| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 8 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1996 Goody's Headache Powder 500 program cover, featuring Terry Labonte, who had broken the record of most consecutive starts from Richard Petty. Labonte was starting his 514th straight race. | |||
| Date | April 21, 1996 | ||
| Official name | 47th Annual Goody's Headache Powder 500 | ||
| Location | Martinsville, Virginia, Martinsville Speedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.526 miles (0.847 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 81.41 miles per hour (131.02 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 20.344 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 211 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The 1996 Goody's Headache Powder 500 was the eighth stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 48th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 21, 1996, in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would manage to make a late-race pass on Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon to take his 42nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. [1] [2] To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan and the aforementioned Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
