1976 World 600


The 1976 World 600, the 17th running of the event, was a Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 30, 1976, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Race report

The five drivers that dominated the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season were David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, and Bobby Allison.
Four hundred laps took place spanning. It took four hours and twenty-two minutes for David Pearson to defeat Richard Petty under the race's final yellow flag in front of 103,000 spectators.
Pearson would earn the pole position with a speed of while the race's average speed would be ; he would clinch his third career World 600 win at this event along with his final win ever at Charlotte. Dale Earnhardt ran a #30 Army Special Chevrolet scheme at this event. Terry Ryan was the last-place finisher due to a hub problem on lap 11.
Wisconsin short track ace Dick Trickle did a one-off in a second car, the #99 Ford, for the Junie Donlavey team, blew an engine and retired before halfway. Seven cautions slowed the race for 38 laps.
For the first 245 laps the primary battle was between Pearson and Yarborough as the lead officially changed 33 times in that span and 37 in all. Yarborough cut a tire and finished a lap down in third.
David Pearson's next pole position would be at the 1976 National 500; which took place in the fall of that year.
Bobby Isaac retired from the NASCAR Cup Series after this race. Ironic that Bobby's career ended in the World 600, as his debut came fifteen years earlier when, as a favor, he started and parked Junior Johnson's car in the qualifying race for this historic event.
Janet Guthrie would make her debut here. She was invited to attempt this race by Humpy Wheeler after failing to qualify for the 1976 Indianapolis 500. Guthrie finished her first stock car race in 15th place and drove well over 500 miles in the process, silencing some of the era's critics who thought women wouldn't be able to go the distance in long oval races.
Notable crew chiefs who participated in this race included Junie Donlavey, Jake Elder, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, and Bud Moore.
Race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $49,990 to the last-place finisher's earnings of $885. The total prize purse sanctioned by NASCAR for this event was $225,025.

Qualifying

Box Score

Cautions: 7 for 38 laps
Margin of victory: under caution
FinGridCar
DriverCar MakeLapsStatusLapsLedPoints
1121David PearsonMercury4004:22:06230185 '
2243Richard PettyDodge400Running56175 '
3311Cale YarboroughChevrolet399Running108170 '
442Bobby AllisonMercury397Running0160
51672Benny ParsonsChevrolet396Running1160 '
6728Donnie AllisonChevrolet396Running0150
71090Dick BrooksFord391Crash0146
81354Lennie PondChevrolet391Running0142
91118Harry GantChevrolet387Running0138
103205David SiscoChevrolet386Running0134
11988Darrell WaltripChevrolet384Running0130
122041Grant AdcoxChevrolet383Crash0127
131248James HyltonChevrolet383Running0124
142167Buddy ArringtonDodge379Running0121
152768Janet GuthrieChevrolet379Running00
16377D.K. UlrichChevrolet378Running0115
17183Richard ChildressChevrolet373Running0112
181479Frank WarrenDodge371Running0109
193050Darrell BryantChevrolet371Running0106
201719Cecil GordonChevrolet365Running0103
213625Dick MayChevrolet361Running0100
223929Walter BallardChevrolet356Running097
23269Bill ElliottFord343Engine094
242327Sam SommersChevrolet343Running091
252970J.D. McDuffieChevrolet303Running088
263326Bobby WawakChevrolet276Engine085
27288Ed NegreDodge245Running082
28615Buddy BakerFord230Crash079
29571Dave MarcisDodge230Engine581 '
303895Gary MyersChevrolet164Engine073
312530Dale EarnhardtChevrolet156Engine070
321599Dick TrickleFord142Engine067
332292Skip ManningChevrolet137Engine064
34814Charlie GlotzbachChevrolet121Engine061
354091Bob BurchamChevrolet99Sway bar058
362460Jackie RogersChevrolet88Steering055
371947Bruce HillChevrolet51Transmission052
38346Bobby IsaacChevrolet39Engine049
393552Jimmy MeansChevrolet32Engine046
403181Terry RyanChevrolet11Hub043

' Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap
Indicates 10 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap & leading the most laps.

Lap Leader Breakdown

Lead changes: 37
DriverFrom
Lap		To
Lap		Number
of Laps
Cale Yarborough111
David Pearson232
Cale Yarborough452
David Pearson661
Cale Yarborough74640
Dave Marcis47482
Cale Yarborough496113
David Pearson628524
Benny Parsons86861
David Pearson879711
Cale Yarborough981047
David Pearson10511713
Richard Petty1181192
Cale Yarborough1201267
David Pearson12714519
Dave Marcis1461472
David Pearson1481503
Cale Yarborough1511522
David Pearson1531564
Cale Yarborough1571626
David Pearson1631697
Cale Yarborough1701712
David Pearson17218514
Cale Yarborough18619611
Dave Marcis1971971
Cale Yarborough1982036
David Pearson20421916
Cale Yarborough2202201
David Pearson2212211
Cale Yarborough2222221
David Pearson2232231
Cale Yarborough2242329
David Pearson23325119
Richard Petty25230049
David Pearson30136363
Richard Petty3643685
David Pearson36940032

Standings after the race