1976 Daytona 24 hour race

Sketch of the Daytona International Speedway, the race was held on the combined oval and street course

The 15th 24-hour race of Daytona , also the 15th Annual 24 Hour of Daytona, Championship of Makes, Daytona International Speedway , took place on January 31st and February 1st, 1976 at Daytona International Speedway and was the first IMSA race -GT championship this year.

The race

The organizers received 87 entries for the first sports car world championship run of the season. Finally, on the afternoon of January 31st, 72 racing cars from the IMSA GTO, IMSA GTU, Le Mans GTX, Grand International (NASCAR) and Group 4/5 classes started the race. From the pole position went Brian Redman into the race. The Briton achieved a time of 1: 56.550 minutes on his fastest lap in practice on his BMW 3.5 CSL .

After 24 hours of racing time, the racing drivers Peter Gregg , Brian Redman and John Fitzpatrick were waved off as winners.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	GTO	59	BMW of North America	Peter Gregg Brian Redman John Fitzpatrick	BMW 3.5 CSL	545
2	GTO	14th	George Dickinson / Holbert Porsche-Audi	Al Holbert Claude Ballot-Léna	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	531
3	GTO	61	Brumo's Porsche	Jim Busby Hurley Haywood	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	530
4th	GTO	56	Bob Hagestad	Bob Hagestad Jerry Jolly	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	510
5	GTO	92	Oest / Tillson	Mike Tillson Dieter Oest Bruce Jennings	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	508
6th	GTO	71	Ken Starbird	Chris Cord Jim Adams Milt Minter	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4 Competizione	500
7th	GTU	42	BHR Porsche	Bob Hindson Dick Davenport Frank Carney	Porsche 911 S.	495
8th	GTO	43	Ecurie Escargot	John Graves John O'Steen Dave Helmick	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	493
9	GTO	99	Phil Currin	Phil Currin Cliff Gottlob Peter Knab	Chevrolet Corvette	483
10	GTO	24	BMW of North America	David Hobbs Benny Parsons	BMW 3.5 CSL	481
11	GTU	29	Charles Mendez	Charles Mendez Dave Cowart Dave Panaccione	Porsche 911 T.	480
12	Group 4/5	12	Sepp Greger	Dieter Schmid Wilhelm Bartels Heinz Martin Egon Evertz	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	475
13	GTU	51	Max Dial	John Hotchkis Robert Kirby Len Jones	Porsche 914/6	467
14th	GTU	60	Rusty Bond	Rusty Bond Ren Tilton John Belperche	Porsche 911 S.	465
15th	GTO	25th	BMW of North America	John Fitzpatrick Tom Walkinshaw	BMW 3.5 CSL	457
16	GI	21st	Jack Bowsher	David Pearson Larry Pearson Gary Bowsher Jim Bowsher	Ford Torino	442
17th	GTU	84	Mike Meldeau	Ara Dube Harro Zitza Doug Zitza	Porsche 911 S.	441
18th	GTU	90	Ray Walle	Ray Walle Tom Reddy Bill Scott	Mazda Cosmo	415
19th	GI	48	James Hylton	James Hylton Richard Childress	Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna	414
20th	GTU	81	Motex car	Hans Berner Willy Goebbels Fritz Hochreuter	Porsche 911 S.	412
21st	GTU	65	Stephen Isett	Paul May Lee Mueller David Sauers	Porsche 911 S.	409
22nd	GTO	15th	Garcia Brothers	Javier Garcia George Garcia Manuel Garcia	Chevrolet Corvette	399
23	GTU	54	Spirit Racing	Alex Job Steve Southard	Porsche 914/6	392
24	GTO	35	Ted Mathey	Ted Mathey Joe Chamberlain Arnstein Loyning	Chevrolet Corvette	380
25th	GTU	1	Louis McAlpine	Jim Westphal Anatoly Arutunoff Brian Goellnot	BMW 2002 TI	369
26th	GTU	89	Barrick Motor Racing	Don Parish Dave Causey Wayne Nelson	Porsche 911 S.	359
27	GTU	52	CACI	Bob Bergstrom Bill Shaw Martin Palmer	Honda Civic	352
28	GI	04	Hershel McGriff	Hershel McGriff Doug McGriff	Chevrolet Nova	336
29	GTO	40	Sam Fillingham	Sam Fillingham Bud Sherk	Chevrolet Corvette	336
30th	GTU	7th	Glen Marckwardt	Makoto Kamazuka Masashi Fukuda Ron Cortez	Mazda RX-3	331
31	GTO	97	Juan Carlos Bolaños	Juan Carlos Bolaños Billy Sprowls Gustavo Bolaños	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	318
32	GTO	41	Jones Industries Racing	Herb Jones, Jr. Steve Lazy	Chevrolet Camaro	301
33	GI	33	Glenn Francis	Glenn Francis Randy Bebout	Chevrolet Chevelle	301
34	GTO	76	Greenwood Customercar Levitt Racing	Mike Brockman John Greenwood	Chevrolet Corvette	298
35	GTO	80	Carmon Solomone	Carm Solomone Ed Maksym James Halverson	Chevrolet Camaro	291
36	GTU	36	Rainer Brezinka	Rainer Brezinka Gary Hirsch Brian Hardacre	Porsche 911 S.	286
37	GTO	75	Robert Christiansen	Bob Christiansen Billy Hagan	Chevrolet Camaro	282
38	GTU	0	William Frates	William Frates Craig Ross Spencer Buzbee	Datsun 240Z	274
39	GI	19th	Henley Gray	Henley Gray Bob Burcham	Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna	268
40	GTU	85	John E. Hulen	John Hulen Ron Coupland Nick Engels	Porsche 914/6	267
41	Group 4/5	11	Sepp Greger	Egon Evertz Sepp Greger Jürgen Lässig	Porsche 934	250
42	GTO	08	Peak oil	Mike Williamson Keith Swope	AMC Gremlin	246
43	GTO	22nd	Bandag	Denny Long Bill Jobe Tim Startup	Chevrolet Corvette	244
44	GTO	55	Car & Driver	Joe Ruttman Buddy Baker Stephen Behr	Dodge darts	240
45	GTU	34	George Drolsom	George Drolsom Bob Nagel	Porsche 911 S.	200
46	GTO	74	Ludwig Heimrath	Ludwig Heimrath senior Jacques Bienvenue Norm Ridgely	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	189
47	GTU	9	Bruce Mabrito	Bruce Mabrito Jack Steel	Datsun 240Z	185
48	GTU	10	Louis McAlpine	Alf Zellmer Brian Goellnot Bill Alsup	BMW 2002 TI	181
49	GTO	50	Hector Rebaque, Sr.	Fred van Beuren, Jr. Guillermo Rojas Andres Contreras	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	172
50	GTO	68	Mike Meldeau	Mike Meldeau Bill McDill John Tremblay	Chevrolet Camaro	172
51	GTO	46	Jose Antonio Hence	Jose A. Hence Alfonso Leal Jose Madero	Ford Mustang	168
52	GTU	67	David McClain	Dave White Frank Harmstad David McClain	Porsche 914/6	148
53	GI	98	Ed Negre	Ed Negre Bob Mitchell Arturo Merzario	Dodge Charger	144
54	GTO	44	Mauricio de Narváez	Mauricio de Narváez Albert Naon John Freyre	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	141
55	GTO	49	Neil Potter	Neil Potter Bob Gray Luis Sereix	Ford Mustang	139
56	GI	2	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison Donnie Allison	Chevrolet Nova	137
57	GTO	18th	Terry Wolters	Terry Wolters Charles Gano Joe Castellano	Chevrolet Camaro	122
58	GTU	53	Arthur Mollin	Arthur Mollin Bob Speakman Michael Gatoff	Volvo 142 S.	121
59	GTO	20th	Richard Weiss	Richard Weiss Michael Oleyar Jerry Karl	Porsche 911 S.	94
60	GI	91	Debra Lynn Miller	Harold Miller John Ray	Chevrolet Chevelle	66
61	GTO	72	Bill Arnold	Bill Arnold Al Levenson Tom Brown	Chevrolet Corvette	55
62	GTO	86	Hugh Kleinpeter	Hugh Kleinpeter Ron Goldleaf	De Tomaso Pantera	42
63	GTO	88	Maurice Carter	Maurice Carter Gilles Villeneuve	Chevrolet Camaro	34
64	GTO	4th	Bill Nelson, Sr.	Stephen Bond Dale Kreider	Pontiac Astre	28
65	GTU	47	Williams Grainger	Bill Bean Jack Ansley	Porsche 911 S.	21st
66	GTU	28	Anatoly Arutunoff	Brian Goellnot Anatoly Arutunoff José Marina	Lotus Europe	20th
67	GTO	64	CC Canada	CC Canada Russ Boykin	Chevrolet Camaro	17th
68	GTO	93	Jim E. Logan	Larry Flynn Bobbie Johnson	Chevrolet Camaro	17th
69	GTO	73	Howey Farms	Clark Howey Tony Kester David Crabtree	Chevrolet Corvette	15th
70	LM GTX	23	Charlie Kemp	Charlie Kemp Sam Posey Carson Baird	Ford Mustang II	6th
71	GTO	30th	Hayfield Porsche	George Dyer Michael Keyser	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	5
72	GTU	6th	Miller / Norburn	Nick Craw Ray Korman Joe Peacock	BMW 2002 TI	1
Not started
73	GTO	33A	Phil Henny Racing	Phil Henny Slick Gardner	Chevrolet Camaro	1
74	GTO	66	Tom Nehl	Tom Nehl Stephen Behr	Chevrolet Monza	2
75	GTO	96	Mike Williamson	Mike Williamson Lawrence P. Pleasants John Emig Robert Dula	Chevrolet Camaro	3

¹ sponsorship failed ² training accident ³ not started

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
76	GI	00	Bobby Mausgrover	Bobby Mausgrover	Chevrolet Chevelle
77	GI	01	Earle Canavan	Earle Canavan	Dodge Charger
78	LM GTX	17th	Terry Herman	Terry Herman Mark rocks	Ferrari 308 GTB
79	GTU	32	RC Hughes	Richard C. Hughes George Rollin Robert Whitaker	Datsun 510
80	GTO	37	John McClelland	Roberto Quintanilla Roberto González	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR
81	GTO	39	Wiley Doran	Wiley Doran Gary Belcher	Chevrolet Corvette
82	GTU	63	Stephen Isett	Stephen Isett Greg Dusz	Opel Manta
83	GTU	67	David McClain	David McClain Dave White Frank Harmstad	Porsche 911 S.
84	GTO	78	Milton Headley	Babe Headley Sam Feinstein	Chevrolet Corvette
85	GI	79	Frank Warren	Frank Warren	Dodge Charger
86	GTO	83	Jim E. Logan	Larry Flynn Bobbie Johnson Jim Logan	Chevrolet Camaro
87	GTO	98	London GT Racing	J. Peter Hanes Steve Bell	Chevrolet Corvette

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
GTO	Peter Gregg	Brian Redman	John Fitzpatrick		BMW 3.5 CSL	Overall victory
GTU	Bob Hindson	Dick Davenport	Frank Carney		Porsche 911 S.	Rank 7
LM GTX	Charlie Kemp	Sam Posey	Carson Baird		Ford Mustang II	Rank 70
GI	David Pearson	Larry Pearson	Gary Bowsher	Jim Bowsher	Ford Torino	Rank 16
Group 4/5	Dieter Schmid	Wilhelm Bartels	Heinz Martin	Egon Evertz	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	Rank 12

Racing data

• Registered: 87
• Started: 72
• Rated: 30
• Race classes: 5
• Spectator: unknown
• Weather on race day: rain at the end
• Route length: 6.180 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24:06: 53.635 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 545
• Total distance of the winning team: 3368.035 km
• Winner's average: 167.439 km / h
• Pole position: Brian Redman - BMW 3.5 CSL (# 59) - 1: 56.550 = 190.884 km / h
• Fastest race lap: John Greenwood - Chevrolet Corvette (# 76) - 1: 56.858 = 190.381 km / h
• Racing series: 1st round of the IMSA GT series in 1976

literature

• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

• Race results at wspr

Previous race 250 mile race of Daytona 1975, 2nd race

IMSA GT Championship

Successor to the Sebring 12-hour race in 1976