1976 Dixie 500

1976 Dixie 500
Race details
Race 29 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Atlanta International Speedway, until 1996
Date November 7, 1976
Location Atlanta International Raceway (Hampton, Georgia)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance 328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km)
WeatherTemperatures reaching a maximum of 66.9 °F (19.4 °C); wind speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)[1]
Average speed 127.396 miles per hour (205.024 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Buddy Baker Bud Moore Engineering
Most laps led
Driver Dave Marcis K&K Insurance Racing
Laps 224
Winner
No. 71
 Dave Marcis
 K&K Insurance Racing
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ken Squier

The 1976 Dixie 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on November 7, 1976, at Atlanta International Raceway in the American community of Hampton, Georgia.[2]

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Summary

Three hundred and twenty eight laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 1.522 miles (2.449 km) for a grand total of 499.2 miles (803.4 km).[2] The total time of the race was three hours and fifty-five minutes.[2] Four cautions were made for forty-one laps.[2] Dave Marcis defeated David Pearson by two car lengths.[2] Chevrolet vehicles managed to fill out the majority of the racing grid.[3]

Speeds for this race were: 127.396 miles per hour (205.024 km/h) as the average and 161.652 miles per hour (260.154 km/h) for the pole position.[2] Forty-six thousand fans attended this live race.[2] Total winnings for this race were $132,625 ($549,656.94 when adjusted for inflation). Canadian driver Jack Donohue would finish the race in last place without completing any laps of the race due to an engine problem;[4] he was granted 55 championship points just for qualifying.[2] Richie Panch, son of Marvin Panch, would retire after the end of this race while Billy McGinnis would make his official NASCAR Cup Series debut.[5]

Dale Earnhardt survived a huge crash when Richard Brooks slid down the banking of Turn 3; Earnhardt hit Brooks and tumbled to Turn 4.[6] Future NASCAR superstar Bill Elliott had a role wiping the windshield of 16th place finisher Gene Felton's stock car; Elliott would go on to have a successful Cup Series career of his own 14 years later.[7]

Finishing order

  1. Dave Marcis
  2. David Pearson
  3. Donnie Allison (highest winning Chevrolet driver)
  4. Cale Yarborough
  5. Buddy Baker (highest winning Ford driver)
  6. Benny Parsons†
  7. Darrell Waltrip
  8. Neil Bonnett†
  9. Sam Sommers
  10. Bobby Wawak†
  11. Bruce Hill
  12. James Hylton
  13. J.D. McDuffie†
  14. Skip Manning
  15. Sonny Easley†
  16. Gene Felton
  17. Jimmy Means
  18. D.K. Ulrich
  19. Dale Earnhardt*†
  20. Grant Adcox*†
  21. Richie Panch*†
  22. Terry Bivins*
  23. Cecil Gordon†
  24. Lennie Pond*
  25. Richard Childress*
  26. Bobby Allison*
  27. Frank Warren*
  28. Richard Petty*
  29. Dick Brooks*†
  30. Coo Coo Marlin*†
  31. Chuck Bown*
  32. Dick May*†
  33. David Sisco*
  34. Billy McGinnis*
  35. G.C. Spencer*†
  36. Jack Donohue*

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2]
1 Cale Yarborough 4545
2 Richard Petty 4362
3 Benny Parsons 4139
4 Bobby Allison 4033
5 Dave Marcis 3784

References

  1. ↑ "1976 Dixie 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "1976 Dixie 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  3. ↑ "Official Race Results: Dixie 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on 11-07-1976". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  4. ↑ "1976 Dixie 500 information (Jack Donohue information)". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  5. ↑ "Debuts and retirements". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  6. ↑ "1976 Dixie 500 information (third reference)". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  7. ↑ "Mister Versatility". Hemmings. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
Preceded by
1976 American 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1976 		Succeeded by
1976 Los Angeles Times 500