1996 Pontiac Excitement 400 Explained
The 1996 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 3, 1996, in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. On the final restart with five to go, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to pull away from the field to secure his 10th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett and Roush Racing driver Ted Musgrave would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 1, at 10:30 AM 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 Saturday, March 2, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-36 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.
Terry Labonte, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 21.822 and an average speed of 123.728mph.[4]
Three drivers would fail to qualify: Randy MacDonald, Robbie Faggart, and Dick Trickle.
Full qualifying results
*Time not available.
Race results
| Fin | St | | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
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| 1 | 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 124 | running | 180 | $92,400 |
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| 2 | 11 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 400 | 23 | running | 175 | $44,225 |
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| 3 | 15 | 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 400 | 0 | running | 165 | $42,200 |
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| 4 | 21 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 400 | 54 | running | 165 | $22,350 |
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| 5 | 5 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 400 | 0 | running | 155 | $37,850 |
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| 6 | 3 | 43 | Bobby Hamilton | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 400 | 129 | running | 160 | $37,900 |
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| 7 | 14 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 400 | 26 | running | 151 | $28,375 |
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| 8 | 1 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 3 | running | 147 | $34,475 |
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| 9 | 34 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 400 | 0 | running | 138 | $27,875 |
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| 10 | 6 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford | 400 | 26 | running | 139 | $27,225 |
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| 11 | 16 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 130 | $28,675 |
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| 12 | 38 | 37 | John Andretti | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | Ford | 400 | 0 | running | 127 | $25,675 |
|---|
| 13 | 28 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 400 | 0 | running | 124 | $26,725 |
|---|
| 14 | 13 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 121 | $22,925 |
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| 15 | 10 | 81 | Kenny Wallace | FILMAR Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 118 | $12,635 |
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| 16 | 23 | 33 | Robert Pressley | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 1 | running | 120 | $22,570 |
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| 17 | 4 | 41 | Ricky Craven | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 112 | $21,870 |
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| 18 | 39 | 9 | Lake Speed | Melling Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 109 | $21,720 |
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| 19 | 18 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Pontiac | 399 | 0 | running | 106 | $21,495 |
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| 20 | 36 | 42 | Kyle Petty | Team SABCO | Pontiac | 399 | 0 | running | 103 | $23,170 |
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| 21 | 7 | 29 | Steve Grissom | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 100 | $22,210 |
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| 22 | 27 | 12 | Derrike Cope | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 97 | $21,085 |
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| 23 | 37 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | running | 94 | $26,515 |
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| 24 | 25 | 90 | Mike Wallace | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 91 | $13,890 |
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| 25 | 24 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 88 | $20,940 |
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| 26 | 40 | 77 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 85 | $13,615 |
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| 27 | 12 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 82 | $20,490 |
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| 28 | 29 | 98 | Jeremy Mayfield | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 395 | 0 | running | 79 | $13,365 |
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| 29 | 30 | 23 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | 394 | 1 | running | 81 | $20,340 |
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| 30 | 20 | 27 | Elton Sawyer | David Blair Motorsports | Ford | 394 | 0 | running | 73 | $10,310 |
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| 31 | 9 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 393 | 0 | running | 70 | $27,265 |
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| 32 | 22 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | Butch Mock Motorsports | Ford | 392 | 0 | running | 67 | $12,740 |
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| 33 | 19 | 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 392 | 10 | running | 69 | $17,225 |
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| 34 | 8 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 391 | 0 | running | 61 | $17,215 |
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| 35 | 32 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 391 | 3 | running | 63 | $10,215 |
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| 36 | 35 | 21 | Michael Waltrip | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 386 | 0 | crash | 55 | $17,215 |
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| 37 | 33 | 30 | Johnny Benson Jr. (R) | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 386 | 0 | running | 52 | $17,215 |
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| 38 | 26 | 28 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 379 | 0 | overheating | 49 | $32,715 |
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| 39 | 31 | 8 | Hut Stricklin | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 288 | 0 | running | 46 | $10,215 |
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| 40 | 17 | 15 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 19 | 0 | crash | 43 | $18,215 |
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| Failed to qualify |
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| 41 | | 78 | Randy MacDonald | Triad Motorsports | Ford | |
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| 42 | 02 | Robbie Faggart | Miles Motorsports | Chevrolet |
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| 43 | 19 | Dick Trickle | TriStar Motorsports | Ford |
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| Official race results | |
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Notes and References
- Web site: Higgins . Tom . March 4, 1996 . Gordon out of pits, into Victory Lane . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20000815214014/http://www.thatsracin.com/96/docs/3_4pont.htm . August 15, 2000 . October 10, 2022 . That's Racin' . The Charlotte Observer.
- News: Luther . Bill . March 4, 1996 . Gordon roars to first win . 46 . Citizens' Voice . October 10, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: March 1, 1996 . Pontiac 400 . 28 . . October 10, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Martin . Gerald . March 2, 1996 . Labonte, Gordon 1-2 for pole again . 34 . The News and Observer . October 10, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
