1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series explained

The 1976 NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Series was the 28th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 5th modern era season of the Grand National series and sixth under R. J. Reynolds sponsorship through its Winston cigarette brand. The season began on Sunday, January 18 and ended on Sunday, November 21. Cale Yarborough, driving the #11 Junior Johnson Holly Farms Chevrolet scored his first of three consecutive NASCAR Grand National Series Winston Cup Championships. Skip Manning was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

Season recap

No	Date	Event	Circuit	Winner
1	January 18			David Pearson
	February 12	125 Mile Qualifying Races	Daytona International Speedway	Dave Marcis
				Darrell Waltrip
2	February 15			David Pearson
3	February 29			Richard Petty
4	March 7			Dave Marcis
5	March 14			Cale Yarborough
6	March 21			David Pearson
7	April 4			Cale Yarborough
8	April 11			David Pearson
9	April 25			Darrell Waltrip
10	May 2			Buddy Baker
11	May 8			Cale Yarborough
12	May 16			Benny Parsons
13	May 30			David Pearson
14	June 13			David Pearson
15	June 20			David Pearson
16	July 4			Cale Yarborough
17	July 17			Benny Parsons
18	August 1			Richard Petty
19	August 8			Dave Marcis
20	August 22			David Pearson
21	August 29			Cale Yarborough
22	September 6			David Pearson
23	September 12			Cale Yarborough
24	September 19			Cale Yarborough
25	September 26			Cale Yarborough
26	October 3			Cale Yarborough
27	October 10			Donnie Allison
28	October 24			Richard Petty
29	November 7			Dave Marcis
29	November 21			David Pearson

Race Summaries

• Winston Western 500 - Bobby Allison won the pole in Roger Penske's final race fielding a Matador and led the first 18 laps. Richard Petty started 27th and stormed through the field to lead 15 laps but fell out with engine failure. David Pearson led 124 laps for his first road course win since 1966 and the Wood Brothers Racing team's first Riverside win since 1968. Darrell Waltrip crashed on Lap 18 when his brakes failed entering Turn Eight; he plowed over the fencing and landed near a spectator fence but drove back to the pits; he ultimately finished 21st.^[1]
• Daytona 500 – From disallowance of qualifying times for A. J. Foyt, Dave Marcis, and Darrell Waltrip to the crashing of race leaders Richard Petty and David Pearson a half-mile from the checkered flag - the finish broadcast live on Wide World of Sports - the 1976 500 became one of the most celebrated races in history, and national interest in stock car racing began swelling with the finish.
• Carolina 500 – Richard Petty won going away in a race marred by a huge melee on the backstretch where Bobby Allison tumbled.
• Richmond 400 Cale Yarborough's bid for his first win of the season ended when he crashed with twelve laps to go. Dave Marcis edged Richard Petty in a battle of Dodges.
• Southeastern 400 Yarborough finally broke through, leading 285 laps and putting runner-up Darrell Waltrip a lap down. Petty lost the point lead to Benny Parsons (who finished third) after a crash with Cecil Gordon and Bill Champion just 64 laps in.
• Atlanta 500 – NASCAR mandated smaller carburetors beginning with this race. David Pearson spent 225 laps fighting to get back onto the lead lap and took his third win of the season, beating Parsons. Yarborough finished third, a lap down after making up three laps of a four-lap deficit.
• Gwyn Staley 400 - Dave Marcis won the pole but finished a distant eighth as Cale Yarborough won at Junior Johnson's home track, leading 364 laps and putting runner-up Richard Petty a lap down. Benny Parsons led 23 laps and finished fourth.
• Rebel 500 - Pearson ran down Buddy Baker in a race where his father Buck finished sixth. Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip were involved in a hard crash at Lap 80 while Petty and Yarborough fell out with engine failures; Petty had led 52 laps while Cale led 16.
• Virginia 500 – Cale Yarborough crashed when Dave Marcis' rearend spilled fluid while dueling for the lead. Darrell Waltrip thus took the win, his first with Gatorade sponsorship.
• Winston 500 – Buddy Baker qualified twelfth, a run so disappointing his Bud Moore team drove the over four hours back to their Spartanburg, SC shop to overhaul the engine before returning to Talladega for the race. Baker nonetheless became the first driver to win a 500-miler in less than three hours, while an early-race crash with Pearson, Dave Marcis, and Dick Brooks eliminated Benny Parsons and cost him the point lead (and a $10,000 bonus awarded to the driver who accumulated the most points per third of the season) to runner-up Yarborough. Richard Petty finished fourth after he stalled the car on an early pitstop and lost a lap.
• Music City 420  - Yarborough led 398 of 420 laps at the Nashville Fairgrounds to his third short track win of the season. Richard Petty and pole-sitter Benny Parsons finished 2-3 after leading a combined six laps. Darrell Waltrip, long a Fairgrounds regular, led seven laps but finished 12th with rearend failure.
• Mason-Dixon 500 - Benny Parsons suffered nose damage in a mid-race crash but his Chevrolet ran stronger after the wreck; he stormed to lead 161 of the race's last 169 laps and beat Pearson by 25 seconds. Cale Yarborough led 243 laps but was penalized a lap on a pitstop, then fell out with engine failure; he thus lost the point lead to Parsons.
• World 600 – Pearson edged Petty and Cale Yarborough as Bruton Smith made his official return to Charlotte Motor Speedway; among his first acts was posting $18,000 in lap leader bonuses payable to whoever led the most laps per 100 miles. Pearson and Yarborough fought for the lead and combined to lead 243 of the first 251 laps but Cale lost a lap with a cut tire and finished third; Petty led 56 laps. Janet Guthrie made her NASCAR debut.
• Riverside 400  - Pearson completed a season sweep at Riverside after a race-long chase with Bobby Allison and Yarborough.
• CAM2 Motor Oil 400 - Cale Yarborough dominated until he lost power due to a blown head gasket (still finishing second) and Pearson took his seventh win of the season. Cale's runner-up finish regained him the point lead as Benny Parsons lost 21 laps and finished 19th.
• Firecracker 400 - Cale Yarborough edged Pearson and Bobby Allison for his first Daytona win since 1968. A. J. Foyt won the pole.
• Nashville 420 - Neil Bonnett drove most of the race for pole-sitter Bobby Allison; days before Allison was injured in a bad crash at Elko, MN and had to give way to Bonnett after the opening lap; the Penske #2 finished a distant seventh. Buddy Baker led 220 laps but fell out while leading with 90 laps to go; Benny Parsons took over and beat Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip's third place at his home track came following the hiring by DiGard of engine builder Marion "Ducky" Newman, who'd left Bud Moore's team in a salary dispute.
• Purolator 500 – NASCAR allowed teams to use larger carburetors again beginning with Pocono. The lead changed 47 times - a season high promptly broken a week later - as Pearson's blown tire coming to the white flag gave Petty only his second win of the season. Buddy Baker finished second. Benny Parsons edged Pearson for third while pole-sitter Cale Yarborough blew his engine halfway through; Junior Johnson's team changed engines in the garage in 33 minutes and Yarborough finished 25th; he lost the points lead to Parsons.
• Talladega 500 – Dave Marcis took his only Talladega win and the first for crew chief Harry Hyde; it was the first superspeedway win for Hyde's K&K Insurance Dodge since 1973. The lead changed a season-high 57 times. Benny Parsons blew his engine after 39 laps while Cale suffered another engine failure, yet Junior Johnson's team changed engines mid-race again, this time in 20 minutes. Richard Petty blew his engine after taking the lead in the final 20 laps; with this combination of DNFs Cale thus took the point lead for what proved to be the final time. Darrell Waltrip blew his engine and following the race DiGard fired team manager Mario Rossi and engine builders Carroll "Stump" Davis and Keith Harlan; the team hired Robert Yates to assist Marion Newman.
• Champion Spark Plug 400 – David Pearson took his eighth win of the season, but first since the June event at Michigan International Speedway. Cale Yarborough finished second; Junior Johnson hired a security guard to watch his engines, suspecting sabotage after back-to-back engine failures.
• Volunteer 400  - Cale Yarborough took his fifth win of the season leading 373 laps. Darrell Waltrip won the pole, his first with Robert Yates-Ducky Newman power, and led 27 laps to finish third.
• Southern 500 – Pearson took the one race he had sought his entire career. A big wreck occurred after Buddy Baker blew up and spun; behind him Skip Manning spun and was hit in the left side door by Joe Frasson. Cale Yarborough hit a guardrail post on pit road and it bent the rearend assembly; Richard Childress helped the Junior Johnson crew replace the assembly and Cale finished 23rd; Richard Petty finished second despite hammering the wall off the track's infamous fourth turn and cut Cale's point lead to 29. Darrell Waltrip and Dave Marcis were the two remaining cars on the lead lap.
• Capital City 400 - Bobby Allison made his most determined bid for a win of the season, chasing Cale Yarborough and finished one length back at the finish. Cale increased his point lead over Petty to 44.
• Delaware 500 - Cale Yarborough made up two laps on two separate occasions and won his second straight race.
• Old Dominion 500 - Darrell Waltrip won the pole, his second since the hiring of Robert Yates, but could only finish second to Cale as rain cut short the 500-lap race at 340 laps.
• Wilkes 400 - Yarborough won his fourth straight race and season-leading ninth overall.
• National 500 - Donnie Allison surprised the field in a backup Hoss Ellington Monte Carlo; the engine measured a tick over the legal displacement in immediate post race inspection but after cooling down the engine was within limits; Ellington stated, "This one's legal. We left all the cheater stuff at Darlington." The win was Donnie's first in Grand National competition since 1971. 57 year old veteran Buck Baker competed in his final Winston Cup race. The two-time champion finished 24th in the #59 Monte Carlo fielded by H.C. Porter. Neil Bonnett had to drive most of the race in the Wood Brothers 21 when David Pearson had to get out of the car with a back injury that flared up the day before.
• American 500 - Richard Petty took the win, only his third of the season. Lennie Pond finished second. Green flag pit stops became frequent as Petty spent a total of 125 seconds in the pits to Pond's 54 seconds.
• Dixie 500 – Dave Marcis took his final superspeedway win after a race-long duel with Yarborough, Pearson, and Buddy Baker; Richard Benyo of Stock Car Racing Magazine described the initial 62 laps as a battle where "Marcis was able to nose Pearson, Yarborough, and Baker to the stripe" from Laps 14 through 62. Dale Earnhardt made his third career start in this race and survived a vicious tumble after hitting the spinning Ford of Dick Brooks. Richard Petty's engine failure all but clinched the season championship for Cale Yarborough. During the weekend Penske Racing issued a press release stating Bobby Allison, fresh from victory in a USAC 200-mile stock car race at Texas World Speedway in the Penske Mercury, would return to the team for 1977.
• LA Times 500 – Pearson led the final 121 laps and easily posted his eighth super-speedway win and tenth overall of the season. Yarborough clinched the season championship (his first and also the first for team owner Junior Johnson) by taking the green flag, only to fall out with transmission trouble after leading 68 laps. Bobby Allison blew his engine simultaneously with his brother Donnie and after the race told Roger Penske he was leaving the team.

Daytona 500

See main article: 1976 Daytona 500.

Dixie 500

See main article: 1976 Dixie 500.

Firecracker 400

See main article: 1976 Firecracker 400.

Gwyn Staley 400

See main article: 1976 Gwyn Staley 400.

Los Angeles Times 500

See main article: 1976 Los Angeles Times 500.

Full Drivers’ Championship

See also: List of NASCAR points scoring systems. (key) 

Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by owner's points. * – Most laps led.

	Driver	RSD	DAY	CAR	RCH	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT
1	Cale Yarborough	2	42	3	4	1*	3*	1*	25	2	2	1*	27*	3	7	2*	1*	5	25	26	2*	1*	23	1*	1*	1*	1*	2	5	4	23	4644
2	Richard Petty	25	2	1*	2	27	28	2	23	4	4	2	6	2	9	4	22	2	1	20	3	2	2	3	2	4	3	8	1*	28	27	4449
3	Benny Parsons	5	3	5	9	3	2	4	3	20	26	3	1	5	3	19	7	1	3	39	9	4	7	29	26	5	2	5	31	6	3	4304
4	Bobby Allison	15	25	21	3	5	29	3	18	6	3	5	4	4	2	3	3	7	24	23	4	6	9	2	4	27	29	3	4	26	33	4097
5	Lennie Pond	6	4	30	23	22	4	6	4	22	11	6	8	6	25	7	32	4	5	5	25	8	5	6	34	29	5	7	2	24	2	3930
6	Dave Marcis	8	27	26	1*	4	32	8	5	21	9	7	3	29	10	30	5	6	22	1	5	22	4	7	14	12	17	29	25	1*	24	3875
7	Buddy Baker	28	33	4	29	21	25	26	2*	27	1*	4	5	28	5	5	35	23*	2	2*	31	5	31	5	5	3	4	4*	28	5	39	3745
8	Darrell Waltrip	21	32	2	24	2	5	22	31	1*	33	12	30	11	6	29	39	3	26	37	27	3	3	4	31	2	24	11	3	7	40	3505
9	David Pearson	1*	1	29			1		1	3	37		2	1*	1	1	2		2	4*	1		1*		3	19		6	6	2	1*	3483
10	Dick Brooks	33	41	24	26	6	7	7	35	5	12		7	7		6	8	29	31	3	29	7	6	8	6	6	6	9	8	29	4	3447
11	Richard Childress	7	9	23	6	20	11	9	9	8	24	17	10	17	11	18	12	28	9	8	13	10	36	25	20	10	23	15	27	25	36	3428
12	J. D. McDuffie	19	7	10	21	10	27	5	27	23	27	20	15	25	14	16	24	13	21	7	8	23	25	11	7	21	7	23	26	13	11	3400
13	James Hylton	9	23	19	15	7	31	13	32	12	28	18	17	13	16	35	26	11	17	4	21	13	20	16	9	18	11	18	29	12	5	3380
14	D. K. Ulrich	12	19	17	20	25	21	19	16	16	20	11	12	16	26	12	16	17	38	21	7	11	16	17	8	13	26	30	14	18	25	3280
15	Cecil Gordon	23	18	34	7	28	16	12	11	10	6	14	36	20	12	10	34	15	6	29	26	21	12	13	35	15	13	28	15	23	16	3247
16	Frank Warren	11	10	28	19	14	15	20	17	29	10	10	13	18	20	24	13	12	16	12	23	20	19	26	23	14	22	26	22	27	18	3240
17	David Sisco		29	20	8	23	9	27	13	24	14	9	22	10		8	9	16	10	31	32	14	39	23	11	16	14	19	20	33	30	2994
18	Skip Manning (R)		30	35	30	12	17	11	14	17	16	22	11	33		20	31	9	12	9	14	18	32		12	23	21	13	9	14	8	2931
19	Ed Negre		13	9	13	8	13	17	28	30	32	19	34	27	24	17	37	25	11	27	30	29	26	27	15	22	25	37	13		12	2709
20	Buddy Arrington		11	31	11	9	30	18	24	28	22	26	31	14		11	40	26	7	33		17	35	18	10	11	12	12	16		DNQ	2573
21	Terry Bivins (R)		8	13	5	24	26											22	19		15	12	14	9	32	8	9	25	17	22	7	2099
22	Bobby Wawak						DNQ				29		26	26		26	14	10	14	24	10	9	10	10	22	25	8	10	33	10	6	2062
23	Bruce Hill		36	22			18		10	7	8	23	39	37		25	25	27	29	32	19		22		36	30		34	35	11	10	1995
24	Jimmy Means (R)		40				34				31	15		39		23	11	24	23	11	24	19	18	24	27	20	27		23	17	DNQ	1752
25	Dick May		38	16					15					21		14	27	21	18	19	16	16	28	19	17	17	20		30	32		1719
26	Walter Ballard			25	14	19	24	10	QL	9		8	16	22		31			37			26		22	16						DNQ	1554
27	Henley Gray			36		30	23		29			25				33			20	17	11	15	21	12	13		19		36		37	1425
28	Coo Coo Marlin		21	8			6									13	6	8		34	12		8					32	10	30	DNQ	1412
29	Gary Myers		DNQ							11	35	27	25	30		27		19	27			27	27	21	29	26	18		34			1296
30	Jackie Rogers		15	12			10							36		9	38		8	15	35		15						19			1173
31	Grant Adcox		DNQ	7			12		7		19			12			30			18			13					14	12	20		1163
32	Neil Bonnett (R)		5				8		30	19	39				29		33			38	6		24				28	35		8		1130
33	Tommy Gale		DNQ	15			35		22		18		37			21	29		34	40					25				24		17	1005
34	Donnie Allison								34		7		35	6									33					1	7	3	34	988
35	Joe Mihalic		17		12	26	DNQ						18				23		13	13	22				18							981
36	Elmo Langley				10	15		15		13		13										25		15							QL	824
37	Travis Tiller		DNQ	18	17	18				26			23			22			33					28					32		DNQ	816
38	Sonny Easley	32																								9	10	33	11	15	14	772
39	Joe Frasson		14						8		36					36		30	40		28	30	34									707
40	Jabe Thomas		DNQ		27	13		21		14		21	14																			648
41	Bill Elliott (R)			33			36				38			23		28	19	14	32													635
42	Dean Dalton												29						15		18	28	11	14							DNQ	633
43	Earle Canavan		DNQ		18	17			19							34			36				29		24						DNQ	610
44	Rick Newsom									18		30	20										38		30	24			18			607
45	Tighe Scott		35								17					15			30	6	36											566
46	Terry Ryan		6								5			40		32															9	558
47	Darrell Bryant		DNQ	11			20		36		40		9	19					35				40									546
48	Buck Baker								6		34	16	28				36			16			17					24				513
49	Chuck Bown	16													19											28				31	19	481
50	Baxter Price		DNQ			16		23				24	21					20	28													479
51	Dick Skillen		31						21		21						17			30												455
52	Sam Sommers													24			DNQ			36			30					36		9		412
53	Ricky Rudd		DNQ								23		33				10						DNQ					16				407
54	Jimmy Lee Capps		24				33										21			10												389
55	Bob Burcham		DNQ				14		33		30			35						35												374
56	John Utsman (R)		DNQ	14			19		12		15																					345
57	Harold Miller		DNQ				DNQ										18			14	20											333
58	Ray Elder	4													4																DNQ	320
59	G. C. Spencer																			25	34							17		35		319
60	Jerry Sisco					11	22		26																							312
61	Jimmy Insolo	3													8																21	307
62	Don Puskarich	27													21																15	300
63	Earl Brooks								20				32											20				20				273
64	Bill Champion		DNQ		28	29		16																								270
65	Jack Donohue																								19				21	36		261
66	Richard D. Brown				22			24																			30					261
67	Junior Miller							14																			15					239
68	Jimmy Hensley									25																7						234
69	Roy Smith		20												27																38	234
70	Eddie Bradshaw	18													15																DNQ	227
71	Chuck Wahl	22													13																DNQ	226
72	Bill Schmitt	10																													26	219
73	Bruce Jacobi		DNQ																				37		28			27			DNQ	213
74	Gary Matthews	17													23																	206
75	Bill Polich	26	DNQ												17																	197
76	Larry LaMay																							30			16					188
77	Walter Wallace											28						18														188
78	Ron Esau	14													35																DNQ	179
79	Gary Johnson	29																													DNQ	176
80	Carl Joiner	20																													31	173
81	Ferrel Harris		QL								25						28															167
82	Hugh Pearson	24													30																DNQ	164
83	Johnny Ray (R)	31	28																													149
84	Harry Gant													9																		138
85	Jim Thirkettle														34																29	137
86	Larry Esau	13																														124
87	Jim Vandiver										13																					124
88	Gene Felton																													16		115
89	Jim Hurtubise		16																													115
90	Don Reynolds														18																DNQ	109
91	Budd Hagelin												19												37							106
92	Bill Dennis																											21				100
93	Tommy Ellis																								21							100
94	Richie Panch																													21		100
95	John Dineen														22																DNQ	97
96	Doc Faustina		DNQ										24																		DNQ	91
97	Clyde Lynn																					24										91
98	Glen McDuffie			27																												82
99	J. C. Danielson														28																	79
100	Glenn Francis																														28	79
101	Sterling Marlin											29																				76
102	Hershel McGriff	30																													32	73
103	Dale Earnhardt													31																19		70
104	Rusty Sanders														31																	70
105	John Hamson														32																DNQ	67
106	Dick Trickle													32																		67
107	John Haver																				33											64
108	Ernie Stierly														33																DNQ	64
109	Sam Beler	34																														61
110	Charlie Glotzbach													34																		61
111	Harry Jefferson	35																													DNQ	58
112	Johnny Kieper																														35	58
113	Tom Williams		37																												DNQ	52
114	Bobby Isaac			6										38																		49
115	Bill Hollar						DNQ												39													46
116	Earl Ross		39																													46
117	Janet Guthrie													15			15								33			22			20
118	A. J. Foyt		22*	32													4			22								38
119	Neil Castles				25			25					38
120	David Hobbs		34																		17
121	Johnny Rutherford																20											31
122	Salt Walther		12
123	Larry Phillips																														13
124	Bruce Blodgett									15
125	Ernie Shaw				16
126	Mike Hiss																														22
127	Ramo Stott		26
128	Jeff Handy							28
129	Billy McGinnis																													34
130	Gordon Johncock																											39
131	Al Holbert																											40
132			DNQ
133	Dave Decker		DNQ
134	Bill Seifert		DNQ
135	Darel Dieringer		DNQ
136	Blackie Wangerin		DNQ
137	John Banks		DNQ
138	Terry Link		DNQ
139	Jim Fleming		DNQ
140	Jerry Mabie																DNQ
141	Jerry Hansen																					DNQ
142	Earl Ressler																					DNQ
143	Steve Pfeifer																														DNQ
144	Richard White																														DNQ
145	Ross Kusah																														DNQ
146	Leon Fox																														DNQ
147	Dennis Wilson																														DNQ
148	Bryce Mann																														DNQ
149	Sue Williams																														style='background:#FFCFCF;"	DNQ
150	Arlene Hiss																														DNQ
151	Terry Wood																														DNQ
152	Don Graham																														DNQ
153	Jack Simpson																														DNQ
154	John Weibel																														DNQ
155	Summer McKnight																														DNQ
156	Dick Whalen																														DNQ
157	Chris Monoleos																														DNQ
158	Norm Palmer																														DNQ
159	Bill Osborne																														DNQ
160	Jerry Barnett																														DNQ
161	Perry Cottingham																														DNQ
162	Marty Robbins		Wth																												DNQ
	Driver	RSD	DAY	CAR	RCH	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT

^[2]

External links

• Winston Cup Standings and Statistics for 1976

Notes and References

1. Stock Car Racing Magazine, June 1976, p. 25
2. Web site: 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Central - The Third Turn. 2021-04-29. www.thethirdturn.com. en.