The Carolina 500, the fourth race of the 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, was held on March 13th at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. The event was contested over 492 laps on the 1.017-mile high-banked oval. Richard Petty, driving the #43 Dodge for Petty Enterprises, captured the victory in dominant fashion, leading 281 of the laps after taking control following the halfway point. This win marked one of Petty’s many triumphs at the track and came during a period when he was chasing his record seventh championship. The race was notable for its relatively low average speed of around 97.86 mph attributed to the 11 caution flags that totaled 118 laps, the slowest superspeedway race since 1961. Darrell Waltrip finished second in the #88 Chevrolet, with Donnie Allison taking third in the #1 Chevrolet. Rounding out the top five were Buddy Baker and Neil Bonnett.
