The 1977 NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Series was the 29th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 6th modern era NASCAR Cup series. The season began on Sunday, January 16 and ended on Sunday, November 20. Cale Yarborough driving the Junior Johnson #11 Holly Farms Chevrolet won his second consecutive NASCAR Grand National Series Winston Cup Championship. Ricky Rudd was crowned NASCAR Rookie of the Year.
Season recap No Date Event Circuit Winner 1 January 16 Winston Western 500 Riverside International Raceway David PearsonFebruary 17125 Mile Qualifying RacesDaytona International SpeedwayRichard PettyCale Yarborough 2 February 20 Daytona 500 Cale Yarborough 3 February 27 Richmond 400 Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway Cale Yarborough 4 March 13 Carolina 500 North Carolina Motor Speedway Richard Petty 5 March 20 Atlanta 500 Atlanta International Raceway Richard Petty 6 March 27 Gwyn Staley 400 North Wilkesboro Speedway Cale Yarborough 7 April 3 Rebel 500 Darlington Raceway Darrell Waltrip 8 April 17 Southeastern 500 Bristol International Speedway Cale Yarborough 9 April 24 Virginia 500 Martinsville Speedway Cale Yarborough 10 May 1 Winston 500 Alabama International Motor Speedway Darrell Waltrip 11 May 7 Music City USA 420 Nashville Speedway Benny Parsons 12 May 15 Mason-Dixon 500 Dover Downs International Speedway Cale Yarborough 13 May 29 World 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway Richard Petty 14June 12 Riverside 400 Riverside International Raceway Richard Petty 15 June 19 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 Michigan International Speedway Cale Yarborough 16 July 4 Firecracker 400 Daytona International Speedway Richard Petty 17July 16 Nashville 420 Nashville Speedway Darrell Waltrip 18 July 31 Coca-Cola 500 Pocono Raceway Benny Parsons 19 August 7 Talladega 500 Alabama International Motor Speedway Donnie Allison* 20 August 22 Champion Spark Plug 400 Michigan International Speedway Darrell Waltrip 21 August 28 Volunteer 400 Bristol International Speedway Cale Yarborough 22 September 5 Southern 500 Darlington Raceway David Pearson 23 September 11 Capital City 400 Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway Neil Bonnett 24 September 18 Delaware 500 Dover Downs International Speedway Benny Parsons 25 September 25 Old Dominion 500 Martinsville Speedway Cale Yarborough 26 October 2 Wilkes 400 North Wilkesboro Speedway Darrell Waltrip 27 October 9 National 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway Benny Parsons 28 October 23 American 500 North Carolina Motor Speedway Donnie Allison 29 November 6 Dixie 500 Atlanta International Raceway Darrell Waltrip 30 November 20 Los Angeles Times 500 Ontario Motor Speedway Neil Bonnett
Donnie Allison is credited with the win but Darrell Waltrip finished the race for an over-heated Donnie Allison after Darrell Waltrip dropped out of the race after 106 laps. Points are always scored by the driver who starts the race.
Race Summaries
Round 1: Winston Western 500 The Winston Western 500 was held January 17 at Riverside International Raceway. Cale Yarborough won the pole.
Top Ten #21 - David Pearson #11 - Cale Yarborough #43 - Richard Petty #2 - Dave Marcis #67 - Sonny Easley #3 - Richard Childress #69 - Hershel McGriff #76 - Hugh Pearson #88 - Darrell Waltrip #09 - Eddie Bradshaw
David Pearson pounced when Cale Yarborough spun and seized his eleventh race in his last 23 starts, and fourth straight win on a California speedway.
Round 2: Daytona 500 The 19th annual Daytona 500 was held February 20 at the Daytona International Speedway. Donnie Allison won the pole.
Top Ten #11 - Cale Yarborough #72 - Benny Parsons #15 - Buddy Baker #14 - Coo Coo Marlin #90 - Dick Brooks #51 - A.J. Foyt #88 - Darrell Waltrip #52 - Jimmy Means #19 - Bob Burcham #48 - James Hylton
Cale Yarborough became only the second driver to win the Daytona 500 more than once, edging Benny Parsons. Richard Petty nearly lost a lap on the start due to an emergency stop on the pace lap; Bobby Wawak's car caught fire on Lap Four and the yellow allowed Petty to get a lap back; he roared through the field and led but fell out with engine failure, his eleventh engine-related failure in the last 37 races.
Round 3: Richmond 400 The Richmond 400 was held February 27 at the Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. Neil Bonnett won the pole
Top Ten #11 - Cale Yarborough #88 - Darrell Waltrip #72 - Benny Parsons #2 - Dave Marcis #12 - Bobby Allison #43 - Richard Petty #71 - Neil Bonnett #48 - James Hylton #15 - Buddy Baker #3 - Richard Childress
Yarborough led 161 laps as rain cut the event short at 245 laps; it was Cale's twelfth win in the last 37 races.
Round 4: Carolina 500 The Carolina 500 was held March 13 at the North Carolina Motor Speedway. Donnie Allison won the pole.
Top Ten #43 - Richard Petty #88 - Darrell Waltrip #1 - Donnie Allison #15 - Buddy Baker #71 - Neil Bonnett #11 - Cale Yarborough #27 - Sam Sommers #92 - Skip Manning #48 - James Hylton #24 - Cecil Gordon
North Carolina Motor Speedway was repaved in the off-season and the surface proved slick; the lead changed 30 times amid numerous crashes. Richard Petty pounced after halfway and won handily for the first superspeedway race to finish with an average speed under 100 MPH since 1961.
Round 5: Atlanta 500 The Atlanta 500 was held March 20 at the Atlanta International Raceway. Richard Petty won the pole.
Top Ten #43 - Richard Petty #21 - David Pearson #11 - Cale Yarborough #1 - Donnie Allison #15 - Buddy Baker #2 - Dave Marcis #88 - Darrell Waltrip #14 - Coo Coo Marlin #54 - Lennie Pond #47 - Bruce Hill
Petty, Pearson, and Cale had the entire race to themselves and finished 1-2-3 as only two cautions interrupted the 500-miler.
Round 6: Gwyn Staley 400 The Gwyn Staley 400 was held March 27 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. Neil Bonnett won his second pole of the season in Harry Hyde's Dodge.
Top Ten #11 - Cale Yarborough #43 - Richard Petty #72 - Benny Parsons #15 - Buddy Baker #12 - Bobby Allison #90 - Dick Brooks #88 - Darrell Waltrip #3 - Richard Childress #48 - James Hylton #67 - Buddy Arrington
On his 38th birthday, Yarborough led 320 laps en route to victory.
Round 7: Rebel 500 The Rebel 500 was held April 3 at Darlington Raceway. David Pearson won the pole.
Top Ten #88 - Darrell Waltrip #1 - Donnie Allison #43 - Richard Petty #21 - David Pearson #72 - Benny Parsons #2 - Dave Marcis #15 - Buddy Baker #49 - G.C. Spencer #90 - Dick Brooks #47 - Bruce Hill
Darrell Waltrip first served notice for the season as a two-car crash with six laps to go brought out the yellow; Waltrip surged as Bobby Allison (subbing for his brother Donnie in Hoss Ellington's Chevy) and Petty were racing to the line; all three hit the line abreast and Waltrip was declared the winner by inches as the race ended under yellow.
Round 8: Southeastern 500 The Southeastern 500 was held April 17 at Bristol International Speedway. Cale Yarborough won the pole.
Top Ten #11 - Cale Yarborough #90 - Dick Brooks #43 - Richard Petty #71 - Neil Bonnett #72 - Benny Parsons #12 - Bobby Allison #48 - James Hylton #3 - Richard Childress #52 - Jimmy Means #22 - Ricky Rudd
Yarborough annihilated the field at Bristol International Raceway as he led all but five laps and was seven laps ahead of runner-up Dick Brooks, this thanks in part to only two brief yellows.
Round 9: Virginia 500 The Virginia 500 was held April 24 at Martinsville Speedway. Neil Bonnett won the pole.
Top Ten #11 - Cale Yarborough #72 - Benny Parsons #43 - Richard Petty #54 - Lennie Pond #21 - David Pearson #90 - Dick Brooks #47 - Bruce Hill #52 - Jimmy Means #70 - J.D. McDuffie #3 - Richard Childress
Darrell Waltrip led 51 laps in challenging Cale and also Benny Parsons but fell out with brake failure. Parsons led 83 laps but was no match for Cale; the win was Yarborough's fifth of the season and 15th of the last 43 races.
Round 10: Winston 500 The 8th annual Winston 500 was held May 1 at the Alabama International Motor Speedway. Soon to be four time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt won the pole
Top Ten #88 - Darrell Waltrip #11 - Cale Yarborough #72 - Benny Parsons #1 - Donnie Allison #2 - Dave Marcis #36 - Ron Hutcherson #90 - Dick Brooks #14 - Coo Coo Marlin #80 - Terry Bivins #27 - Sam Sommers
The race lead changed 63 times among 11 drivers as Donnie Allison led over 70 laps. Richard Petty exploded from ninth to the lead on Lap Six but fell out on Lap 153 with engine failure. On the final lap Darrell Waltrip led with Allison second, Cale Yarborough third, and Benny Parsons fourth; Waltrip swung low in Turn Two to break the draft, and a mad scramble ensued where Cale rocketed to the high side in Three but was sideswiped by Waltrip and Parsons tried to shoot the gap; Cale edged Parsons for second as Waltrip broke away to the win.
Round 11: Music City 420 The Music City 420 was held May 7 at Nashville Speedway. Darrell Waltrip won the pole.
Top Ten #72 - Benny Parsons #11 - Cale Yarborough #88 - Darrell Waltrip #2 - Dave Marcis #43 - Richard Petty #15 - Buddy Baker #12 - Bobby Allison #14 - Coo Coo Marlin #52 - Jimmy Means #22 - Ricky Rudd
Benny Parsons ended Yarborough's streak of short track wins when he grabbed the lead with 38 laps to go after Cale had led 275 straight laps; it was the first win for Parsons in the season.
Round 12: Mason-Dixon 500 The Mason-Dixon 500 was held May 15 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Richard Petty won the pole.
Top Ten #11 - Cale Yarborough #21 - David Pearson #43 - Richard Petty #88 - Darrell Waltrip #90 - Dick Brooks #72 - Benny Parsons #54 - Lennie Pond #12 - Bobby Allison #15 - Buddy Baker #84 - Morgan Shepherd
For the second straight Dover race Cale Yarborough lost multiple laps, this time getting his damaged rear bumper repaired; Junior Johnson tore it off by hand and sent Cale back out; Cale erased his deficit and after a lap-after-lap battle with David Pearson broke away to the win, his sixth of the season, increasing his point lead to 202 over third-place finisher Richard Petty.
Round 13: World 600 The 18th annual World 600 was held May 29 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. David Pearson won the pole.
Top Ten #43 - Richard Petty #21 - David Pearson #72 - Benny Parsons #54 - Lennie Pond #15 - Buddy Baker #88 - Darrell Waltrip #71 - Neil Bonnett #90 - Dick Brooks #27 - Sam Sommers #92 - Skip Manning
Before Petty Enterprises left for the Charlotte Motor Speedway engine builder Maurice Petty created a race motor that had the same horsepower as their qualifying motor; Richard unleashed that horsepower leading 311 laps and winning by over half a lap; he broke away from early battles with Pearson and Donnie Allison and past halfway executed a risky three-abreast pass in the trioval around Pearson and Bobby Allison driving Benny Parsons' Chevrolet in relief with Coo Coo Marlin's lapped car involved. Cale Yarborough broke a water pump and lost 50 laps getting repairs; his point lead was thus sliced nearly in half, to 108 points.
Round 14: NAPA 400 The NAPA 400 was held June 12 at Riverside International Raceway. Richard Petty won the pole.
Top Ten #43 - Richard Petty #21 - David Pearson #11 - Cale Yarborough #51 - Jimmy Insolo #15 - Buddy Baker #93 - Norm Palmer #68 - Sonny Easley #3 - Richard Childress #24 - Cecil Gordon #92 - Skip Manning
Petty broke away from the field for the final 63 laps and beat Pearson and Cale for his fourth win of the year; Petty and Pearson finished together in the top two for the 63rd and final time.
Round 15: CAM 2 Motor Oil 400 The CAM 2 Motor Oil 400 was held June 19 at Michigan International Speedway. David Pearson won the pole.
Top Ten #11 - Cale Yarborough #43 - Richard Petty #72 - Benny Parsons #2 - Dave Marcis #21 - David Pearson #15 - Buddy Baker #90 - Dick Brooks #27 - Sam Sommers #75 - Butch Hartman #12 - Bobby Allison