1977 Nashville 420

Race details[1][2]
Race 17 of 30 in the1977 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date	July 16, 1977 (1977-07-16)
Official name	Nashville 420
Location	Nashville Speedway,Nashville, Tennessee
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	0.596 miles (0.959 km)
Distance	420 laps, 250.3 mi (402.8 km)
Weather	Hot with temperature approaching 98.1 °F (36.7 °C); wind speeds up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed	78.999 miles per hour (127.137 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Benny Parsons	DeWitt Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports
Laps	300
Winner
No. 88	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The1977 Nashville 420 was aNASCARWinston Cup Series event that took place on July 16, 1977, atNashville Speedway inNashville, Tennessee.

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]}

Four hundred and twenty laps were done on a pavedoval track spanning .596 miles (0.959 km) for a grand total of 250.3 miles (402.8 km).^[2] The race took three hours, ten minutes, and nine seconds to successfully complete.^[2]Darrell Waltrip defeatedBobby Allison by more than one lap^[3] in front of seventeen thousand and five hundred people.^[2] This race was important to Waltrip as this track was considered his "local" Winston Cup Series track at the time. Ten cautions were given for fifty-four laps.^[2] Notable speeds were: 78.999 miles per hour (127.137 km/h) as the average speed^[4] and 104.21 miles per hour (167.71 km/h) as the pole position speed.^[2] Total winnings for this race were $56,175^[4] ($291,486.86 when adjusted for inflation) and the winner walked away with $9,415 of that amount ($48,853.56 when adjusted for inflation).

Waltrip was overcome by the excessiveheat shortly after the race. As a result, he tookoxygen while on top of his vehicle's hood and wasn't lucid enough to give a post-race interview.Ronnie Thomas was supposed to make his debut on this track but got into a wreck and didn't get it fixed in time to qualify. He would make his debut in the1977 running of theOld Dominion 500 (nowTums Fast Relief 500) instead.

Mike Kempton made his official NASCAR debut in this event whileHenley Gray would retire from professional stock car racing as a driver after this event.^[5]

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Section reference:^[2]

• Start: Benny Parsons was leading the racing grid as the green flag was waved in the air.
• Lap 12: Mike Kempton overheated his vehicle, making him the last-place finisher.
• Lap 15: Ignition problems knocked Jimmy Means out of the race.
• Lap 18: Elmo Langley blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
• Lap 30: Richard Childress had a terminal crash.
• Lap 33: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Benny Parsons.
• Lap 37: The rear end of Gary Myers' vehicle came off in an unsafe manner.
• Lap 71: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
• Lap 80: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
• Lap 122: Grant Adcox blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
• Lap 128: The rear end of Sam Sommers' vehicle came off in an unsafe manner.
• Lap 129: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
• Lap 131: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
• Lap 137: Ralph Jones managed to ruin his vehicle's brakes while driving at high speeds.
• Lap 141: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
• Lap 146: David Sisco blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
• Lap 170: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
• Lap 187: Neil Bonnett blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
• Lap 381: Benny Parsons blew his engine while driving at high speeds.
• Finish: Darrell Waltrip was officially declared the winner of the race.

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Cale Yarborough	2795	0
2	Richard Petty	2738	-12
3	Benny Parsons	2538	-257
4	Darrell Waltrip	2500	-295
5	Buddy Baker	2346	-449
6	Dick Brooks	2147	-648
7	Cecil Gordon	2036	-759
8	Richard Childress	1933	-862
9	Bobby Allison	1870	-925
10	James Hylton	1832	-963

• 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• 1977 in sports in Tennessee
• NASCAR races at Fairgrounds Speedway

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