1976 Dixie 500

Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.[3] However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.

The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.[4]

Three hundred and twenty eight laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 1.522 miles (2.449 km) for a grand total of 499.2 miles (803.4 km).[2] The total time of the race was three hours and fifty-five minutes.[2] Four cautions were made for forty-one laps.[2] Dave Marcis defeated David Pearson by two car lengths.[2] Marcis never really stuck a fender in any tight spots, and while his consistency could get nice points finishes, it led to less wins and less fun.[5] However, Dave Marcis was an intelligent racer who know that having two cars battling close to each other was a death sentence during the late-1970s, especially when a driver is driving the second car on the totem pole.

In his third career start, Dale Earnhardt reached a career best finish to that point of his very young career in a 19th-place finish.[2] Chevrolet vehicles managed to fill out the majority of the racing grid.[6]

Notable crew chiefs for this race included Travis Carter for Bobby Allison, Tim Brewer, Sterling Marlin for his dad Coo Coo Marlin, Dale Inman for Richard Petty, Harry Hyde for race-winner Marcis, Jake Elder, and Junie Donlavey.[7] Speeds for this race were: 127.396 miles per hour (205.024 km/h) as the average and 161.652 miles per hour (260.154 km/h) for the pole position.[2] Forty-six thousand fans attended this live race.[2] Total winnings for this race were $132,625 ($595,882 when adjusted for inflation).[2]

Canadian driver Jack Donohue would finish the race in last place without completing any laps of the race. Donohue simply forgot to shift to fourth gear; causing his engine to malfunction.[8] he was granted 55 championship points just for qualifying.[2]

The race was primarily a battle between Marcis, David Pearson, Yarborough, and Donnie Allison; for most of the first 62 laps in particular the top four raced nose to nose; Stock Car Racing Magazine writer Richard Benyo reported “the lead would change at four different spots” on the oval.

G.C. Spencer crashed on the first lap while Billy McGinnis blew his vehicle's engine on lap 15. A faulty head gasket forced David Sisco to leave the race on lap 34. Oil pressure issues would force Dick May out of the race on lap 60 while faulty wheel bearings eliminated Chuck Bown from the race on lap 75.[2] Coo Coo Marlin had a bad engine on lap 114. Oil pressure issues forced Richard Petty to leave the race on lap 157, which ended his chance to overtake Yarborough for the Winston Cup title.

Frank Warren fell out with overheating by Lap 164 and Bobby Allison left on lap 168. Engine problems would claim the vehicles of Richard Childress on lap 218, Lennie Pond on lap 228, and Terry Bivins on lap 250. A problematic valve spring on lap 252 would end Richie Panch's weekend and Grant Adcox's engine would stop working on lap 254.[2]

David Pearson looked like a winner on lap 301 as he drove by Marcis on lap 301 but Marcis was cooling his tires and 14 laps later drove by Pearson. A late yellow set up a two-lap sprint and Marcis won it, and the race.[2]

Richie Panch, son of Marvin Panch, would retire after the end of this race while Billy McGinnis would make his official NASCAR Cup Series debut.[9]

Dale Earnhardt survived a huge crash when Dick Brooks slid down the banking of Turn 3; Earnhardt hit Brooks and tumbled to Turn 4.[10]

Future NASCAR superstar Bill Elliott had a role wiping the windshield of 16th-place finisher Gene Felton's stock car; Elliott would go on to have a successful Cup Series career of his own 12 years later.[11]

Section reference:[2]

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