1974 Southeastern 500

Last updated

1974 Southeastern 500
Race details [1]
Race 5 of 30 in the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Bristol Motor Speedway map.png
Layout of Bristol Motor Speedway
Date March 17, 1974 (1974-03-17)
Official name Southeastern 500
Location Bristol International Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 0.800 km (0.500 miles)
Distance 500 laps, 250.0 mi (400.0 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures of 55.9 °F (13.3 °C); wind speeds of 18.1 miles per hour (29.1 km/h)
Average speed 64.533 miles per hour (103.856 km/h)
Attendance 18,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver DiGard Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Howard & Egerton Racing
Laps 367
Winner
No. 11Cale YarboroughHoward & Egerton Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1974 Southeastern 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on March 17, 1974, at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.

Contents

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Background

Bristol Motor Speedway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks. [3]

Race report

There were 30 American-born drivers on the grid; the distance of the race was 500 laps. Jabe Thomas was credited as the last-place finisher due to problems with his oil pan on lap 63 of the race. The first 50 laps of the race were not scored due to the fuel crisis that took place during this year. Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Isaac, Benny Parsons, and Bobby Allison would be the respective leaders for certain parts of the race. After three hours and forty-two minutes of racing, Cale Yarborough defeated Bobby Isaac by one lap in front of a live audience of eighteen thousand people. Yarborough would be the only driver on the lead lap by the end of the race. With a strong second-place run with Issac at the wheel, this was the last race for car owner Banjo Matthew and his famous #27 team. [2]

Most of the drivers in the race either used Chevrolet or Ford vehicles for their official racing vehicle; Chevrolet swept the entire top-ten for this race. The total purse of this race was $45,075 ($278,479.55 when adjusted for inflation). Donnie Allison achieved the pole position for this race by driving up to 107.785 miles per hour (173.463 km/h) during solo qualifying runs. Yarborough's average speed for the entire racing event was 64.533 miles per hour (103.856 km/h). [4]

The model years of the vehicles ranged from 1972 to 1974; complying with the homologation policies set forth by NASCAR during this era. Engine issues and accidents were the main reasons for the DNFs found in this racing event. Joe Mihalic would have the best finish of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career at this race. [5]

Qualifying

Grid [2] No.DriverManufacturer
188Donnie Allison'74 Chevrolet
212Bobby Allison'74 Chevrolet
311Cale Yarborough'74 Chevrolet
448James Hylton'74 Chevrolet
572Benny Parson'74 Chevrolet
627Bobby Isaac'74 Chevrolet
724Cecil Gordon'74 Chevrolet
802L.D. Ottinger'74 Chevrolet
943Richard Petty'74 Dodge
1015George Follmer'73 Ford
117Dean Dalton'74 Chevrolet
1260Joe Mihalic'74 Chevrolet
1354Lennie Pond'74 Chevrolet
1468Alton Jones'73 Chevrolet
1530Walter Ballard'73 Chevrolet
1696Richard Childress'73 Chevrolet
1705David Sisco'72 Chevrolet
1890Richie Panch'74 Ford
1979Frank Warren'74 Dodge
2064Elmo Langley'73 Ford
2167Buddy Arrington'72 Plymouth
2270J.D. McDuffie'72 Chevrolet
239Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.'72 Chevrolet
248Ed Negre'73 Dodge
2575Bobby Fleming'72 Chevrolet
262Dave Marcis'73 Dodge
2714Coo Coo Marlin'73 Chevrolet
2810Bill Champion'72 Ford
2946Travis Tiller'73 Dodge
3025Jabe Thomas'73 Dodge

Top 10 finishers

Pos [2] GridNo.DriverManufacturerMoneyLapsLaps ledTime/Status
1311 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet $8,6555003673:42:50
2627 Bobby Isaac Chevrolet $4,0304992+1 lap
3572 Benny Parsons Chevrolet $4,9054986+2 laps
4212 Bobby Allison Chevrolet $3,35549773+3 laps
5188 Donnie Allison Chevrolet $1,9804912+9 laps
6724 Cecil Gordon Chevrolet $1,0804880+12 laps
71260 Joe Mihalic Chevrolet $1,0104850+15 laps
8448 James Hylton Chevrolet $9554710+29 laps
91468 Alton Jones Chevrolet $8454690+31 laps
102714 Coo Coo Marlin Chevrolet $6054570+53 laps

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

References

  1. Weather information for the 1974 Southeastern 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 1974 Southeastern 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. Gragg, Joe (August 25, 2011). "It's Official: Bristol Is The Loudest NASCAR Track". WCYB.com. Retrieved June 3, 2012.[ dead link ]
  4. 1974 Southeastern 500 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  5. 1974 Southeastern 500 racing information at Race Database
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1974
Succeeded by