1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Season: Yarborough's Second Straight Title

Cale Yarborough won his second straight NASCAR Winston Cup championship in 1977, again driving the number 11 Holly Farms Chevrolet for Junior Johnson. The season ran from January 16 to November 20, and it was shaped more by a long run of consistent finishes than by any single race. Rudd took the rookie award, and the season closed with a late race at Ontario.

Who won the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup championship?

Cale Yarborough took the 1977 title in the number 11 Holly Farms Chevrolet for Junior Johnson's team, his second consecutive championship. He closed the year on 5,000 points, a figure no other champion of the Latford-era system has matched. Ricky Rudd was the Rookie of the Year.

Yarborough's lead over Richard Petty grew steadily through the autumn. It stood at 50 points with ten races left, then rose to 293 after the Wilkes 400, and by the NAPA National 500 Petty was 396 points adrift with three races to run.

Yarborough won nine races and finished with 5,000 points, while the rest of the field traded wins through the year.

What happened at the opening races?

The season opened at Riverside, where Yarborough took the pole but spun, letting David Pearson take the Winston Western 500. Pearson's win was his fourth straight on a California speedway, and it set the tone for a year when the winners were spread widely around the field.

The 19th Daytona 500 was held on February 20. Donnie Allison won the pole, but the race itself went to Yarborough, who became only the second driver to win the Daytona 500 more than once, beating Benny Parsons at the line. Richard Petty had nearly lost a lap on the pace lap after an emergency stop, roared back to lead and then suffered an engine failure, his 11th in the previous 37 races.

Yarborough also won at Richmond on February 27, when rain cut the race short at 245 laps. He led 161 laps there and took his 12th win in the last 37 races.

How did the 1977 Daytona 500 end?

Yarborough won the 1977 Daytona 500 by edging Parsons at the finish, joining a short list of drivers to win the race more than once. Petty's engine failure in the same race left the two leading points contenders in very different places.

The result carried weight for the rest of the year. Yarborough's place at the top of the points table was reinforced, and Parsons found himself in the thick of the battle for second in the standings for most of the season.

How did the spring races go?

At the Carolina 500 on March 13, the surface had been repaved and proved slick, and the lead changed 30 times amid numerous crashes. Petty pounced after halfway, winning handily and recording the first superspeedway race since 1961 to finish with an average speed below 100 mph.

At Atlanta on March 20, Petty, Pearson and Yarborough had the race to themselves and finished first, second and third, with only two cautions across the 500 miles. At North Wilkesboro on March 27, Yarborough led 320 laps on his 38th birthday to take the Gwyn Staley 400.

The Rebel 500 at Darlington on April 3 finished under yellow. Darrell Waltrip took the win by inches in a three-way finish that also involved Bobby Allison, standing in for his brother Donnie, and Petty.

Yarborough dominated at Bristol on April 17, leading all but five laps and finishing seven laps clear of Dick Brooks. At Martinsville on April 24 he added his fifth win of the season, and his 15th in the last 43 races, while Waltrip led 51 laps before a brake failure ended his day.

What made the Winston 500 so chaotic?

The Winston 500 was the eighth annual running of the race at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Darrell Waltrip won after swinging low in turn two on the final lap, while Yarborough was sideswiped by Waltrip before edging Parsons for second. The lead changed 63 times among 11 drivers, and Donnie Allison led more than 70 laps.

Richard Petty raced from ninth to the lead on lap six, but his engine failed on lap 153. The race was a reminder of how quickly a result could change when the leaders were running in close packs.

Which mid-season races mattered?

At Nashville on May 7, Benny Parsons won the Music City 420 for his first win of the season, ending a run of 275 straight laps led by Yarborough. At Dover on May 15, Yarborough repaired a damaged rear bumper, lost several laps, then drove through the field to take the Mason-Dixon 500 and his sixth win of the season. That gave him a 202-point lead over Petty.

At Charlotte on May 29, Petty led 311 laps in the World 600 and won by more than half a lap. Yarborough broke a water pump and lost 50 laps in the process, which cut his points lead to 108.

At Riverside on June 12 Petty won his fourth race of the year in the NAPA 400, and a week later Yarborough won at Michigan, his first there since 1970. He complained afterwards that his car had jumped out of gear three times.

How did Talladega and Pocono reshape the points?

At Pocono on July 31, Parsons led 118 laps on his way to winning the Coca-Cola 500, with Petty second and Yarborough sixth. Petty took the points lead by eight points over Yarborough, and Junior Johnson said the car simply was not strong enough on the day.

At Talladega on August 7, Donnie Allison fell ill after drinking a soda in the heat and was replaced by Darrell Waltrip, who drove the final 40 laps and won. Yarborough finished second and retook the points lead, and he kept it until the end of the season.

What tragedy happened at Talladega?

Irene Sisco, 69, was fatally hit by a pickup in the pit area during the Talladega weekend. She was the mother of driver David Sisco. David Sisco pulled out of the race, and Bruce Hill drove the car to a 28th-place finish. Sisco never raced in NASCAR again.

The weekend was also remembered for an unusual crackdown on illegal fuel cells, with several teams fined after officials watched the garage phones during the race.

How did the autumn races decide the title?

At Michigan on August 22, Darrell Waltrip won the Champion Spark Plug 400 with Pearson second, and Yarborough's lead over Petty stood at 50 points with ten races to go. The Volunteer 500 at Bristol on August 28 went to Yarborough, who edged Waltrip under caution, and his lead grew to 133 points.

The Southern 500 at Darlington on September 5 ended in a collision between Yarborough and Waltrip. Pearson won the race, and the crash gave fans a nickname for Waltrip, Jaws, from a remark Yarborough made to D. K. Ulrich, who was also caught in the wreck. Yarborough's lead was 128 points with eight races left.

Neil Bonnett won at Richmond on September 11 for his first career win, driving for J. D. Stacy. Benny Parsons won at Dover on September 18, his third win of the season, after he and Donnie Allison combined to lead 470 of the 500 laps. Yarborough's third-place finish added 77 points to his lead, and it reached 194 over Petty.

At Martinsville on September 25, Yarborough won his ninth race of the season and had a 219-point lead with five races left. He called for shorter races after a hot day, which drew a rebuke from H. Clay Earles.

How did the Wilkes 400 and American 500 shift the standings?

At North Wilkesboro on October 2, Waltrip won again while Petty crashed after being sideswiped by Bobby Allison's lapped car. Yarborough's lead grew to 293 points with four races left, and Waltrip described his easy win as the Cale Scale, a jab at Yarborough's complaint about fatigue the week before.

At the NAPA National 500 at Charlotte on October 9, Parsons won after leading 250 of 334 laps, even though he ran out of fuel and lost a lap. Petty's suspension collapsed while he led 25 laps, leaving Yarborough with a 378-point lead over Parsons and Petty 396 points back.

At North Carolina on October 23, Donnie Allison won the American 500 for his second win of the year, while Yarborough clinched the championship with Petty second. Petty was 386 points behind by then.

What happened in the Dixie 500 and at Ontario?

The Dixie 500 at Atlanta on November 6 was cut from 328 laps to 268 by rain. Darrell Waltrip used James Hylton's lapped car as a pick on the final lap to pass Donnie Allison and take the win, while Yarborough had already clinched the title on 4,830 points. The fight for second in the standings was then a three-way contest between Petty, Parsons and Waltrip.

The season finale, the LA Times 500 at Ontario on November 20, was won by Neil Bonnett, his first superspeedway win, after he and Petty battled for the lead through 500 miles. Petty came up short at the stripe. Yarborough finished third and ended with 5,000 points, the highest total under the points system.

Janet Guthrie led laps under a caution in that race, the first time a woman had led laps in a NASCAR race, and Petty finished 44 points ahead of Parsons in the standings.

Selected 1977 race winners