1977 Music City USA 420

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

1977 Music City USA 420
Race details[1][2]
Race 11 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date May 7, 1977 (1977-May-07)
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 of 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed 87.490 miles per hour (140.802 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 398
Winner
No. 72 Benny Parsons DeWitt Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

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.

Race report

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]

Ricky Rudd made his fourth 4th career top-10 finish at this race.[3]

Twenty thousand people attended this race that had a total prize purse of $56,350 ($237,746.87 in current US dollars).[2] The winner would leave the event earning an incredible $9,565 ($40,355.79 in current US dollars) while the last-place finisher would walk away with a meager $255 in cash earnings ($1,075.87 in current US dollars).[4]

Other notable names among the drivers included Ricky Rudd, Coo Coo Marlin, Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, and Richard Childress.[2] Notable crew chiefs included Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, and Dale Inman.[5]

Paul Dean Holt would retire from NASCAR after this race after competing in 85 races while Ralph Jones would make his introduction into NASCAR racing during this race.[6]

Qualifying
Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer
1 88Darrell WaltripChevrolet
2 72Benny ParsonsChevrolet
3 11Cale YarboroughChevrolet
4 43Richard PettyDodge
5 12Bobby AllisonAMC Matador
6 2Dave MarcisChevrolet
7 15Buddy BakerFord
8 52Jimmy MeansChevrolet
9 92Skip ManningChevrolet
10 3Richard ChildressChevrolet
11 70J.D. McDuffieChevrolet
12 22Ricky RuddChevrolet
13 81Terry RyanChevrolet
14 67Buddy ArringtonDodge
15 14Coo Coo MarlinChevrolet

Finishing order

Section reference:[2]

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

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference:[2]

  • 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 fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 30: Frank Warren fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 47: Paul Dean Holt managed to overheat his vehicle.
  • Lap 86: Terry Ryan fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 108: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
  • Lap 133: Richard Childress fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 154: Henley Gray managed to overheat his vehicle.
  • Lap 176: J.D. McDuffie fell out with engine failure.
  • Lap 182: Elmo Langley fell out with engine failure.
  • 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
  1. "1977 Music City USA 420 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  2. "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results (second reference)". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  3. "Driver Ricky Rudd Career Statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  4. "1977 Music City USA 420 racing results". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  5. "1977 Music City USA 420 crew chiefs". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
  6. "Additional information about the 1977 Music City USA 420". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
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
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