1996 First Union 400
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| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 7 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1996 First Union 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | April 14, 1996 | ||
| Official name | 46th Annual First Union 400 | ||
| Location | North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.625 mi (1.006 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km) | ||
| Average speed | 96.37 miles per hour (155.09 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 19.287 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 167 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The 1996 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 46th and to date, final iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 14, 1996, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would manage to take advantage of a late-race restart with 20 to go and pull away to take his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
Background[edit]
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625 mi (1.006 km) and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing.
Entry list[edit]
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying[edit]
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 12, at 3:00 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, April 13, at 9:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-32 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.
Terry Labonte, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 19.287 and an average speed of 116.659 miles per hour (187.744 km/h).[4]
Five drivers would fail to qualify: Dave Marcis, Randy MacDonald, Mike Wallace, Ward Burton, and Bobby Hillin Jr.
Full qualifying results[edit]
Race results[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Higgins, Tom (April 15, 1996). "Labonte wins, catches Petty". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
- ^ Macenka, Joe (April 15, 1996). "Labonte ties record in grand style". Star-Gazette. p. 19. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "First Union 400". The Charlotte Observer. April 12, 1996. p. 13. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McCollister, Tom (April 13, 1996). "Labonte earns pole, goes for record next". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 71. Retrieved October 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
