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1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400

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1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400
Race details[1]
Race 15 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 program cover
1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 program cover
Date June 20, 1976 (1976-June-20)
Official name Cam 2 Motor Oil 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 Temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed 141.149 miles per hour (227.157 km/h)
Attendance 46,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 129
Winner
No. 43 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on June 20, 1976, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Background

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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

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David Pearson defeated Cale Yarborough by three car lengths in front of an audience of 46,000.[2][4] There were 17 lead changes and three cautions for 20 out of the 200 laps.[2] The race took two hours and fifty minutes.[2][4] Richard Petty earned the pole position with a speed of 158.569 miles per hour (255.192 km/h), the average speed of the race was 141.148 miles per hour (227.156 km/h).[2][4][5] Joe Frasson finished last due to an engine problem on lap 2.[2] All 36 of the drivers on the racing grid were American-born males.[2] The field was dominated by Chevrolet vehicles as opposed to Ford and Mercury vehicles.[2][4][5]

Cale Yarborough dominated most of this race, with radio announcer Ken Squier saying it was one of the best runs he'd seen Cale have, but in the closing stages it was David Pearson out front and cruising to a win when a late caution came out for Coo Coo Marlin's blown engine while he was running seventh in the closing laps. Under the yellow the leaders all pitted with Yarborough regaining the lead only for Pearson to pass him on the backstretch after the restart and take the win. Overall it was still a good day for Yarborough as he capitalized on a 74-point swing in the point standings to vault back into the points lead as a result of Benny Parsons' issues.[2][4] He would eventually become the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion.

Bobby Allison was running second very late when he was black flagged for the Penske team having put tape over parts of the grill of his Cam 2 #2 Mercury. That aerodynamic improvement was illegal at the time but later became commonplace. Allison still recovered to finish third in part due to how few cars were left on the lead lap and the late caution.[2]

The grand total of this race's prize purse was $105,355 ($564,111 when considering inflation).[5]

Qualifying

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Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 43 Richard Petty Dodge Petty Enterprises
2 2 Bobby Allison Mercury Roger Penske
3 15 Buddy Baker Ford Bud Moore
4 71 Dave Marcis Dodge Nord Krauskopf
5 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet L.G. DeWitt
6 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Junior Johnson
7 54 Lennie Pond Chevrolet Ronnie Elder
8 21 David Pearson Mercury Wood Brothers
9 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet Bill Gray
10 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet DiGard Racing
11 24 Cecil Gordon Chevrolet Cecil Gordon
12 48 James Hylton Chevrolet James Hylton
13 90 Dick Brooks Ford Junie Donlavey
14 60 Jackie Rogers Chevrolet Lou Viglione
15 81 Terry Ryan Chevrolet Bill Monaghan
16 05 David Sisco Chevrolet David Sisco
17 47 Bruce Hill Chevrolet Bruce Hill
18 79 Frank Warren Dodge Frank Warren
19 3 Richard Childress Chevrolet Richard Childress
20 14 Coo Coo Marlin Chevrolet H.B. Cunningham

Results

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POS[6] ST # DRIVER SPONSOR / OWNER CAR LAPS MONEY STATUS LED PTS
1 8 21   David Pearson Purolator   (Wood Brothers) Mercury 200 15845 running 24 180
2 6 11   Cale Yarborough Holly Farms   (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 200 11845 running 129 180
3 2 2   Bobby Allison CAM 2   (Roger Penske) Mercury 200 9275 running 4 170
4 1 43   Richard Petty STP   (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 200 9065 running 3 165
5 3 15   Buddy Baker Norris Industries   (Bud Moore) Ford 199 6630 running 20 160
6 13 90   Dick Brooks Truxmore   (Junie Donlavey) Ford 197 3035 running 0 150
7 7 54   Lennie Pond Pepsi-Cola   (Ronnie Elder) Chevrolet 196 2725 running 0 146
8 16 05   David Sisco David Sisco Chevrolet 196 2615 running 0 142
9 14 60   Jackie Rogers Red Dog's   (Lou Viglione) Chevrolet 194 1845 running 2 143
10 11 24   Cecil Gordon Pruette   (Cecil Gordon) Chevrolet 193 2405 running 0 134
11 31 67   Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington Dodge 191 2295 running 0 130
12 24 40   D.K. Ulrich Garden State Auto   (J.R. DeLotto) Chevrolet 190 2185 running 0 127
13 20 14   Coo Coo Marlin Cunningham-Kelley   (H.B. Cunningham) Chevrolet 189 1920 engine 0 124
14 33 25   Dick May Don Robertson Chevrolet 188 1835 running 0 121
15 32 30   Tighe Scott Clyde Lynn   (Walter Ballard) Chevrolet 187 1720 running 0 118
16 26 70   J.D. McDuffie Butler's   (J.D. McDuffie) Chevrolet 184 1540 running 0 115
17 28 8   Ed Negre Ed Negre Dodge 181 1515 running 0 112
18 19 3   Richard Childress Kansas Jack   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 180 1490 running 0 109
19 5 72   Benny Parsons King's Row Fireplace   (L.G. DeWitt) Chevrolet 179 3965 running 0 106
20 22 92   Skip Manning Stratagraph   (Billy Hagan) Chevrolet 161 940 engine 0 103
21 27 64   Tommy Gale Stamey's Bar-B-Q   (Elmo Langley) Ford 145 1415 engine 0 100
22 30 46   Travis Tiller Little B / C & K Coal   (Travis Tiller) Dodge 134 890 overheating 0 97
23 9 52   Jimmy Means Means Racing   (Bill Gray) Chevrolet 132 865 engine 0 94
24 18 79   Frank Warren Native Tan   (Frank Warren) Dodge 108 1340 wheel bearing 0 91
25 17 47   Bruce Hill Howson Algraphy   (Bruce Hill) Chevrolet 103 1315 engine 0 88
26 29 36   Bobby Wawak J & B Corvette   (John Gwinn) Chevrolet 57 790 engine 0 85
27 36 95   Gary Myers Hicks Pharmacy   (Junior Miller) Chevrolet 49 765 engine 0 82
28 21 10   Bill Elliott Sunny King   (Bill Champion) Ford 46 1240 engine 0 79
29 10 88   Darrell Waltrip Gatorade   (DiGard Racing) Chevrolet 33 3725 engine 0 76
30 4 71   Dave Marcis K & K Insurance   (Nord Krauskopf) Dodge 26 3830 engine 18 78
31 25 29   Walter Ballard Velvet Touch Furniture   (Bill Hollar) Chevrolet 26 690 engine 0 70
32 15 81   Terry Ryan WAM Racing   (Bill Monaghan) Chevrolet 20 680 engine 0 67
33 23 19   Henley Gray Belden Asphalt   (Henley Gray) Chevrolet 20 670 ignition 0 64
34 35 01   Earle Canavan Benihana   (Earle Canavan) Dodge 15 660 transmission 0 61
35 12 48   James Hylton Hylton Engineering   (James Hylton) Chevrolet 2 1150 transmission 0 58
36 34 18   Joe Frasson Excuse Lounge   (Joe Frasson) Chevrolet 1 640 engine 0 55

Standings after the race

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Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Increase Cale Yarborough 2318 0
2 Decrease Benny Parsons 2267 -51
3 Richard Petty 2201 -117
4 Bobby Allison 2161 -157
5 Increase Lennie Pond 1964 -354
6 Decrease Dave Marcis 1905 -413
7 Richard Childress 1867 -451
8 Increase Buddy Baker 1823 -495
9 Increase David Pearson 1743 -575
10 Decrease Darrell Waltrip 1740 -578

References

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  1. ^ "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  3. ^ a b c "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  4. ^ a b c d e "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  5. ^ a b c "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  6. ^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
Preceded by Motor State 400/Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 races
1976
Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1976
Succeeded by