1996 Brickyard 400
# 1996 Brickyard 400

The 1996 Brickyard 400, the 3rd running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on August 3, 1996, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race was the nineteenth of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the pole position with a speed of 176.419 miles per hour (283.919 km/h), while Robert Yates Racing's Dale Jarrett won the race.

The track had been repaved, and speeds had been reported to have increased by 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h).

## Race

Five laps into the race, the first caution flew for a crash involving Greg Sacks, Robert Pressley, Ricky Craven, Dave Marcis, and Bobby Hillin Jr. On lap 23, pole-sitter Jeff Gordon cut his right-front tire and hit the wall; Gordon finished 37th. Subsequently, Johnny Benson Jr. took the lead, and led a race-high 70 laps. Ernie Irvan took the lead from Benson on lap 108, and on lap 126, an error made during a pit stop dropped Benson to 13th. Meanwhile, Dale Jarrett took the lead from his Robert Yates Racing teammate Irvan, who reclaimed the lead on lap 139 after passing Jarrett in turn 3. Jarrett managed to pass Irvan in turn 2 of lap 154, and kept the lead after the race ended under caution due to Pressley crashing in turn 4 on lap 159. Irvan finished second, followed by Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Morgan Shepherd, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Benson, Rick Mast and Bill Elliott.

Afterwards, Jarrett and crew chief Todd Parrott kissed the yard of bricks at the start/finish line, a practice that has continued to be performed in NASCAR, and was eventually also done by Gil de Ferran after his win in the Indianapolis 500 in 2003.

In the points standings after the race, Terry Labonte led with 2792 points, Dale Earnhardt trailed with 2731 points; Jarrett (2729), Jeff Gordon (2688), and Ricky Rudd (2415) rounded out the Top 5.

## Results

### Qualifying

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed | Grid |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.015 | 176.419† | 1 |
| 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 51.159 | 175.922 | 2 |
| 9 | Lake Speed | Melling Racing | Ford | 51.183 | 175.840 | 3 |
| 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.298 | 175.445 | 4 |
| 77 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 51.328 | 175.343 | 5 |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.331 | 175.333 | 6 |
| 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford | 51.390 | 175.131 | 7 |
| 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Pontiac | 51.406 | 175.077 | 8 |
| 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.413 | 175.053 | 9 |
| 29 | Greg Sacks | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.439 | 174.965 | 10 |
| 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.443 | 174.951 | 11 |
| 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 51.455 | 174.910 | 12 |
| 42 | Kyle Petty | Team SABCO | Pontiac | 51.455 | 174.910 | 13 |
| 30 | Johnny Benson Jr. # | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 51.465 | 174.876 | 14 |
| 28 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 51.502 | 174.750 | 15 |
| 8 | Hut Stricklin | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 51.513 | 174.713 | 16 |
| 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 51.515 | 174.706 | 17 |
| 15 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 51.589 | 174.456 | 18 |
| 98 | Jeremy Mayfield | Cale Yarborough Racing | Ford | 51.592 | 174.446 | 19 |
| 23 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | 51.597 | 174.429 | 20 |
| 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 51.600 | 174.419 | 21 |
| 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 51.607 | 174.395 | 22 |
| 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 51.628 | 174.324 | 23 |
| 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 51.647 | 174.260 | 24 |
| 90 | Dick Trickle | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 51.664 | 174.203 | 25 |
| 95 | Gary Bradberry | Sadler Brothers Racing | Ford | 51.551 | 174.584 | 26‡ |
| 37 | John Andretti | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | Ford | 51.676 | 174.162 | 27 |
| 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 51.715 | 174.031 | 28 |
| 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 51.785 | 173.796 | 29 |
| 21 | Michael Waltrip | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 51.873 | 173.501 | 30 |
| 81 | Kenny Wallace | FILMAR Racing | Ford | 51.877 | 173.487 | 31 |
| 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 51.941 | 173.274 | 32 |
| 17 | Darrell Waltrip | DarWal Inc. | Chevrolet | 51.960 | 173.210 | 33 |
| 33 | Robert Pressley | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51.971 | 173.174 | 34 |
| 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 51.977 | 173.154 | 35 |
| 12 | Derrike Cope | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 51.977 | 173.154 | 36 |
| 43 | Bobby Hamilton | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 52.037 | 172.954 | 37 |
| 75 | Morgan Shepherd | RahMoc Enterprises | Ford | 52.045 | 172.927 | 38 |
| 41 | Ricky Craven | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Provisional | Provisional | 39 |
| 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | Provisional | Provisional | 40 |
| Failed to Qualify |||||||
| 91 | Ron Barfield Jr. | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford | 52.101 | 172.471 | |
| 27 | Jason Keller | David Blair Motorsports | Ford | 52.332 | 171.979 | |
| 78 | Randy MacDonald # | Triad Motorsports | Ford | 52.532 | 171.324 | |
| 44 | Jeff Purvis | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 52.535 | 171.314 | |
| 46 | Stacy Compton # | Monroe Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.611 | 171.067 | |
| 02 | Robbie Faggart | Miles Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52.668 | 170.882 | |
| 50 | A. J. Foyt | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Ford | 52.818 | 170.396 | |
| 57 | Steve Seligman | Team III Motorsports | Ford | 53.663 | 167.713 | |
| # Rookie of the Year candidate / † New track record / ‡ Fastest second round qualifier Source: |||||||

### Race results

| Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 24 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 160 | 180 |
| 2 | 15 | 28 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 160 | 175 |
| 3 | 9 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 170 |
| 4 | 2 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 165 |
| 5 | 38 | 75 | Morgan Shepherd | RahMoc Enterprises | Ford | 160 | 155 |
| 6 | 35 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 160 | 155 |
| 7 | 17 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 160 | 146 |
| 8 | 14 | 30 | Johnny Benson Jr. # | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 160 | 152 |
| 9 | 8 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Pontiac | 160 | 138 |
| 10 | 7 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford | 160 | 139 |
| 11 | 28 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 130 |
| 12 | 20 | 23 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | 160 | 127 |
| 13 | 3 | 9 | Lake Speed | Melling Racing | Ford | 160 | 129 |
| 14 | 36 | 12 | Derrike Cope | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 160 | 121 |
| 15 | 12 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt* | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 123 |
| 16 | 4 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 120 |
| 17 | 18 | 15 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 160 | 112 |
| 18 | 16 | 8 | Hut Stricklin | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 160 | 109 |
| 19 | 27 | 37 | John Andretti | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | Ford | 160 | 106 |
| 20 | 29 | 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 160 | 103 |
| 21 | 21 | 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 100 |
| 22 | 22 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 159 | 97 |
| 23 | 25 | 90 | Dick Trickle | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 159 | 94 |
| 24 | 23 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 159 | 91 |
| 25 | 19 | 98 | Jeremy Mayfield | Cale Yarborough Racing | Ford | 159 | 88 |
| 26 | 5† | 77 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 159 | 85 |
| 27 | 6 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 159 | 82 |
| 28 | 30 | 21 | Michael Waltrip | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 159 | 79 |
| 29 | 26 | 95 | Gary Bradberry | Sadler Brothers Racing | Ford | 158 | 76 |
| 30 | 34 | 33 | Robert Pressley | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 73 |
| 31 | 37 | 43 | Bobby Hamilton | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 156 | 70 |
| 32 | 10 | 29 | Greg Sacks | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 154 | 72 |
| 33 | 31 | 81 | Kenny Wallace | FILMAR Racing | Ford | 151 | 64 |
| 34 | 39 | 41 | Ricky Craven | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 142 | 61 |
| 35 | 40 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 112 | 58 |
| 36 | 32 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 82 | 55 |
| 37 | 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40 | 57 |
| 38 | 13 | 42 | Kyle Petty | Team SABCO | Pontiac | 37 | 54 |
| 39 | 11 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37 | 51 |
| 40 | 33 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | DarWal Inc. | Chevrolet | 9 | 43 |
| # Rookie of the Year candidate / *Mike Skinner took over Earnhardt's car after five laps / † Started at rear of field due to backup car Source: ||||||||

### Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Terry Labonte | 2792 |
| 2 | Dale Earnhardt | 2731 |
| 3 | Dale Jarrett | 2729 |
| 4 | Jeff Gordon | 2688 |
| 5 | Ricky Rudd | 2415 |
| 6 | Rusty Wallace | 2393 |
| 7 | Ernie Irvan | 2363 |
| 8 | Mark Martin | 2357 |
| 9 | Ken Schrader | 2336 |
| 10 | Sterling Marlin | 2336 |
