Official name Music City USA 420 | ||
Date May 8, 1976 (1976-May-08) Location Nashville Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee Course Permanent racing facility
0.596 mi (0.959 km) Distance 420 laps, 250.3 mi (402.8 km) Weather Chilly with temperatures approaching 68 °F (20 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) | ||
The 1976 Music City USA 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on May 8, 1976, at Nashville Speedway (now Fairgrounds Speedway) in Nashville, Tennessee.
Contents
Background
Nashville Speedway was converted to a half-mile paved oval in 1957, when it began to be a NASCAR series track. The speedway was lengthened between the 1969 and 1970 seasons. The corners were cut down from 35 degrees to their present 18 degrees in 1972.
Summary
It took two hours and fifty-seven minutes for Cale Yarborough to defeat Richard Petty by 1.3 seconds in front of 16000 live audience members. Five cautions were given out for 33 laps along with 16 changes in the lead.
Rick Newsom achieved the last-place finish due to an ignition problem on lap 22 of the 420 laps that made up its regulation length. All of the 30 drivers on the grid were American-born males. Benny Parsons qualified for the race with a pole position speed of 104.328 miles per hour (167.900 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 84.512 miles per hour (136.009 km/h). The winner received $8,565 in winnings ($36,048.13 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher would only win $305 ($1,283.68 when adjusted for inflation).
Sterling Marlin would make his NASCAR debut in his race; starting in 30th place and finishing 29th. He filled in for his father Coo Coo while he was recovering from an injury.
Finishing order
* Driver failed to finish race