1977 Champion Spark Plug 400

The 1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 22, 1977, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

1977 Champion Spark Plug 400

Race details[1]
Race 20 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1977 Champion Spark Plug 400 program cover
Date	August 22, 1977 (1977-08-22)
Official name	Champion Spark Plug 400
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2.000 miles (3.218 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Mild with temperatures of 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed	137.944 miles per hour (221.999 km/h)
Attendance	35,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps	120
Winner
No. 88	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.^[3] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees.^[3] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.^[3]

Race report

There were 36 drivers on the racing grid; all of them were born in the United States. While Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip would duel for the lead during the opening laps of this racing event, Waltrip would battle against Benny Parsons for supremacy during the closing laps. Waltrip defeated David Pearson by two car lengths in front of an audience of 35,000.^[2] Waltrip's crew chief for this race was Buddy Parrott.^[4]

Janet Guthrie was the only female in this race; scoring the first of 5 career top-10 finishes and proving that women could perform well in races instead of just being the wife of a race car driver.^[2] Earle Canavan would finish last due to an engine issue on the first lap. Most of the DNFs in this race would be due to engine issues. The lowest finishing driver running at the end was Dave Marcis. Only six drivers would end the race on the lead lap; with Yarborough being the lowest driver on the lead lap.^[2] After this race, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty would be within 50 points of each other; both gunning for a championship.^[2]

Sam Sommers was in the running for Rookie of the Year in 1977. He actually got a pole that year and some decent finishes. For reasons unknown after 1977, he only made two more starts in NASCAR in 1978, and completely disappeared.

The purse for this race was $108,825 ($564,683 when adjusted for inflation); Waltrip brought home $16,820 ($87,277 when adjusted for inflation) while Canavan earned $600 ($3,113 when adjusted for inflation).^[5] Terry Ryan would retire from NASCAR Cup Series racing after this event, finishing in 9th place.^[6]

Qualifying

Grid[2]	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Owner
1	21	David Pearson	Mercury	Wood Brothers
2	11	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	Junior Johnson
3	88	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	DiGard Racing
4	72	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet	L.G. DeWitt
5	15	Buddy Baker	Ford	Bud Moore
6	43	Richard Petty	Dodge	Petty Enterprises
7	27	Sam Sommers	Chevrolet	M.C. Anderson
8	2	Dave Marcis	Chevrolet	Roger Penske
9	92	Skip Manning	Chevrolet	Billy Hagan
10	22	Ricky Rudd	Chevrolet	Al Rudd
11	47	Bruce Hill	Chevrolet	Bruce Hill
12	81	Terry Ryan	Chevrolet	Bill Monaghan
13	90	Dick Brooks	Ford	Junie Donlavey
14	67	Buddy Arrington	Dodge	Buddy Arrington
15	68	Janet Guthrie	Chevrolet	Lynda Ferreri
16	75	Butch Hartman	Chevrolet	Butch Hartman
17	12	Bobby Allison	Matador	Bobby Allison
18	9	Bill Elliott	Mercury	George Elliott
19	8	Ed Negre	Dodge	Ed Negre
20	70	J.D. McDuffie	Chevrolet	J.D. McDuffie

Finishing order

POS[7]	ST	#	DRIVER	SPONSOR / OWNER	CAR	LAPS	MONEY	STATUS	LED	PTS
1	3	88	Darrell Waltrip	Gatorade   (DiGard Racing)	Chevrolet	200	16820	running	51	180
2	1	21	David Pearson	Purolator   (Wood Brothers)	Mercury	200	10300	running	4	175
3	4	72	Benny Parsons	1st National City Travelers Checks   (L.G. DeWitt)	Chevrolet	200	9350	running	22	170
4	7	27	Sam Sommers	M.C. Anderson	Chevrolet	200	4900	running	1	165
5	2	11	Cale Yarborough	Holly Farms   (Junior Johnson)	Chevrolet	200	8100	running	120	165
6	13	90	Dick Brooks	Truxmore   (Junie Donlavey)	Ford	200	4750	running	0	150
7	10	22	Ricky Rudd	Al Rudd Auto Parts   (Al Rudd)	Chevrolet	199	2000	running	0	146
8	6	43	Richard Petty	STP   (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	198	5100	running	2	147
9	12	81	Terry Ryan	Valvoline   (Bill Monaghan)	Chevrolet	197	1800	running	0	138
10	15	68	Janet Guthrie	Kelly Girl   (Lynda Ferreri)	Chevrolet	196	1700	running	0	134
11	27	30	Tighe Scott	Scotty's Fashions   (Walter Ballard)	Chevrolet	196	3950	running	0	130
12	9	92	Skip Manning	1st National City Travelers Checks   (Billy Hagan)	Chevrolet	196	4530	running	0	127
13	11	47	Bruce Hill	Bruce Hill	Chevrolet	196	1250	running	0
14	14	67	Buddy Arrington	Mistec Transmission   (Buddy Arrington)	Dodge	195	3095	running	0	121
15	32	74	Bobby Wawak	Bobby Wawak	Chevrolet	195	1080	running	0
16	24	48	James Hylton	Hylton Engineering   (James Hylton)	Chevrolet	192	2810	running	0	115
17	31	52	Jimmy Means	WIXC   (Bill Gray)	Chevrolet	192	2165	running	0	112
18	26	40	D.K. Ulrich	J.R. DeLotto	Chevrolet	189	2480	running	0	109
19	23	24	Cecil Gordon	Transmissions Unlimited   (Cecil Gordon)	Chevrolet	189	2195	running	0	106
20	20	70	J.D. McDuffie	Bailey Excavating   (J.D. McDuffie)	Chevrolet	186	1960	running	0	103
21	29	25	Dean Dalton	Don Robertson	Chevrolet	179	1775	running	0	100
22	8	2	Dave Marcis	CAM 2   (Roger Penske)	Chevrolet	154	1350	running	0
23	25	79	Frank Warren	Native Tan   (Frank Warren)	Dodge	141	1465	engine	0	94
24	28	61	Joe Mihalic	Joe Mihalic	Chevrolet	134	800	wheel	0	91
25	16	75	Butch Hartman	Hartman Autocar   (Butch Hartman)	Chevrolet	125	775	engine	0	88
26	17	12	Bobby Allison	1st National City Travelers Checks   (Bobby Allison)	Matador	117	880	engine	0	85
27	35	63	Jocko Maggiacomo	1st National City Travelers Checks   (Jocko Maggiacomo)	Matador	114	725	engine	0
28	33	91	Harold Miller	Bartow Paving   (Harold Miller)	Chevrolet	85	700	driveshaft	0
29	18	9	Bill Elliott	Dahlonega Ford Sales   (George Elliott)	Mercury	76	685	engine	0
30	5	15	Buddy Baker	Norris Industries   (Bud Moore)	Ford	68	3865	engine	0	73
31	19	8	Ed Negre	Ed Negre	Dodge	61	1270	engine	0	70
32	30	64	Tommy Gale	Sunny King Ford & Honda   (Elmo Langley)	Ford	53	1240	running	0	67
33	21	3	Richard Childress	Kansas Jack   (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	41	1130	engine	0	64
34	36	45	Baxter Price	Baxter Price	Chevrolet	5	620	engine	0	61
35	22	42	Elmo Langley	Marty Robbins	Dodge	1	610	engine	0	58
36	34	01	Earle Canavan	Benihana   (Earle Canavan)	Dodge	1	600	engine	0

Timeline

Section reference:^[2]

• Lap 1: Cale Yarborough was officially leading the race as the green flag was waved.
• Lap 5: Baxter Price fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 41: Richard Childress fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 61: Ed Negre fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 68: Buddy Baker fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 76: Bill Elliott fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 85: Harold Miller's vehicle suffered from a problematic driveshaft.
• Lap 114: Jocko Maggiacomo fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 117: Bobby Allison fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 125: Butch Hartman fell out with engine failure.
• Lap 134: Joey Mihalic's wheel started acting funny.
• Lap 141: Frank Warren fell out with engine failure.
• Finish: Darrell Waltrip was officially declared the winner of the race.

Standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Cale Yarborough	3290	0
2	Richard Petty	3240	-50
3	Benny Parsons	2989	-301
4	Darrell Waltrip	2952	-338
5	Buddy Baker	2656	-634
6	Dick Brooks	2498	-792
7	Cecil Gordon	2357	-933
8	Bobby Allison	2266	-1024
9	James Hylton	2219	-1071
10	Richard Childress	2217	-1073