1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400

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1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400
Race details [1]
Race 27 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 program cover.png
1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 program cover
Date September 29, 1996 (1996-09-29)
Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 0.625 miles (1.006 km)
Distance 400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km)
Weather Temperatures up to 66 °F (19 °C); wind speeds up to 6.9 miles per hour (11.1 km/h) [2]
Average speed 96.837 mph (155.844 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
 Roush Racing
Time 19.059
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 207
Winner
No. 24Jeff GordonHendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth announcers Allen Bestwick and Barney Hall
Turn announcers Joe Moore (Backstretch)

The 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the twenty-seventh stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on September 29, 1996 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in Wilkes County, North Carolina. The 400-lap race was won by Jeff Gordon of the Hendrick Motorsports team after he started from second position. Dale Earnhardt finished second and Dale Jarrett came in third.

Contents

Entry list

No.Driver [3] MakeTeam
1Rick MastPontiacRichard Jackson
2Rusty WallaceFordRoger Penske
3Dale EarnhardtChevroletRichard Childress
4Sterling MarlinChevroletLarry McClure
5Terry LabonteChevroletRick Hendrick
6Mark MartinFordJack Roush
7Geoff BodineFordGeoff Bodine
8Hut StricklinFordStavola Brothers
9Lake SpeedFordHarry Melling
10Ricky RuddFordRicky Rudd
11Brett BodineFordBrett Bodine
12Derrike CopeFordBobby Allison
15Wally Dallenbach Jr.FordBud Moore
16Ted MusgraveFordJack Roush
17Darrell WaltripChevroletDarrell Waltrip
18Bobby LabonteChevroletJoe Gibbs
21Michael WaltripFordWood Brothers
23Jimmy SpencerFordTravis Carter
24Jeff GordonChevroletRick Hendrick
25Ken SchraderChevroletRick Hendrick
28Ernie IrvanFordYates Racing
29Jeff GreenChevroletGary Bechtel
30Johnny Benson Jr.PontiacChuck Rider
33Robert PressleyChevroletLeo Jackson
37Jeremy MayfieldFordMichael Kranefuss
41Ricky CravenChevroletLarry Hedrick
42Kyle PettyPontiacFelix Sabates
43Bobby HamiltonPontiacPetty Enterprises
71Dave MarcisChevroletDave Marcis
75Morgan ShepherdFordButch Mock
77Bobby Hillin Jr.FordDoug Bawel
81Kenny WallaceFordFil Martocci
87Joe NemechekChevroletJoe Nemechek
88Dale JarrettFordYates Racing
94Bill ElliottFordBill Elliott
98John AndrettiFordCale Yarborough
99Jeff BurtonFordJack Roush

Report

Background

Before the race Jeff Gordon led the Drivers' Championship with 3,903 points, eighty-one ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Terry Labonte in second, with Dale Jarrett a further eighty-one points adrift in third. Dale Earnhardt was fourth on 3,562, and Mark Martin was a further seventy-nine behind in fifth place. [4] Martin was the race's defending champion. [5]

It was announced shortly beforehand that the Tyson Holly Farms 400 would be the last NASCAR race held at North Wilkesboro Speedway after the track was sold to promoters Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre following the death of its previous owner Enoch Staley in 1995. North Wilkesboro's two races would be taken over by Smith's Texas Motor Speedway in the spring and Bahre's New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the fall starting from 1997 as part of a schedule realignment. [6]

First round qualifying

First-round qualifying started at 3 p.m. on Friday. Bobby Hamilton, driving the popular #43 Petty Enterprises Pontiac, had the fastest run before rain interrupted qualifying with 13 of the 40 drivers still waiting to make their run. After a 2+1⁄2-hour delay qualifying resumed with Jeff Gordon, the defending series champion, being the first driver to make a qualifying lap. Gordon put his #24 Chevrolet on top of the charts with a lap of 117.937 mph. Gordon's run held until Ted Musgrave, driving for Jack Roush in the #16 Family Channel/Primestar Ford Thunderbird, won the pole with a lap of 118.054 mph. It was Musgrave's first pole of the season and the fifth and final pole of his career. Hamilton ended up 3rd, with defending race winner Mark Martin and Ernie Irvan filling out the top five starting spots.

Second round qualifying

With only the top 25 locked in times from the first round qualifying the previous day, Second-round qualifying allowed drivers to stand on their first-round times or make a second attempt. Only 6 drivers made a second-round attempt on Saturday. Hut Stricklin was the fastest in second-round qualifying, and Dale Jarrett also improved on his first day's effort. Race provisionals went to Geoff Bodine, Lake Speed, Robert Pressley, and Jeff Green. Darrell Waltrip got the past champion's provisional. Three drivers, Ward Burton, Dick Trickle and Gary Bradberry, failed to qualify.

Final Practice

Rain cut final practice short for Cup teams. Jeff Gordon completed just 15 laps when his car developed engine problems, later found to be debris in the carburetor.

Race

The race started at 1 P.M. on Sunday. From the 2nd starting spot, Jeff Gordon jumped out past pole sitter Ted Musgrave to lead the first few laps of the race. On lap 22 the first caution came out for debris on the track. Gordon had a dominant car throughout the race. An accident on the front-stretch between Ernie Irvan, Kyle Petty and Bobby Hamilton brought out the 2nd caution on lap 72. At halfway, Gordon lead and collected the $10,000 halfway leader bonus. Another caution came out on lap 261 for oil on the track. Robert Pressley's accident in turn 3 brought out the final caution on lap 315. With 79 laps to go, Gordon moved past Dale Earnhardt on a restart and took the lead for the final time. Gordon would win the race by 1.73 seconds over Earnhardt. Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Terry Labonte rounded out the top five. It was Gordon's 10th win of the season and third win in a row after victories at Dover and Martinsville. The highest-finishing rookie, Johnny Benson, finishing 17th. Pole sitter Ted Musgrave failed to lead a lap and ended up finished 19th in the 37-car field. The race featured 18 Lead changes between 8 different drivers throughout the day with Gordon leading a race-high 207 laps. Every car that started the race was running at the finish.

Race results

PosGridNo.DriverTeamManufacturerLapsStatusLaps LedPoints
1224 Jeff Gordon Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet400running207185
2113 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress RacingChevrolet400running35175
33088 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates RacingFord400running0165
41499 Jeff Burton Roush RacingFord400running2165
5165 Terry Labonte Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet400running0155
6281 Rick Mast Precision Products RacingPontiac400running0150
72110 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance MotorsportsFord400running17151
8343 Bobby Hamilton Petty EnterprisesPontiac400running48147
946 Mark Martin Roush RacingFord400running29143
1092 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing SouthFord400running43139
11134 Sterling Marlin Morgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet400running0130
121021 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers RacingFord399running0127
131818 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs RacingChevrolet399running0124
141975 Morgan Shepherd Butch Mock MotorsportsFord399running0121
152781 Kenny Wallace FILMAR RacingFord399running0118
16268 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers RacingFord399running0115
17630 Johnny Benson Jr. Bahari RacingPontiac398running0112
182425 Ken Schrader Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet398running0109
19116 Ted Musgrave Roush RacingFord398running0106
203223 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter EnterprisesFord398running0103
211294 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott RacingFord398running0100
222041 Ricky Craven Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet397running097
233111 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine RacingFord397running094
242398 John Andretti Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord397running091
25349 Lake Speed Melling RacingFord397running088
262987 Joe Nemechek NEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet396running085
273717 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet396running082
281537 Jeremy Mayfield Kranefuss-Haas RacingFord395running079
292271 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto RacingChevrolet395running076
30337 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine RacingFord394running073
312542 Kyle Petty Team SABCOPontiac394running070
323629 Jeff Green Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet394running067
333533 Robert Pressley Leo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet392running064
341715 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Bud Moore EngineeringFord391running061
35877 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper MotorsportsFord389running058
36528 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates RacingFord388running1960
37712 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison MotorsportsFord369running052

Race statistics

Post-race

The results meant Gordon extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship, ahead of Labonte and Jarrett. Earnhardt and Martin rounded out the top five positions. [7] The race took two hours. thirty-four minutes and fifty-four seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 1.73 seconds. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 "1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Weather Information for North Wilkesboro, North Carolina". Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ "1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Tyson Holly Farms 400 Entry List - North Wilkesboro Speedway". frcs.pro. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. ↑ "1996 Official Driver Standings: Hanes 500". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ McKee, Sandra (September 28, 1996). "NASCAR takes last lap at roots Racing: With tomorrow's Holly Farms 400, NASCAR bids goodbye to its oldest track, North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway". The Baltimore Sun . North Wilkesboro, North Carolina: Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  6. ↑ Harris, Mike (September 26, 1996). "NASCAR says goodbye to North Wilkesboro". The Advocate-Messenger . North Wilkesboro, North Carolina: Schurz Communications. Associated Press. p. 16. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  7. ↑ "1996 Official Driver Standings: Tyson/Holly Farms 400". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
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