1976 National 500

Auto race run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1976 February 2025 CUST Race 27 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season National 500 1976 National 500 weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac1976 National 500 racing information at Racing Reference 1976 10 10 1976 27 30 1976National500NASCARRaceProgram.jpg This is a souvenir magazine from the 1976 running of the National 500. Temperatures of 64.9 F C; wind speeds of 10.1 mph km/h National 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina 1.500 2.414 334 500 804 141.226 mph on David Pearson Wood Brothers 33.494 seconds Buddy Baker Bud Moore 104 1 Donnie Allison Hoss Ellington ABC Chris Economaki The 1976 National 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on October 10, 1976, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Race report A souvenir program was offered to the spectators at a cost of $3 USD per copy ($ when adjusted for inflation). Another race took place the previous day known as the World Service Life 300; a companion race that accompanied the National 500 during the course of the 1970s. The race was held on a dry circuit; with no precipitation recorded around the speedway. http://www.sercc.com/CharlotteNASCARClimatology.pdf Charlotte NASCAR Climatology SERCC 2018-09-12 2018-09-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20180908092914/http://www.sercc.com/CharlotteNASCARClimatology.pdf dead Forty American-born drivers competed at this race; the winner received $22,435 out of the total prize purse ($ when adjusted for inflation). Last-place finisher Al Holbert received only $855 for his engine problem of lap 7 out of the scheduled 334 laps of the race ($ in when adjusted for inflation). Janet Guthrie was the only female competitor in this three-hour-and-thirty-two-minute race. After three cautions for eighteen laps and 26 lead changes, Donnie Allison defeated Cale Yarborough in front of 74500 other people. Had Cale Yarborough won the race, he would have won five consecutive races. A.J. Foyt quit the Hoss Ellington team in the early stages of the race, telling reporters he'd rather build his own cars than drive cars that are "never prepared." The frustrated Foyt quipped that he "couldn't keep that car in a 10 acre bryar patch." Donnie Allison won the race driving Foyt's backup car in a last minute entry. David Pearson qualified for the pole position with a top speed of 161.223 mph km/h while the average racing speed was 141.226 mph km/h. His next pole position achievement would be at the 1977 World 600. http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Top_25_Lowes_Motor_Speedway_moments_David_Pearsons_many_achievements.html David Pearson's pole position accomplishment Scene Daily 2011-08-06 Notable crew chiefs that participated in this race included Junie Donlavey, Jake Elder, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Sterling Marlin and Tim Brewer. https://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1976-27/W/C 1976 National 500 crew chiefs Racing Reference 2018-08-16 Buck Baker would make his last NASCAR start here before retiring with a 34th-place finish in the books. He would go on to tutor an adolescent Jeff Gordon; who would go on to become one of the best NASCAR drivers in the "modern" era of NASCAR.http://www.thatsracin.com/2013/02/03/100241/2013-nascar-hall-of-fame-inductee.html 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame: Buck Baker at a glance That's Racin' 2013-06-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20130206230541/http://www.thatsracin.com/2013/02/03/100241/2013-nascar-hall-of-fame-inductee.html 2013-02-06 dead Hoss Ellington would make his first win as a NASCAR owner while bending the rules so that both his vehicles could compete. https://books.google.com/books?id=oapvnp95m1AC&dq=%221976+National+500%22&pg=PT118 Hoss Ellington at the 1976 National 500 9781612340425 2013-06-17 McLaurin Jim 31 July 2001 Gordon Johncock would also retire from NASCAR after this race. David Pearson had to get out of his #21 Purolator Mercury in this race. Neil Bonnett, an early retiree in this one, hopped into the Wood Brothers special as a relief driver to help out as the car went on to a top-10 finish. It was something of an early bird cameo in the #21 for Bonnett as he would later replace Pearson as the team's Cup driver in early 1979. Johnny Rutherford had entered the qualifying session carrying a faulty engine; the car was supposedly "set up" and the crews did not need to work on the chassis. Before he took the green to qualify he stopped and backed up a lap as he was screaming for a wedge adjustment. After eight turns down on the left rear he did put the car in the show. The decision was made to check the chassis and the front end settings were backward and the car had qualified with four inches of bite. As the race progressed Rutherford wanted four turns down on the right rear, which made no sense. The spinout that followed did not eliminate the car from the race but the engine failure down the backstretch did. Engines back then were not turned as tight as today. The tachometer was pegged to the maximum. He had clutched the motor and had to exit the race on lap 208 with a 31st-place finish; 13 places worse than the position that he qualified for. Qualifying Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Speed Speed in miles per hourQualifying information for the 1976 National 500 https://web.archive.org/web/20170401232835/http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/1976-27/W April 1, 2017 at Racing Reference Qualifying time Qualifying time in seconds Owner 1 21 David Pearson Mercury 161.223 33.494 Wood Brothers 2 15 Buddy Baker Ford 159.915 33.768 Bud Moore 3 43 Richard Petty Dodge 159.726 33.808 Petty Enterprises 4 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet 159.297 33.899 Junior Johnson 5 2 Bobby Allison Mercury 158.898 33.984 Roger Penske 6 27 Sam Sommers Chevrolet 158.744 34.017 M.C. Anderson 7 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 158.493 34.071 DiGard 8 71 Dave Marcis Dodge 157.141 34.364 Nord Krauskopf 9 17 Gordon Johncock Dodge 157.109 34.371 Nord Krauskopf 10 54 Lennie Pond Chevrolet 156.849 34.428 Ronnie Elder Top 20 finishers Pos No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Laps Number of laps completed Laps led Number of laps led Time/Status 11Donnie AllisonChevrolet33459 3:32:51 211Cale YarboroughChevrolet33481 +12.2 seconds 32Bobby AllisonMercury3348 Lead lap under green flag 415Buddy BakerFord334106 Lead lap under green flag 572Benny ParsonsChevrolet3330 +1 lap 621David PearsonMercury33159 +1 lap 754Lennie PondChevrolet3290 +3 laps 843Richard PettyDodge3285 +4 laps 990Dick BrooksFord3280 +4 laps 1036Bobby WawakChevrolet3260 +6 laps 1188Darrell WaltripChevrolet3250 +7 laps 1267Buddy ArringtonDodge3230 +11 laps 1392Skip ManningChevrolet3220 +12 laps 1441Grant AdcoxChevrolet3190+14 laps 153Richard ChildressChevrolet3190 +14 laps 1622Ricky RuddChevrolet3180 +15 laps 1749G.C. SpencerDodge3160 +17 laps 1848James HyltonChevrolet3150 +18 laps 1905David SiscoChevrolet3150 +19 laps 2033Earl BrooksChevrolet3140 +20 laps Timeline Section reference: Start: David Pearson was leading the other drivers to the green flag to start the first official lap. Lap 7: Al Holbert fell out with engine failure. Lap 41: A valve stopped working on Gordon Johncock's vehicle. Lap 59: A.J. Foyt quit the race despite his vehicle not suffering from any mechanical issues. Lap 70: A valve stopped working on Ed Negre's vehicle. Lap 80: The clutch stopped functioning on Sam Sommers' vehicle. Lap 126: Neil Bonnett fell out with engine failure. Lap 144: Bruce Hill fell out with engine failure. Lap 148: A valve stopped working on Sonny Easley's vehicle. Lap 189: A valve stopped working on Coo Coo Marlin's vehicle. Lap 208: Johnny Rutherford managed to blow his vehicle's engine. Lap 250: D.K. Ulrich fell out with engine failure. Lap 262: A valve stopped working on Dave Marcis' vehicle. Lap 268: The rear end of Cecil Gordon's vehicle was forcibly removed in an unsafe manner. Finish: Donnie Allison was officially declared the winner of the event. Standings after the race Pos Driver Points Differential 1 10px Cale Yarborough 4225 0 2 10px Richard Petty 4098 -127 3 10px Benny Parsons 3914 -311 4 10px Bobby Allison 3788 -437 5 10px Dave Marcis 3506 -719 6 10px Lennie Pond 3494 -731 7 10px Buddy Baker 3460 -765 8 10px Richard Childress 3203 -1022 9 10px Darrell Waltrip 3151 -1074 10 Dick Brooks 3069 -1156 References 1976 Wilkes 400 1976 American 500 NASCAR Winston Cup Season 1976 1975 1977 National 500/NAPA National 500 races 1976 National 500 National 500 Category:NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway