1976 Firecracker 400

1976 Firecracker 400

Race details[1]
Race 16 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
This was the official brochure of the 1976 Firecracker 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event.
Date	July 4, 1976
Official name	Firecracker 400
Location	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.500 mi (4.023 km)
Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Hot with temperatures reaching up to 91.0 °F (32.8 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed	160.966 miles per hour (259.050 km/h)
Attendance	50,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	A.J. Foyt	Ellington Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps	71
Winner
No. 11	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network	ABC (tape delay)
Announcers	Keith Jackson

The 1976 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 4, 1976, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Ticket prices for this race ranged from $8 ($33.27 when adjusted for inflation) to $30 ($124.75 when adjusted for inflation).^[3]

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Summary

There were 40 drivers on the racing grid; all of them were American-born males except for Janet Guthrie.^[2] Buddy Arrington "earned" his last-place finish due to ignition troubles before the start of the first lap out of the 160 laps raced that day.^[2][4] A.J. Foyt achieved the pole position with a top speed of 183.090 miles per hour (294.655 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 160.966 miles per hour (259.050 km/h).^[2][5]

Cale Yarborough managed to defeat David Pearson by eight seconds in front of an audience of 40,000 people.^[2] Two cautions (for 14 laps) and 41 different lead changes made the race two hours and twenty-nine minutes long.^[2][5] The green flag was waved at 10:00 A.M. and the checkered flag was waved at approximately 12:29 P.M.

The winner of the race received $22,215 ($92,380.62 when adjusted for inflation) while the last place finisher went home with $1,310 ($5,447.61 when adjusted for inflation).^[2][4] The race was run on America's 200th birthday and was the site of Dick Skillen's best career finish of 17th place.

Finishing order

1. Cale Yarborough
2. David Pearson
3. Bobby Allison
4. A.J. Foyt
5. Dave Marcis
6. Coo Coo Marlin†
7. Benny Parsons†
8. Dick Brooks†
9. David Sisco
10. Ricky Rudd
11. Jimmy Means
12. Richard Childress
13. Frank Warren
14. Bobby Wawak†
15. Janet Guthrie
16. D.K. Ulrich
17. Dick Skillen
18. Harold Miller
19. Bill Elliott
20. Johnny Rutherford*
21. Jimmy Lee Capps
22. Richard Petty*
23. Joe Mihalic
24. J.D. McDuffie*†
25. Bruce Hill*
26. James Hylton*
27. Dick May*†
28. Ferrel Harris*†
29. Tommy Gale*†
30. Grant Adcox*†
31. Skip Manning*
32. Lennie Pond*
33. Neil Bonnett*†
34. Cecil Gordon*
35. Buddy Baker*
36. Buck Baker*†
37. Ed Negre*
38. Jackie Rogers*
39. Darrell Waltrip*
40. Buddy Arrington*

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

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points[2]
1	Cale Yarborough	2503
2	Benny Parsons	2413
3	Bobby Allison	2331
4	Richard Petty	2303
5	Dave Marcis	2060

References

1. 1976 Firecracker 400 weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
2. Firecracker 400 racing information at Racing Reference
3. 1976 Firecracker Ticket Prices at Starport75.com
4. 1976 Firecracker 400 racing information at Driver Averages
5. 1976 Firecracker 400 racing information at Database Racing