The 1976 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 4, 1976 at Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...

 in Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach, Florida

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, U.S.A.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Ticket prices for this race ranged from $8 ($ in today's money) to $30 ($ in today's money).

Summary

There were 40 drivers on the racing grid; all of them were American-born males except for Janet Guthrie

Janet Guthrie

Janet Guthrie is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500....

. Buddy Arrington

Buddy Arrington

Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...

 "earned" his last-place finish due to ignition

Ignition

Ignition may refer to:*Making fire*CombustionEvents* Ignition , a Burning Man regional event held in Montreal, QuebecIn Media* Ignition , a top-down racing game for PC published in 1997...

 troubles before the start of the first lap out of the 160 laps raced that day. A.J. Foyt achieved the pole position with a top speed of 183.09 miles per hour (294.7 km/h) while the average speed of the race was 160.966 miles per hour (259 km/h). Cale Yarborough

Cale Yarborough

William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...

 managed to defeat David Pearson by eight seconds in front of an audience of 40,000 people. Two cautions (for 14 laps) and 41 different lead changes made the race two hours and twenty-nine minutes long. The green flag was waived at 10:00 A.M. and the checkered flag was waved at approximately 12:29 P.M.; just in time for families to drive to town for a late lunch.

Pepsi-Cola

Pepsi

Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...

, Burger King

Burger King

Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...

, and Gatorade

Gatorade

Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...

 were amongst the national brands being sponsored on the track by the drivers themselves. The winner of the race received $22,215 ($ in today's money) while the last place finisher went home with $1,310 ($ in today's money). The race was run on America's 200th birthday and was the site of Dick Skillen's best career finish of 17th place.

Finishing order

1. Cale Yarborough
2. David Pearson
3. Bobby Allison
   Bobby Allison
   Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....
   
   
4. A.J. Foyt
5. Dave Marcis
   Dave Marcis
   Dave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...
   
   
6. Coo Coo Marlin
   Coo Coo Marlin
   Clifton "Coo Coo" Marlin was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series.-Local track history:...
   
   
7. Benny Parsons
   Benny Parsons
   Benjamin Stewart Parsons was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst on TBS, ESPN, NBC and TNT...
   
   
8. Dick Brooks
   Dick Brooks
   Richard "Dick" Brooks was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500...
   
   
9. David Sisco
   David Sisco
   David Sisco is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who has led 98 laps out of the 33668 that he raced in his entire career. Sisco also managed to earn $251,359 in his seven-year NASCAR career . His average starting position is 22nd place while he managed to finish in 19th place on average...
   
   
10. Ricky Rudd
    Ricky Rudd
    Ricky Rudd is a former American NASCAR driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and Nationwide Series driver Jason Rudd. Rudd is known as the "Iron Man" of NASCAR; holding the record for most consecutive starts in NASCAR racing. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, Rudd had made 788...
    
    
11. Jimmy Means
    Jimmy Means
    James "Jimmy" Means is a former Winston Cup/Nextel Cup owner/driver. Currently, he is an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Means Racing. He competed in NASCAR for eighteen years in mostly his own equipment, posting seventeen career top-tens...
    
    
12. Richard Childress
    Richard Childress
    Richard Childress is a former NASCAR driver and the current team owner of Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. As a business entrepreneur, Childress became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina...
    
    
13. Frank Warren
    Frank Warren (NASCAR driver)
    Frank Warren is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1963 to 1980.Out of 88863 laps finished in his career, Warren had led 72 of them. Warren's total career earnings were $625,886 and while his average finish was 20th place in his entire career. The total amount of miles...
    
    
14. Bobby Wawak
    Bobby Wawak
    Bobby Wawak was an American NASCAR driver from Villa Park, Illinois. He made 141 Grand National/Winston Cup starts, with 14 Top 10 finishes.-Local racing:...
    
    
15. Janet Guthrie
    Janet Guthrie
    Janet Guthrie is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500....
    
    
16. D.K. Ulrich
17. Dick Skillen
18. Harold Miller
    Harold Miller
    Harold Syndey 'Dusty' Miller was an English footballer who played between the wars.An inside-forward, Miller's first professional club were Charlton Athletic, whom he joined from amateurs St Albans City. Miller made 20 appearances for Charlton, scoring 11 times. He won a solitary cap for England,...
    
    
19. Bill Elliott
    Bill Elliott
    William Clyde "Bill" Elliott , also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville or Million Dollar Bill, is a part-time driver and former champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Elliott was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007. He won the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup...
    
    
20. Johnny Rutherford*
21. Jimmy Lee Capps
22. Richard Petty
    Richard Petty
    Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
    
    *
23. Joe Mihalic
24. J.D. McDuffie
    J.D. McDuffie
    John Delphus McDuffie was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career...
    
    *
25. Bruce Hill
    Bruce Hill
    Bruce Edward Hill is a former professional American football player who selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 1987 NFL Draft with a draft pick the Buccaneers had received for trading Steve Young. A 6'0", 175-lb. wide receiver from Arizona State, Hill played his entire NFL...
    
    *
26. James Hylton
    James Hylton
    James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72...
    
    *
27. Dick May
    Dick May
    Dick May was a NASCAR driver who competed in 185 races in the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup between 1967 and 1985....
    
    *
28. Ferrel Harris
    Ferrel Harris
    Ferrel Harris was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1975 to 1982 .-Summary:...
    
    *
29. Tommy Gale
    Tommy Gale
    Thomas "Tommy" Gale was an English footballer who played for Sheffield Wednesday and York City in the Football League.-Career:...
    
    *
30. Grant Adcox
    Grant Adcox
    Grant Adcox was a stock car racing driver who died in a single-car accident in the 1989 Atlanta Journal 500 in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.-Career:...
    
    *
31. Skip Manning
    Skip Manning
    Skip Manning is a former NASCAR driver from Bogalusa, Louisiana. He competed in seventy-nine Winston Cup events in his career, spanning from 1975 to 1979. Manning won the rookie-of-the-year award in 1976...
    
    *
32. Lennie Pond
    Lennie Pond
    Lennie Pond is a former NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier....
    
    *
33. Neil Bonnett
    Neil Bonnett
    Lawrence Neil Bonnett was a NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. The Alabama native currently ranks 35th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film Stroker Ace and the 1990 film Days of Thunder...
    
    *
34. Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....
    
    *
35. Buddy Baker
    Buddy Baker
    Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...
    
    *
36. Buck Baker
    Buck Baker
    Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. , better known as Buck Baker, was an American race car driver.-Racing career:...
    
    *
37. Ed Negre
    Ed Negre
    Ed Negre is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979....
    
    *
38. Jackie Rogers
    Jackie Rogers
    Jackie Rogers is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who has led only six out of the 4943 laps that he raced in his entire career. Rogers earned $64,582 and drove for finishing an average of 21st place.-References:...
    
    *
39. Darrell Waltrip
    Darrell Waltrip
    Darrell Lee Waltrip is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion , 3-time runner-up , winner of the 1989 Daytona 500 and 5-time winner of the prestigeous Coca-Cola 600 ,...
    
    *
40. Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...
    
    *

* Driver failed to finish race