1977 Southern 500

1977 Southern 500
Race details[1][2][3]
Race 22 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Layout of Darlington Raceway
Date September 5, 1977 (1977-September-05)
Official name Southern 500
Location Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.375 mi (2.212 km)
Distance 367 laps, 500.5 mi (805.4 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 86.9 °F (30.5 °C) with 0.31 inches (7.9 mm) of rain reported within 24 hours of the race; wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed 106.797 miles per hour (171.873 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports
Laps 123
Winner
No. 821 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Keith Jackson
Chris Economaki

The 1977 Southern 500, the 28th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 5, 1977, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.

Background

Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

The track is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval.[4] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.[4] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.[4] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.[4]

Summary

"I didn't hit you, Jaws did. Jaws Waltrip."
— Cale Yarborough

Drivers competed for a total of purse $184,200 ($727,999.67 when considering inflation).[3]

Darrell Waltrip qualified for the pole position with a speed of 153.493 miles per hour (247.023 km/h).[2] The race covered 367 laps tof the 1.366-mile (2.198 km) paved track, totalling 501.3 miles (806.8 km).[2] After six yellow flags for 93 laps and 32 different leaders, the race lasted four hours and forty-one minutes. Rain on lap 185 forced to cars to slow down their speed until NASCAR confirmed that the rain indeed stopped in time for the green flag on lap 204. An oil slick on lap 210 would slow down the cars yet again until workers fixed the spill around lap 222.[2] Sixty thousand people would watch a race where David Pearson defeated Donnie Allison by 2.5 seconds with an average speed of 106.797 miles per hour (171.873 km/h).[2]

Bill Elliott earned his first career top-ten finish.[2][3] Terry Bivins made his final NASCAR appearance in this race.[5]

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet
2 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet
3 15 Buddy Baker Ford
4 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet
5 21 David Pearson Mercury
6 43 Richard Petty Dodge
7 1 Donnie Allison Chevrolet
8 12 Bobby Allison AMC Matador
9 54 Lennie Pond Chevrolet
10 14 Coo Coo Marlin Chevrolet

Finishing order

  1. David Pearson (No. 21)
  2. Donnie Allison (No. 1)
  3. Buddy Baker (No. 15)
  4. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  5. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
  6. Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
  7. Ricky Rudd (No. 22)
  8. Richard Childress (No. 3)
  9. Bruce Hill (No. 47)
  10. Bill Elliott (No. 52)
  11. Ed Negre (No. 8)
  12. J.D. McDuffie (No. 70)
  13. James Hylton (No. 48)
  14. Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
  15. Gary Myers (No. 4)
  16. Janet Guthrie (No. 68)
  17. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  18. Tommy Gale (No. 64)
  19. Cecil Gordon (No. 24)
  20. Mike Kempton (No. 69)
  21. Baxter Price (No. 45)
  22. Bobby Wawak (No. 19)
  23. Earle Canavan (No. 01)
  24. Terry Bivins* (No. 91)
  25. Benny Parsons* (No. 72)
  26. Coo Coo Marlin* (No. 14)
  27. D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
  28. Lennie Pond* (No. 54)
  29. Sam Sommers* (No. 27)
  30. Ralph Jones* (No. 08)
  31. Dick May* (No. 10)
  32. Tighe Scott* (No. 30)
  33. Ferrel Harris* (No. 25)
  34. Dick Brooks* (No. 90)
  35. Butch Hartman* (No. 75)
  36. Roland Wlodyka* (No. 98)
  37. G.C. Spencer* (No. 49)
  38. Skip Manning* (No. 92)
  39. Bobby Allison* (No. 12)
  40. Joe Mihalic* (No. 61)

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Cale Yarborough 3635 0
2 Richard Petty 3507 -128
3 Increase Darrell Waltrip 3287 -348
4 Decrease Benny Parsons 3252 -383
5 Buddy Baker 2944 -691
6 Dick Brooks 2719 -916
7 Cecil Gordon 2539 -1096
8 Richard Childress 2501 -1134
9 James Hylton 2481 -1154
10 Bobby Allison 2391 -1244

References

  1. ↑ "1977 Southern 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "1977 Southern 500". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "1977 Official Race Results: Southern 500". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Darlington Raceway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  5. ↑ "1977 Southern 500". Race-Database.com. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
Preceded by
1977 Volunteer 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1977 		Succeeded by
1977 Capital City 400
Preceded by
1976		 Southern 500 races
1977 		Succeeded by
1978
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