1996 Coca-Cola 600
The 1996 Coca-Cola 600 was the 11th stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 26, 1996, in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his sixth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1996 Coca-Cola 600 program cover, with artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | May 26, 1996 | ||
| Official name | 37th Annual Coca-Cola 600 | ||
| Location | Concord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||
| Average speed | 147.581 miles per hour (237.509 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 165,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 29.384 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Laps | 199 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Performance Racing Network | ||
Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, May 22, at 7:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Thursday, May 23, at 6:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-38 would be decided on time,[3] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to four provisionals were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 29.384 and an average speed of 183.773 miles per hour (295.754 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Seven drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 400 | 199 | running | 185 | $165,250 |
| 2 | 20 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 400 | 7 | running | 175 | $97,000 |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 59 | running | 170 | $75,300 |
| 4 | 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 101 | running | 165 | $118,200 |
| 5 | 23 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 155 | $46,350 |
| 6 | 36 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 9 | running | 155 | $55,100 |
| 7 | 7 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 146 | $43,400 |
| 8 | 8 | 21 | Michael Waltrip | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 142 | $36,500 |
| 9 | 22 | 28 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 138 | $37,000 |
| 10 | 31 | 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 134 | $36,500 |
| 11 | 35 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 397 | 0 | running | 130 | $34,150 |
| 12 | 26 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Pontiac | 397 | 0 | running | 127 | $29,150 |
| 13 | 28 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 397 | 0 | running | 124 | $27,700 |
| 14 | 14 | 12 | Derrike Cope | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 121 | $26,450 |
| 15 | 30 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 396 | 0 | running | 118 | $30,620 |
| 16 | 21 | 29 | Steve Grissom | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 395 | 0 | running | 115 | $24,200 |
| 17 | 18 | 23 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | 395 | 0 | running | 112 | $23,350 |
| 18 | 13 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 395 | 0 | running | 109 | $15,490 |
| 19 | 19 | 15 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 393 | 0 | running | 106 | $21,800 |
| 20 | 9 | 19 | Dick Trickle | TriStar Motorsports | Ford | 392 | 0 | running | 103 | $16,325 |
| 21 | 42 | 27 | Elton Sawyer | David Blair Motorsports | Ford | 392 | 0 | running | 100 | $13,490 |
| 22 | 5 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 391 | 13 | running | 102 | $26,945 |
| 23 | 32 | 42 | Kyle Petty | Team SABCO | Pontiac | 391 | 0 | running | 94 | $19,485 |
| 24 | 40 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 389 | 0 | running | 91 | $19,220 |
| 25 | 33 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 386 | 0 | running | 88 | $19,210 |
| 26 | 17 | 77 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 369 | 0 | running | 85 | $8,680 |
| 27 | 3 | 37 | John Andretti | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | Ford | 368 | 0 | running | 82 | $22,170 |
| 28 | 25 | 8 | Hut Stricklin | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 364 | 0 | running | 79 | $11,510 |
| 29 | 38 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | Butch Mock Motorsports | Ford | 364 | 0 | running | 76 | $11,480 |
| 30 | 39 | 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 352 | 0 | running | 73 | $18,465 |
| 31 | 37 | 43 | Bobby Hamilton | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 342 | 0 | running | 70 | $15,455 |
| 32 | 16 | 81 | Kenny Wallace | FILMAR Racing | Ford | 332 | 0 | engine | 67 | $8,445 |
| 33 | 29 | 33 | Robert Pressley | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 310 | 0 | running | 64 | $15,435 |
| 34 | 43 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 300 | 0 | running | 61 | $23,425 |
| 35 | 10 | 9 | Lake Speed | Melling Racing | Ford | 213 | 0 | handling | 58 | $15,720 |
| 36 | 12 | 94 | Todd Bodine | Elliott-Hardy Racing | Ford | 209 | 0 | accident | 55 | $15,415 |
| 37 | 2 | 41 | Ricky Craven | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 193 | 9 | accident | 57 | $21,415 |
| 38 | 11 | 30 | Johnny Benson Jr. (R) | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 192 | 0 | accident | 49 | $16,400 |
| 39 | 27 | 90 | Mike Wallace | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 189 | 0 | oil pump | 46 | $8,400 |
| 40 | 41 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 138 | 3 | accident | 48 | $9,300 |
| 41 | 24 | 98 | Jeremy Mayfield | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 136 | 0 | transmission | 40 | $8,400 |
| 42 | 34 | 95 | Chuck Bown | Sadler Brothers Racing | Ford | 68 | 0 | handling | 37 | $8,400 |
| 43 | 6 | 97 | Chad Little | Mark Rypien Motorsports | Pontiac | 0 | 0 | oil pump | 34 | $8,400 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 44 | 78 | Randy MacDonald | Triad Motorsports | Ford | ||||||
| 45 | 63 | Ed Berrier | Schnell Motorsports | Ford | ||||||
| 46 | 26 | Hermie Sadler | Sadler Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 47 | 49 | Mark Gibson | Campbell Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 48 | 02 | Robbie Faggart | Miles Motorsports | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 49 | 0 | Delma Cowart | H. L. Waters Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 50 | 57 | Steve Seligman | Seligman Racing | Ford | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
References
- Macenka, Joe (May 27, 1996). "Jarrett dominates Charlotte race". The Daily News Leader. p. 7. Retrieved December 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (May 27, 1996). "Jarrett feels like a million". That's Racin'. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- "600 Week schedule". The Charlotte Observer. May 22, 1994. p. 86. Retrieved December 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Macenka, Joe (May 23, 1996). "Gordon paces Chevrolets in Coca-Cola 600 trials". The Stuart News. p. 22. Retrieved December 28, 2022.