The Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place in November at the

North Carolina Motor Speedway Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...

from 1965 to 2003. It was the first NASCAR Cup Series victory for three drivers including Mark Martin in 1989, Ward Burton in 1995, and

Johnny Benson Jonathan Thomas Benson Jr. (born June 27, 1963) is an American retired stock car racing driver and the son of former Michigan modified driver John Benson Sr. Benson has raced across NASCAR's three national series (Cup, Busch, Truck), and his c ...

in 2002. It was the final race win for

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

in 2003. This race, typically run as the penultimate race of the NASCAR season, was dropped from the schedule after the 2003 season. The Pop Secret sponsorship was moved over to the newly acquired Labor Day date at

Auto Club Speedway Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previ ...

, while the late season date was originally taken over by the Southern 500 at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

and is now occupied by the AAA Texas 500 at Texas.

Past winners

Multiple winners (drivers)

Multiple winners (manufacturers)

Notable races

*1965: Curtis Turner posted his final Grand National win, driving the Wood Brothers Racing #41 following his reinstatement to NASCAR. *1967: Bobby Allison posted his first Rockingham win. Formula One legend

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...

made his only NASCAR start in this race. *1968:

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 ...

outlasted

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

and Bobby Isaac for his only win of the season on a track bigger than a short track. *1972: Bobby Allison battled

David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to: * David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar * David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion * David Pearson (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...

, and

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 ...

, ultimately leading 217 laps for his tenth win of 1972 and final win with the Richard Howard team led by Junior Johnson. *1973: Pearson posted his eleventh win of the 1973 season while Benny Parsons won the season championship despite severe damage in an early crash. *1976:

defeated Lennie Pond for the win, despite several green-flag pitstops — Petty won despite 125 total seconds in the pits to Pond's 54 seconds. *1977: Donnie Allison outclassed the field for his second win of the season. *1979:

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 ...

, entering the race with the Winston Cup point lead, finished a distant sixth as Petty grabbed the win and the point lead. *1980: Multiple crashes thinned the field as

took the win in a close points race with sophomore

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

. The race lead changed 35 times. *1981:

and Bobby Allison, locked in a bitter point battle, finished 1–2; the lead changed 33 times in total and five times over the final 32 laps between Waltrip and Allison. *1982: Allison spun out of the pits on his final pitstop and Waltrip seized the win. *1983: Terry Labonte broke out of a duel with Tim Richmond for the win, his first in three years. *1984:

edged

Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...

in a photo finish after Gant seized the lead with two to go. *1992: In the final race

would compete in at the Petty's native North Carolina; son Kyle, in the hunt for the 1992 championship, dominated the race, leading all but 8 laps en route to the younger Petty collecting his 2nd victory of the season; which was the only time Kyle Petty won more than one race in a season. *1994: In addition to winning the race,

clinched his 7th title at the Rock. *1995: Ward Burton won his first race at the Rock after a late season change to Bill Davis Racing. *2001: Joe Nemechek gave Andy Petree Racing their last win in NASCAR by leading the most laps. *2002:

finally clinched the win at the Rock for his first win over a hard-charging Mark Martin. *2003:

's victory in this race was the last win of his career.

External links

* {{NASCAR Cup Series races Former NASCAR races 1965 establishments in North Carolina 2003 disestablishments in North Carolina Recurring sporting events established in 1965 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2003 Defunct sports competitions in the United States