1973 National 500

The 1973 National 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on October 7, 1973, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

1973 National 500
Race details[1][2]
Race 27 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1973 National 500 program cover
1973 National 500 program cover
Date October 7, 1973 (1973-October-07)
Official name National 500
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course 1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 334 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 75.9 °F (24.4 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed 145.240 miles per hour (233.741 km/h)
Attendance 64,000[3]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Howard & Egerton Racing
Laps 257
Winner
No. 11 Cale Yarborough Howard & Egerton Racing
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Ken Squier, Marvin Panch
Turn Announcers Hill Overton, Barney Hall

The Yom Kippur war between Israel and the Arabs broke out the day before. The Arab oil embargo soon went into effect and resulted in cancellation of the Texas race and shortening of 1974 races by 10%. Charlotte Motor Speedway was undergoing a leadership shakeup as original owner Bruton Smith was purchasing stock from holders looking to cash out; by 1973 he’d amassed nearly half the 1.4 million shares accounted for by the Speedway and despite public denials was seeking to usurp Richard Howard, the Speedway president appointed as such by bankruptcy court in 1963.[4]

Qualifying

The first driver to qualify for pole, Charlie Glotzbach, was found in a post qualifying inspection to have modified his restrictor plate in an illegal fashion. Glotsbach's team was fined $500 and the $1,000 pole bonus he was to receive was rescinded. Glotsbach was forced to re-qualify after changes were made to the car to make it legal, and qualified 34th. Pole was then awarded to David Pearson, who had qualified second.

Dean Dalton, whose performance on Saturday did not qualify him for the race, was allowed into the race 41st on the grid, because of the above.[5]

Race report

334 laps took place on a paved track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km) with two cautions given out for sixteen laps.[3][2] However, the race took three hours and twenty-six minutes to finish with Cale Yarborough defeating Richard Petty by a time of 1.4 seconds.[3][2] Yarborough and Petty would lap the field three times before retrieving the checkered flag.[6] David Pearson won the official pole position with a speed of 158.315 miles per hour (254.783 km/h) - which was equivalent to 34.109 seconds.[3][2] Sixty-four thousand people attended this live racing event.[3][2] The race had a mobile home (driven by Tim Flock) to accompany the drivers and their vehicles on the opening parade lap; which was unusual back then by NASCAR standards and is still considered to be unusual in today's NASCAR.

Harry Gant would make his racing debut here; ultimately finishing in 11th place.[3][2] Dick Trickle also made his debut here, finishing an impressive fifth. Wendell Scott would retire after this race; making a 12th-place finish in this event. Johnny Barnes' 15th-place run was his best in Cup competition. Wayne Andrews would pull out of the race on lap 5 due to engine problems.[3][2]

Buddy Baker retired his car on lap 228, and team owner Nord Krauskopf refused to allow NASCAR to inspect the car after this was done. NASCAR disqualified the team, and therefore, Buddy Baker officially finished 41st.[3][2][7] Baker was the last driver to be disqualified for technical infractions until 1992 (when Bobby Hillin Jr. was disqualified from the 1992 Mello Yello 500), after which NASCAR stopped disqualifying drivers until a 2019 rule change.[8]

What made this race extra important to drivers was that $100 was given out for every lap that a driver led ($659.22 when adjusted for inflation). Yarborough and Petty were said to have engines in their cars that exceeded the horsepower permitted by NASCAR during that era. Bobby Allison filed a complaint with Bill France, Jr. which resulted in a 6-hour meeting and "satisfactory restitution."

Wind speeds at this race would reach an average of 6.9 miles per hour (11.1 km/h).[1] The race was held on a dry circuit; with no precipitation recorded around the speedway.[9]

Qualifying
Grid[3] No. Driver Manufacturer
1 21David Pearson'71 Mercury
2 11Cale Yarborough'73 Chevrolet
3 12Bobby Allison'73 Chevrolet
4 43Richard Petty'73 Dodge
5 71Buddy Baker'73 Dodge
6 15Darrell Waltrip'73 Ford
7 72Benny Parsons'73 Chevrolet
8 1Dick Trickle'73 Chevrolet
9 88Donnie Allison'73 Chevrolet
10 48James Hylton'73 Chevrolet
11 24Cecil Gordon'72 Chevrolet
12 54Lennie Pond'73 Chevrolet
13 67Buddy Arrington'72 Plymouth
14 31Jim Vandiver'72 Dodge
15 02L.D. Ottinger'73 Chevrolet
16 79Frank Warren'73 Dodge
17 90Harry Gant'72 Ford
18 2Dave Marcis'73 Matador
19 49G.C. Spencer'72 Dodge
20 30Walter Ballard'71 Mercury

Finishing order

Section reference:[10]

Fin St # Driver Sponsor Make Laps Led Status
1 2 11 Cale Yarborough Kar-Kare '73 Chevrolet 334 257 running
2 4 43 Richard Petty STP '73 Dodge 334 52 running
3 3 12 Bobby Allison Coca-Cola '73 Chevrolet 331 9 running
4 7 72 Benny Parsons DeWitt Racing '73 Chevrolet 330 0 running
5 8 1 Dick Trickle A&W Root Beer '73 Chevrolet 327 2 running
6 12 54 Lennie Pond Master Chevy Sales '73 Chevrolet 325 1 running
7 13 67 Buddy Arrington Cherokee Construction '72 Plymouth 319 0 running
8 39 64 Elmo Langley Langley Racing '72 Ford 318 0 running
9 11 24 Cecil Gordon Gordon Racing '72 Chevrolet 315 0 running
10 32 19 Henley Gray Warren Lindsey '71 Mercury 308 0 running
11 17 90 Harry Gant Truxmore Industries '72 Ford 307 0 running
12 38 5 Wendell Scott Faustina Racing, Kmart Special '73 Dodge 305 0 running
13 10 48 James Hylton Stott Chevrolet '73 Chevrolet 302 0 running
14 25 77 Charlie Roberts Sunny King '72 Chevrolet 296 0 running
15 30 89 Johnny Barnes Hopper-Crews '71 Mercury 294 0 running
16 35 22 Jimmy Crawford Black Part '72 Plymouth 294 0 running
17 14 31 Jim Vandiver Bradford Enterprises '72 Dodge 291 0 running
18 24 96 Richard Childress L.C. Newton Trucking '73 Chevrolet 284 0 engine
19 22 14 Coo Coo Marlin Cunningham-Kelley '72 Chevrolet 282 0 engine
20 36 0 Eddie Bond Bond Racing '72 Dodge 281 0 engine
21 31 05 David Sisco Sisco Racing '72 Chevrolet 268 0 driveshaft
22 27 18 Joe Frasson Pizza Huts of Charlotte '73 Dodge 264 0 engine
23 20 30 Walter Ballard Textilease '71 Mercury 230 0 engine
24 18 2 Dave Marcis Marcis Racing '73 Matador 223 0 engine
25 41 25 Jabe Thomas Robertson Racing '73 Dodge 203 0 running
26 33 10 Bill Champion Earl Powell Auto Parts '71 Mercury 198 0 engine
27 23 44 Ed Negre Brown Racing '71 Chevrolet 183 0 engine
28 15 02 L.D. Ottinger Lonesome Pine Raceway '73 Chevrolet 137 0 engine
29 37 70 J.D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing '72 Chevrolet 113 0 engine
30 40 7 Dean Dalton Belden Asphalt '71 Mercury 90 0 engine
31 26 06 Neil Castles Howard Furniture '73 Dodge 64 0 suspension
32 9 88 Donnie Allison DiGard Racing '73 Chevrolet 61 0 engine
33 21 47 Raymond Williams Williams Racing '72 Ford 58 0 steering
34 29 32 Dick Brooks Brooks Racing '73 Dodge 49 0 engine
35 16 79 Frank Warren Hinson Construction '73 Dodge 47 0 engine
36 1 21 David Pearson Purolator '71 Mercury 46 12 crash
37 34 28 Charlie Glotzbach Pylon Wiper Blades '73 Chevrolet 46 1 crash
38 6 15 Darrell Waltrip Sta-Power Industries '73 Ford 46 0 crash
39 19 49 G.C. Spencer Spencer Racing '72 Dodge 13 0 engine
40 28 98 Wayne Andrews Hylton Engineering '71 Mercury 5 0 engine
41 5 71 Buddy Baker K & K Insurance '73 Dodge 228 0 disqualified

Timeline

Section reference:[3]

  • Start of race: David Pearson started the race with the pole position.
  • Lap 5: Wayne Andrews' engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 13: G.C. Spencer's engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 32: Charlie Glotzbach took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 33: Lennie Pond took over the lead from Charlie Glotzbach.
  • Lap 34: David Pearson took over the lead from Lennie Pond.
  • Lap 46: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 47: Frank Warren's engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 49: Dick Brooks' engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 53: Dick Trickle took over the lead from Cale Yarbrough.
  • Lap 55: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Dick Trickle.
  • Lap 61: Donnie Allison's engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 64: Neil Castles developed problems with his vehicle's suspension while Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 223: Dave Marcis' engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 228: Buddy Baker was disqualified by NASCAR due to non-compliance regarding engine inspection.
  • Lap 230: Walter Ballard's engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 233: Richard Petty took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 264: Joe Frasson's engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 271: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 281: Eddie Bond's engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 282: Coo Coo Marlin's engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 284: Richard Childress' engine problem forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 299: Richard Petty took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 313: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Finish: Cale Yarborough was officially declared the winner of the event.

References
  1. "1973 National 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  2. "1973 National 500 information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  3. "1973 National 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  4. Benyo, Richard, SUPERSPEEDWAY: THE STORY OF NASCAR GRAND NATIONAL RACING (1977), pp. 74-77
  5. "Classic Races - MRN.com". mrn.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-11. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
  6. "Yarborough's and Petty's struggle for the flag". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  7. "MRN Flashback: 1973 National 500 - Cale Yarborough Claims Controversial Victory - MRN.com". mrn.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-19. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
  8. Coburn, Wesley (2019-02-04). "NASCAR Will Take Wins Away from Rule Breakers in 2019". Frontstretch.com.
  9. "Charlotte NASCAR Climatology" (PDF). SERCC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-09-08. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  10. "1973 National 500 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
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