1996 Mountain Dew Southern 500

The 1996 Mountain Dew Southern 500, the 47th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on September 1, 1996 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 367 laps on the 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometre) speedway, it was the 23rd race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.

1996 Mountain Dew Southern 500

Race details
Race 23 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1996 Southern 500 program cover
Date	September 1, 1996 (1996-09-01)
Official name	Mountain Dew Southern 500
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington County, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.366 miles (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.800 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 10.2 miles per hour (16.4 km/h)[1]
Average speed	135.757 miles per hour (218.480 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Hut Stricklin	Stavola Brothers Racing
Laps	143
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons

Top 10 results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
2	8	Hut Stricklin	Stavola Brothers Racing	Ford
3	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford
4	25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
5	37	John Andretti	Kranefuss-Haas Racing	Ford
6	18	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet
7	28	Ernie Irvan	Robert Yates Racing	Ford
8	4	Sterling Marlin	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet
9	94	Bill Elliott	Bill Elliott Racing	Ford
10	9	Lake Speed	Melling Racing	Ford

Race statistics

• Time of race: 3:41:34
• Average speed: 135.757 miles per hour (218.480 km/h)
• Pole speed: 170.934 miles per hour (275.092 km/h)
• Cautions: 6 for 37 laps
• Margin of victory: 5.23 seconds
• Lead changes: 29
• Percent of race run under caution: 10.1%
• Average green flag run: 47.1 laps

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