1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400

1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400

Race details[1]
Race 15 of 30 in the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 program cover
Date	June 19, 1977 (1977-June-19)
Official name	Cam 2 Motor Oil 400
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Temperatures of 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds of 16.9 miles per hour (27.2 km/h)
Average speed	135.033 miles per hour (217.315 km/h)
Attendance	61,200[2]
Pole position
Driver	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps	106
Winner
No. 11	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that was held on June 19, 1977, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.^[3] Opened in 1968, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees.^[3] The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long.^[3]

36 drivers started this 200-lap event; all of them were born in the United States of America.^[2] Bill Seifert would return after a five-year absence from NASCAR and recorded a12th-place finish.

Ferrel Harris was credited with the last-place finish due to difficulties with his engine on the ninth lap. Donnie Allison would be the highest place finisher not to finish the race; he acquired a similar problem on lap 176. Cale Yarborough would defeat Richard Petty by ten seconds. More than 61,000 fans would see nearly three hours of racing. Benny Parsons, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, and future NASCAR on FOX personality Darrell Waltrip would duel among each other for the lead early on in the race. Winnings for each driver varied from $20,625 for the race winner ($101,893 when adjusted for inflation) to $1,300 for the last-place finisher ($6,536 when adjusted for inflation).^[2]

The total prize purse of this race was $123,005 ($618,470 when adjusted for inflation).^[4] Notable crew chiefs in the race were Buddy Parrott, Jake Elder, Joey Arrington, Kirk Shelmerdine, Dale Inman and Tim Brewer.^[5]

Janet Guthrie was the lone female competitor in this race. Richard Childress, then a driver/owner, competed in this race and finished in 35th place (after starting out in 8th place).^[2] County singer Marty Robbins made his first NASCAR Cup start in more than two years and turned in a solid top-15 performance.^[2]

Roland Wlodyka made his NASCAR Cup debut but finished 29th after a transmission failure.

It was the first start as an owner for eventual Cup Series Champion Rod Osterlund.

Pos	Driver	Points[2]	Differential
1	Cale Yarborough	2531	0
2	Richard Petty	2428	-103
3	Benny Parsons	2254	-277
4	Darrell Waltrip	2140	-391
5	Buddy Baker	2050	-481
6	Dick Brooks	1854	-677
7	Cecil Gordon	1803	-728
8	Richard Childress	1745	-786
9	Dave Marcis	1685	-846
10	James Hylton	1680	-851