1977 Music City USA 420

1977 Music City USA 420
Race details
Race 11 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date	May 7, 1977
Official name	Music City USA 420
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	Hot with temperatures approaching 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed	87.490 miles per hour (140.802 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Darrell Waltrip;
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough
Laps	398
Winner
No. 72	Benny Parsons
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1977 Music City USA 420 was a 420-lap race that took place on May 7, 1977, at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Summary

The race itself took two hours, fifty-one minutes, and forty seconds from the first green flag to the checkered flag.^[2] Benny Parsons was the race winner with an average speed of 87.49 miles per hour (140.80 km/h) while the pole position winner Darrell Waltrip had a speed of 103.643 miles per hour (166.797 km/h) and finished the race in 3rd place.^[2] Cale Yarborough led the race with most number of laps (275) and was the points leader after the race for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship.^[2] However, Benny Parsons would defeat him by one second.^[2]

Twenty thousand people attended this race that had a total prize purse of $56,350 ($283,328.17 in current US dollars).^[2] The winner would leave the event earning an incredible $9,565 ($48,092.88 in current US dollars) while the last-place finisher would walk away with a meager $255 in cash earnings ($1,282.14 in current US dollars).^[3]

Other notable names include Ricky Rudd, Coo Coo Marlin, Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, and Richard Childress (now the owner of Richard Childress Racing and Childress Vineyards).^[2] Paul Dean Holt would retire from NASCAR after this race while Ralph Jones would make his introduction into NASCAR racing during this race.^[4]

Qualifying

Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer
1	88	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet
2	72	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet
3	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet
4	43	Richard Petty	Dodge
5	12	Bobby Allison	Matador
6	2	Dave Marcis	Chevrolet
7	15	Buddy Baker	Ford
8	52	Jimmy Means	Chevrolet
9	92	Skip Manning	Chevrolet
10	3	Richard Childress	Chevrolet

Finishing order

Benny Parsons (No. 72)
Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
Dave Marcis (No. 2)
Richard Petty (No. 43)
Buddy Baker (No. 15)
Bobby Allison (No. 12)
Coo Coo Marlin (No. 14)
Jimmy Means (No. 52)
Ricky Rudd (No. 22)
James Hylton (No. 48)
Gary Myers (No. 4)
Cecil Gordon (No. 24)
D.K. Ulrich (No. 40)
Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
Rick Newsom (No. 20)
Earl Brooks (No. 33)
Ralph Jones (No. 98)
David Sisco (No. 16)
Ferrell Harris (No. 25)
Skip Manning* (No. 96)
Dick Brooks* (No. 64)
Elmo Langley* (No. 45)
J.D. McDuffie* (No. 70)
Henley Gray* (No. 19)
Richard Childress* (No. 3)
Terry Ryan* (No. 81)
Paul Dean Holt* (No. 39)
Frank Warren* (No. 79)
Dean Dalton* (No. 7)

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Start: Darrell Waltrip was leading the racing grid as the green flag was waved
Lap 3: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip
Lap 19: Dean Dalton managed to blow his vehicle's engine
Lap 30: Frank Warren managed to blow his vehicle's engine
Lap 47: Paul Dean Holt managed to overheat his vehicle
Lap 86: Terry Ryan managed to blow his vehicle's engine
Lap 108: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Benny Parsons
Lap 133: Richard Childress managed to blow his vehicle's engine
Lap 154: Henley Gray managed to overheat his vehicle
Lap 176: J.D. McDuffie managed to blow his vehicle's engine
Lap 182: Elmo Langley managed to blow his vehicle's engine
Lap 269: The ignition on Dick Brooks' vehicle stopped working properly
Lap 313: The rear end of Skip Manning's vehicle came off in a manner that was unsafe for further racing
Lap 383: Benny Parsons took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
Finish: Benny Parsons was officially declared the winner of the event

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points^[2]	Differential
1	Cale Yarborough	1905	0
2	Richard Petty	1713	-192
3	Benny Parsons	1677	-228
4	Darrell Waltrip	1672	-223
5	Dave Marcis	1460	-445
6	Buddy Baker	1452	-453
7	Cecil Gordon	1341	-564
8	Richard Childress	1321	-584
9	James Hylton	1286	-619
10	Dick Brooks	1284	-621

References

^ "1977 Music City USA 420 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results (second reference)". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
^ "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
^ "Additional information about the 1977 Music City USA 420". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-11. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

Preceded by 1977 Winston 500	NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1977	Succeeded by 1977 Mason-Dixon 500

Preceded by 1976	Music City USA races 1977	Succeeded by 1978

[race_weather-1] "1977 Music City USA 420 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

[racingreference-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results (second reference)". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-28.

[3] "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

[4] "Additional information about the 1977 Music City USA 420". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-11. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

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