1976 Music City USA 420

The 1976 Music City USA 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on May 8, 1976, at Nashville Speedway (now Fairgrounds Speedway) in Nashville, Tennessee.

1976 Music City USA 420
Race details[1][2][3]
Race 11 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date May 8, 1976 (1976-May-08)
Official name Music City USA 420
Location Nashville Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
0.596 mi (0.959 km)
Distance 420 laps, 250.3 mi (402.8 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures of 68 °F (20 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 84.512 miles per hour (136.009 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
DeWitt Racing
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 398
Winner
No. 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The five drivers that dominated the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season were David Pearson (average finish of 7th place), Cale Yarborough (average finish of 8th place), Richard Petty (average finish of 9th place), Benny Parsons (average finish of 10th place), and Bobby Allison (average finish 12th place).

Background

Nashville Speedway was converted to a half-mile paved oval in 1957, when it began to be a NASCAR series track. The speedway was lengthened between the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The corners were cut down from 35 degrees to their present 18 degrees in 1972.

Race report

It took two hours and fifty-seven minutes[4] for Cale Yarborough to defeat Richard Petty by 1.3 seconds in front of 16000 live audience members.[2] Five cautions slowed the race for 33 laps along with 16 changes in the lead.[2]

Rick Newsom achieved the last-place finish due to an ignition problem on lap 22 of the 420 laps that made up its regulation length.[2][3] All of the 30 drivers on the grid were American-born males.[2] Benny Parsons qualified for the race with a pole position speed of 104.328 miles per hour (167.900 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 84.512 miles per hour (136.009 km/h).[2][4] The winner received $8,565 in winnings ($38,482.39 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher would only win $305 ($1,370.36 when adjusted for inflation).[2]

19-year-old Sterling Marlin made NASCAR debut in his race; he started in 30th place and finished in 29th place.[2][3] Marlin filled in for his father Coo Coo while he was recovering from an injury.[5]

Notable crew chiefs in attendance for this race were Billy Hagan, Harry Hyde, Jake Elder, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Coo Coo Marlin, Tim Brewer and Travis Carter.[6]

Qualifying
Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer
1 72Benny ParsonsChevrolet
2 11Cale YarboroughChevrolet
3 71Dave MarcisDodge
4 2Bobby AllisonMercury
5 15Buddy BakerFord
6 88Darrell WaltripChevrolet
7 43Richard PettyDodge
8 54Lennie PondChevrolet
9 3Richard ChildressChevrolet
10 05David SiscoChevrolet
11 92Skip ManningChevrolet
12 40D.K. UlrichChevrolet
13 70J.D. McDuffieChevrolet
14 30Walter BallardChevrolet
15 79Frank WarrenDodge
16 47Bruce HillChevrolet
17 24Cecil GordonChevrolet
18 45Baxter PriceChevrolet
19 67Buddy ArringtonDodge
20 8Ed NegreDodge

Finishing order
  1. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
  2. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  3. Benny Parsons (No. 72)
  4. Buddy Baker (No. 15)
  5. Bobby Allison (No. 2)
  6. Lennie Pond (No. 54)
  7. Dave Marcis (No. 71)
  8. Walter Ballard (No. 30)
  9. David Sisco (No. 05)
  10. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  11. D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
  12. Darrell Waltrip* (No. 88)
  13. Elmo Langley (No. 64)
  14. Cecil Gordon (No. 24)
  15. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
  16. Buck Baker (No. 33)
  17. Richard Childress* (No. 3)
  18. James Hylton* (No. 48)
  19. Ed Negre* (No. 8)
  20. J.D. McDuffie* (No. 70)
  21. Jabe Thomas* (No. 25)
  22. Skip Manning* (No. 92)
  23. Bruce Hill* (No. 47)
  24. Baxter Price* (No. 45)
  25. Henley Gray* (No. 19)
  26. Buddy Arrington* (No. 67)
  27. Gary Myers* (No. 95)
  28. Walter Wallace* (No. 87)
  29. Sterling Marlin* (No. 14)
  30. Rick Newsom* (No. 20)

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

  • Start: Cale Yarborough was leading the starting grid as the drivers crossed the start/finish line.
  • Lap 39: Lennie Pond took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 40: Dave Marcis took over the lead from Lennie Pond.
  • Lap 47: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Dave Marcis.
  • Lap 59: The rear end of Walter Wallace's vehicle came off in an unsafe manner.
  • Lap 72: Buddy Arrington managed to overheat his vehicle.
  • Lap 131: Baxter Price blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 150: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 151: Richard Petty took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
  • Lap 152: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 161: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 162: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 167: Skip Manning blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 171: Jabe Thomas blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 180: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 185: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 227: Ed Negre managed to overheat his vehicle.
  • Lap 256: James Hylton blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 303: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 305: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
  • Lap 348: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 350: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
  • Lap 352: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 393: The rear end came off of Darrell Waltrip's vehicle in an unsafe manner.
  • Finish: Cale Yarborough was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race
Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Cale Yarborough 1720 0
2 Benny Parsons 1656 -64
3 Richard Petty 1573 -147
4 Bobby Allison 1491 -229
5 Lennie Pond 1446 -274
6 Dave Marcis 1442 -278
7 Richard Childress 1382 -338
8 Darrell Waltrip 1311 -409
9 Cecil Gordon 1276 -444
10 Buddy Baker 1274 -446
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References
  1. 1976 Music City USA 420 weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1976 Music City USA 420 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. 1976 Music City USA 420 racing information at Driver Averages
  4. 1976 Music City USA 420 racing information at DecadesofRacing.Net
  5. Sterling Marlin information at NASCAR.com
  6. 1976 Music City USA 420 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
Preceded by
1976 Winston 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1976		 Succeeded by
1976 Mason-Dixon 500
Preceded by
1975		 Music City USA 420 races
1976		 Succeeded by
1977
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