1996 Dura Lube 500 Last updated May 16, 2025 30th race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1996 Dura Lube 500 was the 30th and penultimate stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series , the 14th and penultimate race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston West Series , and the ninth iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, October 27, 1996, in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway , a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent low-banked tri-oval race track. The race took the scheduled 312 laps to complete. In the late stages of the race, Petty Enterprises driver Bobby Hamilton would manage to make a late race pass and dominate to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. [ 1] [ 2]
Heading into the final race of the season, the 1996 NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway , points leader Terry Labonte would come into the race with a 47 point lead over teammate Jeff Gordon . To clinch the championship, Labonte would need to finish eighth or better. [ 1]
Background The layout of Phoenix International Raceway , the venue where the race was held. Phoenix International Raceway – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona . It is named after the nearby metropolitan area of Phoenix . The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series , CART , USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series . The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation .
The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km) road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51 mi (2.43 km) interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver.Qualifying Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, October 25, at 4:30 PM EST . However, only six drivers were able to set a lap before qualifying was rained out and postponed until Saturday, October 26, at 2:00 PM EST . Qualifying was eventually combined into only one round. [ 3] Each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-38 would be decided on time, [ 4] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points.
Bobby Labonte , driving for Joe Gibbs Racing , setting a time of 27.465 and an average speed of 131.076 miles per hour (210.946 km/h) . [ 5]
Six drivers would fail to qualify: Mark Krogh , Scott Gaylord , Larry Gunselman , Rich Woodland Jr. , Joe Bean , and Bill McAnally .
Race results Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings 1 17 43 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac 312 40 running 180 $95,550 2 6 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 312 83 running 180 $59,795 3 30 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 312 61 running 170 $61,590 4 25 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 312 2 running 165 $35,153 5 19 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 312 0 running 155 $45,065 6 28 7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 312 31 running 155 $30,555 7 12 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 312 0 running 146 $31,555 8 5 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 312 29 running 147 $22,055 9 1 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 312 54 running 143 $34,555 10 18 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 312 0 running 134 $27,155 11 13 33 Todd Bodine Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 312 0 running 130 $23,955 12 24 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 312 0 running 127 $29,055 13 2 31 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 311 0 running 124 $12,255 14 3 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 311 0 running 121 $26,855 15 20 15 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Bud Moore Engineering Ford 311 0 running 118 $22,355 16 31 21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 311 0 running 115 $22,055 17 26 75 Morgan Shepherd Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 311 0 running 112 $14,855 18 37 23 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 311 10 running 114 $22,330 19 14 98 John Andretti Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 310 0 running 106 $14,330 20 29 90 Dick Trickle Donlavey Racing Ford 310 0 running 103 $15,745 21 11 94 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing Ford 310 0 running 100 $20,820 22 41 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 310 0 running 97 $25,195 23 34 52 Jack Sprague Ken Schrader Racing Pontiac 310 2 running 99 $10,170 24 38 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 309 0 running 91 $13,620 25 16 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 309 0 running 88 $20,695 26 35 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 309 0 running 85 $20,370 27 15 4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 308 0 running 82 $26,465 28 33 9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 308 0 running 79 $20,220 29 22 42 Kyle Petty Team SABCO Pontiac 307 0 oil leak 76 $20,095 30 40 8 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 307 0 running 73 $12,970 31 21 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 304 0 running 70 $12,945 32 23 30 Johnny Benson Jr. (R) Bahari Racing Pontiac 304 0 running 67 $19,170 33 43 07 Lance Hooper Golden West Motorsports Pontiac 302 0 running 64 $9,645 34 39 41 Ricky Craven Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 296 0 running 61 $16,620 35 4 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 288 0 rear end 58 $16,790 36 36 29 Robert Pressley Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 257 0 engine 55 $16,565 37 7 81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 254 0 engine 52 $9,525 38 8 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Pontiac 198 0 engine 49 $18,465 39 42 77 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford 153 0 accident 46 $9,465 40 9 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 151 0 engine 43 $24,465 41 44 01 Jeff Krogh Excel Motorsports Chevrolet 151 0 accident 40 $9,465 42 32 40 Robby Gordon Team SABCO Chevrolet 134 0 accident 37 $9,465 43 27 12 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 114 0 accident 34 $17,465 44 10 37 Jeremy Mayfield Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford 10 0 engine 31 $17,065 Failed to qualify 45 20 Mark Krogh Excel Motorsports Chevrolet 46 00 Scott Gaylord Oliver Racing Chevrolet 47 35 Larry Gunselman Race Stuff Motorsports Ford 48 38 Rich Woodland Jr. Bill Stroppe Motorsports Ford 49 03 Joe Bean Bean Racing Chevrolet 50 02 Bill McAnally Bill McAnally Racing Chevrolet Official race results
References 1 2 Higgins, Tom (October 28, 1996). "No. 43 returns to Victory Lane" . That's Racin' . The Charlotte Observer . Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved October 26, 2022 . ↑ Harris, Mike (October 28, 1996). "Hamilton gives Petty Enterprises 1st win in 13 years" . The Morning Call . p. 24. Retrieved October 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ↑ Harris, Mike (October 26, 1996). "Labonte injured; Dura-Lube qualifying postponed" . Palladium-Item . p. 22. Retrieved October 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ↑ "Dura Lube 500" . The Charlotte Observer . October 25, 1996. p. 32. Retrieved October 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ↑ Strubin, John (October 27, 1996). "Bobby Labonte feels brother's pain, gains pole" . Fort Worth Star-Telegram . p. 45. Retrieved October 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
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