| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 26 of 31 in the1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1996 Hanes 500 program cover, featuringDale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | September 22, 1996 | ||
| Official name | 48th Annual Hanes 500 | ||
| Location | Ridgeway, Virginia,Martinsville Speedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.526 miles (0.847 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 82.223 miles per hour (132.325 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Petty Enterprises | ||
| Time | 20.119 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bobby Hamilton | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 331 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins,Ned Jarrett,Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The1996 Hanes 500 was the 26thstock car race of the1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 48th iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, September 22, 1996, inMartinsville, Virginia atMartinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In a one-lap shootout to the finish,Hendrick Motorsports driverJeff Gordon would manage to defend the field to take his 18th careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his ninth victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three,Hendrick Motorsports driverTerry Labonte andPetty Enterprises driverBobby Hamilton would finish second and third, respectively.
Martinsville Speedway is aNASCAR-owned stock car racing track located inHenry County, inRidgeway, Virginia, just to the south ofMartinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in theNASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first pavedoval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 byH. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 20, at 3:00 PMEST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, September 21, at 12:30 PMEST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-32 would be decided on time,[3] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points.
Bobby Hamilton, driving forPetty Enterprises, would win the pole, setting a time of 20.119 and an average speed of 94.120 miles per hour (151.471 km/h).[4]
Six drivers would fail to qualify:Derrike Cope,Brett Bodine,Chad Little,Ward Burton,Billy Standridge, andGary Bradberry.
| Previous race: 1996 MBNA 500 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1996 season | Next race: 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 |