The 1977 Music City USA 420 was a 420-lap race that took place on May 7, 1977, at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.
Race details[1][2] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 11 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
| |||
Date | May 7, 1977 | ||
Official name | Music City USA 420 | ||
Location | Nashville Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee | ||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.596 mi (0.959 km) | ||
Distance | 420 laps, 250.3 mi (402.8 km) | ||
Weather | Hot with temperatures of 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) | ||
Average speed | 87.490 miles per hour (140.802 km/h) | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | DiGard Motorsports | ||
Most laps led | |||
Driver | Cale Yarborough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
Laps | 398 | ||
Winner | |||
No. 72 | Benny Parsons | DeWitt Racing | |
Television in the United States | |||
Network | untelevised | ||
Announcers | none |
Background
editNashville 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]
Race report
editThe race itself took two hours, fifty-one minutes, and forty seconds from the first green flag to the checkered flag.[2] Benny Parsons was the race winner with an average speed of 87.49 miles per hour (140.80 km/h) while the pole position winner Darrell Waltrip had a speed of 103.643 miles per hour (166.797 km/h) and finished the race in 3rd place.[2] Cale Yarborough led the race with most number of laps (275) and was the points leader after the race for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship.[2] However, Benny Parsons would defeat him by one second.[2]
Ricky Rudd made his fourth 4th career top-10 finish at this race.[3]
Twenty thousand people attended this race that had a total prize purse of $56,350 ($283,328.17 in current US dollars).[2] The winner would leave the event earning an incredible $9,565 ($48,092.88 in current US dollars) while the last-place finisher would walk away with a meager $255 in cash earnings ($1,282.14 in current US dollars).[4]
Other notable names among the drivers included Ricky Rudd, Coo Coo Marlin, Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, and Richard Childress.[2] Notable crew chiefs included Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, and Dale Inman.[5]
Paul Dean Holt would retire from NASCAR after this race after competing in 85 races while Ralph Jones would make his introduction into NASCAR racing during this race.[6]
Qualifying
editGrid[2] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 88 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet |
2 | 72 | Benny Parsons | Chevrolet |
3 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Chevrolet |
4 | 43 | Richard Petty | Dodge |
5 | 12 | Bobby Allison | AMC Matador |
6 | 2 | Dave Marcis | Chevrolet |
7 | 15 | Buddy Baker | Ford |
8 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Chevrolet |
9 | 92 | Skip Manning | Chevrolet |
10 | 3 | Richard Childress | Chevrolet |
11 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | Chevrolet |
12 | 22 | Ricky Rudd | Chevrolet |
13 | 81 | Terry Ryan | Chevrolet |
14 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Dodge |
15 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | Chevrolet |
Finishing order
editSection reference:[2]
- Benny Parsons (No. 72)
- Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
- Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
- Dave Marcis (No. 2)
- Richard Petty (No. 43)
- Buddy Baker (No. 15)
- Bobby Allison (No. 12)
- Coo Coo Marlin (No. 14)
- Jimmy Means (No. 52)
- Ricky Rudd (No. 22)
- James Hylton (No. 48)
- Gary Myers (No. 4)
- Cecil Gordon (No. 24)
- D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
- Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
- Rick Newsom (No. 20)
- Earl Brooks (No. 33)
- Ralph Jones (No. 98)
- David Sisco (No. 16)
- Ferrell Harris (No. 25)
- Skip Manning* (No. 96)
- Dick Brooks* (No. 64)
- Elmo Langley* (No. 45)
- J.D. McDuffie* (No. 70)
- Henley Gray* (No. 19)
- Richard Childress* (No. 3)
- Terry Ryan* (No. 81)
- Paul Dean Holt* (No. 39)
- Frank Warren* (No. 79)
- Dean Dalton* (No. 7)
* Driver failed to finish race
Timeline
editSection reference:[2]
- Start: Darrell Waltrip was leading the racing grid as the green flag was waved.
- Lap 3: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
- Lap 19: Dean Dalton fell out with engine failure.
- Lap 30: Frank Warren fell out with engine failure.
- Lap 47: Paul Dean Holt managed to overheat his vehicle.
- Lap 86: Terry Ryan fell out with engine failure.
- Lap 108: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
- Lap 133: Richard Childress fell out with engine failure.
- Lap 154: Henley Gray managed to overheat his vehicle.
- Lap 176: J.D. McDuffie fell out with engine failure.
- Lap 182: Elmo Langley fell out with engine failure.
- Lap 269: The ignition on Dick Brooks' vehicle stopped working properly.
- Lap 313: The rear end of Skip Manning's vehicle came off in a manner that was unsafe for further racing.
- Lap 383: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
- Finish: Benny Parsons was officially declared the winner of the event.
Standings after the race
editPos | Driver | Points[2] | Differential |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
Cale Yarborough | 1905 | 0 |
2 |
Richard Petty | 1713 | -192 |
3 |
Benny Parsons | 1677 | -228 |
4 |
Darrell Waltrip | 1672 | -223 |
5 |
Dave Marcis | 1460 | -445 |
6 |
Buddy Baker | 1452 | -453 |
7 |
Cecil Gordon | 1341 | -564 |
8 |
Richard Childress | 1321 | -584 |
9 |
James Hylton | 1286 | -619 |
10 |
Dick Brooks | 1284 | -621 |
References
edit- ^ "1977 Music City USA 420 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results (second reference)". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
- ^ "Driver Ricky Rudd Career Statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
- ^ "1977 Music City USA 420 crew chiefs". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
- ^ "Additional information about the 1977 Music City USA 420". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-11.