The 1977 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on July 4, 1977, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

1977 Firecracker 400
Race details
Race 16 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1977 Firecracker 400 program cover
1977 Firecracker 400 program cover
Date July 4, 1977 (1977-July-04)
Official name Firecracker 400
Location Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 160 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather Extremely hot with temperatures of 90.9 °F (32.7 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Average speed 142.716 miles per hour (229.679 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Jim Stacy Racing
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 95
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network ABC (tape delay)
Announcers Keith Jackson

For the first time since 1949, three women raced in an official NASCAR Cup Series race: Italian Lella Lombardi, Belgian Christine Beckers, and American Janet Guthrie. Lella Lombardi was the only woman to score points in F1 and NASCAR. Lombardi is actually the only F1 driver ever to have a career total of less than one point. One driver scored one-seventh of a point in one season (for sharing a fastest lap, recorded only down to the second, with six others) but scored 51 more in other years.

Race report

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A racing grid of 41 drivers competed in this race; including Belgian driver Christine Beckers and Italian Lella Lombardi. D.K. Ulrich would finish last due to an engine problem on the fourth lap. Janet Guthrie was the only American-born female driver on the grid. While A. J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip would lead the opening laps of the race, Donnie Allison and Richard Petty would fight it out for supremacy in the crucial final laps.[2]

Lombardi and Beckers were invited by NASCAR with the idea to pit the three women against each other on the track. Lella Lombardi and Christine Beckers raced as teammates in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing just outside the top-10 in their Ford-powered entry, three weeks before this race then raced against each other here.

Richard Petty would go on to defeat Darrell Waltrip by 18 seconds in front of 65,000 people; marking the final win for Richard Petty in his trusty 1974 Dodge Charger. Engine problems knocked most of the drivers out of the race. Neil Bonnett would win the pole position with a qualifying speed of 187.191 miles per hour (301.255 km/h) while the speed of the race was 147.216 miles per hour (236.921 km/h).[2]

There was two-hour rain delay two laps before halfway. There was a storm covering from the tri-oval over the first and second turns for about two hours while the third and fourth turns were in sunshine due to the incessant hot and humid weather of Florida during the summer months.

Most of the vehicles at this event were Dodge or Chevrolet with some Ford vehicles and a single entry by an AMC Matador.[2] Winnings for this race ranged from $19,075 ($95,909 when adjusted for inflation) for the winner to $1,390 for last-place. ($6,989 when adjusted for inflation).[3] Ramo Stott would retire from professional stock car racing after this event.[4]

Qualifying

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Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 5 Neil Bonnett Dodge Jim Stacy
2 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet Junior Johnson
3 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet L.G. DeWitt
4 36 Ron Hutcherson Chevrolet John Gwinn
5 43 Richard Petty Dodge Petty Enterprises
6 51 A.J. Foyt Chevrolet A.J. Foyt
7 27 Sam Sommers Chevrolet M.C. Anderson
8 1 Donnie Allison Chevrolet Hoss Ellington
9 12 Bobby Allison Matador Bobby Allison
10 81 Terry Ryan Chevrolet Bill Monaghan

Results

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POS[5] ST # DRIVER SPONSOR / OWNER CAR LAPS MONEY STATUS LED PTS
1 5 43   Richard Petty STP   (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 160 23075 running 95 185
2 12 88   Darrell Waltrip Gatorade   (DiGard Racing) Chevrolet 160 16350 running 21 175
3 3 72   Benny Parsons 1st National City Travelers Checks   (L.G. DeWitt) Chevrolet 160 12300 running 1 170
4 14 21   David Pearson Purolator   (Wood Brothers) Mercury 160 6900 running 0 160
5 6 51   A.J. Foyt Gilmore   (A.J. Foyt) Chevrolet 160 4700 running 4
6 8 1   Donnie Allison Hawaiian Tropic   (Hoss Ellington) Chevrolet 160 4570 running 12 155
7 32 15   Buddy Baker Norris Industries   (Bud Moore) Ford 160 6670 running 0 146
8 1 5   Neil Bonnett Pocahontas Group   (Jim Stacy) Dodge 158 4020 running 1 147
9 30 90   Dick Brooks Truxmore   (Junie Donlavey) Ford 157 5220 running 0 138
10 7 27   Sam Sommers M.C. Anderson Chevrolet 156 3570 running 0 134
11 26 24   Cecil Gordon Burger King   (Cecil Gordon) Chevrolet 154 4820 running 0 130
12 10 81   Terry Ryan Valvoline   (Bill Monaghan) Chevrolet 154 2370 running 0 127
13 25 14   Coo Coo Marlin Cunningham-Kelley   (H.B. Cunningham) Chevrolet 154 2270 running 0 124
14 34 49   G.C. Spencer Lady & Son Auction   (G.C. Spencer) Dodge 154 2195 running 0 121
15 38 6   Jim Hurtubise Moran Electric   (Ray Emerson) Chevrolet 154 2065 running 0 118
16 21 92   Skip Manning 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Billy Hagan) Chevrolet 153 5195 running 0 115
17 9 12   Bobby Allison 1st National City Travelers Checks   (Bobby Allison) Matador 152 3935 running 13 117
18 15 75   Butch Hartman Hartman Autocar   (Butch Hartman) Chevrolet 152 1765 running 0 109
19 27 3   Richard Childress Black Gold Oil   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 151 3475 running 0 106
20 23 52   Jimmy Means Marianne II   (Bill Gray) Chevrolet 151 2805 running 0 103
21 35 79   Frank Warren Native Tan   (Frank Warren) Dodge 149 2845 running 0 100
22 28 67   Buddy Arrington Pagoda Motel   (Buddy Arrington) Dodge 148 2535 running 0 97
23 2 11   Cale Yarborough Holly Farms   (Junior Johnson) Chevrolet 146 2350 running 13 99
24 22 70   J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie Chevrolet 143 2350 engine 0 91
25 40 45   Baxter Price Baxter Price Chevrolet 142 1165 running 0 88
26 18 41   Grant Adcox Adcox-Kirby   (Herb Adcox) Chevrolet 134 1140 running 0 85
27 13 30   Tighe Scott Scotty's Fashions   (Walter Ballard) Chevrolet 123 2015 engine 0 82
28 33 91   Harold Miller Bartow Paving   (Harold Miller) Chevrolet 118 1140 running 0 79
29 4 36   Ron Hutcherson Encyclopedia Britannica   (John Gwinn) Chevrolet 117 1805 engine 0
30 11 47   Bruce Hill t. edwards   (Bruce Hill) Chevrolet 111 1040 engine 0 73
31 29 05   Lella Lombardi Bearfinder   (Charles Dean) Chevrolet 103 785 rear end 0
32 19 60   Ramo Stott Lou Viglione Chevrolet 81 990 engine 0 67
33 16 54   Lennie Pond U.S. Army   (Ronnie Elder) Chevrolet 57 1595 steering 0 64
34 39 16   David Sisco Bath World   (David Sisco) Chevrolet 56 1560 engine 0 61
35 31 9   Bill Elliott Dahlonega Ford Sales   (George Elliott) Ford 46 915 overheating 0 58
36 17 22   Ricky Rudd Al Rudd Auto Parts   (Al Rudd) Chevrolet 45 910 transmission 0 55
37 37 93   Christine Beckers t. edwards-Genre   (Junie Donlavey) Ford 33 695 brakes 0
38 36 64   Tommy Gale Sunny King Ford & Honda   (Elmo Langley) Ford 33 1500 engine 0 49
39 24 48   James Hylton Kansas Jack   (James Hylton) Chevrolet 24 1470 rear end 0 46
40 20 68   Janet Guthrie Kelly Girl   (Lynda Ferreri) Chevrolet 11 890 engine 0 43
41 41 40   D.K. Ulrich Hair Shack   (J.R. DeLotto) Chevrolet 4 1390 engine 0 40

Standings after the race

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Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1   Cale Yarborough 2630 0
2   Richard Petty 2613 -17
3   Benny Parsons 2426 -206
4   Darrell Waltrip 2315 -315
5   Buddy Baker 2196 -434
6   Dick Brooks 1992 -638
7   Cecil Gordon 1933 -697
8   Richard Childress 1851 -779
9   David Pearson 1809 -821
10   James Hylton 1726 -904

References

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  1. ^ Weather information for the 1977 Firecracker 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e 1977 Firecracker 400 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ^ 1977 Firecracker 400 Archived 2012-06-13 at the Wayback Machine racing information at Driver Averages
  4. ^ 1977 Firecracker 400 racing information at Race Database
  5. ^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
Preceded by Firecracker 400 races
1976
Succeeded by
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1977
Succeeded by
Preceded by Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984
Succeeded by