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
Layout of Michigan International Speedway
Date August 22, 1976 (1976-August-22)
Official name Champion Spark Plug 400
Location Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Permanent racing facility
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 untelevised
Announcers none

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 ($539,270.22 when adjusted for inflation). The majority of the vehicles were Chevrolets.[4]

While the winner took home $11,950 ($53,691.14 when adjusted for inflation), the last-place finisher took home $1,250 ($5,616.23 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
  1. David Pearson† (No. 21)
  2. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
  3. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  4. Bobby Allison (No. 2)
  5. Dave Marcis (No. 71)
  6. Neil Bonnett† (No. 12)
  7. D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
  8. J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
  9. Benny Parsons† (No. 72)
  10. Bobby Wawak† (No. 36)
  11. Henley Gray (No. 19)
  12. Coo Coo Marlin† (No. 14)
  13. Richard Childress (No. 3)
  14. Skip Manning (No. 92)
  15. Terry Bivins (No. 10)
  16. Dick May† (No. 25)
  17. David Hobbs (No. 9)
  18. Dean Dalton (No. 7)
  19. Bruce Hill* (No. 47)
  20. Harold Miller (No. 91)
  21. James Hylton† (No. 48)
  22. Joe Mihalic (No. 61)
  23. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  24. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
  25. Lennie Pond (No. 54)
  26. Cecil Gordon*† (No. 24)
  27. Darrell Waltrip* (No. 88)
  28. Joe Frasson† (No. 18)
  29. Dick Brooks*† (No. 90)
  30. Ed Negre*† (No. 8)
  31. Buddy Baker*† (No. 15)
  32. David Sisco* (No. 05)
  33. John Haver* (No. 51)
  34. G.C. Spencer*† (No. 49)
  35. Jackie Rogers* (No. 60)
  36. Tighe Scott* (No. 30)

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

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 Dave Marcis 2652 -374
6 Lennie Pond 2599 -427
7 Richard Childress 2477 -549
8 Buddy Baker 2420 -606
9 David Pearson 2352 -674
10 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
Preceded by
1976 Talladega 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1976		 Succeeded by
1976 Volunteer 400
Preceded by
1975		 Champion Spark Plug 400 races
1976		 Succeeded by
1977
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