The Nashville 420, held on July 16, 1977, at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee, was the 17th race of the 30-event NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. This event covered 420 laps on the 0.596-mile paved short oval, with Darrell Waltrip claiming victory in the #88 Gatorade Chevrolet for DiGard Motorsports. Waltrip started sixth and led a dominant 300 laps in a race significant to him as his “home” track. Benny Parsons won the pole position in the #72 King’s Row Fireplace Chevrolet with a qualifying speed of 104.21 mph. The top three finishers were Darrell Waltrip in first, Bobby Allison in second (driving the #12 Matador, one lap down and leading 31 laps), and Richard Petty in third (in the #43 STP Dodge, two laps down and leading 10 laps). Cale Yarborough (in the #11 Holly Farms Chevrolet for Junior Johnson & Associates) finished fourth as his championship bid continued solidly towards a second consecutive title. The race lasted three hours and ten minutes with a crowd of 17,500. There were seven lead changes and ten cautions for 54 laps. This mid-summer short-track classic at the historic Nashville venue highlighted Waltrip’s local prowess and the competitive short-oval battles typical of the 1970s stock car era.
