1976 Daytona 500

1976 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 2 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1976 Daytona 500 program cover
Date	February 15, 1976 (1976-02-15)
Location	Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 77 °F (25 °C); wind speeds approaching 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed	152.181 miles per hour (244.912 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ramo Stott	Norris Reed
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner	Dave Marcis	Nord Krauskopf
Duel 2 Winner	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver	A. J. Foyt	Ellington Racing
Laps	66
Winner
No. 21	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ABC's WWOS
Announcers	Bill Flemming Jackie Stewart Chris Economaki
Nielsen Ratings	12.8/37 (18.3 million viewers)

The 1976 Daytona 500, the 18th running of the event, happened on Feb. 15th, 1976 at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fl. It is remembered for the late-race duel and accident between David Pearson and Richard Petty. Many fans consider this finish to be the greatest in the history of NASCAR. The end of the race was televised live on American network ABC.

These were the first Daytona 500 starts for Neil Bonnett, Terry Ryan, Salt Walther, D. K. Ulrich, Roy Smith, Jimmy Lee Capps, Skip Manning, Tighe Scott, Dick May, and Jimmy Means. For Terry Bivins, Johnny Ray, Dr. Dick Skillen, David Hobbs, and Tom Williams, this would be their only Daytona 500 start. Joe Frasson, Jackie Rogers, David Sisco, and Earl Ross would make their last Daytona 500s this year.

Qualifying

USAC stock car racer Ramo Stott won his only career NASCAR pole position. There was a major speed discrepancy between cars in their qualification runs. Top teams were qualifying in the 178 miles per hour (286 km/h) to 179 miles per hour (288 km/h) range and a few teams qualified in the 186 miles per hour (299 km/h) range. Two of the teams who qualified in the 186 miles per hour (299 km/h) range were disqualified after NASCAR inspectors found suspicious extra fuel lines. Some teams attributed these lines to performance-enhancing nitrous oxide. One driver later admitted that he deliberately qualified slower to let the time from "offending" teams stick out.

In the 125-mile qualifying races, Dave Marcis won race 1, while Darrell Waltrip claimed race 2.

Race

The opening laps were a battle for the lead between Buddy Baker, Waltrip, and David Pearson. A. J. Foyt rocketed from the rear to lead 68 laps before falling out with engine failure. An accident on lap 112 involving Johnny Ray and Skip Manning ended Ray's racing career.

Late in the race, Richard Petty and David Pearson were nose-to-tail, two laps ahead of all other competitors. On the final lap, Pearson passed Petty on the backstretch, and Petty attempted to re-pass in turn 3. Petty did not completely clear Pearson and the two cars made contact with each other and the wall, sending them spinning into the infield grass, just yards from the finish line. Petty's car stalled and would not re-fire. Pearson re-started his stricken car and crossed the finish line to win. Petty, with the help of a push-start from his crew, crossed the line for 2nd.

Box Score

Margin of victory: 50 yards

Fin	Grid	Car #	Driver	Car Make	Laps	Status	Laps Led	Points
1	7	21	David Pearson	Mercury	200	3:17:08	37	180 (5)
2	6	43	Richard Petty	Dodge	199	Crash	40	175
3	32	72	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet	199	Running	16	170 (5)
4	11	54	Lennie Pond	Chevrolet	198	Running	0	160
5	13	12	Neil Bonnett	Chevrolet	197	Running	0	155
6	2	81	Terry Ryan	Chevrolet	196	Running	1	155 (5)
7	41	70	J.D. McDuffie	Chevrolet	193	Running	0	146
8	19	63	Terry Bivins	Chevrolet	193	Running	6	147 (5)
9	36	3	Richard Childress	Chevrolet	191	Running	0	138
10	34	79	Frank Warren	Dodge	190	Running	0	134
11	37	67	Buddy Arrington	Dodge	190	Running	0	130
12	26	4	Salt Walther	Chevrolet	187	running	0	0
13	42	8	Ed Negre	Dodge	185	running	0	124
14	22	18	Joe Frasson	Chevrolet	183	running	0	121
15	23	60	Jackie Rogers	Chevrolet	183	running	1	123 (5)
16	15	95	Jim Hurtubise	Chevrolet	180	engine	0	115
17	21	61	Joe Mihalic	Chevrolet	159	running	0	112
18	17	24	Cecil Gordon	Chevrolet	158	running	0	109
19	27	40	D.K. Ulrich	Chevrolet	151	axle	0	106
20	39	29	Roy Smith	Chevrolet	148	clutch	0	103
21	10	14	Coo Coo Marlin	Chevrolet	147	engine	0	100
22	31	28	A.J. Foyt	Chevrolet	143	engine	66	0
23	29	48	James Hylton	Chevrolet	138	running	0	94
24	24	26	Jimmy Lee Capps	Chevrolet	133	engine	0	91
25	8	2	Bobby Allison	Mercury	123	engine	2	93 (5)
26	1	83	Ramo Stott	Chevrolet	113	engine	0
27	3	71	Dave Marcis	Dodge	112	running	0	82
28	35	10	Johnny Ray	Chevrolet	111	crash	0	79
29	40	05	David Sisco	Chevrolet	110	running	0	76
30	30	82	Skip Manning	Dodge	107	crash	0	73
31	28	78	Dick Skillen	Chevrolet	99	overheating	0	70
32	4	88	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	87	engine	0	67
33	5	15	Buddy Baker	Ford	83	engine	28	69 (5)
34	16	73	David Hobbs	Chevrolet	68	crash	2	66 (5)
35	18	30	Tighe Scott	Chevrolet	58	crash	0	58
36	33	47	Bruce Hill	Chevrolet	43	engine	0	55
37	25	38	Tom Williams	Chevrolet	41	engine	0	52
38	38	33	Dick May	Chevrolet	36	engine	0	49
39	12	52	Earl Ross	Chevrolet	28	engine	0	46
40	20	5	Jimmy Means	Chevrolet	20	engine	1	48 (5)
41	9	90	Dick Brooks	Ford	5	engine	0	40
42	14	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	1	engine	0	37

(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap
(10) Indicates 10 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap & leading the most laps
Note: A.J. Foyt led the most laps but was not eligible for NASCAR points.

Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes

Driver	#	Car Make
Earle Canavan	01	Dodge
Gary Myers	04	Chevrolet
Doc Faustina	5	Dodge
Elliott Forbes-Robinson	6	Chevrolet
Bob Burcham	19	Chevrolet
Ricky Rudd	22	Chevrolet
Jabe Thomas	25	Chevrolet
Dave Decker	32	Chevrolet
Bill Seifert	34	Chevrolet
Darel Dieringer	35	Ford
Bruce Jacobi	37	Chevrolet
Blackie Wangerin	39	Ford
Grant Adcox	41	Chevrolet
Baxter Price	45	Chevrolet
Travis Tiller	46	Dodge
John Utsman	49	Dodge
Darrell Bryant	50	Chevrolet
John Banks	55	Dodge
Tommy Gale	64	Ford
Terry Link	66	Pontiac
Bill Polich	69	Chevrolet
Bill Champion	77	Chevrolet
Harold Miller	91	Chevrolet
Skip Manning	92	Chevrolet
Jim Fleming	99	Chevrolet
Ferrel Harris (Driver Change)	82	Dodge

Caution flags

7 for 35 laps

From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps	Reason
11	16	6	Car # 05 engine
35	39	5	Car # 52 engine
62	65	4	Car # 30 engine
68	71	4	Car # 73 accident
85	90	6	Car #’s 83,82,10 accident
175	178	4	Car # 63 accident
200	200	1	Car #’s 43 & #21 accident

Percent of race run under caution: 14.5%
Average green flag run: 24.4 laps

Lap leader breakdown

Lead changes: 36

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Buddy Baker	1	4	4
David Pearson	5	6	2
Buddy Baker	7	11	5
Terry Ryan	12	12	1
Jimmy Means	13	13	1
Terry Bivins	14	15	2
Jackie Rogers	16	16	1
Buddy Baker	17	35	19
David Hobbs	36	37	2
David Pearson	38	39	2
Bobby Allison	40	40	1
A.J. Foyt	41	43	3
David Pearson	44	44	1
A.J. Foyt	45	56	12
Richard Petty	57	61	5
Benny Parsons	62	62	1
A.J. Foyt	63	73	11
Richard Petty	74	84	11
A.J. Foyt	85	85	1
Terry Bivins	86	89	4
Bobby Allison	90	90	1
Richard Petty	91	92	2
A.J. Foyt	93	96	4
David Pearson	97	98	2
A.J. Foyt	99	103	5
David Pearson	104	106	3
A.J. Foyt	107	118	12
David Pearson	119	122	4
A.J. Foyt	123	140	18
Benny Parsons	141	154	14
David Pearson	155	165	11
Richard Petty	166	175	10
Benny Parsons	176	176	1
David Pearson	177	187	11
Richard Petty	188	199	12
David Pearson	200	200	1

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points	Differential
1	David Pearson	365	0
2	Benny Parsons	330	-35
3	Lennie Pond	310	-55
4	Richard Childress	286	-81
5	Richard Petty	268	-97
6	Frank Warren	264	-101
7	J.D. McDuffie	252	-113
8	D.K. Ulrich	233	-132
9	James Hylton	232	-133
10	Dave Marcis	229	-136