1976 Firecracker 400
| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 16 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 This was the official brochure of the 1976 Firecracker 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event. | |||
| Date | July 4, 1976 | ||
| Official name | Firecracker 400 | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.500 mi (4.023 km) | ||
| Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643 km) | ||
| Weather | Hot with temperatures reaching up to 91.0 °F (32.8 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 160.966 miles per hour (259.050 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 50,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ellington Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Cale Yarborough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 71 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 11 | Cale Yarborough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC (tape delay) | ||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson | ||
The 1976 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 4, 1976, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Ticket prices for this race ranged from $8 ($33.27 when adjusted for inflation) to $30 ($124.75 when adjusted for inflation).[3]
Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.
Summary
There were 40 drivers on the racing grid; all of them were American-born males except for Janet Guthrie.[2] Buddy Arrington "earned" his last-place finish due to ignition troubles before the start of the first lap out of the 160 laps raced that day.[2][4] A.J. Foyt achieved the pole position with a top speed of 183.090 miles per hour (294.655 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 160.966 miles per hour (259.050 km/h).[2][5]
Cale Yarborough managed to defeat David Pearson by eight seconds in front of an audience of 40,000 people.[2] Two cautions (for 14 laps) and 41 different lead changes made the race two hours and twenty-nine minutes long.[2][5] The green flag was waved at 10:00 A.M. and the checkered flag was waved at approximately 12:29 P.M.
The winner of the race received $22,215 ($92,380.62 when adjusted for inflation) while the last place finisher went home with $1,310 ($5,447.61 when adjusted for inflation).[2][4] The race was run on America's 200th birthday and was the site of Dick Skillen's best career finish of 17th place.
Finishing order
- Cale Yarborough
- David Pearson
- Bobby Allison
- A.J. Foyt
- Dave Marcis
- Coo Coo Marlin†
- Benny Parsons†
- Dick Brooks†
- David Sisco
- Ricky Rudd
- Jimmy Means
- Richard Childress
- Frank Warren
- Bobby Wawak†
- Janet Guthrie
- D.K. Ulrich
- Dick Skillen
- Harold Miller
- Bill Elliott
- Johnny Rutherford*
- Jimmy Lee Capps
- Richard Petty*
- Joe Mihalic
- J.D. McDuffie*†
- Bruce Hill*
- James Hylton*
- Dick May*†
- Ferrel Harris*†
- Tommy Gale*†
- Grant Adcox*†
- Skip Manning*
- Lennie Pond*
- Neil Bonnett*†
- Cecil Gordon*
- Buddy Baker*
- Buck Baker*†
- Ed Negre*
- Jackie Rogers*
- Darrell Waltrip*
- Buddy Arrington*
† 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 | 2503 |
| 2 | Benny Parsons | 2413 |
| 3 | Bobby Allison | 2331 |
| 4 | Richard Petty | 2303 |
| 5 | Dave Marcis | 2060 |
References
- ↑ 1976 Firecracker 400 weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Firecracker 400 racing information at Racing Reference
- ↑ 1976 Firecracker Ticket Prices at Starport75.com
- 1 2 1976 Firecracker 400 racing information at Driver Averages
- 1 2 1976 Firecracker 400 racing information at Database Racing
| Preceded by 1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Season 1976 |
Succeeded by 1976 Nashville 420 |
| Preceded by 1975 |
Firecracker 400 races 1976 |
Succeeded by 1977 |