1976 Champion Spark Plug 400

The 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on August 22, 1976, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

1976 Champion Spark Plug 400
Race details[1]
Race 20 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
Date August 22, 1976 (1976-August-22)
Official name Champion Spark Plug 400
Location Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures of 91 °F (33 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed 140.078 miles per hour (225.434 km/h)
Attendance 55,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 125
Winner
No. 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ken Squier
Bobby Unser
Ned Jarrett

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[3] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees.[3] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.[3]

Race report

36 drivers took part in this race; David Hobbs was the only foreigner. The closing portion of the race would see Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson vie for the win. The first 67 laps of the race would see fairly even competition. Tighe Scott's last-place finish was due to his vehicle overheating on lap 6 of 200. Fifty-five thousand people would witness David Pearson defeat Cale Yarborough by more than a second. The total time of the race was 171 minutes.[2]

Cale Yarborough led more than 120 laps in both of the MIS races in 1976 but had to settle for second place both times. David Pearson bested him to win both races in the Wood Brothers Purolator #21 Mercury as he claimed the season sweep. This race was almost a case of deja vu for fans as weirdly the "top four" was the almost the same in this one as it had been for the earlier race in June with Richard Petty and Bobby Allison as the only other cars on the lead lap just as before; the only difference was that Allison was third in June while Petty flip-flopped their positions with his third-place run here.

NASCAR handed out a total of $120,025 to all drivers ($617,251.37 when adjusted for inflation). The majority of the vehicles were Chevrolets.[4]

While the winner took home $11,950 ($61,455.15 when adjusted for inflation), the last-place finisher took home $1,250 ($6,428.36 when adjusted for inflation).[5]

Notable crew chiefs for this race included Billy Hagan, Junie Donlavey, Jake Elder, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Sterling Marlin and Tim Brewer.[6]

John Haver would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at this event while David Hobbs would wrap up his professional stock car career afterward.

Qualifying
Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 21David PearsonMercury
2 15Buddy BakerFord
3 11Cale YarboroughChevrolet
4 54Lennie PondChevrolet
5 43Richard PettyDodge
6 2Bobby AllisonMercury
7 71Dave MarcisDodge
8 72Benny ParsonsChevrolet
9 90Dick BrooksFord
10 88Darrell WaltripChevrolet
11 47Bruce HillChevrolet
12 40D.K. UlrichChevrolet
13 52Jimmy MeansChevrolet
14 92Skip ManningChevrolet
15 12Neil BonnettChevrolet
16 05David SiscoChevrolet
17 36Bobby WawakChevrolet
18 24Cecil GordonChevrolet
19 7Dean DaltonChevrolet
20 48James HyltonChevrolet
21 18Joe FrassonChevrolet
22 9David HobbsFord
23 60Jackie RogersChevrolet
24 19Henley GrayChevrolet
25 51John HaverChevrolet
26 8Ed NegreDodge
27 70J.D. McDuffieChevrolet
28 3Richard ChildressChevrolet
29 14Coo Coo MarlinChevrolet
30 79Frank WarrenDodge

Finishing order
POS[7] ST # DRIVER SPONSOR / OWNER CAR LAPS MONEY STATUS LED PTS
1 1 21   David Pearson Purolator   (Wood Brothers) Mercury 200 16700 running 27 180
2 3 11   Cale Yarborough Holly Farms   (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 200 13705 running 125 180
3 5 43   Richard Petty STP   (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 200 10985 running 22 170
4 6 2   Bobby Allison CAM 2   (Roger Penske) Mercury 200 7375 running 6 165
5 7 71   Dave Marcis K & K Insurance   (Nord Krauskopf) Dodge 199 6565 running 11 160
6 15 12   Neil Bonnett Hawaiian Tropic   (Neil Bonnett) Chevrolet 195 2455 running 1 155
7 12 40   D.K. Ulrich Garden State Auto   (J.R. DeLotto) Chevrolet 194 4545 running 0 146
8 27 70   J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet 194 4335 running 0 142
9 8 72   Benny Parsons King's Row Fireplace   (L.G. DeWitt) Chevrolet 194 5125 running 2 143
10 17 36   Bobby Wawak J & B Corvette   (John Gwinn) Chevrolet 193 1855 running 0 134
11 24 19   Henley Gray Belden Asphalt   (Henley Gray) Chevrolet 193 1755 running 0 130
12 29 14   Coo Coo Marlin Cunningham-Kelley   (H.B. Cunningham) Chevrolet 192 3615 running 0 127
13 28 3   Richard Childress Kansas Jack   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 192 3255 running 0 124
14 14 92   Skip Manning Stratagraph   (Billy Hagan) Chevrolet 192 2430 running 0 121
15 33 10   Terry Bivins Sunny King   (Bill Champion) Ford 192 2875 running 0 118
16 36 25   Dick May Don Robertson Chevrolet 187 2635 running 0 115
17 22 9   David Hobbs Coca-Cola   (George Elliott) Ford 187 1130 running 0
18 19 7   Dean Dalton Belden Asphalt   (Dean Dalton) Chevrolet 184 1105 running 0 109
19 11 47   Bruce Hill Bruce Hill Chevrolet 183 2300 engine 3 111
20 31 91   Harold Miller Bartow Paving   (Harold Miller) Chevrolet 183 1055 running 0 103
21 20 48   James Hylton Kockums   (James Hylton) Chevrolet 183 2030 running 0 100
22 32 61   Joe Mihalic Lou Viglione Chevrolet 175 1005 running 0 97
23 30 79   Frank Warren Native Tan   (Frank Warren) Dodge 174 955 running 0 94
24 13 52   Jimmy Means WIXC   (Bill Gray) Chevrolet 168 955 running 0 91
25 4 54   Lennie Pond Pepsi-Cola   (Ronnie Elder) Chevrolet 166 1555 running 0 88
26 18 24   Cecil Gordon Transmissions Unlimited   (Cecil Gordon) Chevrolet 154 1400 engine 0 85
27 10 88   Darrell Waltrip Gatorade   (DiGard Racing) Chevrolet 134 3875 engine 0 82
28 21 18   Joe Frasson Excuse Lounge   (Joe Frasson) Chevrolet 118 850 running 1 84
29 9 90   Dick Brooks Truxmore   (Junie Donlavey) Ford 114 1335 engine 0 76
30 26 8   Ed Negre Ed Negre Dodge 108 1315 engine 0 73
31 2 15   Buddy Baker Norris Industries   (Bud Moore) Ford 86 4100 engine 2 75
32 16 05   David Sisco David Sisco Chevrolet 70 1290 suspension 0 67
33 25 51   John Haver Jim's Furniture   (George Harrivel) Chevrolet 49 780 engine 0 64
34 34 49   G.C. Spencer G.C. Spencer Dodge 37 770 engine 0 61
35 23 60   Jackie Rogers Red Dog's   (Lou Viglione) Chevrolet 15 760 steering 0 58
36 35 30   Tighe Scott Scotty's Fashions   (Walter Ballard) Chevrolet 6 1250 overheating 0 55

Standings after the race
Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Cale Yarborough 3026 0
2 Benny Parsons 2952 -74
3 Richard Petty 2936 -90
4 Bobby Allison 2832 -194
5 Increase Dave Marcis 2652 -374
6 Decrease Lennie Pond 2599 -427
7 Richard Childress 2477 -549
8 Buddy Baker 2420 -606
9 David Pearson 2352 -674
10 Increase J.D. McDuffie 2263 -763

References
  1. Weather information for the 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Racing Reference
  3. "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  4. 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  5. 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 Archived 2012-06-02 at the Wayback Machine at Driver Averages
  6. 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  7. "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
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