On April 4, 1976, the Gwyn Staley 400 was held at North Wilkesboro Speedway with an attendance of 18,000 fans for the 28-car field. Dave Marcis captured the pole position with a qualifying speed of 108.585 mph.
The race belonged to Cale Yarborough. Driving for car owner Junior Johnson (who had a grandstand named after him during this weekend), Yarborough dominated by leading an incredible 364 of the 400 laps. He went on to win by more than a full lap over second-place finisher Richard Petty.
Bobby Allison finished third, followed by Benny Parsons in fourth and J.D. McDuffie in fifth. The race saw only two cautions for a total of eight laps, contributing to a strong average race speed of 96.858 mph.
It was a classic display of dominance by Yarborough and the Junior Johnson team at the historic short track.
