|| *Comments on the 1976 Daytona 500:* View the most recent comment <#60> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Michael posted: 12.19.2003 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Hands down, the best race I ever watched. I grew up in a Pearson family. I distinctly recall my mother literally jumping up and down screaming at the television as Pearson and Petty came off that final turn. As they crashed, she became hysterical. As they spun into the grass, the English language became a thing beyond her ability to utilize. Then that crumpled white and maroon hood came charging through the smoke and the dust...battered but somehow still mobile. Amid tears of joy from at least one family, David Pearson won the greatest finish of all time. 2. Anonymous posted: 01.13.2004 - 1:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dont forgetThe Top 3 Got DQed In Qualifying 3. HomeDepotKid posted: 01.21.2005 - 11:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Why does the margin of victory read 50 yards, while Petty is scored with completing 199 laps?" He was penalized a lap. At the finish, one that could go down as an ending for the ages, Petty's crew went down and tried to actually PUSH the car. You can't do that. As a result, Petty was penalized a lap for outside assistance. 4. Chicago posted: 01.13.2006 - 12:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ramo Stott? Who's that, one might ask; twice an ARCA champion, he drove superspeedways for the pious Norris Reed, who refused to allow any form of cheating or rules bending on his cars. When Darrell Waltrip and A.J. Foyt were disqualified from front row time trials due to nitrous oxide and Dave Marcis' Harry Hyde wrenched machine was disqualified for taping an aluminum plate over the radiator, it was Stott who was on point for one of the truly "Great American Races". Waltrip would go on to triumph in his qualifying race while Marcis persevered through clutch and shifter trouble, at one point even being thrown a wrench while driving down pit road, to make a late pass for the victory in his "125" miler. And as far as the Pearson and Petty battle at the finish - one of the greatest in all of motorsport history, I think we're allowed to say. 5. Thomas posted: 10.03.2006 - 8:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Theoretically, Richard Petty didn't complete lap 200, so I guess all they did was act as if the car was never restarted after he crashed and stopped in the grass. They didn't actually "penalize" him, per se, because he only completed 199 laps on his own anyway. 6. Canadian Fan posted: 01.03.2007 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o6LC8JDqjM 7. Nascar Man posted: 03.22.2007 - 3:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Hobb's 1st of 2 starts 8. FHgrad99 posted: 08.22.2007 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) One of the most memorable finishes in racing history and David Pearson was doing about 30 mph when he crossed the finish line. 9. SK posted: 12.15.2007 - 10:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Neil Bonnett's first career top-5 (and top-10) finish. 10. Ed Smith posted: 12.19.2007 - 8:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Terry Ryan, who started 2nd and finished 6th ended his career as a union truck driver for Standard Forwarding Co. an outfit out of E. Moline Il. Probably one of the last of those who could come in and run a few races and do well on the big circuit without a large budget. Doesn't talk about it much. You kind of have to pry it out of him. 11. Clayton Caldwell posted: 01.07.2008 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think this made the Daytona 500, what it is today. Sure it was a huge deal to win the race in 1976, but this help form the Race to BIG TIME! Whenever I think of Daytona I think of that Wood Brothers #21 going about 50MPH across the finish line. ESPN just showed a re-run of the race on ESPN Classic and watching the end of that race and the run Pearson got out of 3 and into 4 was unlike anything I ever saw. I was on the edge of my seat and I've seen that finish 20-25 times, but I never watched the race. I never realized how far back Pearson was with 3 to go and how he closed so fast on Richard. Two of the greatest stock car drivers ever, in the biggest race ever, in the best finish ever! It didn't get any better then that! I was in awe, watching that finish. That's when racing was the best! Not the advertising show it is today! No back then Pearson and Petty competed because they loved it! I'll tell ya, I would love to go back to that time as a race fan! 12. Anonymous posted: 07.13.2008 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) In today's world this could never happen. There would be 20 cars within five seconds behind the leaders that wouldn't allow for that duel to be completed. In a way I think it was better when only a handful of drivers were on the lead lap. 13. jr88fan posted: 08.29.2008 - 12:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tighe Scott's first start. 14. Anonymous posted: 08.30.2008 - 12:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First start for Jimmy Means 15. Matt posted: 10.11.2008 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Canadian Earl Ross' final Winston Cup Start 16. Scott posted: 11.22.2008 - 11:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) An interesting point, at least I think so. If neither Petty or David Pearson were able to finish, Benny Parsons would've unlapped himself to win and would've won his 2nd 500 in as many years. 17. jp posted: 02.22.2009 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnny Ray was injured pretty badly in the wreck he had. 18. Anonymous posted: 02.02.2010 - 3:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Hobbs only Daytona 500 start (he covered the Daytona 500 along with Ken Squier from 1979 to 1987) 19. rateus posted: 03.08.2010 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver changes after qualifying races: Tighe Scott replaced Walter Ballard in the 30 Skip Manning replaced Ferrel Harris in the 82 (he qualified the 92) 20. Doc posted: 10.02.2010 - 1:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hobbs also only laps lead. 21. Anonymous posted: 12.04.2010 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Unlisted Sponsors: Terry Bivins - #63 Moyer Chevrolet Jackie Rogers - #60 Viglione Chevrolet Joe Mihalic - #61 Mihalic Racing Chevrolet 22. jessie henry posted: 04.23.2011 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) good daytona 500 23. Walleyewhacker posted: 07.04.2011 - 1:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only Daytona 500 win for Pearson. He did win five 400's in July at Daytona though. When Petty won the Daytona 500 in February during the 1973 and 1974, Pearson would comeback and win the July race. 24. The Ost posted: 12.13.2011 - 2:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Neil Bonnett started 13th, not 31st. 25. Schroeder51 posted: 07.12.2012 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQs: #39 Blackie Wangerin, #77 Bill Champion, #5 Doc Faustina, #69 Bill Polich, #37 Bruce Jacobi, #04 Gary Myers, #35 Darel Dieringer, #91 Harold Miller, #01 Earle Canavan, #55 John Banks, #82 Ferrel Harris, #41 Grant Adcox, #99 Jim Fleming, #49 John Utsman, #25 Jabe Thomas, #64 Tommy Gale, #22 Ricky Rudd, #46 Travis Tiller, #45 Baxter Price, #50 Darrell Bryant, #6 Elliott Forbes-Robinson, #19 Bob Burcham, #32 Dave Decker, #34 Bill Siefert, #66 Terry Link. 26. Jim posted: 12.31.2012 - 11:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Salt Walthers best Cup finish 27. RaceFanX posted: 02.14.2013 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ sponsors (and owners): #39 Blackie Wangerin- (owned by Blackie Wangerin) #64 Tommy Gale- Stamey's Bar-B-Q #22 Ricky Rudd- Al Rudd Auto Parts #46 Travis Tiller- Little B Coal (owned by Travis Tiller) #45 Baxter Price- (owned by Baxter Price) #50 Darrell Bryant- Hot Rod Barns #6 Elliott Forbes-Robinson- Howard Furniture #19 Bob Burcham- Belden Asphalt #41 Grant Adcox- Adcox-Kirby #5 Doc Faustina- (owned by Doc Faustina) #91 Harold Miller- (owned by Harold Miller) #01 Earle Canavan- (owned by Earle Canavan) #55 John Banks- Banks Alignment #82 Ferrel Harris- Rossmeyer (owned by Ferrel Harris) 28. Red Byron posted: 07.01.2013 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes I was really there.....sat in the leech grandstand down towards turn one.....had to stand in line at 3 in the morning to gt the tickets!!!! 29. Red Byron posted: 07.01.2013 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Meant the Keech grandstand 30. Jeff Wagoner (ARCA Results Archive) posted: 03.06.2014 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cautions: #1 Lap 11-16, David Sisco, blown engine #2 Lap 35-39, Earl Ross, blown engine #3 Lap 62-65 Tighe Scott, blown engine #4 Lap 68-71 Hobbs hit wall #5 Lap 85-90 Baker blown engine, Stott, Manning, Ray accident, Turn 2 #6 Lap 175-178 Bivins crash Race report lists seven cautions, I'm guessing the wreck at the finish brought out the yellow? 31. ScoRich223 posted: 12.13.2014 - 1:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone know who the car was Pearson hit after he and Petty crashed? If you watch the film, he just barely hits the side of a 3rd car, I'm pretty sure its the car they lap on the last lap, but I can't for the life of me tell who it is! 32. Terry Maynard posted: 12.18.2014 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ScoRich223 - The other car that ended up being involved was the Chevrolet of Joe Frasson 33. mkl62 posted: 01.11.2015 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One of the wildest finishes ever in a NASCAR race. As for A.J. Foyt, I read where he assaulted one the officials that dq'd him. PROVE IT!, he told him. To me, this set the stage for 1979. And a word of advice: You don't piss on the Pettys and tell them it's raining....unless you're David Pearson. 34. Jim posted: 02.04.2015 - 10:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) An all Iowa front row. 35. bbigjohnson posted: 10.27.2015 - 4:28 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) After Petty's stellar 1975 campaign, I anxiously awaited the 1976 season. I was at Riverside for the "Winston Western 500" I was 12 years old. The first NASCAR race I ever went to. Pearson dominated in the 5 hour marathon. Although the Daytona 500 was broadcast on ABC pretty much in it's entirety, it was tape delayed several hours. I followed live on MRN with Ken Squier as the lead announcer. The last quarter of the race was Pearson and Petty trading the lead. It looked like Pearson's race because Petty was going to need a pit stop. It was probably going to be under green (as there had been no cautions since lap 85-90) and that would put him way behind. Petty waited as long as he could and as luck would have it Terry Bivens spun and the yellow came out. Both drivers pitted. As I listened to the last 20 laps, I could not sit still. They restarted on lap 179 and incredibly by lap 188, Petty seemingly out of it a few laps ago, had the lead. Not only that, in the final 2 laps he was pulling away! That was part of the sly Pearson's plan however. In a repeat of 1974 Firecracker 400 and the 1975 125 Qualifier, he reeled Petty in on the back stretch and went by him. Undaunted, Petty moved below him in turns 3 and 4 retaking the lead and seemed to have cleared Pearson as the cars exited turn 4. Petty went to move over in front to cut off Pearson but wasn't clear. I remember Ken Squier going crazy and I could not believe what I was hearing with the two leaders spinning and hitting the wall. It sounded like Petty was going to win; he was so close. Just get it going and drive 100 feet across the stripe. But he could fire the car. When he called Pearson as the winner I was crushed. Anticipation does not describe waiting for the tv to catch up and show the ending an hour or more later. Even though I heard it I could not believe this race could end like THAT. But it did. I still have the sports pages from the newspapers the next day. What was lost that day was made up for 3 years later. 36. Schroeder51 posted: 12.17.2015 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: Ferrel Harris-#82 Rossmeyer Dodge (Owned by Ferrel Harris) He competed in the qualifying races and raced his way into the 500, but was replaced in the race by Skip Manning. 37. cjs3872 posted: 02.20.2016 - 12:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @30, I don't think Buddy Baker's (and Darrell Waltrip's virtually simultaneous) engine problem had anything to do with what happened with the big wreck between Ramo Stott, John Ray, and Skip Manning, which wasn't until lap 118. what happened to cause that wreck was that Stott blew an engine and spun in his own oil and crashed. Behind Stott, Ray also spun in the oil and was T-boned by Skip Manning, who was subbing for Ferrell Harris. That was the race's sixth caution period, though nobody seems to know what laps were run under that caution, but it was a lengthy one (probably about 10 laps, due to the extracation that had to be done because of Ray's injuries). Caution #7, the one that set up the wild finish, was for Terry Bivins' spin exiting turn two. 38. KW posted: 03.02.2016 - 12:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The stock car portion of Speedweeks kicked off with the ARCA 200 which was won by Lennie Pond followed by Woody Fisher, Ferrell Harris, Dave Decker and Delmar Clark. Strangely enough both of the drivers that were on the front row for the Daytona 500 also participated in the ARCA race, Terry Ryan finished 14th and Ramo Stott was 23rd. Next up was the Permatex 200 for the Nascar modifieds on the road course. Bobby Allison won in AMC Hornet bodied car with a Chevy Engine. Merv Treichler was second followed by Gene Felton, John Bryant and Buzzie Reutimann. Geoff Bodine was 9th, Ray Hendrick 21st, Richie Evans, Ron Bouchard and Jerry Cook were 33-34-35, and Joe Ruttman was 49th. Then there was the Permatex 300 for sportsman cars, won by Joe Millikan in a Dodge Charger, Ray Hendrick was second followed by L.D. Ottenger, Darrell Waltrip and Johnny Allen. Dale Earnhardt was 13th, Lennie Pond was 26th, Jack Ingram was 27th, Richie Evans was 29th, an Harry Gant was 38th. 39. Bullet posted: 08.11.2016 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Way to go Silver Fox 40. Anonymous posted: 03.26.2017 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just listened to this race broadcast from the MRN archives and it turns out that it's a much more interesting race throughout than what I remembered. ABC was on live for the start and the first few minutes before going to another event. The network would have brief status reports of the race throughout the day before returning for the last 90 minutes or so. With typical ABC luck , most of the really close racing had evaporated by the time the cameras came on for good. Almost forgotten was that Benny Parsons had put himself in an excellent position to win a second straight 500 win before his engine began to ail near the end. Incredibly, he still nearly pulled it off save for Pearson's incredible effort. 41. 1995z71 posted: 07.11.2017 - 6:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Petty scored as a DNF in 2nd place, thats gotta be a record. 42. STATMAN posted: 07.11.2017 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is as no official race winner has ever been scored as a DNF. However this was not only instance of someone being scored as a DNF in 2nd position. Petty also was scored as a DNF in 2nd place in a race at Bristol in 1964. Other than that, it would occur sporadically in the 1950's and 60's. 43. 23andJoe posted: 07.11.2017 - 9:28 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) It's noteworthy that there /is/ (well, since NASCAR has this bee in their bonnet about "the winner the fans see is final", not in one of their races, but...) a way for a winner to be a DNF, that actually happened in a Bay Area Modified series (IMCA type dirt mods) race a few years back: there was heavy attrition, and only five cars were running at the finish... ...and all five were thrown out of the tech shed. The first legal car was the one that had been originally scored in 6th, who had fallen out of the race with a few laps remaining. And suddenly he found himself the winner. 44. RaceFanX posted: 11.05.2017 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry Ryan's great runner-up qualifying performance made him the first rookie to start on the front row of the Daytona 500. This was his first Cup race and he turned in a great run without a large effort behind him. 45. oldgrandnational posted: 05.30.2018 - 12:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Best race ever. Best rivalry in racing, Petty and Pearson. Great rivalry in sponsors, STP Oil Filter and Purolator Oil Filter. This race was also between two cars no longer involved in NASCAR: Dodge and Mercury. Is there some hidden message in that last thought somewhere? This also featured the two oldest teams in NASCAR, Petty Enterprises and the Wood Brothers. This race had all the drama you could ask for! 46. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.02.2018 - 2:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) First Daytona 500 starts for Neil Bonnett, Terry Ryan, Salt Walther, D. K. Ulrich, Roy Smith, Jimmy Lee Capps, Skip Manning, Tighe Scott, Dick May, and Jimmy Means. Only Daytona 500 starts for Terry Bivins, Johnny Ray, Dr. Dick Skillen, David Hobbs, and Tom Williams. Last Daytona 500 starts for Joe Frasson, Jackie Rogers, David Sisco, and Earl Ross. 47. TURN 4 posted: 08.07.2018 - 2:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Next up was the Permatex 200 for the Nascar modifieds on the road course. Bobby Allison won in AMC Hornet bodied car with a Chevy Engine. Merv Treichler was second followed by Gene Felton, John Bryant and Buzzie Reutimann. Geoff Bodine was 9th, Ray Hendrick 21st, Richie Evans, Ron Bouchard and Jerry Cook were 33-34-35, and Joe Ruttman was 49th" I wonder how long the NASCAR modified series ran at Daytona. 48. Spen posted: 08.07.2018 - 7:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1980. They were holding two Friday races along with the DASH race. In '81, they replaced it with the Consolation race for people who missed the show on Thursday. 49. KW posted: 08.07.2018 - 10:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The Saturday race was originally for Modifieds from 1959-1967, although several winners were driving sportsman legal cars, Curtis Turner and Jim Pascal I think. The Sportsman series became the Late Model Sportsman Series in 1968 and went from running 30's coups with smaller engines and fewer modifications than modifieds to being 3+ year old sedans and old cup cars. So the Late Model Sportsman series took over the Saturday Daytona race, which has continued to todays Xfinity Series. In 1969 the Grand Touring series started running the road course as the Friday race of speedweeks filling the gap between the twin qualifiers and the Sportsman race. That continued until the end of the GT/GA series in 1972. I think some kind of SCCA or IMSA series ran Friday in 1973, but I don't remember for sure. After that the Modifieds ran the road course 1974-6 Bobby Allison won 74 and 76, Merv Treichler won 1975. They moved to the oval in 1977 as "super-speedway modifieds" which is a whole story in itself. Anyway Harry Gant won 77, Darrell Waltrip 78, and then Richie Evans won 79 and 80. 80 was a combo race with the Grand American series, and that was the last of the mods at Daytona. As pointed out above the Dash series was then the headline Friday race, until the Trucks came along. 50. Jamie Delgado posted: 10.04.2018 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This Is The Best Daytona 500 Finish Ever! 51. RaceFanX posted: 10.04.2018 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Country singer and part-time NASCAR racer Marty Robbins was not entered in this race but still part of the action, he worked as a commentator for its radio broadcast. 52. Tide1732 posted: 11.13.2018 - 1:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Will never forget R.I.P David Pearson (The Silver Fox) 53. RaceFanX posted: 04.10.2020 - 9:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Benny Parsons and David Hobbs were an odd couple pairing throughout Speedweeks at Daytona in 1976. The pair started out racing a Coca-Cola-backed, factory-entered #24 BMW 3.5 CSL in the 24 Hours of Daytona, scoring a top-10, and then raced together as teammates in L.G. DeWitt Chevrolets here in the Daytona 500 for Hobbs' NASCAR debut. Both Hobbs and Parsons would lead the race, Hobbs nabbing the top spot under yellow during pit stops, but while BP finished third behind the chaos at the finish Hobbs wrecked out just past the one-fourth mark. 54. Rob posted: 04.19.2020 - 1:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Interesting that Jimmy Means raced car #5 even though Doc Faustina's car also carried that number. They were in different qualifying races, so there was no conflict there, but I don't know of any other entry list with two cars with the same number. 55. Anonymous posted: 05.09.2020 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Means would have wanted to bring his 92 in Cup but Manning was already driving it as the Hagan ride. This was the lone race of DeWitt #52 driven by Ross, the 2 of 52 on Means car was removed for this race, you can see its void location on the doors and roof. 56. Seibaru posted: 12.15.2020 - 12:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) WD - Marty Robbins #42 Robbins Racing Dodge Robbins planned on returning to racing in this race but withdrew due to scheduling conflicts. 57. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 12.22.2020 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Caution 1: Lap 11-16: #05 engine Caution 2: Lap 35-39: #52 engine Caution 3: Lap 62-65: #30 engine Caution 4: Lap 68-71: #73 accident turn 2 Caution 5: Lap 85-90: #15 engine Caution 6: Lap 118-123: #10,82,83 accident turn 2 Caution 7: Lap 175-178: #63 accident turn 1 58. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 12.22.2020 - 7:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Green flag runs: Lap 1-10, Lap 17-34, Lap 40-61, Lap 66-67, Lap 72-84, Lap 91-117, Lap 124-174, Lap 179-200 59. Rich posted: 01.01.2021 - 7:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Flemming and Sir Jackie Stewart were the commentators. Chris Economaki was the sole pit road reporter. Flemming was the studio host. 60. TeamDCRfan posted: 02.17.2021 - 7:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Final attempt for 7 time series winner Darel Dieringer. Never made a return after missing this race. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: