The 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 48th season of professionalstock car racing in the United States and the 25th modern-era NASCAR Cup series. The season had been started on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The season would be remembered for Terry Labonte pulling off a massive upset and winning his second Winston Cup Championship over teammate Jeff Gordon.
Pontiac’s struggles in 1995 carried over to 1996, scoring just one win in the Dura Lube 500 with Bobby Hamilton. Hamilton was also the only Pontiac driver to finish in the top ten in points standings, placing ninth.
This was Dale Jarrett's second career Daytona 500 victory. He also won the 1996 Busch Clash. Both of those victories saw Dale Earnhardt finish second to Jarrett.
When the white flag was displayed, play-by-play analyst Ken Squier gave the privileges to color analyst Ned Jarrett so he can call the final lap solo and lead his son on to the victory, as he did in 1993.
On lap 343 Earnhardt and Bobby Hamilton had traded the lead three times in the previous three laps when Earnhardt punted Hamilton in Turn Four; Hamilton scraped the wall and later crashed because of damage from the earlier scrape.
Coming into this race, Terry Labonte had led the most laps at Daytona and Rockingham but was 30th in the points standings, while Jeff Gordon was 43rd. After this race they were 17th and 27th, respectively.
Purolator 500
The Purolator 500 was run on March 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The No. 30 of Johnny Benson won the pole, but crashed in Happy Hour, forcing him to a backup car (and to the back of the field for the start).
Jeff Burton failing to qualify sparked a lot of controversy, as he was 2nd in the points standings going into this race. Provisionals for the first 4 races defaulted from 1995 driver and owner points, and he missed the field due to the 99 car being a new team. As a result, he fell from 2nd to 14th in the standings and never found his way back into the top 10 in points the rest of the season.
This race would be the last victory for Dale Earnhardt until the 1998 Daytona 500.
There were 3 red flags during the race. Prior to the first red flag, Bill Elliott crashed on lap 321 prior to the caution for rain. After the race resumed following a 1-hour rain delay, Darrell Waltrip crashed and spilled fuel, which caused another stoppage on lap 335. Moments after the race resumed, more rain came down. With dusk settling in, the rain continued and the race was stopped.
This was the first race run at North Wilkesboro following the passing of track president Enoch Staley, which threw the track's NASCAR future into doubt.
Terry Labonte tied Richard Petty's record streak of 513 consecutive Winston Cup Series starts. Labonte's car carried a special silver "Ironman" paint scheme for this race and the following weekend at Martinsville.
Terry Labonte, by starting this race, broke the record for most consecutive starts with his 514th consecutive start. The previous record, 513, was held by Richard Petty. A special "Iron Man" paint scheme was used to commemorate this feat.
Controversy developed before the race; after winning the pole, Ernie Irvan's Ford was taken to a flatbed-mounted chassis dynamometer and "driven" by Gary Nelson to check horsepower; the engine was over-revved and subsequently damaged beyond repair. Sterling Marlin's Chevrolet was supposed to be tested as well but the chassis dyno failed to produce a horsepower figure and the test was scrapped. Several reporters in the garage area questioned Nelson on the test and crew chief Larry McReynolds got into a heated dispute with Nelson over the test. Irvan struggled in the race and reacted after the Ricky Craven crash where he was buried in midpack, "It's all a result of what happened on Friday when (NASCAR) blew our motor up."
Two major accidents marred the race: Bill Elliott suffered a broken femur after going airborne and landing driver side-first in a single-car crash on lap 77. Then, "The Big One" hit on lap 130, collecting 14 cars and sending the #41 of Ricky Craven flying into the catch fence and nearly over it. The race was red-flagged for clean-up on lap 131 because Craven's car had completely destroyed the catch fence in turn two. Bob Jenkins, ESPN's lap-by-lap announcer, was so shocked by the crash that he said "Oh shit!" over the raw satellite feed when Craven's car was flipping. Craven sustained compression fractures in his back and a concussion, injuries that derailed what had been a successful 1996 campaign. Fourth in points going into the race, Craven fell to twentieth by season’s end.
Sterling Marlin won by passing the entire field on three separate occasions after pit stops.
Johnny Benson was knocked unconscious briefly when his Pontiac hit the turn two wall then slid into the path of Ricky Craven, who blasted through the rear deck of his car at full speed.
It was the first race at Pocono since the track was repaved; the lead changed two to three times a lap on some ten separate laps during the race's first half, primarily between Gordon, Hut Stricklin, and Derrike Cope.
The race started late due to rain delays, and was marred by "The Big One" on lap 117 that injured Dale Earnhardt after he, Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin got together, sending Earnhardt and Marlin head-on into the tri-oval wall at approximately 200 miles per hour. Earnhardt flipped onto his roof and collected 11 other cars. Earnhardt took a hit to the roof from Robert Pressley's #33 and another big hit from Derrike Cope's #12. Earnhardt suffered a broken collarbone and sternum in the crash. Marlin suffered several contusions from the hard impact. Due to darkness caused by the rain delay and red flag, the race was shortened to 129 laps.
CBS moved away from its live coverage of the race during the rain delay in order to show the final round of the Senior PGA TourAmeritech Senior Open. The race aired flag to flag on tape delay the following week (August 4). This is the most recent time a NASCAR points race was televised on tape delay.
The final time that Talladega's second race was run in July, which was run since the inaugural running. For the 1997 schedule, the race was moved to October where temperatures would be cooler and the weather more suitable. Today, the race remains in the October slot on the schedule.
Jarrett took the lead for good when he passed his teammate Irvan in the south chute with 7 laps to go. The race ended under caution when Robert Pressley crashed in turn 4 with 2 laps left.
Dale Earnhardt had to be relieved by Mike Skinner as a result of the injuries Earnhardt suffered the previous week at Talladega. Skinner took over the car during the first caution and drove the car to a 15th place finish.
A violent crash occurred on lap 38 when Kyle Petty blew his right front tire and hit the turn 4 wall. Petty drifted into the path of Sterling Marlin, who hit Petty on the driver's side. Petty's car bounced into the wall again, just in front of Mark Martin who barely managed to get by, then sped across the track and hard into the inside barrier. Petty escaped with minor injuries.
During the weekend, a fight erupted in the garage area between Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin and some crewmen from Morgan-McClure Motorsports over the crash at Talladega the previous weekend. Some of Marlin's crew had posted signs in the garage area deriding Irvan and mocking his eyesight.
The Bud at The Glen
The Bud at The Glen was run on August 11 at Watkins Glen International. Dale Earnhardt won the pole with a new track record of 120.733 mph while driving with the injuries suffered 2 weeks earlier. When asked what he thought of the lap, he was quoted as saying "It hurt so good." 1994 NASCAR Busch Series Champion David Green was standing by to relieve Earnhardt during the race, but Earnhardt decided to drive the full race eventually finishing 6th.
Geoff Bodine from nearby Chemung broke a 55-race winless streak, dating back to October 2 in the 1994Tyson Holly Farms 400. It was an emotional and very popular victory for Bodine, following a 2-year struggle with his competitiveness and his personal life.
Geoff Bodine had won by short pitting - stopping before he needed fuel and tires so that he could stay out and improve track position when everyone else went to the pits.
As of 2022, this is the last time that car number 7 went to victory lane.
In addition to David Green; Dorsey Schroeder replaced an injured Bill Elliott in Elliott's #94 car (Elliott would serve as a guest commentator on ESPN's coverage until lap 54) and Todd Bodine, the youngest brother of eventual race winner Geoff, ended up relieving Kyle Petty after Petty was unable to continue due to the effects of his own injuries from the Brickyard 400 a week prior.
Hut Stricklin led the most laps in the race and was in position for his first career Winston Cup victory in his 217th start, but Jeff Gordon started to reel him in. After a long battle, Gordon passed Stricklin for the lead on the backstretch on lap 353 and proceeded to win by over 5 seconds.
On lap 456, a wreck involving the #23 of Jimmy Spencer, the #16 of Ted Musgrave, the #11 of Brett Bodine and the #15 of Wally Dallenbach Jr. occurred on the front straight. Spencer blamed Dallenbach for the wreck, and after the cars rolled to a stop, Spencer got out of his car, ran over to Dallenbach's, and tried to punch Wally through the window net. Spencer had to be restrained by a Winston Cup official.
Another fight occurred in the garage area when Derrike Cope crashed and was assaulted by crew chief Larry McReynolds over an earlier wreck that eliminated Ernie Irvan.
As the cars stopped on pit road after the race a third fight occurred as Kyle Petty and Michael Waltrip got into an argument.
This was the final NASCAR race at North Wilkesboro Speedway until 2023, which closed down after the race. It was the only track other than Martinsville that NASCAR had been running at since NASCAR's first full season in 1949.
10th and final win of 1996 for Jeff Gordon.
Jeff Gordon became the 1st driver since Rusty Wallace in 1993 to score 10 victories in a single season.
Only 37 cars started this race. It was the last Cup Series race in which fewer than 40 cars started until the 2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, the second race after NASCAR reduced field sizes in the Cup Series from 43 to 40. A total of 39 cars entered that race.[1]
Ernie Irvan escaped serious injury in a savage melee when he spun in turn two, clipped Robby Gordon, then slid into the path of John Andretti, who annihilated the nose of Irvan's Ford while Gordon hit the inside concrete wall and dislodged it.
With Terry Labonte winning the race, and Jeff Gordon finishing 31st, Gordon went from a 111 point lead to a 1 point lead over Labonte.
Final time in his career that Terry Labonte won multiple races in a season.
Terry Labonte finished 3rd, and Jeff Gordon would finish 12th. Labonte gained 33 points on Gordon in this race. With that points gain, Labonte would become the new point leader by 32 points over Gordon, and he would hold on to the point lead for the rest of the season.
This race was most remembered by both of the Labonte brothers having reasons to celebrate. Bobby would win the race, and Terry would win the series championship, and together, both brothers would take a victory lap around the race track. As of 2022, this would be the only time in NASCAR history that in the season finale, one brother would win the race, and the other brother would win the championship.
This was Terry Labonte's second championship. His first one came 12 years earlier in 1984, making this the longest time span between 1st and 2nd championships for any driver in NASCAR history.
All 3 championship contenders (Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Jarrett) started the race in the top 5 (Gordon 2nd, Labonte 3rd, and Jarrett 5th), and they all finished in the top 5 (Jarrett 2nd, Gordon 3rd, and Labonte 5th). Labonte won the title by 37 points over Gordon, and 89 points over Jarrett.
Terry Labonte's 2 wins gave him the championship over Jeff Gordon's 10 wins. Even though Gordon scored the most wins of 1996, he lacked consistency in the final stretch of the season. Labonte's consistency in the last 4 races of the season was better than Gordon's. Labonte won the title by 37 points. This would be the 3rd and final time in Bob Latford's Winston Cup points system that a driver winning 10 or more races in a season failed to win the championship due to lack of consistency. The 1st time was in 1985 when Bill Elliott won 11 races but lost the title to Darrell Waltrip, who had 3 wins, due to lack of consistency in the final stretch of the season. Waltrip won the title by 101 points. The 2nd time was in 1993 when Rusty Wallace won 10 races, but lost the title to Dale Earnhardt, who had 6 wins, also due to lack of consistency in the final stretch of the season. Earnhardt won the title by 80 points.
Terry Labonte would join the late Alan Kulwicki and win the championship by winning only 2 races in a season. Only Matt Kenseth, who won one race in 2003, has won fewer races while winning a championship.
The NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special was a non-points exhibition race ran on November 23 at Suzuka Circuit - East Circuit. Rusty Wallace won the pole. This was the first ever NASCAR race in Japan.
NASCAR legend Elmo Langley was intended to drive the pace car for this race, but suffered a massive heart attack 2 days prior in the pace car when trying to get familiar with the course. Langley was 68 when he died in a nearby hospital.
1At Rockingham, Geoff Bodine had his younger brother Todd qualify his No. 7 car, as Geoff Bodine had suffered broken ribs from a crash in the previous race, which was the 1996 Daytona 500.
2Geoff Bodine failed to qualify car No. 07 at Sonoma, but his Craftsman Truck driver Dave Rezendes timed in 23rd in the No. 7. Team owner Geoff Bodine drove the qualified entry, his regular car, in the race.
Johnny Benson was the only rookie to make a full-time run in the 1996 season, making him the 1996 Rookie of the Year. Benson ended the year with one top 5, six top 10s, and one pole. Randy MacDonald and Stacy Compton made attempts at the award as well, but did not run enough times to catch Benson.
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