1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 program cover | |||
| Date | September 29, 1996 | ||
| Location | North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.625 miles (1.006 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 66 °F (19 °C); wind speeds up to 6.9 miles per hour (11.1 km/h)[2] | ||
| Average speed | 96.837 mph (155.844 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Roush Racing | ||
| Time | 19.059 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 207 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Allen Bestwick and Barney Hall | ||
| Turn announcers | Joe Moore (Backstretch) | ||
The 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the twenty-seventh stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on September 29, 1996, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in Wilkes County, North Carolina. The 400-lap race was won by Jeff Gordon of the Hendrick Motorsports team after he started from second position. Dale Earnhardt finished second and Dale Jarrett came in third.
| No. | Driver[3] | Make | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rick Mast | Pontiac | Richard Jackson |
| 2 | Rusty Wallace | Ford | Roger Penske |
| 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Chevrolet | Richard Childress |
| 4 | Sterling Marlin | Chevrolet | Larry McClure |
| 5 | Terry Labonte | Chevrolet | Rick Hendrick |
| 6 | Mark Martin | Ford | Jack Roush |
| 7 | Geoff Bodine | Ford | Geoff Bodine |
| 8 | Hut Stricklin | Ford | Stavola Brothers |
| 9 | Lake Speed | Ford | Harry Melling |
| 10 | Ricky Rudd | Ford | Ricky Rudd |
| 11 | Brett Bodine | Ford | Brett Bodine |
| 12 | Derrike Cope | Ford | Bobby Allison |
| 15 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Ford | Bud Moore |
| 16 | Ted Musgrave | Ford | Jack Roush |
| 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Chevrolet | Darrell Waltrip |
| 18 | Bobby Labonte | Chevrolet | Joe Gibbs |
| 21 | Michael Waltrip | Ford | Wood Brothers |
| 23 | Jimmy Spencer | Ford | Travis Carter |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Rick Hendrick |
| 25 | Ken Schrader | Chevrolet | Rick Hendrick |
| 28 | Ernie Irvan | Ford | Yates Racing |
| 29 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | Gary Bechtel |
| 30 | Johnny Benson Jr. | Pontiac | Chuck Rider |
| 33 | Robert Pressley | Chevrolet | Leo Jackson |
| 37 | Jeremy Mayfield | Ford | Michael Kranefuss |
| 41 | Ricky Craven | Chevrolet | Larry Hedrick |
| 42 | Kyle Petty | Pontiac | Felix Sabates |
| 43 | Bobby Hamilton | Pontiac | Petty Enterprises |
| 71 | Dave Marcis | Chevrolet | Dave Marcis |
| 75 | Morgan Shepherd | Ford | Butch Mock |
| 77 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Ford | Doug Bawel |
| 81 | Kenny Wallace | Ford | Fil Martocci |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | Joe Nemechek |
| 88 | Dale Jarrett | Ford | Yates Racing |
| 94 | Bill Elliott | Ford | Bill Elliott |
| 98 | John Andretti | Ford | Cale Yarborough |
| 99 | Jeff Burton | Ford | Jack Roush |
Report
Background
Before the race Jeff Gordon led the Drivers' Championship with 3,903 points, eighty-one ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Terry Labonte in second, with Dale Jarrett a further eighty-one points adrift in third. Dale Earnhardt was fourth on 3,562, and Mark Martin was a further seventy-nine behind in fifth place.[4] Martin was the race's defending champion.[5]
It was announced shortly beforehand that the Tyson Holly Farms 400 would be the last NASCAR race held at North Wilkesboro Speedway after the track was sold to promoters Bruton Smith and Bob Bahre following the death of its previous owner Enoch Staley in 1995. North Wilkesboro's two races would be taken over by Smith's Texas Motor Speedway in the spring and Bahre's New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the fall starting from 1997 as part of a schedule realignment.[6]
First round qualifying
First-round qualifying started at 3 p.m. on Friday. Bobby Hamilton, driving the popular #43 Petty Enterprises Pontiac, had the fastest run before rain interrupted qualifying with 13 of the 40 drivers still waiting to make their run. After a 2+1⁄2-hour delay qualifying resumed with Jeff Gordon, the defending series champion, being the first driver to make a qualifying lap. Gordon put his #24 Chevrolet on top of the charts with a lap of 117.937 mph. Gordon's run held until Ted Musgrave, driving for Jack Roush in the #16 Family Channel/Primestar Ford Thunderbird, won the pole with a lap of 118.054 mph. It was Musgrave's first pole of the season and the fifth and final pole of his career. Hamilton ended up 3rd, with defending race winner Mark Martin and Ernie Irvan filling out the top five starting spots.
Second round qualifying
With only the top 25 locked in times from the first round qualifying the previous day, Second-round qualifying allowed drivers to stand on their first-round times or make a second attempt. Only 6 drivers made a second-round attempt on Saturday. Hut Stricklin was the fastest in second-round qualifying, and Dale Jarrett also improved on his first day's effort. Race provisionals went to Geoff Bodine, Lake Speed, Robert Pressley, and Jeff Green. Darrell Waltrip got the past champion's provisional. Three drivers, Ward Burton, Dick Trickle and Gary Bradberry, failed to qualify.
Final Practice
Rain cut final practice short for Cup teams. Jeff Gordon completed just 15 laps when his car developed engine problems, later found to be debris in the carburetor.
