| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 28 in the1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Layout of Riverside International Raceway (1969-1988 version) | |||
| Date | June 13, 1976 (1976-06-13) | ||
| Official name | Riverside 400 | ||
| Location | Riverside International Raceway,Riverside, California | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.620 miles (4.216 km) | ||
| Distance | 153 laps, 400.9 mi (645.1 km) | ||
| Weather | Very hot with temperatures of 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds of 11.8 miles per hour (19.0 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 106.279 miles per hour (171.039 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers Racing | ||
| Time | 84.639 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Cale Yarborough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 48 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | David Pearson | Wood Brothers Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier Richard Petty | ||
The1976 Riverside 400 was aNASCARWinston Cup Series race that took place on June 13, 1976, atRiverside International Raceway inRiverside, California. The California 150 for sportsman cars was run prior to this race. The winner was Ivan Baldwin followed by Dan Clark and Jim Sanderson.
Most of the vehicles in this event wereChevrolets.[3]Roy Smith was the onlyCanadian competitor out of the 35-driver grid; the rest of them wereAmerican-born.[2]
This was the first Riverside race whose distance was measured in kilometers instead of miles, much shorter than previously but more normal in elapsed time of a typical NASCAR Cup race.
Riverside International Raceway was arace track orroad course inMoreno Valley, California. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989. The original course design proved to be dangerous, and it was partially reconfigured in 1969.
The five drivers that dominated the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season were David Pearson (average finish of 7th place), Cale Yarborough (average finish of 8th place), Richard Petty (average finish of 9th place), Benny Parsons (average finish of 10th place) and Bobby Allison (average finish 12th place).
Pearson's qualifying speed of 114.437 miles per hour (184.168 km/h) would earn him thepole position while the average speed of the actual race was 106.279 miles per hour (171.039 km/h).[2][3] Richard Petty would become proficient on turn 6 throughout the race; despite ending the race outside of the "top five."
Junie Donlavey's #90 Truxmore Ford team and driver Dick Brooks missed this race because they were in France competing in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans the same weekend. The team became the first, and only, Winston Cup team ever to enter the 24-hour classic but Brooks, retired NASCAR racer Dick Hutcherson, and French local Marcel Mignot were sidelined during the first half of the race by a gearbox failure.
Hershel McGriff also missed this race to enter his NASCAR Winston West team at Le Mans partnered with his son Doug McGriff. His Olympia Beer Dodge Charger blew an engine right after the start of the race.
David Pearson managed to defeatBobby Allison by a time of 1.6 seconds in front of 29,500 people. As a result, Pearson would to sweep the Winston Cup series' two visits to Riverside in 1976.[2][3] Pearson won three races and seven poles at Riverside but this was the only time he ever won from the pole on the twisty SoCal road course. The race took two hours and twenty minutes to complete; with the event's only caution flag lasting for a duration of four laps.[2] The victor would take home $15,150 in winnings ($83,715 when adjusted for inflation) while last-place paid a meager $665 ($3,675 when adjusted for inflation).[2][3]Ron Esau would acquire the last-place finish due to aclutch problem on lap 6 out of the 95 that made up the regulation length of the course.[2][3]
Safe driving habits and remarkable efforts with keeping the oil products away from the track helped to keep most of the race under the green flag.
John Dineen andErnie Stierly would make their NASCAR Cup Series debut at this racing event. Final NASCAR appearances byJim Danielson,Bill Polich, andDon Reynolds were also memorable moments from this racing event.[4] Notable crew chiefs on attendance for this race includedRichard Elder,Jake Elder,Dale Inman,Travis Carter,Bud Moore andLen Wood.[5]
A little-known fact was that Darrell Waltrip was listed down as a resident ofDaytona Beach,Florida for the purpose of tracking the starting grid instead of using his hometown ofOwensboro,Kentucky.[6] Arace that Waltrip would end up winning later in his career would have him as listed as a residentFranklin,Tennessee - which is located exactly 127 miles (204 km) to the south of Owensboro.
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Speed[7] | Qualifying time[7] | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | Richard Petty | Dodge | 111.437 | 1:24.639 | Wood Brothers |
| 2 | 21 | David Pearson | Mercury | 110.095 | 1:25.671 | Roger Penske |
| 3 | 2 | Bobby Allison | Mercury | 109.895 | 1:25.827 | L.G. DeWitt |
| 4 | 15 | Buddy Baker | Ford | 109.575 | 1:26.078 | Bud Moore |
| 5 | 38 | Jimmy Insolo | Chevrolet | 109.037 | 1:26.502 | Roger Paquette |
| 6 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Chevrolet | 108.814 | 1:26.680 | Junior Johnson |
| 7 | 43 | Richard Petty | Dodge | 108.506 | 1:26.926 | Petty Enterprises |
| 8 | 50 | Rusty Sanders | Chevrolet | 108.206 | 1:27.197 | Michael Brockman |
| 9 | 96 | Ray Elder | Dodge | 108.099 | 1:26.253 | Fred Elder |
| 10 | 88 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet | 107.995 | 1:27.337 | DiGard |
Section reference:[2]
Section reference:[2]
| Pos | Driver | Points[2] | Differential |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Benny Parsons | 2161 | 0 |
| 2 | Cale Yarborough | 2138 | -23 |
| 3 | Richard Petty | 2036 | -125 |
| 4 | Bobby Allison | 1991 | -170 |
5 | Dave Marcis | 1827 | -334 |
6 | Lennie Pond | 1818 | -343 |
| 7 | Richard Childress | 1758 | -403 |
| 8 | Darrell Waltrip | 1664 | -497 |
| 9 | Buddy Baker | 1663 | -498 |
| 10 | Frank Warren | 1583 | -578 |
| Preceded by | NASCAR Winston Cup Season 1976 | Succeeded by |