Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400

The Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place in November at the North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 2003. It was the first NASCAR Cup Series victory for three drivers including Mark Martin in 1989, Ward Burton in 1995, and Johnny Benson in 2002. It was the final race win for Bill Elliott in 2003.

Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400

NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Venue	North Carolina Speedway
Location	Rockingham, North Carolina, United States
Corporate sponsor	Pop Secret
First race	1965
Last race	2003
Distance	399.681 miles (643.224 km)
Laps	393
Previous names	American 500 (1965–1981) Walter W. Hodgdon American 500 (1982–1984) Nationwise 500 (1985–1986) AC Delco 500 (1987–1994) AC Delco 400 (1995–1998) Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 (1999–2003)
Most wins (driver)	Richard Petty Cale Yarborough (4)
Most wins (team)	Junior Johnson & Associates (8)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Ford (12)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	1.017 mi (1.637 km)
Turns	4

This race, typically run as the penultimate race of the NASCAR season, was dropped from the schedule after the 2003 season. The Pop Secret sponsorship was moved over to the newly acquired Labor Day date at Auto Club Speedway, while the late season date was originally taken over by the Southern 500 at Darlington and later the fall race at Texas, which was moved to Spring in 2024 after the track dropped its original spring race in 2021.

Past winners

Year	Date	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)	Report	Ref
						Laps	Miles (km)
1965	October 31	41	Curtis Turner	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	500	500 (804.672)	4:54:17	101.942	Report	[1]
1966	October 30	28	Fred Lorenzen	Holman-Moody	Ford	500	500 (804.672)	4:47:30	104.348	Report	[2]
1967	October 29	11	Bobby Allison	Holman-Moody	Ford	500	500 (804.672)	5:04:49	98.42	Report	[3]
1968	October 27	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Plymouth	500	500 (804.672)	4:45:33	105.06	Report	[4]
1969	October 26	98	LeeRoy Yarbrough	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:28:12	111.938	Report	[5]
1970	November 15	21	Cale Yarborough	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:14:24	117.811	Report	[6]
1971	October 24	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Plymouth	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:24:43	113.405	Report	[7]
1972	October 22	12	Bobby Allison	Richard Howard	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:13:49	118.275	Report	[8]
1973	October 21	21	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:14:57	117.749	Report	[9]
1974	October 20	21	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:13:21	118.493	Report	[10]
1975	October 19	11	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:09:54	120.129	Report	[11]
1976	October 24	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:15:01	117.718	Report	[12]
1977	October 23	1	Donnie Allison	Ellington Racing	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:24:18	113.584	Report	[13]
1978	October 22	11	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates	Oldsmobile	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:15:58	117.288	Report	[14]
1979	October 21	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:37:04	108.356	Report	[15]
1980	October 19	11	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:22:59	114.159	Report	[16]
1981	November 1	11	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson & Associates	Buick	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:39:32	107.399	Report	[17]
1982	October 31	11	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson & Associates	Buick	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:20:47	115.122	Report	[18]
1983	October 30	44	Terry Labonte	Billy Hagan	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:11:36	119.324	Report	[19]
1984	October 21	9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:26:35	112.617	Report	[20]
1985	October 20	11	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson & Associates	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:13:40	118.344	Report	[21]
1986	October 19	12	Neil Bonnett	Junior Johnson & Associates	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	3:57:33	126.381	Report	[22]
1987	October 25	9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:13:52	118.258	Report	[23]
1988	October 23	27	Rusty Wallace	Blue Max Racing	Pontiac	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:29:07	111.557	Report	[24]
1989	October 22	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:23:10	114.079	Report	[25]
1990	October 21	7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	492	500.364 (805.257)	3:57:25	126.452	Report	[26]
1991	October 20	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	492	500.364 (805.257)	3:55:51	127.292	Report	[27]
1992	October 25	42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	492	500.364 (805.257)	3:49:37	130.748	Report	[28]
1993	October 24	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing	Pontiac	492	500.364 (805.257)	4:23:16	114.036	Report	[29]
1994	October 23	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	492	500.364 (805.257)	3:57:30	126.408	Report	[30]
1995	October 22	22	Ward Burton	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:28:56	114.778	Report	[31]
1996	October 20	10	Ricky Rudd	Rudd Performance Motorsports	Ford	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:16:03	122.32	Report	[32]
1997	October 27	43	Bobby Hamilton	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:17:00	121.73	Report	[33]
1998	November 1	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:06:44	128.423	Report	[34]
1999	October 24	99	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:02:55	131.103	Report	[35]
2000	October 22	88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:37:11	110.418	Report	[36]
2001	November 4	33	Joe Nemechek	Andy Petree Racing	Chevrolet	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:05:59	128.941	Report	[37]
2002	November 3	10	Johnny Benson Jr.	MB2 Motorsports	Pontiac	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:06:35	128.526	Report	[38]
2003	November 9	9	Bill Elliott	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	393	399.681 (643.224)	3:34:44	111.677	Report	[39]

Multiple winners (drivers)

Alan Kulwicki's 1990 winner trophy

# Wins	Driver	Years Won
4	Richard Petty	1968, 1971, 1976, 1979
	Cale Yarborough	1970, 1975, 1978, 1980
3	Darrell Waltrip	1981–1982, 1985
	Bill Elliott	1984, 1987, 2003
2	Bobby Allison	1967, 1972
	David Pearson	1973–1974
	Rusty Wallace	1988, 1993

Multiple winners (manufacturers)

# Wins	Manufacturer	Years Won
12	Ford	1965–1967, 1969, 1984, 1987, 1989–1991, 1996, 1999–2000
11	Chevrolet	1972, 1975, 1977, 1979–1980, 1983, 1985–1986, 1994, 1998, 2001
6	Pontiac	1988, 1992–1993, 1995, 1997, 2002
3	Mercury	1970, 1973–1974
2	Plymouth	1968, 1971
	Buick	1981–1982
	Dodge	1976, 2003

Notable races

• 1965: Curtis Turner posted his final Grand National win, driving the Wood Brothers Racing #41 following his reinstatement to NASCAR.
• 1967: Bobby Allison posted his first Rockingham win. Formula One legend Jim Clark made his only NASCAR start in this race.
• 1968: Richard Petty outlasted Cale Yarborough and Bobby Isaac for his only win of the season on a track bigger than a short track.
• 1972: Bobby Allison battled Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Buddy Baker, ultimately leading 217 laps for his tenth win of 1972 and final win with the Richard Howard team led by Junior Johnson.
• 1973: Pearson posted his eleventh win of the 1973 season while Benny Parsons won the season championship despite severe damage in an early crash.
• 1976: Richard Petty defeated Lennie Pond for the win, despite several green-flag pitstops — Petty won despite 125 total seconds in the pits to Pond's 54 seconds.
• 1977: Donnie Allison outclassed the field for his second win of the season.
• 1979: Darrell Waltrip, entering the race with the Winston Cup point lead, finished a distant sixth as Petty grabbed the win and the point lead.
• 1980: Multiple crashes thinned the field as Cale Yarborough took the win in a close points race with sophomore Dale Earnhardt. The race lead changed 35 times.
• 1981: Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison, locked in a bitter point battle, finished 1–2; the lead changed 33 times in total and five times over the final 32 laps between Waltrip and Allison.
• 1982: Allison spun out of the pits on his final pitstop and Waltrip seized the win.
• 1983: Terry Labonte broke out of a duel with Tim Richmond for the win, his first in three years.
• 1984: Bill Elliott edged Harry Gant in a photo finish after Gant seized the lead with two to go.
• 1992: In the final race Richard Petty would compete in at the Petty's native North Carolina; son Kyle, in the hunt for the 1992 championship, dominated the race, leading all but 8 laps en route to the younger Petty collecting his 2nd victory of the season; which was the only time Kyle Petty won more than one race in a season.
• 1994: In addition to winning the race, Dale Earnhardt clinched his 7th title at the Rock.
• 1995: Ward Burton won his first race at the Rock after a late season change to Bill Davis Racing.
• 2001: Joe Nemechek gave Andy Petree Racing their last win in NASCAR by leading the most laps.
• 2002: Johnny Benson finally clinched the win at the Rock for his first win over a hard-charging Mark Martin.
• 2003: Bill Elliott's victory in this race was the last win of his career.