Jim Walker won the preliminary Permatex 200 LMS race on January 17th.
And sounds like Ivan Baldwin and the pride of Newport TN, L.D. Ottinger, had a dust-up during the race. I think Baldwin welcomed L.D. to town just about every time the southern guys traveled west.
As they did with Richard Petty, folks were talking about Hershel McGriff's retirement decades before he did finally hang up his helmet. 
34th place finisher Sam Beler with a tough day in his one and only Cup race.
How bold (or foolish?) was NASCAR and Riverside that day? Riverside's Winston Western 500 went head-to-head against Super Bowl X being played in Miami. Admittedly, the two weren't competing for TV viewers nationally as the race wasn't aired. Yet, fans locally had options. Sounds like the track still had a packed house. That scenario would be impossible to pull off today.
A few more from the race
James Hylton
D.K. Ulrich
Cale's Holly Farms Chevy
Richard Childress, Hershel McGriff & Ron Esau
Ray Elder racing Yarborough
DW with one of those 1976 DiGard engine woes
I really like this one - The King racing by the full grandstands
Tim - You've finally reached that point of your Riverside series where a race's anniversary falls on the date of your post. The 76 WW500 was raced on January 18, 1976.
A point of clarification - You mentioned Petty coming off major stomach surgery. Are you referring instead to the surgery he had in the 1978 off-season that had many questioning if he could start the 1979 season? While he may have been dealing with ulcer issues in 75-76 time frame, I don't think he had gone through any surgery for them at that point. He DID however come into 1976 with his bicentennial beard.
Race program from Motor Racing Programme Covers :
Several neat photos shared by Daniel Mensinger at TheVRL.com.
The Winston show car from the annual Riverside pre-race parade.
Front row with Bobby Allison in the CAM2 Matador alongside eventual race winner Pearson.
Buddy Baker - Benny Parsons - Dave Marcis behind the front row
The King's Dodge - I wish I had one of those PETTY windshield banners.
Darrell Waltrip - I've always liked chrome wheels on Cup cars. But I also liked the silver / gray look on them too along with the white GOODYEAR logo on the tires (vs. the yellow lettering on them we have now).
Ray Elder
Race report from San Bernardino County Sun re: January 18th Permatex 200
The 1975 Winston Western 500 was the first race under the Latford points system - one that served NASCAR well for a quarter-century. Until...
