1977 Winston Cup Series

1977 Winston Cup Series
Cale Yarborough won his second Winston Cup Series Championship
Season statistics
No. of races	30
First race	1977 Winston Western 500
Last race	1977 Los Angeles Times 500
Drivers' champion	Cale Yarborough
Manufacturers' champion
Rookie of the Year	Ricky Rudd
Most popular driver	Richard Petty
Previous	1976
Next	1978

The 1977 Winston Cup Series was the 29th season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The season began with the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 16 and ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway on November 20.

Cale Yarborough won his second straight Winston Cup championship in his sixth full-time season. He won 9 races in 1977 and won his second Daytona 500, nine years after his first. He had no DNFs the entire season and became the sixth driver to win back-to-back championships.

1977 was notable for the entry of JD Stacy into the Cup Series, who eventually sponsored or owned up to 7 cars in one race before leaving the sport in 1983. It was also the last time that a relief driver won a race, which saw Darrell Waltrip take the win driving in relief of Donnie Allison at the Talladega 500.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	January 16, 1977	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway
	February 17, 1977	125 Mile Qualifying Races	Daytona International Speedway
2	February 20, 1977	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway
3	February 27, 1977	Richmond 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
4	March 13, 1977	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
5	March 20, 1977	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway
6	March 27, 1977	Gwyn Staley 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
7	April 3, 1977	Rebel 500	Darlington Raceway
8	April 17, 1977	Southeastern 500	Bristol International Speedway
9	April 24, 1977	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
10	May 1, 1977	Winston 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
11	May 7, 1977	Music City USA 420	Nashville Speedway
12	May 15, 1977	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
13	May 29, 1977	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway
14	June 12, 1977	NAPA 400	Riverside International Raceway
15	June 19, 1977	Cam 2 Motor Oil 400	Michigan International Speedway
16	July 4, 1977	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway
17	July 16, 1977	Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway
18	July 31, 1977	Coca-Cola 500	Pocono International Raceway
19	August 7, 1977	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
20	August 22, 1977	Champion Spark Plug 400	Michigan International Speedway
21	August 28, 1977	Volunteer 400	Bristol International Speedway
22	September 5, 1977	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
23	September 11, 1977	Capital City 400	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
24	September 18, 1977	Delaware 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
25	September 25, 1977	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway
26	October 2, 1977	Wilkes 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
27	October 9, 1977	NAPA National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway
28	October 23, 1977	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
29	November 6, 1977	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway
30	November 20, 1977	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1977 Winston Western 500	Cale Yarborough	David Pearson		0	0	107.038	3
	1977 125 Mile Qualifying Race # 1	Donnie Allison	Richard Petty		0	0	179.856	6
	1977 125 Mile Qualifying Race # 2	A.J. Foyt	Cale Yarborough		1	3	171.429	3
2	1977 Daytona 500	Donnie Allison	Cale Yarborough		6	37	153.218	30
3	1977 Richmond 400	Neil Bonnett	Cale Yarborough		4	35	73.084	9
4	1977 Carolina 500	Donnie Allison	Richard Petty		11	118	97.860	30
5	1977 Atlanta 500	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		2	11	144.093	15
6	1977 Gwyn Staley 400	Neil Bonnett	Cale Yarborough		6	42	88.950	12
7	1977 Rebel 500	David Pearson	Darrell Waltrip		6	39	128.817	28
8	1977 Southeastern 500	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		2	9	100.989	6
9	1977 Virginia 500	Neil Bonnett	Cale Yarborough		3	22	77.405	8
10	1977 Winston 500	A.J. Foyt	Darrell Waltrip		6	27	164.877	63
11	1977 Music City USA 420	Darrell Waltrip	Benny Parsons		3	27	87.490	3
12	1977 Mason-Dixon 500	Richard Petty	Cale Yarborough		2	10	123.327	11
13	1977 World 600	David Pearson	Richard Petty		6	31	137.676	25
14	1977 NAPA 400	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		1	5	105.021	7
15	1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		4	25	135.033	19
16	1977 Firecracker 400	Neil Bonnett	Richard Petty		2	26	142.716	34
17	1977 Nashville 420	Benny Parsons	Darrell Waltrip		10	54	78.999	7
18	1977 Coca-Cola 500	Darrell Waltrip	Benny Parsons		4	22	128.379	47
19	1977 Talladega 500	Benny Parsons	Donnie Allison		5	27	162.524	49
20	1977 Champion Spark Plug 400	David Pearson	Darrell Waltrip		5	24	137.944	31
21	1977 Volunteer 400	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		6	92	79.726	14
22	1977 Southern 500	Darrell Waltrip	David Pearson		7	92	106.797	32
23	1977 Capital City 400	Benny Parsons	Neil Bonnett		5	30	80.644	12
24	1977 Delaware 500	Neil Bonnett	Benny Parsons		3	25	114.708	9
25	1977 Old Dominion 500	Neil Bonnett	Cale Yarborough		9	57	73.447	13
26	1977 Wilkes 400	Richard Petty	Darrell Waltrip		3	32	86.713	10
27	1977 NAPA National 500	David Pearson	Benny Parsons		4	18	142.780	18
28	1977 American 500	Donnie Allison	Donnie Allison		9	75	113.584	24
29	1977 Dixie 500	Sam Sommers	Darrell Waltrip		5	99	110.052	12
30	1977 Los Angeles Times 500	Richard Petty	Neil Bonnett		5	22	128.296	37

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Cale Yarborough	30	9	25	27	3	5000
2	Richard Petty	30	5	20	23	5	4614	-386
3	Benny Parsons	30	4	20	22	3	4570	-430
4	Darrell Waltrip	30	6	16	24	3	4498	-502
5	Buddy Baker	30	0	9	20	0	3961	-1,039
6	Dick Brooks	29	0	7	20	0	3742	-1,258
7	James Hylton	30	0	0	11	0	3476	-1,524
8	Bobby Allison	30	0	5	15	0	3467	-1,533
9	Richard Childress	30	0	0	11	0	3463	-1,537
10	Cecil Gordon	30	0	0	2	0	3294	-1,706
11	Buddy Arrington	28	0	0	5	0	3247	-1,753
12	J.D. McDuffie	30	0	0	4	0	3236	-1,764
13	David Pearson	22	2	16	16	5	3227	-1,773
14	Skip Manning	28	0	1	8	0	3120	-1,880
15	D.K. Ulrich	30	0	0	0	0	2901	-2,099
16	Frank Warren	29	0	0	1	0	2876	-2,124
17	Ricky Rudd	25	0	1	10	0	2810	-2,190
18	Neil Bonnett	23	2	5	9	6	2649	-2,351
19	Jimmy Means	26	0	0	6	0	2640	-2,360
20	Tighe Scott	26	0	1	1	0	2628	-2,372
21	Sam Sommers	23	0	2	8	1	2517	-2,483
22	Ed Negre	24	0	0	0	0	2214	-2,786
23	Janet Guthrie	19	0	0	4	0	2037	-2,963
24	Donnie Allison	17	2	9	10	3	1970	-3,030
25	Dave Marcis	18	0	5	7	0	1931	-3,069
26	Tommy Gale	18	0	0	0	0	1689	-3,311
27	Dick May	13	0	0	0	0	1324	-3,676
28	Henley Gray	14	0	0	0	0	1214	-3,786
29	Bruce Hill	16	0	0	4	0	1213	-3,787
30	Lennie Pond	14	0	4	6	0	1193	-3,807
31	Butch Hartman	11	0	0	2	0	1116	-3,884
32	Ferrel Harris	11	0	0	0	0	1088	-3,912
33	Baxter Price	12	0	0	0	0	1086	-3,914
34	Coo Coo Marlin	11	0	1	5	0	1004	-3,996
35	Bill Elliott	10	0	0	2	0	926	-4,074
36	Gary Myers	10	0	0	0	0	888	-4,112
37	David Sisco	10	0	0	0	0	847	-4,153
38	Terry Bivins	8	0	0	1	0	841	-4,159
39	G.C. Spencer	8	0	0	1	0	785	-4,215
40	Terry Ryan	7	0	0	1	0	702	-4,298

Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.

Rookie of the Year

With 1 Top 5 and 10 Top 10s in 25 starts, Ricky Rudd won the 1978 Rookie of the Year Award.

Position	Driver	Race Wins
1	Ricky Rudd	0
2	Sam Sommers	0
3	Janet Guthrie	0
4	Tighe Scott	0
5	Tommy Gale	0
6	Gary Myers	0

Manufacturer's Championship

With 21 wins, Chevrolet won the 1977 Manufacturer's Championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		21
2		7
3		2
4		0
5		0
6		0