Editor’s note: NASCAR will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2023. Founded in 1934, SPEED SPORT was already on its way to becoming America’s motorsport governing body when NASCAR was formed. As a result, we present Part 30 of a 75-part series on the history of NASCAR as told through the pages of National Speed Sport News and SPEED SPORT Magazine.
Cale Yarborough finished the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup season in the same place as in 1976: on top of the points.
Yarborough began his quest for his second straight Winston Cup championship at Riverside (California) Int’l Raceway, leading 102 of the 199 laps but finishing second to David Pearson. Meanwhile, sponsor of the first race of the season and title sponsor of the Winston Cup division, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., began its seventh year as a NASCAR sponsor.
The February 16 edition of National Speed Sport News gave some of NASCAR’s top drivers, including Yarborough and Richard Petty, the opportunity to share their impressions of the partnership.
“When RJ Reynolds stepped in, it was a godsend,” said six-time champion Petty. “Winston’s participation has attracted more fans as the competition has intensified and attendance is increasing every year.”
According to an annual motorsport survey by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup events attracted 1,431,292 spectators, making it the most-watched motorsport in the world. Yarborough, fresh from his first title, didn’t need numbers to convince him: “The Winston people who started racing have done more for the sport than anything since I’ve been racing.”
Ralph Seagraves, special events manager at RJ Reynolds, agreed with Yarborough, “Our six years with NASCAR have been very rewarding and I’m sure our seventh year will be even more rewarding.”
Results of the 1977 Daytona 500
NASCAR’s most prestigious race, the Daytona 500, went to the burly Winston Cup legend. Yarborough outlasted Benny Parsons to win the 500m for the second time. The win gave him a clean win at Daytona International Speedway as he won his 125 mile qualifying race and the International Race of Champions.
Twelfth at Daytona was rookie Janet Guthrie, who finished 15th at the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1976, becoming the first woman since 1965 to compete in Winston Cup competition.
That season, she competed for Citicorp Rookie of the Year in a Kelly Girl-sponsored Chevrolet. After a tenth place finish at Michigan Int’l Speedway, a sixth place season-best at Bristol Motor Speedway, and ninth place at Charlotte Motor Speedway and North Carolina Motor Speedway, Guthrie finished the season third in the rookie points chase and as 23rd overall.
Ricky Rudd was the 1977 Cup Series Rookie of the Year. (NASCAR photo)
Ricky Rudd: Except for one engine
20-year-old Ricky Rudd from Chesapeake, Virginia completed 25 of the 30 races and was named Rookie of the Year.
Still, like many other drivers, Rudd raced prize-to-prize without a major sponsor to offset the cost of competing at the highest level of NASCAR. At the July 31st race at Pocono Raceway, Rudd’s team had used up the last usable engine.
The financial strain on Rudd was clear after his solid seventh place finish at Pocono: “We looked good today, but the future doesn’t look so good,” said Rudd. “Maybe we have to park it.”
Luckily, Rudd raised enough money to buy a new engine from the Di-Gard team after his last engine broke during practice in Talladega, Alabama. With the new engine, Rudd achieved his best season result and best rookie result of the year a Winston Cup race since 1974: fourth. Rudd racked up ten top 10 finishes en route to the rookie title.
Yarborough over a tear
Reigning Winston Cup winners Yarborough made a breakthrough in the Winston Cup schedule after winning Daytona. He defeated rising star Darrell Waltrip at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and bested Petty to win at North Wilkesboro (NC) Speedway.
In April there was a race at Yarborough that most drivers never dare to dream of. He led 495 of the 500 laps and won the Southeastern 500 at Bristol, Tenn. Motor Speedway by an even lap. A week later, the front-runner won the rain-shortened Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Petty, a fourteen-time Martinsville Speedway champion and number two in points, finished third at Martinsville, 20th at Talladega and fifth at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Those underwhelming performances, by Petty standards, and a Chevrolet’s sixth straight win prompted the six-time champion to vent his frustration in the May 11 issue of NSSN:
“NASCAR should change the rules for runway frontage (Chevrolets), but they won’t change anything,” Petty said. He then added, “They cut their own throats, though, because (the fans) don’t want to see a Chevrolet win every race.”
But the controversial Monte Carlo, whose engine sits further back in the chassis than other Winston Cup cars, rather than the nastier, weird Chevrolet S-3 Laguna Petty that Petty mentioned, topped most of Chevrolet’s 21 victories the road to victory this season. In fact, Petty’s 1974 Dodge Charger outperformed those superspeedway cars in each of his five victories.
However, Petty’s superspeedway successes and Yarborough’s cooler second half (he won two of the last 15 races from a seven-of-15 start) didn’t change the final standings. Yarborough completed all 30 events, winning nine and earning 25 top fives and 27 top 10s on his way to a record 5,000 points and his second straight Winston Cup title.
In the other NASCAR divisions, Jerry Cook won the modified title for the sixth time, this time by 1,101 points. Every year since 1969, Cook has finished first or second in the modified points classification.
In the late model athlete category, Butch Lindley took top honors while Bill Schmitt became Winston West Champion.
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