1996 Goodwrench Service 400

The 1996 Goodwrench Service 400 was the second stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 25, 1996, in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 393 laps to complete. In a controversial and wreck-filled race, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to pass for the lead with 15 to go to take his 69th 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 Dale Jarrett and Larry Hedrick Motorsports driver Ricky Craven would finish second and third, respectively.

1996 Goodwrench Service 400
Race details
Race 2 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1996 Goodwrench Service 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
The 1996 Goodwrench Service 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
Date February 25, 1996
Official name 31st Annual Goodwrench Service 400
Location Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.017 mi (1.637 km)
Distance 393 laps, 399.681 mi (643.224 km)
Scheduled Distance 393 laps, 399.681 mi (643.224 km)
Average speed 113.959 miles per hour (183.399 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 23.339
Most laps led
Driver Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 198
Winner
No. 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network TNN
Announcers Eli Gold, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

The race was marred by a crash with TriStar Motorsports driver Loy Allen Jr. on lap 179. Allen's car would blow a right front tire, sending Allen's car into the turn two wall. The car then ricocheted into the inside retaining wall before coming to a stop. Allen was initially unconscious when checked by paramedics, and was placed on a stretcher before regaining consciousness in the ambulance. Allen was eventually diagnosed with a slight head injury and an injured shoulder blade.[3]

Background

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The layout of North Carolina Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.[4]

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Pontiac Hooters
2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford Miller Lite
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Kodak
5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Valvoline
7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford QVC
8 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers Racing Ford Circuit City
9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford Spam
10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford Tide
11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford Lowe's
12 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford Mane 'n Tail
15 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Bud Moore Engineering Ford Hayes Modems
16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford PrimeStar, The Family Channel
17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet Parts America
18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Interstate Batteries
19 Loy Allen Jr. TriStar Motorsports Ford HealthSource RI
21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford Citgo
22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac MBNA
23 Jimmy Spencer Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford Camel Cigarettes
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont
25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Budweiser
27 Elton Sawyer David Blair Motorsports Ford David Blair Motorsports
28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford Texaco, Havoline
29 Steve Grissom Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet Cartoon Network, The Flintstones
30 Johnny Benson Jr. (R) Bahari Racing Pontiac Pennzoil
31 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
33 Robert Pressley Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet Skoal
37 Jeremy Mayfield Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford Kmart, Little Caesars
41 Ricky Craven Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kodiak
42 Kyle Petty Team SABCO Pontiac Coors Light Silver Bullet
43 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
63 Dick Trickle Schnell Motorsports Ford Purina Hi-Pro
71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet Prodigy
75 Morgan Shepherd Butch Mock Motorsports Ford Remington Arms
77 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford Jasper Engines & Transmissions
78 Randy MacDonald Triad Motorsports Ford Diamond Rio
81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford Square D, TIC Financial Systems
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet Burger King
88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford Quality Care Service, Ford Credit
90 Mike Wallace Donlavey Racing Ford Heilig-Meyers
93 Gary Bradberry Bradberry Racing Chevrolet Bradberry Racing
94 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing Ford McDonald's
98 Jeremy Mayfield Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford RCA
99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford Exide

Qualifying

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Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, February 23, at 1:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, February 24, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-38 would be decided on time,[5] 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.

Terry Labonte, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 23.339 and an average speed of 156.870 miles per hour (252.458 km/h).[6]

Four drivers would fail to qualify: Elton Sawyer, Randy MacDonald, Gary Bradberry, and Dick Trickle.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.339 156.870
2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.356 156.756
3 30 Johnny Benson Jr. (R) Bahari Racing Pontiac 23.415 156.361
4 8 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 23.444 156.168
5 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 23.547 156.081
6 29 Steve Grissom Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 23.517 155.683
7 37 John Andretti Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford 23.525 155.630
8 81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 23.528 155.610
9 42 Kyle Petty Team SABCO Pontiac 23.534 155.571
10 43 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac 23.558 155.412
11 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 23.581 155.261
12 98 Jeremy Mayfield Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 23.583 155.247
13 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 23.596 155.162
14 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 23.620 155.004
15 94 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing Ford 23.622 154.991
16 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 23.637 154.893
17 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 23.640 154.873
18 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23.641 154.867
19 33 Robert Pressley Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 23.644 154.847
20 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.653 154.788
21 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Ford 23.654 154.781
22 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 23.676 154.638
23 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 23.679 154.618
24 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Pontiac 23.686 154.572
25 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 23.687 154.566
26 21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 23.687 154.533
27 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 23.701 154.474
28 23 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 23.707 154.435
29 12 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 23.734 154.260
30 41 Ricky Craven Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.872 154.195
31 4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 23.758 154.104
32 90 Mike Wallace Donlavey Racing Ford 23.770 154.026
33 7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 23.772 154.013
34 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 23.781 153.955
35 31 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23.796 153.858
36 75 Morgan Shepherd Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 23.811 153.765
37 15 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Bud Moore Engineering Ford 23.872 153.368
38 9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 23.949 152.875
Provisionals
39 77 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford 23.993 152.595
40 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 23.953 152.849
41 19 Loy Allen Jr. TriStar Motorsports Ford 23.991 152.607
Failed to qualify
42 27 Elton Sawyer David Blair Motorsports Ford -* -*
43 78 Randy MacDonald Triad Motorsports Ford -* -*
44 93 Gary Bradberry Bradberry Racing Chevrolet -* -*
45 63 Dick Trickle Schnell Motorsports Ford -* -*
Official qualifying results

*Time not available.

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 18 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 393 95 running 180 $83,840
2 13 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 393 8 running 175 $48,960
3 30 41 Ricky Craven Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 393 0 running 165 $47,760
4 25 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 393 3 running 165 $35,810
5 6 29 Steve Grissom Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 393 0 running 155 $31,475
6 31 4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 393 0 running 150 $34,425
7 8 81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 393 0 running 146 $14,425
8 29 12 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 392 0 running 142 $25,525
9 16 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 392 0 running 138 $25,225
10 24 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Pontiac 391 0 running 134 $27,525
11 9 42 Kyle Petty Team SABCO Pontiac 391 0 running 130 $24,325
12 35 31 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 391 0 running 127 $12,825
13 23 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 391 0 running 124 $12,625
14 34 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 390 0 running 121 $27,425
15 15 94 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing Ford 390 0 running 118 $25,325
16 14 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 390 0 running 115 $23,015
17 32 90 Mike Wallace Donlavey Racing Ford 389 0 running 112 $15,625
18 39 77 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford 389 0 crash 109 $15,325
19 12 98 Jeremy Mayfield Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 388 0 running 106 $14,975
20 3 30 Johnny Benson Jr. (R) Bahari Racing Pontiac 386 0 running 103 $24,625
21 40 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 386 0 running 100 $14,350
22 21 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Ford 384 0 running 97 $25,850
23 37 15 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Bud Moore Engineering Ford 383 0 crash 94 $21,000
24 10 43 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac 383 36 running 96 $27,300
25 38 9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 370 0 engine 88 $20,800
26 19 33 Robert Pressley Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 351 0 running 85 $20,390
27 28 23 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 328 53 engine 87 $20,290
28 17 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 311 0 running 79 $19,740
29 20 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 302 0 running 76 $17,065
30 4 8 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 287 0 running 73 $10,015
31 27 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 263 0 crash 70 $16,815
32 22 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 247 0 camshaft 67 $26,565
33 5 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 240 0 running 64 $25,615
34 1 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 235 198 engine 71 $41,465
35 26 21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 232 0 oil pump 58 $16,465
36 41 19 Loy Allen Jr. TriStar Motorsports Ford 167 0 crash 55 $9,390
37 36 75 Morgan Shepherd Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 161 0 engine 52 $9,350
38 7 37 John Andretti Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford 159 0 engine 49 $16,280
39 33 7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 141 0 engine 46 $16,280
40 2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 134 0 engine 43 $31,730
41 11 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 95 0 crash 40 $24,280
Failed to qualify
42 27 Elton Sawyer David Blair Motorsports Ford
43 78 Randy MacDonald Triad Motorsports Ford
44 93 Gary Bradberry Bradberry Racing Chevrolet
45 63 Dick Trickle Schnell Motorsports Ford
Official race results

References

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  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (February 25, 1996). "Earnhardt pushes to front". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  2. ^ Harris, Mike (February 26, 1996). "Earnhardt turns tables on Jarrett". Citizens' Voice. p. 39. Retrieved October 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ Wooten, Eddie (February 26, 1996). "Allen injured when right front tire explodes". The News and Observer. p. 35. Retrieved October 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.}  
  4. ^ "Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc". Fasttrackracing.com. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  5. ^ "Goodwrench 400". The Charlotte Observer. February 23, 1996. p. 30. Retrieved October 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.}  
  6. ^ Hembree, Mike (February 24, 1996). "Terry Labonte takes pole for Winston Cup Goodwrench". Star-Gazette. p. 5. Retrieved October 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.}  
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1996 Daytona 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1996 season
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1996 Pontiac Excitement 400