1977 Daytona 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1977 Daytona 500
Name of Track:	Daytona International Speedway
Date:	February 20th

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is a 2.5 mile (4 km) tri-oval race track facility with a seating capacity of 168,000 spectators.

It hosts races of motor vehicles of various kinds, including go-karts, dirt bikes, motorcycles, sports cars, modified pickup trucks, and stock cars. The facility also includes a 3.56 mile (5.7 km) road course and a 180-acre infield, including the 29 acre Lake Lloyd.

NASCAR Begins At Daytona

NASCAR was founded by William France Sr. at Daytona Beach, Florida in 1947. The original premiere event in the series was held at the Daytona Beach Road Course. France began planning a new track for the premiere event in his fledgling series in 1953. On August 16, 1954 he signed a contract with city officials to create this new track that would become famous as the Daytona International Speedway. Ground was broken on November 25, 1957 The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track, and the large hole in the infield was filled with water and is now known as Lake Lloyd. The speedway opened on February 22, 1959 to a crowd of 41,000 people.

Daytona 500

The NASCAR Championship's most important race, the Daytona 500, is held annually at Daytona International Speedway. It is a 200-lap, 500 mile (805 km) stock car race. The list of Daytona 500 winners is very long dating back to the inaugural race in 1959, and includes "The King" Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt.

More Daytona Races

NASCAR, the premier stock car organization in the United States, holds some of its most important races on this track. These include competitions in its Craftsman Truck Series (where pickup trucks are raced), Busch Series (the stock car junior league), and Nextel Cup series. The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is also held at Daytona.

The racing season begins at Daytona starting with the testing sessions. The year's racing begins with the 24 Hours of Daytona race in the Grand American Sports Car series. Then the racing begins for the Nextel Cup with the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duel. The Craftsman Truck Series begins with the GM Flex Fuel 250. The Busch Series begins with the Hershey's Kissables 300, and then it is back to the Nextel Cup in "The Great American Race," the Daytona 500. The Nextel Cup also features the Pepsi 400 in July at Daytona.

Daytona International Speedway Under The Lights

Lights were installed in 1998 so that the Pepsi 400 could be held at night. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires that summer. The Pepsi 400 has been held under lights ever since.

It also contains an attraction called Daytona USA The winning car from the Daytona 500 is placed in front of the attraction building each year.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

1977 Daytona 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1977 Daytona 500, in order of finishing place.

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	Cale Yarborough	11	4	$63,700	200	running	Holly Farms
2	Benny Parsons	72	6	$38,825	200	running	1st National City Travelers Checks
3	Buddy Baker	15	8	$28,075	199	running	Norris Industries
5	Dick Brooks	90	15	$18,100	198	running	Truxmore
6	A.J. Foyt	51	2	$13,800	197	running	Gilmore-Foyt
7	Darrell Waltrip	88	10	$15,745	193	running	Gatorade
9	Bob Burcham	19	30	$12,475	191	running	Belden Asphalt
10	James Hylton	48	37	$11,090	189	running	Southern Bankers
12	Janet Guthrie	68	39	$7,390	188	running	Kelly Girl
15	Bobby Allison	12	7	$6,560	167	engine	1st National City Travelers Checks
17	Cecil Gordon	24	41	$5,615	164	running	Burger King
19	Walter Ballard	3	29	$3,700	153	engine	Scotty's Fashions
21	David Pearson	21	5	$5,440	135	engine	Purolator
22	Ricky Rudd	22	21	$2,935	135	rear end	Al Rudd Auto Parts
23	Richard Childress	3	32	$3,290	127	running	Kansas Jack / L.C. Newton Trucking
25	Bruce Hill	47	18	$2,750	113	engine	Bruce Hill
26	Richard Petty	43	3	$9,550	111	engine	STP
28	Dave Marcis	2	9	$6,150	103	running	CAM 2
30	Donnie Allison	1	1	$7,575	88	crash	Hawaiian Tropic
32	Ron Hutcherson	83	31	$4,525	85	trans	Smithville Farms
33	Jimmy Lee Capps	26	20	$2,175	77	rear end	Hearne Produce
34	Grant Adcox	41	14	$2,325	73	engine	Adcox-Kirby
35	Jim Hurtubise	95	26	$2,050	69	oil cooler	Moran Electric
36	Skip Manning	92	27	$2,615	65	engine	1st National City Travelers Checks
37	Neil Bonnett	71	11	$5,525	65	engine	1st National City Travelers Checks
38	Buddy Arrington	67	38	$1,780	51	engine	Sub-Tropic
41	Johnny Rutherford	77	40	$1,725	29	vibration	t. edwards Happy Legs