1977 Music City USA 420

The 1977 Music City USA 420 was a 420-lap race that took place on May 7, 1977, at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.

1977 Music City USA 420

Race details[1][2]
Race 11 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date	May 7, 1977 (1977-May-07)
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	Hot with temperatures of 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed	87.490 miles per hour (140.802 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps	398
Winner
No. 72	Benny Parsons	DeWitt Racing
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

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

The race itself took two hours, fifty-one minutes, and forty seconds from the first green flag to the checkered flag.[2] Benny Parsons was the race winner with an average speed of 87.49 miles per hour (140.80 km/h) while the pole position winner Darrell Waltrip had a speed of 103.643 miles per hour (166.797 km/h) and finished the race in 3rd place.[2] Cale Yarborough led the race with most number of laps (275) and was the points leader after the race for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship.[2] However, Benny Parsons would defeat him by one second.[2]

Ricky Rudd made his fourth 4th career top-10 finish at this race.[3]

Twenty thousand people attended this race that had a total prize purse of $56,350 ($237,746.87 in current US dollars).[2] The winner would leave the event earning an incredible $9,565 ($40,355.79 in current US dollars) while the last-place finisher would walk away with a meager $255 in cash earnings ($1,075.87 in current US dollars).[4]

Other notable names among the drivers included Ricky Rudd, Coo Coo Marlin, Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, and Richard Childress.[2] Notable crew chiefs included Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, and Dale Inman.[5]

Paul Dean Holt would retire from NASCAR after this race after competing in 85 races while Ralph Jones would make his introduction into NASCAR racing during this race.[6]

Qualifying

Grid[2]	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	88	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
2	72	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet
3	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet
4	43	Richard Petty	Dodge
5	12	Bobby Allison	AMC Matador
6	2	Dave Marcis	Chevrolet
7	15	Buddy Baker	Ford
8	52	Jimmy Means	Chevrolet
9	92	Skip Manning	Chevrolet
10	3	Richard Childress	Chevrolet
11	70	J.D. McDuffie	Chevrolet
12	22	Ricky Rudd	Chevrolet
13	81	Terry Ryan	Chevrolet
14	67	Buddy Arrington	Dodge
15	14	Coo Coo Marlin	Chevrolet

Finishing order

Section reference: [2]

1. Benny Parsons (No. 72)
2. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
3. Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
4. Dave Marcis (No. 2)
5. Richard Petty (No. 43)
6. Buddy Baker (No. 15)
7. Bobby Allison (No. 12)
8. Coo Coo Marlin (No. 14)
9. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
10. Ricky Rudd (No. 22)
11. James Hylton (No. 48)
12. Gary Myers (No. 4)
13. Cecil Gordon (No. 24)
14. D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
15. Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
16. Rick Newsom (No. 20)
17. Earl Brooks (No. 33)
18. Ralph Jones (No. 98)
19. David Sisco (No. 16)
20. Ferrell Harris (No. 25)
21. Skip Manning* (No. 96)
22. Dick Brooks* (No. 64)
23. Elmo Langley* (No. 45)
24. J.D. McDuffie* (No. 70)
25. Henley Gray* (No. 19)
26. Richard Childress* (No. 3)
27. Terry Ryan* (No. 81)
28. Paul Dean Holt* (No. 39)
29. Frank Warren* (No. 79)
30. Dean Dalton* (No. 7)

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

• Start: Darrell Waltrip was leading the racing grid as the green flag was waved.
• Lap 3: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
• Lap 19: Dean Dalton fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 30: Frank Warren fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 47: Paul Dean Holt managed to overheat his vehicle.
• Lap 86: Terry Ryan fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 108: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
• Lap 133: Richard Childress fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 154: Henley Gray managed to overheat his vehicle.
• Lap 176: J.D. McDuffie fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 182: Elmo Langley fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 269: The ignition on Dick Brooks' vehicle stopped working properly.
• Lap 313: The rear end of Skip Manning's vehicle came off in a manner that was unsafe for further racing.
• Lap 383: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
• Finish: Benny Parsons was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Cale Yarborough	1905	0
2	Richard Petty	1713	-192
3	Benny Parsons	1677	-228
4	Darrell Waltrip	1672	-223
5	Dave Marcis	1460	-445
6	Buddy Baker	1452	-453
7	Cecil Gordon	1341	-564
8	Richard Childress	1321	-584
9	James Hylton	1286	-619
10	Dick Brooks	1284	-621

References

1. "1977 Music City USA 420 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
2. "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results (second reference)". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
3. "Driver Ricky Rudd Career Statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
4. "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
5. "1977 Music City USA 420 crew chiefs". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
6. "Additional information about the 1977 Music City USA 420". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-11.

Preceded by 1977 Winston 500	NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1977	Succeeded by 1977 Mason-Dixon 500

Preceded by 1976	Music City USA races 1977	Succeeded by 1978