1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400
Race details[1]
Race 15 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 program cover
1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 program cover
Date June 19, 1977 (1977-June-19)
Official name Cam 2 Motor Oil 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 Temperatures of 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds of 16.9 miles per hour (27.2 km/h)
Average speed 135.033 miles per hour (217.315 km/h)
Attendance 61,200[2]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 106
Winner
No. 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that was held on June 19, 1977, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Background

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

36 drivers started this 200-lap event; all of them were born in the United States of America.[2] Bill Seifert would return after a five-year absence from NASCAR and recorded a12th-place finish.

Ferrel Harris was credited with the last-place finish due to difficulties with his engine on the ninth lap. Donnie Allison would be the highest place finisher not to finish the race; he acquired a similar problem on lap 176. Cale Yarborough would defeat Richard Petty by ten seconds. More than 61,000 fans would see nearly three hours of racing. Benny Parsons, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, and future NASCAR on FOX personality Darrell Waltrip would duel among each other for the lead early on in the race. Winnings for each driver varied from $20,625 for the race winner ($97,864 when adjusted for inflation) to $1,300 for the last-place finisher ($6,278 when adjusted for inflation).[2]

The total prize purse of this race was $123,005 ($594,018 when adjusted for inflation).[4] Notable crew chiefs in the race were Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Inman and Tim Brewer.[5]

Janet Guthrie was the lone female competitor in this race. Richard Childress, then a driver/owner, competed in this race and finished in 35th place (after starting out in 8th place).[2] County singer Marty Robbins made his first NASCAR Cup start in more than two years and turned in a solid top-15 performance.[2]

Roland Wlodyka made his NASCAR Cup debut but finished 29th after a transmission failure.

It was the first start as an owner for eventual Cup Series Champion Rod Osterlund.

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 21 David Pearson Mercury
2 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet
3 43 Richard Petty Dodge
4 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet
5 88 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet
6 2 Dave Marcis Chevrolet
7 15 Buddy Baker Ford
8 1 Donnie Allison Chevrolet
9 27 Sam Sommers Chevrolet
10 90 Dick Brooks Ford
11 92 Skip Manning Chevrolet
12 68 Janet Guthrie Chevrolet
13 22 Ricky Rudd Chevrolet
14 9 Bill Elliott Ford
15 47 Bruce Hill Chevrolet
16 12 Bobby Allison Matador
17 75 Butch Hartman Chevrolet
18 79 Frank Warren Dodge
19 81 Terry Ryan Chevrolet
20 16 David Sisco Chevrolet
21 24 Cecil Gordon Chevrolet
22 64 Tommy Gale Ford
23 3 Richard Childress Chevrolet
24 03 Bill Seifert Chevrolet
25 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet

Results

POS ST # DRIVER SPONSOR / OWNER CAR LAPS MONEY STATUS LED PTS
1 4 11   Cale Yarborough Holly Farms   (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 200 20625 running 106 185
2 3 43   Richard Petty STP   (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 200 14425 running 5 175
3 2 72   Benny Parsons 1st National City Travelers Checks   (L.G. DeWitt) Chevrolet 200 10700 running 8 170
4 6 2   Dave Marcis CAM 2   (Roger Penske) Chevrolet 199 4750 running 65 165
5 1 21   David Pearson Purolator   (Wood Brothers) Mercury 199 4550 running 4 160
6 7 15   Buddy Baker Norris Industries   (Bud Moore) Ford 199 5750 running 0 150
7 10 90   Dick Brooks Truxmore   (Junie Donlavey) Ford 197 4700 running 0 146
8 9 27   Sam Sommers M.C. Anderson Chevrolet 197 3150 running 0 142
9 17 75   Butch Hartman Hartman Autocar   (Butch Hartman) Chevrolet 196 2050 running 0 138
10 16 12   Bobby Allison 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Bobby Allison) Matador 195 3800 running 0 134
11 26 48   James Hylton Hylton Engineering   (James Hylton) Chevrolet 195 3880 running 0 130
12 24 03   Bill Seifert Spirit of Public Enter.   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 194 1750 running 0 127
13 33 42   Marty Robbins Robbins Racing   (Marty Robbins) Dodge 193 1500 running 0 124
14 25 52   Jimmy Means Means Racing   (Bill Gray) Chevrolet 193 2845 running 0 121
15 14 9   Bill Elliott Dahlonega Ford Sales   (George Elliott) Ford 192 1330 running 0 118
16 28 40   D.K. Ulrich J.R. DeLotto Chevrolet 192 3060 running 0 115
17 19 81   Terry Ryan Valvoline   (Bill Monaghan) Chevrolet 191 1225 running 0 112
18 34 74   Bobby Wawak Clear-Lam   (Bobby Wawak) Chevrolet 191 1200 running 0
19 35 67   Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington Dodge 189 2865 running 0 106
20 27 70   J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet 189 2680 running 0 103
21 21 24   Cecil Gordon Transmissions Unlimited   (Cecil Gordon) Chevrolet 189 2395 running 0 100
22 32 19   Henley Gray Belden Asphalt   (Henley Gray) Chevrolet 186 2160 running 0 97
23 22 64   Tommy Gale Sunny King   (Elmo Langley) Ford 182 1975 running 0 94
24 8 1   Donnie Allison Hawaiian Tropic   (Hoss Ellington) Chevrolet 176 1050 engine 3 96
25 20 16   David Sisco David Sisco Chevrolet 174 1665 running 0 88
26 12 68   Janet Guthrie Kelly Girl   (Lynda Ferreri) Chevrolet 170 1000 running 0 85
27 11 92   Skip Manning 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Billy Hagan) Chevrolet 159 2605 engine 0 82
28 13 22   Ricky Rudd Al Rudd Auto Parts   (Al Rudd) Chevrolet 131 950 engine 8 84
29 36 91   Roland Wlodyka Rod Osterlund Chevrolet 127 935 transmission 0
30 18 79   Frank Warren Native Tan   (Frank Warren) Dodge 112 1535 engine 0 73
31 29 30   Tighe Scott Scotty's Fashions   (Walter Ballard) Chevrolet 100 1500 engine 0 70
32 15 47   Bruce Hill t. edwards   (Bruce Hill) Chevrolet 92 890 driveshaft 0 67
33 31 0   John Kennedy Avanti CB   (John Kennedy) Ford 66 880 engine 0 64
34 23 3   Richard Childress Kansas Jack   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 59 1320 engine 0 61
35 5 88   Darrell Waltrip Gatorade   (DiGard Racing) Chevrolet 49 4010 engine 1 63
36 30 25   Ferrel Harris Don Robertson Chevrolet 9 1300 engine 0 55

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Cale Yarborough 2531 0
2 Richard Petty 2428 -103
3 Benny Parsons 2254 -277
4 Darrell Waltrip 2140 -391
5 Buddy Baker 2050 -481
6 Dick Brooks 1854 -677
7 Cecil Gordon 1803 -728
8 Richard Childress 1745 -786
9 Increase Dave Marcis 1685 -846
10 Decrease James Hylton 1680 -851

References

  1. ^ Weather information for the 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 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. ^ 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  5. ^ 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
Preceded by1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400/Gabriel 400 races 1977 Succeeded by1978
Preceded by1977 NAPA 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1977 Succeeded by1977 Firecracker 400
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