April 4, 1976
“Gwyn Staley 400”
Top 5 finishers.....
Mr. Enoch Staley with the pace car used in the 1976 Gwyn Staley 400
The first car to follow the pace car during the warm up laps was Dave Marcis. Marcis set a new track record during qualifying with a lap of 20.721sec/108.585mph. He broke the previous record, which stood for 4 ½ years, by 0.198 seconds. Dave Marcis went on to finish in 8th place.
BRING BACK DAVE MARCIS!!
Marcis won $500 for capturing the pole. It appears that his team may have used “Wilkes County Champagne” to increase his fuel's
octane during qualifying, giving him more speed.......
The driver collecting the really big check was Cale Yarborough. For the first time in any race at North Wilkesboro, a driver cashed in for more than $10,000. In fact Yarborough cashed in for $11,125. Cale started the race from the 5th spot and led an amazing 364 laps on his way to victory lane in his Holly Farms sponsored Chevrolet owned by Junior Johnson. It was Yarborough’s 33rd career victory.
Richard Petty started 7th, led 13 laps and finished 2nd, better than a lap behind Yarborough. Petty won back to back championships in 1974 and ’75 and was trying to be the first driver to win three straight. 1976 got off to a feast or famine start for Petty. In the first 7 races (NWS being the 7th), Petty had 4 top two finishes, but also had three finishes of 25th or worse. The following week, Petty finished 23rd at Darlington. Petty left Wilkesboro 3rd in the points race, already 159 points back. NASCAR was using the same points system as they do today.
Bobby Allison finished 3rd, three laps down. He started eighth. 1976 was a tough year for Allison compared to recent years. He managed a fourth place finish in the season points, but he went winless for the first time since 1965, and in that year, he ran a limited amount of races. Allison left Wilkesboro sixth in season points, 231 points behind the leader.
Benny Parsons started the race from the outside pole. At the end of the day he was running 4th, three laps down. He led 23 laps. It was Parsons’ 8th top five finish at NWS. Parsons started out 1976 with the same consistency that won him the championship in 1973. In the first seven races of the season, Parsons had a 9th place finish and 6 top five finishes. He remained the points leader after the NWS race, 36 points ahead of Yarborough.
Making his only career top five finish at NWS was John Delphus (JD) McDuffie. He started 12th in the race and finished 5th, seven laps down. McDuffie was another single car owner/operator trying to survive on a limited budget in NASCAR. He only borrowed when he had to, and he repaid when he had the money to do so. He was loved by most fans, owners and drivers. McDuffie was killed in 1991 at Watkins Glen in a crash on lap 5. Following his death, the track installed the inner loop, or “bus stop” at the end of the long backstretch straightaway in order to slow the cars down before making the 180 degree turn. McDuffie holds the record for most Grand National/Winston Cup races started (653) without gaining a victory. I hope that record never gets broken simply for the fact that McDuffie’s name is documented and so when someone new to the sport sees his name, that person might take the time to find out who this Man was and how special of a person he was and what he meant to the racing world. Patty Kay of Insider Racing News provides this bit of info on McDuffie:
http://insiderracingnews.com/PK/030304.html
The race took just 2 hours, 34 minutes, 52 seconds to complete. Eight laps were run under yellow on two separate occasions. The three lap leaders exchanged the lead 8 different times. 21 of the 28 cars entered were running at the finish. Cecil Gordon and Elmo Langley each finished 9 spots better than their starting spots, the most of all drivers.
At the end of the backstretch, a new set of grandstands was installed and used for the first time at NWS. It was called the Junior Johnson Grandstands. The seats still remain and can be seen today in some of the pictures sent in to the website.
Lots of pics.......
Enoch Staley and representatives from Winston dedicate new grandstands in Johnson’s name. Fans enjoy the new view.
Dick Brooks and crew member talk as Elmo Langley listens in. Dave Sisco, Jackie Rogers and James Hylton share ideas.
Rolling off to start some pace laps. Dave Marcis (71) on the pole, Benny Parsons (72) on the outside. Darrell Waltrip is on the
inside of row two, Yarborough inside row 3, and Petty's STP car on the inside of row 4.
Benny Parsons and Dave Marcis racing hard on the outside of the frontstretch as they pass slower traffic.
Cale Yarborough (11) leads Dave Marcis (71), Junior Miller (95) and Benny Parsons (92) thru turns 3 and 4 early in the race.
Fans in the infield watch as Buddy Arrington (67) and others race into turn 3. The new Junior Johnson Grandstand is visible.
Action in the pits.......
Dick Brooks pulls in as the "over the wall" gang goes to work. Tires, fuel and a clean windshield and this driver is ready to head out.
Petty's crew checks under the car while they service his vehicle. Bobby Allison's gasman has some trouble as he sprays some fuel.
In the end.......
At the end of the day, it would be Cale Yarborough celebrating in victory lane with his crew chief and Junior Johnson.
Cale further celebrates by handing Junior a jar of "Wilkes County Champagne." Johnson acts like he's never touched the stuff!