1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400

1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400
Race details [1]
	Race 15 of 30 in the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
	Layout of Michigan International Speedway
Date	June 20, 1976
Official name	Cam 2 Motor Oil 400
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course	Permanent racing facility; 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Warm with temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed	141.149 miles per hour (227.157 km/h)
Attendance	46,000 [2]
Pole position
Most laps led
Laps	129
Winner
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

Last updated September 23, 2019

The 1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on June 20, 1976, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock-car racing. Its three largest or National series are the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Regional series include the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West, the Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Pinty's Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, and NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series. NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, and Europe. NASCAR has presented races at the Suzuka and Motegi circuits in Japan, and the Calder Park Thunderdome in Australia. NASCAR also ventures into eSports via the PEAK Antifreeze NASCAR iRacing Series and a sanctioned ladder system on that title.

Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres (5.7 km²) approximately four-mile (6.4 km) south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking . Michigan is the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners, long straightaways, and lack of a restrictor plate requirement; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h) and corner entry speeds are anywhere from 215 to 220 mph after the 2012 repaving of the track.

Brooklyn is a village in Jackson County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,206 at the 2010 census. It is located just off U.S. Highway 12 in Columbia Township.

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.^[3] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees.^[3] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.^[3]

Race report

David Pearson defeated Cale Yarborough by three car lengths in front of an audience of 46,000.^[2]^[4] There were 17 lead changes and three cautions for 20 out of the 200 laps.^[2] The race took two hours and fifty minutes.^[2]^[4] Richard Petty earned the pole position with a speed of 158.569 miles per hour (255.192 km/h), the average speed of the race was 141.148 miles per hour (227.156 km/h).^[2]^[4]^[5] Joe Frasson finished last due to an engine problem on lap 2.^[2] All 36 of the drivers on the racing grid were American-born males.^[2] The field was dominated by Chevrolet vehicles as opposed to Ford and Mercury vehicles.^[2]^[4]^[5]

David Pearson (racing driver) American racecar driver

David Gene Pearson was an American stock car racer from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Pearson began his NASCAR career in 1960 and ended his first season by winning the 1960 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award. He won three championships and every year he was active he ran the full schedule in NASCAR's Grand National Series. NASCAR described his 1974 season as an indication of his "consistent greatness". That season he finished third in the season points having competed in only 19 of 30 races.

William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough, is an American farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships. He was the second NASCAR driver to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Richard Lee Petty, nicknamed The King, is a former NASCAR driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series. He was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times, winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and winning a record 27 races in the 1967 season alone. Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport and is one of the most respected figures in motorsports as a whole. He also collected a record number of poles (127) and over 700 Top 10 finishes in his record 1,184 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971–1989. Petty was the only driver to ever win in his 500th race start, until Matt Kenseth joined him in 2013. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010. Petty remains very active, as both a NASCAR team owner in the Cup Series and owner of Petty's Garage in Level Cross, North Carolina.

Cale Yarborough dominated most of this race, with radio announcer Ken Squier saying it was one of the best runs he'd seen Cale have, but in the closing stages it was David Pearson out front and cruising to a win when a late caution came out for Coo Coo Marlin's blown engine while he was running seventh in the closing laps. Under the yellow the leaders all pitted with Yarborough regaining the lead only for Pearson to pass him on the backstretch after the restart and take the win. Overall it was still a good day for Yarborough as he capitalized on a 74-point swing in the point standings to vault back into the points lead as a result of Benny Parsons' issues.^[2]^[4] He would eventually become the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion.

Bobby Allison was running second very late when he was black flagged for the Penske team having put tape over parts of the grill of his Cam 2 #2 Mercury. That aerodynamic improvement was illegal at the time but later became commonplace. Allison still recovered to finish third in part due to how few cars were left on the lead lap and the late caution.^[2]

The grand total of this race's prize purse would be $105,355 ($463,870 when considering inflation).^[5]

Qualifying

Grid^[2]	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Owner
1	43	Richard Petty	Dodge	Petty Enterprises
2	2	Bobby Allison	Mercury	Roger Penske
3	15	Buddy Baker	Ford	Bud Moore
4	71	Dave Marcis	Dodge	Nord Krauskopf
5	72	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet	L.G. DeWitt
6	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	Junior Johnson
7	54	Lennie Pond	Chevrolet	Ronnie Elder
8	21	David Pearson	Mercury	Wood Brothers
9	52	Jimmy Means	Chevrolet	Bill Gray
10	88	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	DiGard Racing
11	24	Cecil Gordon	Chevrolet	Cecil Gordon
12	48	James Hylton	Chevrolet	James Hylton
13	90	Dick Brooks	Ford	Junie Donlavey
14	60	Jackie Rogers	Chevrolet	Lou Viglione
15	81	Terry Ryan	Chevrolet	Bill Monaghan
16	05	David Sisco	Chevrolet	David Sisco
17	47	Bruce Hill	Chevrolet	Bruce Hill
18	79	Frank Warren	Dodge	Frank Warren
19	3	Richard Childress	Chevrolet	Richard Childress
20	14	Coo Coo Marlin	Chevrolet	H.B. Cunningham

Top ten finishers

Pos^[2]	Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Laps led	Points	Time/Status
1	8	21	David Pearson	Mercury	200	24	180	2:50:02
2	6	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	200	129	180	+3 car lengths
3	2	2	Bobby Allison	Mercury	200	4	170	Lead lap under green flag
4	1	43	Richard Petty	Dodge	200	3	165	Lead lap under green flag
5	3	15	Buddy Baker	Ford	199	20	160	+1 lap
6	13	90	Dick Brooks	Ford	197	0	150	+3 laps
7	7	54	Lennie Pond	Chevrolet	196	0	146	+4 laps
8	16	05	David Sisco	Chevrolet	196	0	142	+4 laps
9	14	60	Jackie Rogers	Chevrolet	194	2	143	+6 laps
10	11	24	Cecil Gordon	Chevrolet	193	0	134	+7 laps

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points^[2]	Differential
1	Cale Yarborough	2318	0
2	Benny Parsons	2267	-51
3	Richard Petty	2201	-117
4	Bobby Allison	2161	-157
5	Lennie Pond	1964	-354
6	Dave Marcis	1905	-413
7	Richard Childress	1867	-451
8	Buddy Baker	1823	-495
9	David Pearson	1743	-575
10	Darrell Waltrip	1740	-578

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References

↑ "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
1 2 3 "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
1 2 3 4 5 "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
1 2 3 "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-03-24.

Preceded by 1975	Motor State 400/Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 races 1976	Succeeded by 1977

Preceded by 1976 Riverside 400	NASCAR Winston Cup Season 1976	Succeeded by 1976 Firecracker 400

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[weather-information-1] "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.

[1976cam2motoroil400-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-03-24.

[cbsmichiganfacts-3] 1 2 3 "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-06-11.

[racedatabase-4] 1 2 3 4 5 "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-24.

[frs-5] 1 2 3 "1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-03-24.