| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 13 of 30 in the1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway | |||
| Date | May 29, 1977 (1977-05-29) | ||
| Official name | World 600 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway,Concord,North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.500 miles (2.414 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching of 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds of 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 137.676 miles per hour (221.568 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 115,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 311 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier | ||
The1977 World 600, the 18th running of theevent, was aNASCARWinston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 29, 1977, atCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord, North Carolina.
Jim Stacy would become the owner of Krauskopf's NASCAR team after this event; with the famed red #71 Dodge getting repainted into the white #5. Neil Bonnett would stay on the team as driver.
The mega-hit movieStar Wars was released four days before this race.
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | David Pearson | Mercury |
| 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | Dodge |
| 3 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 88 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet |
| 5 | 1 | Donnie Allison | Chevrolet |
| 6 | 15 | Buddy Baker | Ford |
| 7 | 72 | Benny Parsons | Chevrolet |
| 8 | 27 | Sam Sommers | Chevrolet |
| 9 | 92 | Skip Manning | Chevrolet |
| 10 | 36 | Ron Hutcherson | Chevrolet |
| 11 | 12 | Bobby Allison | AMC Matador |
| 12 | 49 | G.C. Spencer | Dodge |
| 13 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | Chevrolet |
| 14 | 71 | Neil Bonnett | Dodge |
| 15 | 54 | Lennie Pond | Chevrolet |
Forty drivers competed includingBenny Parsons,Lennie Pond,Buddy Baker,Darrell Waltrip, andNeil Bonnett. After four hours and twenty-one minutes of racing,Richard Petty defeated polesitterDavid Pearson by 30.8 seconds in front of 115,000 people. There were 25 lead changes in this race and six cautions for 31 laps. The qualifying top speed was 161.435 miles per hour (259.804 km/h), the race average speed was 136.676 miles per hour (219.959 km/h). Last-place finisherRamo Stott hadengine trouble on lap 3 of the 400-lap race.[2]
Drivers who failed to qualify for this race wereRick Newsom andBruce Jacobi.[2]
Dean Dalton was driving Henley Gray's car when it crashed on lap 64.[2] It looked a lot like Dean Dalton's car with a #19 painted on.
Bobby Allison relieved Benny Parsons for the latter part of the race.
Ricky Rudd would lead the first laps of his NASCAR Cup Series career during this race.Nord Krauskopf would retire as a NASCAR owner after this race;[3] he would sell his team toJim Stacy and focus running on his insurance business (K&K Insurance) with his wife Theodora.
Pearson's next pole position start would be at the1977 running of theNational 500 (now Bank of America 500); which took place that October.[4]
Notable crew chiefs in the race wereTex Powell,Buddy Parrott,Jake Elder,Harry Hyde,Joey Arrington,Kirk Shelmerdine,Dale Inman,Tim Brewer, andTravis Carter.[5]
Section reference:[2]
| Pos | Driver | Points | Differential |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cale Yarborough | 2176 | 0 |
| 2 | Richard Petty | 2068 | -108 |
3 | Benny Parsons | 2002 | -174 |
4 | Darrell Waltrip | 1987 | -189 |
| 5 | Buddy Baker | 1745 | -431 |
| 6 | Dick Brooks | 1581 | -595 |
| 7 | Cecil Gordon | 1565 | -611 |
| 8 | Richard Childress | 1542 | -634 |
| 9 | Dave Marcis | 1520 | -656 |
| 10 | James Hylton | 1429 | -747 |
| Preceded by | NASCAR Winston Cup Season 1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960–1984 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World 600 races 1977 | Succeeded by |