1996 Mountain Dew Southern 500
# 1996 Mountain Dew Southern 500

The 1996 Mountain Dew Southern 500, the 47th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on September 1, 1996 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested at 367 laps on the 1.366 mile (2.198 km) speedway, it was the 23rd race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.

## Top 10 results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 2 | 8 | Hut Stricklin | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 3 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford |
| 4 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 5 | 37 | John Andretti | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 6 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet |
| 7 | 28 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | Ford |
| 8 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 9 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford |
| 10 | 9 | Lake Speed | Melling Racing | Ford |

## Race statistics

* Time of race: 3:41:34
* Average Speed: 135.757 miles per hour (218.480 km/h)
* Pole Speed: 170.934
* Cautions: 6 for 37 laps
* Margin of Victory: 5.23 sec
* Lead changes: 29
* Percent of race run under caution: 10.1%
* Average green flag run: 47.1 laps
