The 1996 Purolator 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 10, 1996, in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.522 miles (2.449 km) permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 328 laps to complete. With the help of a fast final pit stop with 38 laps to go, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to charge to the front and secure his 70th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon, both drivers for Hendrick Motorsports, would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1996 Primestar 500 program cover, featuring Jeff Gordon and David Pearson. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | March 10, 1996 | ||
| Official name | 37th Annual Purolator 500 | ||
| Location | Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.522 mi (2.449 km) | ||
| Distance | 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km) | ||
| Average speed | 161.298 miles per hour (259.584 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Bahari Racing | ||
| Time | 29.548 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 136 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Performance Racing Network | ||
Background
edit
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.522-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.
Entry list
edit- (R) - denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 8, at 12:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, March 9, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-38 would be decided on time,[3] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points.
Johnny Benson Jr., driving for Bahari Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 29.548 and an average speed of 185.434 miles per hour (298.427 km/h).[4]
Three drivers would fail to qualify: Jeff Burton, Steve Seligman, and Randy MacDonald.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
editReferences
edit- ^ Higgins, Tom (March 11, 1996). "Pit pass leads to victory". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
- ^ Harris, Mike (March 11, 1996). "Earnhardt wins again". Citizens' Voice. p. 46. Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Purolator 500". The Charlotte Observer. March 8, 1996. p. 30. Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Fry, Darrell (March 9, 1996). "Rookie rides to Purolator 500 pole". Tampa Bay Times. p. 40. Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
