March 5, 1978 - The Rock's Carolina 500

The 1978 Winston Cup season opened in January in southern California rather than in February at Daytona as has been the case since the late 1980s. Cale Yarborough won the season opener at Riverside's road course. Bobby Allison won the Daytona 500 after a mid-race wreck wiped out the fast trio of Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Darrell Waltrip. And Benny Parsons picked up a popular win in the season's third race at Richmond.

As the calendar turned to March, the Cup Series rolled into North Carolina Motor Speedway - Rockingham - The Rock - for the Carolina 500.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

On the first day of qualifying and a cold one at that, Neil Bonnett picked up the pole in his Harry Hyde-prepared Dodge Magnum as folks hunkered down in mid 30s temps. The pole was his second in a row after also starting first at Richmond. Waltrip timed second and was again the bridesmaid for the start. For the third time in four races, Waltrip started from the front row - but without the benes of being the pole winner.

Allison, Yarborough, and Donnie Allison rounded out the top five starters. Richard Petty, the previous year's Carolina 500 winner, could muster no better than tenth and started alongside his perennial rival, Pearson. Petty raced his winning Dodge Charger for the final time at Riverside, but the Petty Enterprises team struggled to find the desired speed in the three races with its version of the Dodge Magnum. 

An overnight heavy snowfall postponed the second round of qualifying on Friday. NASCAR floated the idea that the back half of the field would be slotted based on practice speeds. Instead, track clearing efforts and "warming temperatures" in the 40s allowed the second round to be held on Saturday as well as the annual Union 76 Pit Crew Championship. Parsons' crew led by Jake Elder won the competition.

When the green fell on race day, Waltrip seized the lead from Bonnett and led the first 33 laps. Waltrip's friend, competitor, and future adversary, Bobby Allison, then went to the point and led for 119 of the next 136 laps. 

Though Allison was leading, Waltrip maintained a solid pace. When smoke began to trail from the #88 Gatorade Chevy around lap 65, however, NASCAR black flagged him. Ol' DW was none too happy about having to pit and blamed the smoke on a short-term problem with an overfilled transmission. He was convinced the smoke would soon dissipate. Nonetheless, he had to honor the black flag. After addressing the issue and losing several laps, he was no longer a factor and eventually finished 21st.

The next 100 laps or so saw multiple leaders. Bobby, Pearson, Cale, Parsons, and Dick Brooks in Junie Donlavey's Truxmore Ford all got time at the front. None held the lead for more than 20+ laps. 

As the race moved past halfway, however, Pearson's #21 Mercury seized the lead and clicked off a ton of laps. The Silver Fox led for 166 laps as others began their strategy as to how to retake - and hold - the lead in the waning laps.  

With about 60 laps to go, Bobby Allison wasn't feeling well and could race no further. His brother, Donnie, was summoned to relieve Bobby in Bud Moore's Ford. Though he quickly ran to Bobby's aid, he wasn't quite prepared to do so. Following the race, Donnie quipped:

When they told me Bobby needed help, it was almost too late. I had just opened a can of beer. I thought, boy, is this going to taste good. Then someone grabbed me and said Bobby was sick or something. I dropped the beer and took off. I couldn't turn Bobby down. 

As Donnie belted in to Bobby's #15 Ford, Pearson and Parsons began going toe to toe at the front. With about 40 laps to go and Parsons mirroring Pearson's laps, Benny decided it was go-time. Pearson arc'd into turn one, and Benny took more of a straight-line entrance into the corner. The minor difference was just enough, and Parsons nicked the corner of Pearson to send him spinning. Benny and a fast-closing Donnie in his brother's car slipped under the 21.

Pearson managed to avoid hitting the wall, gathered his car, and angrily set off in pursuit of Parsons' #72 Chevy. Seven laps later and with a calming heart rate, Pearson pulled back alongside Parsons and went back in front - and this time to stay.

For the first time since the 1977 Southern 500 at Darlington - six months earlier - Pearson was first under the checkered flag. The win was his first at Rockingham since sweeping both races in 1973. He also captured milestone Cup win number 100. 

Donnie got by Parsons to notch a P2 for Bobby, and the King finished fourth. The top five was easily his best finish so far in the Magnum after back-to-back poor finishes and DNFs at Daytona and Richmond.

Audio of Universal Racing Network's radio broadcast of the race is available on Appalachian State's library website. 

Source: Spartanburg Herald

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Nashville's 1978 Winston 200

Nashville Speedway opened its 1978 season with a marquis NASCAR national late model sportsman race just as it had since 1966. The Winston Salute To America 200 ran on Saturday, April 15, 1978.

Though the 200-lap season-opener held to tradition, fans experienced many changes during and after the season that altered all sorts of traditions.

In December, the track's lease was sold by long-time track promoter, Bill Donoho, to local racer Lanny Hester and businessman Gary Baker. Donoho operated the track since its opening in 1958, but he spent much of his time in 1976-1977 overseeing a project to build a Nashville-areas superspeedway.  The track was to have been built about 20 miles south of Nashville. One problem after another arose; however, and Donoho's project was scrapped in early 1978.

The season also turned out to be the final full year for the late model sportsman division. After featuring modifieds as the top division in the early years, Donoho replaced them with the LMS division in 1964. Hester and Baker opted to run only a handful of LMS races in 1979 with the traditional Novas and Chevelles. Then in 1980, the new promoters introduced a new Grand American division featuring primarily Camaros and Firebirds.

Local racer Steve Spencer experienced a bit of change as well. Spencer earned Nashville's 1973 rookie of the years honors and won the 1977 LMS title in an orange Chevelle. In the offseason, he purchased a late model Nova from North Carolina racer Randy Tissott. Furthermore, his sponsor (an avid Vanderbilt Commodores sports fan), asked Spencer to paint the car black and gold.

Source: The Tennessean

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Another local racer, Mike Alexander, had expected a change - though it happened later than originally thought. During his two previous full-time LMS years, Alexander raced a mid 60s Mercury Cougar. For the new season, he expected to race a newly-built Ford Granada. Multiple problems with the car during testing, however, led Alexander to return the car to the builder. Instead, he stuck with his trusty Cougar for the first part of the season.

Source: The Tennessean

In addition to Spencer and Alexander, Sterling Marlin returned for his third season of LMS racing. The trio represented the strongest of the local racer contingent. As a national LMS feature, the race also attracted several out-of-towners as it typically did. The list of Big Dawgs included racers such as two-time national LMS champions Jack Ingram and L.D. Ottinger, 1978 national LMS champ Butch Lindley, Bob Pressley, Morgan Shepherd, and late entrant Donnie Allison.

Despite the presence of several touring pros, the local fellas let 'em know they knew their way around the Fairgrounds track quite well. Marlin won the pole, and Spencer joined him on the front row.

Source: Hemmings.com

Spencer's newly purchased Nova was fast. He got the jump on Marlin at the green and pulled the field into turn one. The 1977 track champ found his early groove and enjoyed the view out front. Lap after lap, Spencer's #27 Chevrolet stayed out front.

Meanwhile, Alexander, P.B. Crowell III, and Dennis Wiser were all gone by halfway. The three drivers along with Marlin comprised the highly touted Kiddie Corps two seasons earlier. Marlin stayed in the hunch though he seemingly had nothing for Spencer. His lack of speed was compounded by pit miscues followed by a tangle with another car late in the race. He still managed a P7 finish - though 10 laps down to the winner.

With 55 laps to go, Spencer had to make his stop to make it to the end. Like Marlin, he too had issues making a clean pit stop. He suffered a painful one-lap penalty for running the pit-out stop sign. And like Marlin, he knicked another car - Ironman Ingram - late in the race. Though he continued to a P4 finish, Spencer realized he'd missed out on a golden opportunity to bank a premier LMS win.

After pit challenges by the local racers, veteran racer Donnie Allison - and his seasoned crew - made his pit stop cleanly. Allison took over the top spot and led the remaining laps that Spencer could not. Donnie captured his third season-opener win at Nashville in seven seasons. His other victories were the 1972 Permatex 200 and 1976 Winston 200.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Many of the local and national racers' names had been touted in the run-up to race day by the track's promotional team. Allison's name, however, was not among the names mentioned because he had not yet submitted an official entry. Some speculated Allison, a NASCAR Cup regular, wanted more show money than Donoho was willing to pay. Allison held back his entry perhaps as a countermove to limit Donoho's use of Donnie's name in marketing efforts.

Source: The Tennessean

Finishing Order:

1. Donnie Allison
2. Bob Pressley
3. Gene Glover
4. Steve Spencer
5. Al Henderson
6. Wayne Carden
7. Sterling Marlin 
8. Tony Cunningham
9. John Huskey
10. David Ray
11. Charlie Whitefield
12. Jack Ingram
13. Morgan Shepherd
14. Butch Lindley
15. James Ham
16. Butch Applegate
17. L. D. Ottinger
18. P.B. Crowell, III
19. Jack Hill
20. Mike Alexander
21. Paddlefoot Wales
22. James Climer
23. Ken Gay
24. Dennis Wiser 
25. Marvin Joiner
26. Dorris Vaughn

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Nashville's 1972 Permatex 200

Beginning in 1966 following the Labor Day 1965 State Fair fire, Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway opened its late model season with the Flameless 300. The tradition continued until 1971 when the track secured Permatex as the race's title sponsor.

The mix of local racers and drivers from NASCAR's national LMS circuit returned to open a new season on April 22, 1972.

The race turned out to be the final opener on Nashville's high banks. After a three-year run of high speeds and questionable tire wear, track operator Bill Donoho chose to lower the track's banking from 35 degrees to 18 degrees following the season-ending Southern 300. That banking remains at the Fairgrounds to this day.

Previous Flameless 300 winners entering the 1972 edition of the Permatex 200 included two-time winners Freddy Fryar (1966, 1968) and Bob Burcham (1967, 1969) as well as local shoe and 1970 track champion Darrell Waltrip (1970). Other name drivers towing to Nashville included Donnie Allison, Red Farmer, Jack Ingram, and L.D. Ottinger. Local racers other than Waltrip included 1971 LMS track champion Flookie Buford and track record holder James Ham.

Waltrip captured the pole though he fell short of topping Ham's track record. Allison timed fifth in his first Nashville start since winning the pole for the 1963 Southern 300 modified race. Fryar arrived late from Chattanooga - too late in fact. Whatever car he expected to race was either assigned to another driver or had left the property. Either way, Freddy's evening was fried.

When the green flag waved, Waltrip took off from his top starting spot and dominated as he frequently did at the Fairgrounds. Despite numerous cautions and restarts, Waltrip continued pulling the field. With about 40 laps to go, Ol' DW had led every lap and a one-lap cushion over second place Allison.

But history then repeated itself. With no pressure from behind, Waltrip's Chevelle broke a rod ending his race. His dominance of the race and engine failure near the end of it mimicked his day six months earlier during the 1971 Southern 300.

After unlapping himself, Allison took over the lead. He led the remaining laps and won his first Nashville race after a nine-year absence.

Of the thirty-far starters, only fourteen cars remained at the end to see the checkers. Most of the out-of-towners did not have a successful night, and the top 10 was comprised largely of local folks.

1. Donnie Allison
2. Charlie Binkley
3. Flookie Buford
4. Don Anthony
5. Ronnie Blasingim
6. Bill Morton
7. Jack Ingram
8. Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.
9. Clyde Peoples
10. Gene Payne

Source: The Tennessean

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Nashville's 1962-1963 Southern 300s

The Southern 300 reached a bit of a milestone with its fifth edition in 1962. The season ending race for Nashville's Fairground Speedways was held on Sunday, September 30th.

About a month before the Southern 300, Jimmy Griggs of nearby Donelson wrapped up his first and only Fairgrounds modified title with his fourth win of the season. The final race of the year was now simply about the best of the locals vs. the out-of-town ringers.

Bobby Allison won the first two features of Nashville's 1962 season. It was his brother Donnie, however, who captured the pole for the final race of the season. Fellow Alabama Gang members Red Farmer and Bobby Allison qualified second and third. Local racers L.J. Hampton and Charlie Parrish rounded out the top five starters.

As the race grew in stature over its first five years, it also meant some racers loaded up before the race even began. Forty drivers arrived to claim 33 spots. Speaking of stature, the race winner's trophy continued to be a sizable one coveted by all.

Donnie showed early his pole run wasn't a one-lap flash. At the drop of the green, he held the lead for the first 100+ laps. A cut right-rear tire, however, sent him to the pits and ended his lead. He remained in the race but had to settle for a fourth place finish.

About the time of Donnie's issue, things went even worse for track champ Griggs. He broke something in his steering, popped the wall, and collected several others - most spectacularly Bud Fox. No one was injured, but five of six cars involved were done for the day - including Griggs.

Following Donnie's tire issue and the Griggs-initiated, multi-car wreck, Farmer inherited the lead. Red held it until a scheduled stop near lap 150. As Farmer made his stop, Chattanooga's Friday Hassler ascended to the top for a few laps before his own stop.

Malcolm Brady, the 1960 Southern 300 winner, took over from Hassler and seemingly had the race in hand. Somehow, however, he and his crew misjudged his fuel mileage or didn't add enough fuel to his modified.

While leading at lap 265, Malcolm unexpectedly ran dry. He coasted to pit road, got a few gallons to last the remaining 35 laps, and returned to action. Though he salvaged a good finish, Brady lost his shot at a second Southern win.

By that point of the race, the Alabama Gang was no longer a factor. Donnie couldn't regain his early race mojo, Farmer had fallen out with engine issues, and Bobby Allison lost several laps after an accident with Coo Coo Marlin and subsequent tire issue.

Hassler re-assumed the lead following Brady's misfortune. Friday continued the remaining few laps and won by about a half-lap over second place Brady.

Carol Steele (Miss Fairground Speedways), Hassler, 
Nashville Mayor Beverly Briley, and Margaret Petty (Miss Tennessee)

Though Donnie Allison could not convert his pole start into a pole win, he did ultimately win five races at Nashville between 1965 and 1978 - including the 1976 Winston 200 that coincided with Sterling Marlin's first professional racing start.

The racers returned a year later for the sixth Southern 300 slated for Sunday, September 29, 1963.

When racers and fans arrived on Saturday, September 28th for practice and qualifying, soaking rains unfortunately greeted them. The full schedule was moved back one week with the race rescheduled for Sunday, October 6. The 1963 race was the first of only two Southerns postponed by rain with the second soggy one happening in 1975.

After things reset a week later, some fans may have experienced a bit of deja vu from the 1962 Southern 300. As he did a year earlier, Donnie Allison again won the pole. He also did so by setting a track record - just as he'd done in '62.

Unlike qualifying in 1962, a couple of Chattanooga-area drivers nabbed the next two spots instead of Alabama Gang racers. Freddy Fryar qualified second followed by Bob Burcham. Both drivers would have plenty of success at the Fairgrounds throughout the remainder of the 1960s on the track's original half-mile configuration.

The top three qualifiers posed for a promotional photo for the local paper along with young fan Opie Taylor. - Wait, check that. - The young fan was actually Russ Thompson, known today by many across the web as Calhoun98 and a walking encyclopedia of racing knowledge from Nashville, NASCAR, Indy Car, and karting.

A lap-80 wreck eliminated several contenders including Fryar and Burcham. Mechanical woes doomed Red Farmer and NASCAR's Joe Lee Johnson.

Consequently, the top two finishers from 1962 - Friday Hassler and Malcolm Brady - once again found themselves at the head of the field again in 1963 for the better part of the final 200 laps. The duo separated themselves from the remainder of the field and were soon the only two cars remaining on the lead lap.

Hassler and Brady had differing race strategies. Hassler needed only one pit stop whereas Brady required three. Adding to deja vu feelings for Brady perhaps was his third and final stop. In 1962, he had to make an unscheduled stop for fuel. A third stop was needed in 1963 with 70 laps to go, but miscues extended the stop and put Malcolm well behind Hassler.

With 50 laps to go, however, Brady was down but not out. He closed the gap on Hassler and maintained pressure in an effort to force Friday into a mistake. Hassler didn't crack though, kept his rhythm, and crossed the finish line to secure back-to-back Southern 300 wins.

Not only was the race meaningful for Hassler individually, but it also marked a point of significant demarcation for the Fairgrounds. After six years of the modifieds as the featured division, big changes were ahead.

The track moved to full-bodied late model modified sedans beginning in 1964. The change was in line with other regional short tracks, but the news didn't come without come controversy and grumbling from the area racers. In 2011, Russ Thompson blogged about Nashville's new division that followed Hassler's win in Nashville's final modified race.

Source: Eddie Shaub / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Friday took home the trophy for the 1963 season-ending race, and Coo Coo Marlin secured his second of four track championships. Marlin's first two titles came in Nashville's modifieds, and he earned his other two in the successor late model division. Interestingly, Coo Coo didn't win a single feature during his 1963 title run.

Throughout the rest of the 1960s, Hassler continued to make the trek between Chattanooga and Nashville to race regularly at the Fairgrounds. Though he only returned home with four trophies, at least two of them were from the increasingly prestigious Southern 300.

He balanced his late model racing career with an increasing number of starts in NASCAR Grand National competition. Sadly, Friday died in a wreck during his 125-mile qualifying race for the 1973 Daytona 500 while driving his familiar red, See Rock City-sponsored, #39 Chevelle.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

April 17, 1976 - Nashville's new season begins

NASCAR's 1976 Winston Cup season opened in January with the road course race in Riverside, California. Nashville Speedway's weekly series didn't kickstart its new year, however, until mid-April. The Winston Salute To America 200 was slotted for Saturday, April 17, 1976.

The race was sanctioned as a NASCAR national Late Model Sportsman division race. It was one of many during a pre-Busch Series era when national LMS points could be earned at tracks scattered all over the place.

The race attracted a few of the big dawgs of the day such as 1975 national LMS champ L.D. Ottinger, future Cup winner Neil Bonnett, Cup regular Donnie Allison, 1972-1974 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman champion Jack Ingram...

...and Midwestern hotshoe Bob Senneker. His car didn't exactly match the look and configuration of most LMS entries. But hey, he towed all the way from Michigan, was a proven winner in his area of the country, was making his first Fairgrounds start, and had a last name that rhymed with WINneker. So they let him race! OK, I made up that part about the rhyming name.

They were joined by local racers such as 1975 Nashville late model champion Walter Wallace, Alton Jones (who claimed the 1976 LMS track title), James Climer, and third-year Nashville driver but first year LMS racer Mike Alexander.

The 200 was also a homecoming of sorts for Dave Sisco and Darrell Waltrip, two Cup drivers who were also Fairgrounds champions earlier in their careers. Waltrip's Nova carried the colors of his new new Cup sponsor, Gatorade. Nashville fans got their first opportunity to see the colors live on DW's late model. They saw them again about three weeks later when Waltrip raced his DiGard 88 Monte Carlo in the Music City 420 Cup race.

Four-time Fairgrounds champion and Cup regular Coo Coo Marlin did not enter the 200. However, he assisted the efforts of a rookie driver who prepared for his debut professional racing career start: his son Sterling.

Source: The Tennessean

Today's NASCAR fans can often be stereotyped as chronic whiners about everything - especially changes. Almost any change these days triggers a social media outcry. But one change in 1976 even had the competitors chirping.

NASCAR implemented a rule change for LMS teams at short tracks. Rather than using air guns, crews were required to use manual lug wrenches. NASCAR's position was the change would help level the playing field on pit road as well as reduce operating expenses a bit for the teams. The new rule, however, was met with almost universal derision.

Source: The Tennessean

Ottinger captured the pole in his #2 Chevelle. Senneker lined up alongside him in his interesting looking car. When the green flag fell, Ottinger got the hole shot and paced the field for the first 10 laps.

Allison then took the top spot and dragged the field around for the remainder of the first half of the race. Following the crossed-flags, Senneker decided it was go time. He took the lead, dominated the second half, and seemingly was on his way to the win.

Ottinger's luck went from good to bad to worse. After leading early, he faded back and lost a lap during a pit stop. With 30 laps to go, he pounded the wall as he tried to get back on the lead lap. He was able to continue, but then his fuel pump broke fifteen laps later. His wrecked ride caught fire, and he was finally and mercifully done for the night.

As the laps continued, Senneker built a sizable lead - even after late cautions resulting from Ottinger's incidents. His car developed an ignition issue with three laps to go, however, and he began slowly limping towards the finish. At first it was thought he may have been out of fuel; however, he later noted it was his electrical system that had simply laid down on him with victory in sight.

With Senneker's fade, Donnie Allison roared past him in his #8 Nova to claim the win. Allison sported 88 on his car to match the number he used to race in Cup. He was fired by DiGard in 1975 and replaced with Waltrip. Both showed up at Nashville with 88 on their cars. With Allison being a late entrant, his car was scored as the single-digit #8.

Ingram finished second, and Randy Tissot placed third. Former track champs Sisco and Waltrip rounded out the top five finishers. Sterling finished an admirable seventh in his first professional race. He continued having a pretty successful rookie year - including his first career Cup start in the Music City 420 less than a month after his late model debut. He banked several consistent runs his rookie season, built a solid fan following, and finally nabbed his first of many Nashville wins in June 1977.

Source: The Tennessean

Nearly 40 years later, Marlin's passion for racing still burns. Though no longer a Cup driver, he is a fixture at the Fairgrounds racing regularly in the once-a-month Pro Late Model division.

Special thanks to Russ Thompson for providing several photos and a few trivia nuggets for this post.

TMC

September 6, 1976 - Southern 500

For the second year in a row, the 2016 Southern 500 was run at Darlington Raceway under the lights on a Sunday evening. For about 10 years before 2015, the race was a bit of a gypsy with it being run in November, Mother's Day weekend, and April.

Back the in day, however, the Southern 500 was run on Labor Day Monday.  The race was also held in the full sun of a late summer, scorching, Southern day. Many drivers were gassed from heat exhaustion and needed relief. Yet many returned to their seat after a few whiffs of oxygen and a cup of Pepsi Cola diluted by rapidly melting ice.

The 1976 Southern 500 - held during the Bicentennial year of the United States - was held on Monday, September 6th.

A few days before the race, South Carolina's governor released a proclamation declaring Saturday, September 5th as Richard Petty Day. He was also chosen by the track as the race's Grand Martial.

In addition to the nation's celebrating its Bicentennial, 1976 also represented an election year for the presidency of the United States. Both major parties used the Darlington weekend to stump for votes. Jimmy Carter - the Democratic nominee - already had a connection to NASCAR. He attended a handful of races at what is now Atlanta Motor Speedway as Georgia's governor in the early 1970s.

Source: The Index-Journal of Greenwood SC

Senator Bob Dole - the VP running mate for Republican nominee President Gerald Ford - also spent a bit of time pressing the flesh.

Source: The Index-Journal

When the dust settled in November, Carter was elected as the incumbent Ford was ousted. One of the campaign promises Carter made was to invited many from NASCAR to the White House. True to his word, President Carter invited several drivers, owners, and NASCAR brass to the White House in September 1978. First Lady Rosalynn Carter hosted the event as the POTUS remained at Camp David trying to get the leaders of Israel and Egypt to hammer out a binding peace agreement.

David Pearson won the pole - his fourth in a row at Darlington - in the #21 Wood Brothers Mercury. Pearson would extend his pole-winning streak to five in the 1977 Rebel 500. In the fifteen Darlington races Pearson raced for the the Woods, he won the pole nine times. Nine times? Nine Times.

Pearson's pole win for the '76 Southern 500 was bit unique because he was wearing another driver's uniform! Mike Hembree (now a writer for USA Today) wrote about the conundrum for the Spartanburg Herald.

As Pearson was preparing to get in his car to drive from his motel to the track Thursday morning, Grand National car builder Banjo Matthews happened along and talked Pearson into riding with him to the speedway. Therein lies the first plot twist. Pearson left his driver uniform in his car.

Pearson discovered his mistake at the track and being no Lady Godiva, borrowed one of Allison's bright red uniforms.

As soon as qualifying ended with Pearson knocking Allison out of the pole spot, the Spartanburg veteran dashed to a nearby truck (which happened to belong to Darrell Waltrip's team) and rapidly changed into his civilian clothes.

Someone wanted to know if Pearson planned to wear the Allison suit in Monday's race. "Naw, I've got one faster than this back at the motel." he said. 

Source: Spartanburg Herald

At the drop of the green, Allison powered off into turn 1 from his second starting position. About halfway down the backstretch, however, Pearson slithered under Allison, took the lead, and stayed there for the first eleven laps. Allison then passed Pearson as the fans were about to be entertained by 30 lead changes throughout the day.

A couple of laps after Allison took the lead, the caution waved for Nashville's David Sisco who crashed on lap 14. The year was a tough one at Darlington for the Sisco family. David's brother Jerry crashed in the spring Rebel 500, caught fire, and was pulled from his burning car by Petty crewmen Dale Inman and Barry Dodson.

Two other key characters from the 1979 Daytona 500 finish - Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison - were also stout in the first half of the 76 Southern 500. Donnie found his way to the front in Hoss Ellington's souped-up, Army-sponsored Chevrolet. But once there, something broke in the engine dumping fluid all over the track. Donnie angrily stormed away knowing he'd lost a solid shot at a win.

The cars hit pit road for Donnie's caution. In an era of no pit road speeds, Bobby Allison hastily pulled out of his stall to clear a car in front of him. Yarborough, however, had already committed to the outer lane. Cale bounced the right side of his #11 Holly Farms Chevy off the pit wall after being pinched by Bobby. In a quick turn of events, both Cale and Donnie were done.

About 15 laps after the race went back green, Buddy Baker and Dave Marcis got in a skirmish to bring out another yellow. A bad wreck involving rookie Skip Manning and Joe Frasson happened behind Baker's and Marcis' incident. When the caution flag flew, Manning accelerated a bit to catch up to the field for pit stops. His brakes apparently locked, and he spun. Frasson was trying to close on the field as well, couldn't avoid Manning's spinning #92, and t-boned him.

Frasson suffered bruising and a few cuts but was generally OK healthwise. His injuries, however, could have been far worse. The hit jarred his helmet off his head, tore his shoulder harness loose, and gashed his abdomen with his seat belt. Injured more than Frasson himself was his bank account. A true independent, Frasson's accident ended his season. He competed in only one Cup race in 1977 plus a handful of sportsman and ARCA race, and raced in only five Cup races in 1978 before moving on to other, more affordable series.

Manning had to be carefully extricated from the car with a broken leg. He missed the next race at Richmond. However, he managed to get in the car two races later at Dover. He started the race to earn driver points and then turned the car over to a relief driver. He soldiered on the rest of the season without technically missing a start. His tenacity - while perhaps viewed as risky and foolish through today's lens - was a necessity in that era to keep one's ride. It also helped him earn the Rookie of the Year award over drivers such as Neil Bonnett and Jimmy Means.

After surrendering the lead on lap 12, Pearson thought he'd check back in as the leader. After nearly being lapped by Donnie Allison before his problems, Pearson coolly continued. With 100 laps to go, Pearson went back to the point and led for another 30+ lap stretch.

Marcis (recovering from his encounter with Baker) and Darrell Waltrip then traded the lead with another for the next 25 or so laps. Marcis was in his final season with the famed #71 K&K Insurance Dodge prepared by Harry Hyde. Waltrip was in his first full season with DiGard and the #88 Gatorade team. DiGard had just recently hired Robert Yates as its engine builder, and the new guy's efforts were on display with plenty of speed.

With 45 laps to go, Pearson navigated past Marcis - then Bobby Allison - and then Waltrip to take the lead. Waltrip found another gear and dogged Pearson with his Robert Yates power.

Source: Stock Car Racing magazine

The King earned more than his Darlington stripe that particular day. He smacked the wall on three different occasions - yet continued with his boot on the gas.

Source: Stock Car Racing magazine

Petty poured on the steam late in an effort to chase down Pearson. The 21 was g-o-n-e GONE. But Petty still pursued Waltrip's 88 for second. After two or three laps of sizing him up, Petty finally completed the pass for second coming through turn four of the last lap. Waltrip likely filed away that move and recalled it when the two raced again for the win at Darlington's 1979 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500.

Source: Lakeland Ledger

Despite 16 years of racing at Darlington, the poles and six victories, Pearson's win in the Southern 500 was his first in that race. He also became the second driver to win three of Cup's biggest races in the same year. He also bagged the Daytona 500 in February and the World 600 in May. Beginning in 1985, the three races plus the Winston 500 would be featured in R.J. Reynold's Winston Million program.

Petty had a tremendous 1976 in the three big races as well with P2s at Daytona, Charlotte, and Darlington. His major hurdle, however, was that Pearson nabbed the win in all three. The race was also the 60th of 63 times Petty and Pearson finished in the top two spots. Of the 63 times, Pearson won 33 of them with Petty capturing 30.

The second finish to Pearson ... again ... was perhaps softened a bit by the announcement STP would return as sponsor of the 43 again in 1977. With multi-year sponsorship deals and driver contracts today, it seems a bit unthinkable that back in the day even the big teams lived on year-to-year deals.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

Though a day of honor was declared for Petty before the race, the governor recognized Pearson with a full week following the Silver Fox's victory.

Source: Sumter Daily Item

TMC