally Dallenbach Jr.Bud Moore EngineeringFord19.544115.1252430Johnny Benson Jr. (R)Bahari RacingPontiac19.544115.1252529Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet19.557115.048Failed to lock in Round 1263Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet19.560115.031277Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord19.570114.9722818Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet19.601114.7902988Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord19.604114.7723017Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet19.610114.737311Rick MastPrecision Products RacingPontiac19.634114.5973219Dick TrickleTriStar MotorsportsFord19.636114.585Provisionals3310Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord -* -*3421Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord -* -*358Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord -* -*3687Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*Champion's Provisional3794Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord -* -*Failed to qualify3871Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet -* -*3978Randy MacDonaldTriad MotorsportsFord -* -*4090Mike WallaceDonlavey RacingFord -* -*4122Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac -* -*4277Bobby Hillin Jr.Jasper MotorsportsFord -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial qualifying results Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings115Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet400167running185$229,02521724Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet4000running170$52,7503263Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4000running165$38,52541133Robert PressleyLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet40043running165$35,305584Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet40064running160$31,85562228Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord3991running155$22,7557741Ricky CravenLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet3992running151$24,9808443Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac3980running142$20,8159525Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3980running138$20,390102818Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet3980running134$29,170112988Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord3980running130$16,61512616Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord3981running132$19,740131512Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord3980running124$19,42514311Rick MastPrecision Products RacingPontiac3980running121$19,190153310Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord3970running118$24,14016358Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord3970running115$13,890173421Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord3970running112$20,590181681Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord3970running109$7,76519277Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord3970running106$18,415201098Jeremy MayfieldCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord3960running103$13,115213794Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord3960running100$18,065223219Dick TrickleTriStar MotorsportsFord3950running97$7,515231911Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord3950running94$17,765242430Johnny Benson Jr. (R)Bahari RacingPontiac3940running91$18,615253017Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet3940running88$17,640262529Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet3940running85$17,290272175Morgan ShepherdButch Mock MotorsportsFord3942running87$10,140282315Wally Dallenbach Jr.Bud Moore EngineeringFord3940running79$17,07529999Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord3940running76$7,090301342Kyle PettyTeam SABCOPontiac3940running73$16,215311823Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord3920running70$13,64032227Elton SawyerDavid Blair MotorsportsFord3910running67$6,61533122Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord390119running69$21,615342037John AndrettiKranefuss-Haas RacingFord3681crash66$14,59035149Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord3680running58$13,590363687Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet3670crash55$13,5653736Mark MartinRoush RacingFord3550running52$23,415Official race results References 1996 Food City 500 1996 Goody's Headache Powder 500 (Martinsville) 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Category:1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Category:NASCAR races at North Wilkesboro Speedway Category:April 1996 sports events in the United States Category:1996 in sports in North Carolina