The 1976 Winston 500 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

race that took place on May 2, 1976, at

Alabama International Motor Speedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Bas ...

(now Talladega Superspeedway) in

Talladega, Alabama Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state’s biggest cities, Birmingham. ...

. Coo Coo Marlin had a serious crash the weekend before while attempting a qualifying run for the ARCA race and was unable to compete in any of the weekend's competition due to a shoulder injury.

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of

. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. The track is a

Tri-oval A tri-oval is a shape which derives its name from the two other shapes it most resembles, a triangle and an oval. Rather than meeting at sharp, definable angles as the sides of a triangle do, in a tri-oval these angles are instead rounded into s ...

and was constructed by

International Speedway Corporation International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International ...

, a business controlled by the

France Family The France family is known as the "first family" of NASCAR racing. NASCAR was founded by Bill France, Sr. in 1948 and to this day France family members own and operate NASCAR. Jim France, one of the sons of the founder, is the current chairman an ...

, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the

series such as the

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest

oval with a length of , and the track at its peak had a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 175,000 spectators.

Race report

Dave Marcis won the pole position for the race with a lap of . 40 cars started the race. Buddy Baker defeated Cale Yarborough by 35 seconds, in an average speed of . His record of winning three races in a row at Talladega would not be broken until 2002 when

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...

recorded his fourth consecutive victory at that track. There were 24 different leaders and three cautions for 14 laps. Attendance was 80,000. This apparently was the first time that a 500 mile race had been completed in under three hours; roughly comparable to a two-and-a-half hour

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

game or a two-hour Major League Soccer game that is quickly-paced and is based mostly on skill. Baker had qualified 12th, and two days before the race Bud Moore's team transported the engine for the team's 1976 Ford Torino back to their shop in Spartanburg, SC for examination. The engine was brought back to Talladega the day before the race. Through his second-place finish, Yarborough managed to take the lead in championship points over

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, ...

; who finished in 26th place during this event.''1976 Winston 500'' racing information
at Race Database Parsons was eliminated when

Dick Brooks Richard Brooks (April 14, 1942 – February 1, 2006) was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500. Brooks held off veteran Buddy Baker b ...

spun out of the lead group and was hit by David Pearson, Marcis, and Parsons. Petty finished fourth after losing a lap when he stalled out his car on pit road. Terry Ryan scores his best career finish with a fifth in just his second career start. Prize winnings for this race varied from $25,285 for the winner ($ when considering inflation) all the way to $1,205 for last-place finisher

Darrell Bryant Darrell Bryant is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose claim to fame was his two "top ten" finishes in addition to racing 2389 laps - for a distance of . Bryant has driver for Chevrolet, Dodge, Oldsmobile, and Mercury during his driv ...

($ when considering inflation).''1976 Winston 500''
racing information at Driver Averages

Qualifying

Top 10 finishers

Section reference: # Buddy Baker (No. 15), with an official time of 2:56:37 # Cale Yarborough (No. 11), 35 seconds down #

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

(No. 2), 1 lap down # Richard Petty (No. 43), 2 laps down # Terry Ryan (No. 81), 4 laps down # Cecil Gordon (No. 24), 4 laps down #

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...

(No. 28), 4 laps down # Bruce Hill (No. 47), 6 laps down # Dave Marcis (No. 71), 6 laps down # Frank Warren (No. 79), 8 laps down

Standings after the race

References

{{s-end Winston 500 NASCAR races at Talladega Superspeedway Winston 500 Winston 500