1977 Champion Spark Plug 400

The 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 22, 1977, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

1977 Champion Spark Plug 400
Race details[1]
Race 20 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
Date August 22, 1977 (1977-August-22)
Official name Champion Spark Plug 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 Mild with temperatures of 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed 137.944 miles per hour (221.999 km/h)
Attendance 35,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 120
Winner
No. 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

Background

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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

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There were 36 drivers on the racing grid; all of them were born in the United States. While Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip would duel for the lead during the opening laps of this racing event, Waltrip would battle against Benny Parsons for supremacy during the closing laps. Waltrip defeated David Pearson by two car lengths in front of an audience of 35,000.[2] Waltrip's crew chief for this race was Buddy Parrott.[4]

Janet Guthrie was the only female in this race; scoring the first of 5 career top-10 finishes and proving that women could perform well in races instead of just being the wife of a race car driver.[2] Earle Canavan would finish last due to an engine issue on the first lap. Most of the DNFs in this race would be due to engine issues. The lowest finishing driver running at the end was Dave Marcis. Only six drivers would end the race on the lead lap; with Yarborough being the lowest driver on the lead lap.[2] After this race, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty would be within 50 points of each other; both gunning for a championship.[2]

Sam Sommers was in the running for Rookie of the Year in 1977. He actually got a pole that year and some decent finishes. For reasons unknown after 1977, he only made two more starts in NASCAR in 1978, and completely disappeared.

The purse for this race was $108,825 ($547,173 when adjusted for inflation); Waltrip brought home $16,820 ($84,571 when adjusted for inflation) while Canavan earned $600 ($3,017 when adjusted for inflation).[5] Terry Ryan would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing after this event, finishing in 9th place.[6]

Qualifying

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Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 21 David Pearson Mercury Wood Brothers
2 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Junior Johnson
3 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet DiGard Racing
4 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet L.G. DeWitt
5 15 Buddy Baker Ford Bud Moore
6 43 Richard Petty Dodge Petty Enterprises
7 27 Sam Sommers Chevrolet M.C. Anderson
8 2 Dave Marcis Chevrolet Roger Penske
9 92 Skip Manning Chevrolet Billy Hagan
10 22 Ricky Rudd Chevrolet Al Rudd
11 47 Bruce Hill Chevrolet Bruce Hill
12 81 Terry Ryan Chevrolet Bill Monaghan
13 90 Dick Brooks Ford Junie Donlavey
14 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge Buddy Arrington
15 68 Janet Guthrie Chevrolet Lynda Ferreri
16 75 Butch Hartman Chevrolet Butch Hartman
17 12 Bobby Allison Matador Bobby Allison
18 9 Bill Elliott Mercury George Elliott
19 8 Ed Negre Dodge Ed Negre
20 70 J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet J.D. McDuffie

Finishing order

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POS[7] ST # DRIVER SPONSOR / OWNER CAR LAPS MONEY STATUS LED PTS
1 3 88   Darrell Waltrip Gatorade   (DiGard Racing) Chevrolet 200 16820 running 51 180
2 1 21   David Pearson Purolator   (Wood Brothers) Mercury 200 10300 running 4 175
3 4 72   Benny Parsons 1st National City Travelers Checks   (L.G. DeWitt) Chevrolet 200 9350 running 22 170
4 7 27   Sam Sommers M.C. Anderson Chevrolet 200 4900 running 1 165
5 2 11   Cale Yarborough Holly Farms   (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 200 8100 running 120 165
6 13 90   Dick Brooks Truxmore   (Junie Donlavey) Ford 200 4750 running 0 150
7 10 22   Ricky Rudd Al Rudd Auto Parts   (Al Rudd) Chevrolet 199 2000 running 0 146
8 6 43   Richard Petty STP   (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 198 5100 running 2 147
9 12 81   Terry Ryan Valvoline   (Bill Monaghan) Chevrolet 197 1800 running 0 138
10 15 68   Janet Guthrie Kelly Girl   (Lynda Ferreri) Chevrolet 196 1700 running 0 134
11 27 30   Tighe Scott Scotty's Fashions   (Walter Ballard) Chevrolet 196 3950 running 0 130
12 9 92   Skip Manning 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Billy Hagan) Chevrolet 196 4530 running 0 127
13 11 47   Bruce Hill Bruce Hill Chevrolet 196 1250 running 0
14 14 67   Buddy Arrington Mistec Transmission   (Buddy Arrington) Dodge 195 3095 running 0 121
15 32 74   Bobby Wawak Bobby Wawak Chevrolet 195 1080 running 0
16 24 48   James Hylton Hylton Engineering   (James Hylton) Chevrolet 192 2810 running 0 115
17 31 52   Jimmy Means WIXC   (Bill Gray) Chevrolet 192 2165 running 0 112
18 26 40   D.K. Ulrich J.R. DeLotto Chevrolet 189 2480 running 0 109
19 23 24   Cecil Gordon Transmissions Unlimited   (Cecil Gordon) Chevrolet 189 2195 running 0 106
20 20 70   J.D. McDuffie Bailey Excavating   (J.D. McDuffie) Chevrolet 186 1960 running 0 103
21 29 25   Dean Dalton Don Robertson Chevrolet 179 1775 running 0 100
22 8 2   Dave Marcis CAM 2   (Roger Penske) Chevrolet 154 1350 running 0
23 25 79   Frank Warren Native Tan   (Frank Warren) Dodge 141 1465 engine 0 94
24 28 61   Joe Mihalic Joe Mihalic Chevrolet 134 800 wheel 0 91
25 16 75   Butch Hartman Hartman Autocar   (Butch Hartman) Chevrolet 125 775 engine 0 88
26 17 12   Bobby Allison 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Bobby Allison) Matador 117 880 engine 0 85
27 35 63   Jocko Maggiacomo 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Jocko Maggiacomo) Matador 114 725 engine 0
28 33 91   Harold Miller Bartow Paving   (Harold Miller) Chevrolet 85 700 driveshaft 0
29 18 9   Bill Elliott Dahlonega Ford Sales   (George Elliott) Mercury 76 685 engine 0
30 5 15   Buddy Baker Norris Industries   (Bud Moore) Ford 68 3865 engine 0 73
31 19 8   Ed Negre Ed Negre Dodge 61 1270 engine 0 70
32 30 64   Tommy Gale Sunny King Ford & Honda   (Elmo Langley) Ford 53 1240 running 0 67
33 21 3   Richard Childress Kansas Jack   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 41 1130 engine 0 64
34 36 45   Baxter Price Baxter Price Chevrolet 5 620 engine 0 61
35 22 42   Elmo Langley Marty Robbins Dodge 1 610 engine 0 58
36 34 01   Earle Canavan Benihana   (Earle Canavan) Dodge 1 600 engine 0

Timeline

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Section reference:[2]

  • Lap 1: Cale Yarborough was officially leading the race as the green flag was waved.
  • Lap 5: Baxter Price fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 41: Richard Childress fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 61: Ed Negre fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 68: Buddy Baker fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 76: Bill Elliott fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 85: Harold Miller's vehicle suffered from a problematic driveshaft.
  • Lap 114: Jocko Maggiacomo fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 117: Bobby Allison fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 125: Butch Hartman fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 134: Joey Mihalic's wheel started acting funny.
  • Lap 141: Frank Warren fell out with engine failure.
  • Finish: Darrell Waltrip was officially declared the winner of the race.

Standings after the race

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Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1   Cale Yarborough 3290 0
2   Richard Petty 3240 -50
3   Benny Parsons 2989 -301
4   Darrell Waltrip 2952 -338
5   Buddy Baker 2656 -634
6   Dick Brooks 2498 -792
7   Cecil Gordon 2357 -933
8   Bobby Allison 2266 -1024
9   James Hylton 2219 -1071
10   Richard Childress 2217 -1073

References

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  1. ^ Weather information for the 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ^ a b c "Michigan International Speedway". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
  4. ^ Crew chief information for the 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Racing Reference
  5. ^ 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  6. ^ 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 racing information at Race Database
  7. ^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1977
Succeeded by
Preceded by Champion Spark Plug 400 races
1977
Succeeded by