| Year: | 1976 |
| Details Ref: | [1] |
| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Race No: | 2 |
| Season No: | 30 |
| Distance Laps: | 200 |
| Distance Mi: | 500 |
| Distance Km: | 804.672 |
| Weather: | Temperatures reaching up to 77F; wind speeds approaching 14mph |
| Pole Driver: | Ramo Stott |
| Pole Team: | Norris Reed |
| Duel1: | Dave Marcis |
| One Team: | Nord Krauskopf |
| Duel2: | Darrell Waltrip |
| Two Team: | DiGard Motorsports |
| Most Driver: | A. J. Foyt |
| Most Team: | Ellington Racing |
| Most Laps: | 66 |
| Car: | 21 |
| First Driver: | David Pearson |
| First Team: | Wood Brothers Racing |
| Network: | ABC's WWOS |
| Announcers: | Bill Flemming Jackie Stewart Chris Economaki |
| Ratings: | 12.8/37 (18.3 million viewers) |
The 1976 Daytona 500, the 18th running of the event,[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] happened on Feb. 15th, 1976 at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fl. It is remembered for the late-race duel and accident between David Pearson and Richard Petty. Many fans consider this finish to be the greatest in the history of NASCAR.[7] The end of the race was televised live on American network ABC.[8]
These were the first Daytona 500 starts for Neil Bonnett, Terry Ryan, Salt Walther, D. K. Ulrich, Roy Smith, Jimmy Lee Capps, Skip Manning, Tighe Scott, Dick May, and Jimmy Means.[6] For Terry Bivins, Johnny Ray, Dr. Dick Skillen, David Hobbs, and Tom Williams, this would be their only Daytona 500 start.[6] Joe Frasson, Jackie Rogers, David Sisco, and Earl Ross would make their last Daytona 500s this year.[6]
USAC stock car racer Ramo Stott won his only career NASCAR pole position. There was a major speed discrepancy between cars in their qualification runs. Top teams were qualifying in the 178mph to 179mph range and a few teams qualified in the 186mph range. Two of the teams who qualified in the 186mph range were disqualified after NASCAR inspectors found suspicious extra fuel lines. Some teams attributed these lines to performance-enhancing nitrous oxide. One driver later admitted that he deliberately qualified slower to let the time from "offending" teams stick out.
In the 125-mile qualifying races, Dave Marcis won race 1, while Darrell Waltrip claimed race 2.
The opening laps were a battle for the lead between Buddy Baker, Waltrip, and David Pearson. A. J. Foyt rocketed from the rear to lead 68 laps before falling out with engine failure. An accident on lap 112 involving Johnny Ray and Skip Manning ended Ray's racing career.[9]
Late in the race, Richard Petty and David Pearson were nose-to-tail, two laps ahead of all other competitors. On the final lap, Pearson passed Petty on the backstretch, and Petty attempted to re-pass in turn 3. Petty did not completely clear Pearson and the two cars made contact with each other and the wall, sending them spinning into the infield grass, just yards from the finish line. Petty's car stalled and would not re-fire. Pearson re-started his stricken car and crossed the finish line to win. Petty, with the help of a push-start from his crew, crossed the line for 2nd.
Margin of victory: 50 yards
| Fin | Grid | Car # | Driver | Car Make | Laps | Status | Laps Led | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 21 | David Pearson | Mercury | 200 | 3:17:08 | 37 | 180 (5) | |
| 2 | 6 | 43 | Richard Petty | Dodge | 199 | Crash | 40 | 175 | |
| 3 | 32 | 72 | Benny Parsons | Chevrolet | 199 | Running | 16 | 170 (5) | |
| 4 | 11 | 54 | Lennie Pond | Chevrolet | 198 | Running | 0 | 160 | |
| 5 | 13 | 12 | Neil Bonnett | Chevrolet | 197 | Running | 0 | 155 | |
| 6 | 2 | 81 | Terry Ryan | Chevrolet | 196 | Running | 1 | 155 (5) | |
| 7 | 41 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | Chevrolet | 193 | Running | 0 | 146 | |
| 8 | 19 | 63 | Terry Bivins | Chevrolet | 193 | Running | 6 | 147 (5) | |
| 9 | 36 | 3 | Richard Childress | Chevrolet | 191 | Running | 0 | 138 | |
| 10 | 34 | 79 | Frank Warren | Dodge | 190 | Running | 0 | 134 | |
| 11 | 37 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Dodge | 190 | Running | 0 | 130 | |
| 12 | 26 | 4 | Salt Walther | Chevrolet | 187 | running | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | 42 | 8 | Ed Negre | Dodge | 185 | running | 0 | 124 | |
| 14 | 22 | 18 | Joe Frasson | Chevrolet | 183 | running | 0 | 121 | |
| 15 | 23 | 60 | Jackie Rogers | Chevrolet | 183 | running | 1 | 123 (5) | |
| 16 | 15 | 95 | Jim Hurtubise | Chevrolet | 180 | engine | 0 | 115 | |
| 17 | 21 | 61 | Joe Mihalic | Chevrolet | 159 | running | 0 | 112 | |
| 18 | 17 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | Chevrolet | 158 | running | 0 | 109 | |
| 19 | 27 | 40 | D.K. Ulrich | Chevrolet | 151 | axle | 0 | 106 | |
| 20 | 39 | 29 | Roy Smith | Chevrolet | 148 | clutch | 0 | 103 | |
| 21 | 10 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | Chevrolet | 147 | engine | 0 | 100 | |
| 22 | 31 | 28 | A.J. Foyt | Chevrolet | 143 | engine | 66 | 0 | |
| 23 | 29 | 48 | James Hylton | Chevrolet | 138 | running | 0 | 94 | |
| 24 | 24 | 26 | Jimmy Lee Capps | Chevrolet | 133 | engine | 0 | 91 | |
| 25 | 8 | 2 | Bobby Allison | Mercury | 123 | engine | 2 | 93 (5) | |
| 26 | 1 | 83 | Ramo Stott | Chevrolet | 113 | engine | 0 | ||
| 27 | 3 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Dodge | 112 | running | 0 | 82 | |
| 28 | 35 | 10 | Johnny Ray | Chevrolet | 111 | crash | 0 | 79 | |
| 29 | 40 | 05 | David Sisco | Chevrolet | 110 | running | 0 | 76 | |
| 30 | 30 | 82 | Skip Manning | Dodge | 107 | crash | 0 | 73 | |
| 31 | 28 | 78 | Dick Skillen | Chevrolet | 99 | overheating | 0 | 70 | |
| 32 | 4 | 88 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet | 87 | engine | 0 | 67 | |
| 33 | 5 | 15 | Buddy Baker | Ford | 83 | engine | 28 | 69 (5) | |
| 34 | 16 | 73 | David Hobbs | Chevrolet | 68 | crash | 2 | 66 (5) | |
| 35 | 18 | 30 | Tighe Scott | Chevrolet | 58 | crash | 0 | 58 | |
| 36 | 33 | 47 | Bruce Hill | Chevrolet | 43 | engine | 0 | 55 | |
| 37 | 25 | 38 | Tom Williams | Chevrolet | 41 | engine | 0 | 52 | |
| 38 | 38 | 33 | Dick May | Chevrolet | 36 | engine | 0 | 49 | |
| 39 | 12 | 52 | Earl Ross | Chevrolet | 28 | engine | 0 | 46 | |
| 40 | 20 | 5 | Jimmy Means | Chevrolet | 20 | engine | 1 | 48 (5) | |
| 41 | 9 | 90 | Dick Brooks | Ford | 5 | engine | 0 | 40 | |
| 42 | 14 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Chevrolet | 1 | engine | 0 | 37 |
| Driver | Car Make | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Earle Canavan | 01 | Dodge | |
| Gary Myers | 04 | Chevrolet | |
| Doc Faustina | 5 | Dodge | |
| Elliott Forbes-Robinson | 6 | Chevrolet | |
| Bob Burcham | 19 | Chevrolet | |
| Ricky Rudd | 22 | Chevrolet | |
| Jabe Thomas | 25 | Chevrolet | |
| Dave Decker | 32 | Chevrolet | |
| Bill Seifert | 34 | Chevrolet | |
| Darel Dieringer | 35 | Ford | |
| Bruce Jacobi | 37 | Chevrolet | |
| Blackie Wangerin | 39 | Ford | |
| Grant Adcox | 41 | Chevrolet | |
| Baxter Price | 45 | Chevrolet | |
| Travis Tiller | 46 | Dodge | |
| John Utsman | 49 | Dodge | |
| Darrell Bryant | 50 | Chevrolet | |
| John Banks | 55 | Dodge | |
| Tommy Gale | 64 | Ford | |
| Terry Link | 66 | Pontiac | |
| Bill Polich | 69 | Chevrolet | |
| Bill Champion | 77 | Chevrolet | |
| Harold Miller | 91 | Chevrolet | |
| Skip Manning | 92 | Chevrolet | |
| Jim Fleming | 99 | Chevrolet | |
| Ferrel Harris (Driver Change) | 82 | Dodge |
7 for 35 laps
| From Lap | To Lap |
| Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 16 | 6 | Car # 05 engine | |
| 35 | 39 | 5 | Car # 52 engine | |
| 62 | 65 | 4 | Car # 30 engine | |
| 68 | 71 | 4 | Car # 73 accident | |
| 85 | 90 | 6 | Car #’s 83,82,10 accident | |
| 175 | 178 | 4 | Car # 63 accident | |
| 200 | 200 | 1 | Car #’s 43 & #21 accident |
Lead changes: 36
| Leader | From Lap | To Lap |
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Baker | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| David Pearson | 5 | 6 | 2 | |
| Buddy Baker | 7 | 11 | 5 | |
| Terry Ryan | 12 | 12 | 1 | |
| Jimmy Means | 13 | 13 | 1 | |
| Terry Bivins | 14 | 15 | 2 | |
| Jackie Rogers | 16 | 16 | 1 | |
| Buddy Baker | 17 | 35 | 19 | |
| David Hobbs | 36 | 37 | 2 | |
| David Pearson | 38 | 39 | 2 | |
| Bobby Allison | 40 | 40 | 1 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 41 | 43 | 3 | |
| David Pearson | 44 | 44 | 1 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 45 | 56 | 12 | |
| Richard Petty | 57 | 61 | 5 | |
| Benny Parsons | 62 | 62 | 1 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 63 | 73 | 11 | |
| Richard Petty | 74 | 84 | 11 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 85 | 85 | 1 | |
| Terry Bivins | 86 | 89 | 4 | |
| Bobby Allison | 90 | 90 | 1 | |
| Richard Petty | 91 | 92 | 2 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 93 | 96 | 4 | |
| David Pearson | 97 | 98 | 2 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 99 | 103 | 5 | |
| David Pearson | 104 | 106 | 3 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 107 | 118 | 12 | |
| David Pearson | 119 | 122 | 4 | |
| A.J. Foyt | 123 | 140 | 18 | |
| Benny Parsons | 141 | 154 | 14 | |
| David Pearson | 155 | 165 | 11 | |
| Richard Petty | 166 | 175 | 10 | |
| Benny Parsons | 176 | 176 | 1 | |
| David Pearson | 177 | 187 | 11 | |
| Richard Petty | 188 | 199 | 12 | |
| David Pearson | 200 | 200 | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | Points | Differential | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Pearson | 365 | 0 | |
| 2 | Benny Parsons | 330 | -35 | |
| 3 | Lennie Pond | 310 | -55 | |
| 4 | Richard Childress | 286 | -81 | |
| 5 | Richard Petty | 268 | -97 | |
| 6 | Frank Warren | 264 | -101 | |
| 7 | J.D. McDuffie | 252 | -113 | |
| 8 | D.K. Ulrich | 233 | -132 | |
| 9 | James Hylton | 232 | -133 | |
| 10 | Dave Marcis | 229 | -136 |