# 1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400

The 1976 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on June 20, 1976, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

## Background

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. 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. The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.

## Race report

David Pearson defeated Cale Yarborough by three car lengths in front of an audience of 46,000. There were 17 lead changes and three cautions for 20 out of the 200 laps. The race took two hours and fifty minutes. Richard Petty earned the pole position with a speed of 158.569 miles per hour (255.192 km/h), the average speed of the race was 141.148 miles per hour (227.156 km/h). Joe Frasson finished last due to an engine problem on lap 2. All 36 of the drivers on the racing grid were American-born males. The field was dominated by Chevrolet vehicles as opposed to Ford and Mercury vehicles.
Cale Yarborough dominated most of this race, with radio announcer Ken Squier saying it was one of the best runs he'd seen Cale have, but in the closing stages it was David Pearson out front and cruising to a win when a late caution came out for Coo Coo Marlin's blown engine while he was running seventh in the closing laps. Under the yellow the leaders all pitted with Yarborough regaining the lead only for Pearson to pass him on the backstretch after the restart and take the win. Overall it was still a good day for Yarborough as he capitalized on a 74-point swing in the point standings to vault back into the points lead as a result of Benny Parsons' issues. He would eventually become the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion.
Bobby Allison was running second very late when he was black flagged for the Penske team having put tape over parts of the grill of his Cam 2 #2 Mercury. That aerodynamic improvement was illegal at the time but later became commonplace. Allison still recovered to finish third in part due to how few cars were left on the lead lap and the late caution.
The grand total of this race's prize purse was $105,355 ($564,111 when considering inflation).

### Qualifying

| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner |
| 1 | 43 | Richard Petty | Dodge | Petty Enterprises |
| 2 | 2 | Bobby Allison | Mercury | Roger Penske |
| 3 | 15 | Buddy Baker | Ford | Bud Moore |
| 4 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Dodge | Nord Krauskopf |
| 5 | 72 | Benny Parsons | Chevrolet | L.G. DeWitt |
| 6 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Chevrolet | Junior Johnson |
| 7 | 54 | Lennie Pond | Chevrolet | Ronnie Elder |
| 8 | 21 | David Pearson | Mercury | Wood Brothers |
| 9 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Chevrolet | Bill Gray |
| 10 | 88 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet | DiGard Racing |
| 11 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | Chevrolet | Cecil Gordon |
| 12 | 48 | James Hylton | Chevrolet | James Hylton |
| 13 | 90 | Dick Brooks | Ford | Junie Donlavey |
| 14 | 60 | Jackie Rogers | Chevrolet | Lou Viglione |
| 15 | 81 | Terry Ryan | Chevrolet | Bill Monaghan |
| 16 | 05 | David Sisco | Chevrolet | David Sisco |
| 17 | 47 | Bruce Hill | Chevrolet | Bruce Hill |
| 18 | 79 | Frank Warren | Dodge | Frank Warren |
| 19 | 3 | Richard Childress | Chevrolet | Richard Childress |
| 20 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | Chevrolet | H.B. Cunningham |

## Results

| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CAR | LAPS | MONEY | STATUS | LED | PTS |
| 1 | 8 | 21 | David Pearson | Purolator (Wood Brothers) | Mercury | 200 | 15845 | running | 24 | 180 |
| 2 | 6 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Holly Farms (Junior Johnson) | Chevrolet | 200 | 11845 | running | 129 | 180 |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | Bobby Allison | CAM 2 (Roger Penske) | Mercury | 200 | 9275 | running | 4 | 170 |
| 4 | 1 | 43 | Richard Petty | STP (Petty Enterprises) | Dodge | 200 | 9065 | running | 3 | 165 |
| 5 | 3 | 15 | Buddy Baker | Norris Industries (Bud Moore) | Ford | 199 | 6630 | running | 20 | 160 |
| 6 | 13 | 90 | Dick Brooks | Truxmore (Junie Donlavey) | Ford | 197 | 3035 | running | 0 | 150 |
| 7 | 7 | 54 | Lennie Pond | Pepsi-Cola (Ronnie Elder) | Chevrolet | 196 | 2725 | running | 0 | 146 |
| 8 | 16 | 05 | David Sisco | David Sisco | Chevrolet | 196 | 2615 | running | 0 | 142 |
| 9 | 14 | 60 | Jackie Rogers | Red Dog's (Lou Viglione) | Chevrolet | 194 | 1845 | running | 2 | 143 |
| 10 | 11 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | Pruette (Cecil Gordon) | Chevrolet | 193 | 2405 | running | 0 | 134 |
| 11 | 31 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Buddy Arrington | Dodge | 191 | 2295 | running | 0 | 130 |
| 12 | 24 | 40 | D.K. Ulrich | Garden State Auto (J.R. DeLotto) | Chevrolet | 190 | 2185 | running | 0 | 127 |
| 13 | 20 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | Cunningham-Kelley (H.B. Cunningham) | Chevrolet | 189 | 1920 | engine | 0 | 124 |
| 14 | 33 | 25 | Dick May | Don Robertson | Chevrolet | 188 | 1835 | running | 0 | 121 |
| 15 | 32 | 30 | Tighe Scott | Clyde Lynn (Walter Ballard) | Chevrolet | 187 | 1720 | running | 0 | 118 |
| 16 | 26 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | Butler's (J.D. McDuffie) | Chevrolet | 184 | 1540 | running | 0 | 115 |
| 17 | 28 | 8 | Ed Negre | Ed Negre | Dodge | 181 | 1515 | running | 0 | 112 |
| 18 | 19 | 3 | Richard Childress | Kansas Jack (Richard Childress) | Chevrolet | 180 | 1490 | running | 0 | 109 |
| 19 | 5 | 72 | Benny Parsons | King's Row Fireplace (L.G. DeWitt) | Chevrolet | 179 | 3965 | running | 0 | 106 |
| 20 | 22 | 92 | Skip Manning | Stratagraph (Billy Hagan) | Chevrolet | 161 | 940 | engine | 0 | 103 |
| 21 | 27 | 64 | Tommy Gale | Stamey's Bar-B-Q (Elmo Langley) | Ford | 145 | 1415 | engine | 0 | 100 |
| 22 | 30 | 46 | Travis Tiller | Little B / C & K Coal (Travis Tiller) | Dodge | 134 | 890 | overheating | 0 | 97 |
| 23 | 9 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Means Racing (Bill Gray) | Chevrolet | 132 | 865 | engine | 0 | 94 |
| 24 | 18 | 79 | Frank Warren | Native Tan (Frank Warren) | Dodge | 108 | 1340 | wheel bearing | 0 | 91 |
| 25 | 17 | 47 | Bruce Hill | Howson Algraphy (Bruce Hill) | Chevrolet | 103 | 1315 | engine | 0 | 88 |
| 26 | 29 | 36 | Bobby Wawak | J & B Corvette (John Gwinn) | Chevrolet | 57 | 790 | engine | 0 | 85 |
| 27 | 36 | 95 | Gary Myers | Hicks Pharmacy (Junior Miller) | Chevrolet | 49 | 765 | engine | 0 | 82 |
| 28 | 21 | 10 | Bill Elliott | Sunny King (Bill Champion) | Ford | 46 | 1240 | engine | 0 | 79 |
| 29 | 10 | 88 | Darrell Waltrip | Gatorade (DiGard Racing) | Chevrolet | 33 | 3725 | engine | 0 | 76 |
| 30 | 4 | 71 | Dave Marcis | K & K Insurance (Nord Krauskopf) | Dodge | 26 | 3830 | engine | 18 | 78 |
| 31 | 25 | 29 | Walter Ballard | Velvet Touch Furniture (Bill Hollar) | Chevrolet | 26 | 690 | engine | 0 | 70 |
| 32 | 15 | 81 | Terry Ryan | WAM Racing (Bill Monaghan) | Chevrolet | 20 | 680 | engine | 0 | 67 |
| 33 | 23 | 19 | Henley Gray | Belden Asphalt (Henley Gray) | Chevrolet | 20 | 670 | ignition | 0 | 64 |
| 34 | 35 | 01 | Earle Canavan | Benihana (Earle Canavan) | Dodge | 15 | 660 | transmission | 0 | 61 |
| 35 | 12 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Engineering (James Hylton) | Chevrolet | 2 | 1150 | transmission | 0 | 58 |
| 36 | 34 | 18 | Joe Frasson | Excuse Lounge (Joe Frasson) | Chevrolet | 1 | 640 | engine | 0 | 55 |

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points | Differential |
| 1 | Cale Yarborough | 2318 | 0 |
| 2 | Benny Parsons | 2267 | -51 |
| 3 | Richard Petty | 2201 | -117 |
| 4 | Bobby Allison | 2161 | -157 |
| 5 | Lennie Pond | 1964 | -354 |
| 6 | Dave Marcis | 1905 | -413 |
| 7 | Richard Childress | 1867 | -451 |
| 8 | Buddy Baker | 1823 | -495 |
| 9 | David Pearson | 1743 | -575 |
| 10 | Darrell Waltrip | 1740 | -578 |