The 1977 World 600, the 18th running of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

, 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 hi ...

Winston 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. ...

racing event that took place on May 29, 1977, at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

Jim Stacy James D. Stacy (March 27, 1930October 12, 2016), frequently referred to as Jim Stacy or J.D. Stacy, was an American entrepreneur and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car owner whose career spanned 1977 to 1983. His first race as an owner was ...

would become the owner of Krauskopf's NASCAR team after this event; with the famed red #71 Dodge getting repainted into the white #5. Neil Bonnett would stay on the team as driver. The mega-hit movie

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

was released four days before this race.

Qualifying

Summary

Forty drivers competed including

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, and ...

Lennie Pond Lennie Wayne Pond (August 11, 1940 – February 10, 2016) was an American NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier. Pond ...

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 198 ...

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...

, and

Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby an ...

. After four hours and twenty-one minutes of racing,

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

defeated polesitter David Pearson by 30.8 seconds in front of 115,000 people. There were 25 lead changes in this race and six cautions for 31 laps. The qualifying top speed was , the race average speed was . Last-place finisher

Ramo Stott Ramo Stott (April 6, 1934 – August 19, 2021) was an American stock car racing driver from Keokuk, Iowa. He competed in NASCAR Winston Cup, USAC stock car, and ARCA. He was a 2011 inductee in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame. Career ...

had

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

trouble on lap 3 of the 400-lap race. Drivers who failed to qualify for this race were Rick Newsom and

Bruce Jacobi Harold "Bruce" Jacobi (June 23, 1935 – February 4, 1987) was an American race car driver. In 1987, Jacobi, 51, died of head injuries sustained in a NASCAR race crash at the Daytona International Speedway in 1983. He had 37 USAC Champ Car start ...

. Dean Dalton was driving Henley Gray's car when it crashed on lap 64. It looked a lot like Dean Dalton's car with a #19 painted on. Bobby Allison relieved Benny Parsons for the latter part of the race.

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was named ...

would lead the first laps of his NASCAR Cup Series career during this race.

Nord Krauskopf Nord Krauskopf (January 26, 1922 – August 3, 1986) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car owner whose career spanned from 1966 to 1977. He was the owner of K&K Insurance and a part of the business since its foundation in 1952. This was a ...

would retire as a NASCAR owner after this race; he would sell his team to

and focus running on his insurance business (

K&K Insurance K&K Insurance is an Indiana-based insurance company noted for its coverage of motor sports. It was started in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1952 by Nord Krauskopf and his wife Theodora (Teddi) Murdock to manage and market a benevolent fund for injured ...

) with his wife Theodora. Pearson's next pole position start would be at the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

running of the

National 500 The Bank of America Roval 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race that is held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the race. As of the 201 ...

(now Bank of America 500); which took place that October. Notable crew chiefs in the race were

Tex Powell Tex may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr. Entertainment * ''Tex'', the Italian ...

Buddy Parrott James Kenneth "Buddy" Parrott is an American NASCAR crew chief. Over 18 years, Parrott won 49 races. Parrott's sons Todd and Brad also served as crew chiefs. Career Parrott's career began in 1968 when he became a tire changer for Huggins Tire, ...

Jake Elder J. C. "Jake" Elder (November 22, 1936 – February 24, 2010) was a NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief. He was the championship crew chief for two years and for part of a third season. Elder had these successes despite never pas ...

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

Joey Arrington Joey Arrington (born July 25, 1956) is an American former NASCAR driver, team owner, and crew chief from Rocky Mount, Virginia. He made nine Winston Cup Series starts with a best finish of 12th. He made his first start in 1974 as a 17-year-old a ...

Kirk Shelmerdine Edward Kirk Shelmerdine V (born March 8, 1958) is an American stock car racing driver and former championship-winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt. Crew chief After spending his early NASCAR career as an engineer for Hylton Engineering, in 1984 ...

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three de ...

Tim Brewer Timothy Ivan "Tim" Brewer (born February 4, 1955) is an American former stock car racing crew chief and television analyst for ''NASCAR on ESPN''. He was part of ''NASCAR Countdown'', the pre-race show, with host Brent Musburger and fellow analys ...

, and

Travis Carter Travis Carter (born November 21, 1949) is a former car owner and crew chief in the NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known fo ...

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: David Pearson had an advantage over the rest of the starting grid as the green flag was waved. * Lap 3: Oil pressure issues forced Ramo Stott to become the last-place finisher. * Lap 63: Bobby Allison had to leave the race due to engine problems. * Lap 64: Henley Grey had a terminal crash. * Lap 87: Engine troubles eliminated Bobby Gale from the event. * Lap 168: Dave Marcis would be sidelined due to a faulty engine. * Lap 185: Ed Negre's vehicle developed engine problems. * Lap 186: A faulty oil pump eliminated D.K. Ulrich from the race. * Lap 219: Engine problems managed to knock Donnie Allison out of contention. * Lap 240: David Sisco would see his race day end prematurely due to engine failure. * Lap 266: Harry Gant's engine failed on this lap. * Lap 271: The axle on Terry Ryan's vehicle became unsafe, causing him to DNF with a 29th-place finish. * Lap 300: James Hylton's engine failed, causing him not to finish in the top-10. * Lap 333: Harold Miller's vehicle developed clutch issues, making him the final DNF of the event. * Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

References

{{Coca-Cola 600

World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...

NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway