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1976 Music City USA 420

{{short description|Auto race held at Fairgrounds Speedway in 1976}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox NASCAR race report

| Type = CUST

| Description = Race 11 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

| Race Name = Music City USA 420

| Details ref = [http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/TN/Nashville/1976-05-08 1976 Music City USA 420 weather information] at The Old Farmers' Almanac[http://www.racing-reference.info/race/1976_Music_City_USA_420/W 1976 Music City USA 420 racing information] at Racing Reference[http://www.driveraverages.com/nascar_stats/race.php?sked_id=1976011 1976 Music City USA 420 racing information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005054145/http://www.driveraverages.com/nascar_stats/race.php?sked_id=1976011 |date=2011-10-05 }} at Driver Averages

| Fulldate = {{Start date|1976|05|8}}

| Year = 1976

| Race_No = 11

| Season_No = 30

| Image = NashvilleSpeedwayMap.svg

| Weather = Chilly with temperatures of {{convert|68|F|C}}; wind speeds of {{convert|12|mph|km/h}}

| Official name = Music City USA 420

| Location = Nashville Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee

| Course_mi = 0.596

| Course_km = 0.959

| Distance_laps = 420

| Distance_mi = 250.3

| Distance_km = 402.8

| Avg = {{convert|84.512|mi/h}}

| Pole_Driver = Benny Parsons

| Pole_Team = DeWitt Racing

| Most_Driver = Cale Yarborough

| Most_Team = Junior Johnson & Associates

| Most_laps = 398

| Car = 11

| First_Driver = Cale Yarborough

| First_Team = Junior Johnson & Associates

| Network = untelevised

| Announcers = none

}}

The 1976 Music City USA 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on May 8, 1976, at Nashville Speedway (now Fairgrounds Speedway) in Nashville, Tennessee.

The five drivers that dominated the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season were David Pearson (average finish of 7th place), Cale Yarborough (average finish of 8th place), Richard Petty (average finish of 9th place), Benny Parsons (average finish of 10th place), and Bobby Allison (average finish 12th place).

Background

Nashville Speedway was converted to a half-mile paved oval in 1957, when it began to be a NASCAR series track. The speedway was lengthened between the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The corners were cut down from 35 degrees to their present 18 degrees in 1972.{{Citation needed|date=August 2016}}

Race report

It took two hours and fifty-seven minutes[http://www.decadesofracing.net/76MusicCity420.htm 1976 Music City USA 420 racing information] at DecadesofRacing.Net for Cale Yarborough to defeat Richard Petty by 1.3 seconds in front of 16000 spectators. Five cautions slowed the race for 33 laps along with 16 changes in the lead.

Rick Newsom finished last due to an ignition problem on lap 22. All of the 30 drivers on the grid were American-born. Benny Parsons qualified for the pole position with a speed of {{convert|104.328|mph|km/h}} while the average speed of the race was {{convert|84.512|mph|km/h}}. The winner received $8,565 in winnings (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|8565|1976|r=2}}}} when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher would win $305 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|305|1976|r=2}}}} when adjusted for inflation).

19-year-old Sterling Marlin made NASCAR debut in his race; he started in 30th place and finished in 29th place. Marlin filled in for his father Coo Coo while he was recovering from an injury.[http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/opinion/04/09/retro.racing.maumann.smarlin.cmarlin.nashville.fairgrounds/index.html Sterling Marlin information] at NASCAR.com

Notable crew chiefs for this race were Billy Hagan, Harry Hyde, Jake Elder, Dale Inman, Bud Moore, Coo Coo Marlin, Tim Brewer and Travis Carter.[https://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1976-11/W/C 1976 Music City USA 420 crew chiefs] at Racing Reference

=Qualifying=

class="wikitable"
Grid

! {{Tooltip|No.|Car number}}

! Driver

! Manufacturer

1

| 72 || Benny Parsons || Chevrolet

2

| 11 || Cale Yarborough || Chevrolet

3

| 71 || Dave Marcis || Dodge

4

| 2 || Bobby Allison || Mercury

5

| 15 || Buddy Baker || Ford

6

| 88 || Darrell Waltrip || Chevrolet

7

| 43 || Richard Petty || Dodge

8

| 54 || Lennie Pond || Chevrolet

9

| 3 || Richard Childress || Chevrolet

10

| 05 || David Sisco || Chevrolet

11

| 92 || Skip Manning || Chevrolet

12

| 40 || D.K. Ulrich || Chevrolet

13

| 70 || J.D. McDuffie || Chevrolet

14

| 30 || Walter Ballard || Chevrolet

15

| 79 || Frank Warren || Dodge

16

| 47 || Bruce Hill || Chevrolet

17

| 24 || Cecil Gordon || Chevrolet

18

| 45 || Baxter Price || Chevrolet

19

| 67 || Buddy Arrington || Dodge

20

| 8 || Ed Negre || Dodge

Finishing order

{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}

  1. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
  2. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  3. Benny Parsons (No. 72)
  4. Buddy Baker (No. 15)
  5. Bobby Allison (No. 2)
  6. Lennie Pond (No. 54)
  7. Dave Marcis (No. 71)
  8. Walter Ballard (No. 30)
  9. David Sisco (No. 05)
  10. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  11. D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
  12. Darrell Waltrip* (No. 88)
  13. Elmo Langley (No. 64)
  14. Cecil Gordon (No. 24)
  15. Jimmy Means (No. 52)
  16. Buck Baker (No. 33)
  17. Richard Childress* (No. 3)
  18. James Hylton* (No. 48)
  19. Ed Negre* (No. 8)
  20. J.D. McDuffie* (No. 70)
  21. Jabe Thomas* (No. 25)
  22. Skip Manning* (No. 92)
  23. Bruce Hill* (No. 47)
  24. Baxter Price* (No. 45)
  25. Henley Gray* (No. 19)
  26. Buddy Arrington* (No. 67)
  27. Gary Myers* (No. 95)
  28. Walter Wallace* (No. 87)
  29. Sterling Marlin* (No. 14)
  30. Rick Newsom* (No. 20)

{{div col end}}

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference:

  • Start: Cale Yarborough was leading the starting grid as the drivers crossed the start/finish line.
  • Lap 39: Lennie Pond took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 40: Dave Marcis took over the lead from Lennie Pond.
  • Lap 47: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Dave Marcis.
  • Lap 59: The rear end of Walter Wallace's vehicle came off in an unsafe manner.
  • Lap 72: Buddy Arrington managed to overheat his vehicle.
  • Lap 131: Baxter Price blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 150: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 151: Richard Petty took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
  • Lap 152: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 161: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 162: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 167: Skip Manning blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 171: Jabe Thomas blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 180: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 185: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 227: Ed Negre managed to overheat his vehicle.
  • Lap 256: James Hylton blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Lap 303: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 305: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
  • Lap 348: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 350: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
  • Lap 352: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 393: The rear end came off of Darrell Waltrip's vehicle in an unsafe manner.
  • Finish: Cale Yarborough was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

class="wikitable"
Pos

! Driver

! Points

! Differential

1 10px

| Cale Yarborough

| style="text-align:center;"| 1720

| 0

2 10px

| Benny Parsons

| style="text-align:center;"| 1656

| -64

3 10px

| Richard Petty

| style="text-align:center;"| 1573

| -147

4 10px

| Bobby Allison

| style="text-align:center;"| 1491

| -229

5 10px

| Lennie Pond

| style="text-align:center;"| 1446

| -274

6 {{Decrease}}

| Dave Marcis

| style="text-align:center;"| 1442

| -278

7 10px

| Richard Childress

| style="text-align:center;"| 1382

| -338

8 10px

| Darrell Waltrip

| style="text-align:center;"| 1311

| -409

9 10px

| Cecil Gordon

| style="text-align:center;"| 1276

| -444

10 {{Increase}}

| Buddy Baker

| style="text-align:center;"| 1274

| -446

References

{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}

{{succession box |

before = 1976 Winston 500 |

after = 1976 Mason-Dixon 500|

title = NASCAR Winston Cup Season|

years = 1976 |

}}

{{s-end}}

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

|before = 1975

|after = 1977

|title = Music City USA 420 races

|years = 1976

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Coors 420}}

Music City USA 420

Category:NASCAR races at Fairgrounds Speedway

Music City USA 420

Music City USA 420