The 1973 World 600, the 14th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on May 27, 1973, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.[2]
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 12 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 1973 World 600 program cover | |||
| Date | May 27, 1973 | ||
| Official name | World 600 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course | 1.500 mi (2.414 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching of 75.9 °F (24.4 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 134.890 mph (217.084 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 85,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Nord Krauskopf | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Buddy Baker | Nord Krauskopf | |
| Laps | 220 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 71 | Buddy Baker | Nord Krauskopf | |
Summary
editThe grid consisted of 40 drivers. Alton Jones would finish in last place due to an engine problem on lap 2 out of the 400 laps that made up the race.[2] Buddy Baker defeated David Pearson by 1.8 seconds in front of 85,000 spectators. [2] Baker made history as he became the first driver to both win this race two years in a row and win the race three times.[3] Six cautions slowed the race for 48 laps. There were 23 different leaders. The race lasted four hours and twenty-six seconds.[2]
Baker would qualify for the pole position with a speed of 158.051 miles per hour (254.358 km/h) while the average race speed was 134.890 miles per hour (217.084 km/h). [4] Other drivers in the top ten included: Cale Yarborough, Bobby Isaac, Benny Parsons, Jim Vandiver, Darrell Waltrip, Cecil Gordon, Dick Brooks, and David Sisco.[2] Ed Negre (#08), David Ray Boggs (#8) and Charlie Roberts failed to qualify for the race.[4]
Peter Gregg had a terrible crash early in the race in the final race for Cotton Owens' famous red #6 Dodges, then Vic Parsons would have had hard crash later on in the race.[2]
Notable crew chiefs in the race were Tim Brewer, Jake Elder, Travis Carter, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Vic Ballard, Tom Vandiver, and Bud Moore.[5]
On the day of the race, 0.01 inches of precipitation would be recorded around the speedway.[6] It would be enough rain to delay the race from lap 241 to lap 256.[2]
Cotton Owens would retire as a NASCAR race car owner after this race. David Pearson would be prevented from tying Richard Petty's record of ten consecutive wins at this race. Pearson would end up racking a 105 victories. Bobby Allison skipped this race to do the 1973 Indianapolis 500.
Introductions to NASCAR
editPeter Gregg would make his only NASCAR Cup Series start at this event. Billy Scott and Charlie Blanton would start their respective NASCAR careers at this race and would race for several others.[7]
Race results
edit| Source: [8] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Sponsor | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 71 | Buddy Baker | K & K Insurance | '73 Dodge | 400 | 220 | running |
| 2 | 2 | 21 | David Pearson | Purolator | '71 Mercury | 400 | 29 | running |
| 3 | 4 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Kar-Kare | '73 Chevrolet | 399 | 15 | running |
| 4 | 15 | 15 | Bobby Isaac | Sta-Power Industries | '73 Ford | 397 | 0 | running |
| 5 | 8 | 72 | Benny Parsons | Union 76 Racing Oil | '73 Chevrolet | 393 | 1 | running |
| 6 | 16 | 31 | Jim Vandiver | Bradford Enterprises | '72 Dodge | 392 | 0 | running |
| 7 | 13 | 95 | Darrell Waltrip | Kmart, Terminal Transport | '71 Mercury | 391 | 0 | running |
| 8 | 6 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | Panasonic | '72 Chevrolet | 384 | 0 | running |
| 9 | 26 | 90 | Dick Brooks | Truxmore Industries | '73 Ford | 378 | 0 | engine |
| 10 | 32 | 05 | David Sisco | Sisco Racing | '72 Chevrolet | 378 | 0 | running |
| 11 | 28 | 96 | Richard Childress | L.C. Newton Trucking | '73 Chevrolet | 373 | 0 | engine |
| 12 | 25 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Engineering | '71 Mercury | 373 | 0 | running |
| 13 | 3 | 43 | Richard Petty | STP | '73 Dodge | 370 | 134 | running |
| 14 | 34 | 64 | Elmo Langley | Langley Racing | '72 Ford | 368 | 0 | running |
| 15 | 21 | 92 | Larry Smith | Carling Black Label | '71 Mercury | 368 | 0 | running |
| 16 | 30 | 10 | Bill Champion | Earl Powell Auto Parts | '71 Ford | 366 | 0 | running |
| 17 | 40 | 47 | Raymond Williams | Jet Way Wax | '72 Ford | 366 | 0 | running |
| 18 | 10 | 30 | Walter Ballard | Ballard Racing | '71 Mercury | 354 | 0 | running |
| 19 | 31 | 4 | Ed Negre | Mills Air Conditioning | '71 Dodge | 354 | 0 | running |
| 20 | 19 | 5 | Charlie Blanton | TravelLodge Motels | '73 Dodge | 351 | 0 | engine |
| 21 | 20 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | '72 Chevrolet | 350 | 0 | running |
| 22 | 23 | 1 | Billy Scott | Big Chance Special, Ranger Motor Homes | '73 Chevrolet | 340 | 0 | running |
| 23 | 35 | 79 | Frank Warren | Warren Racing | '73 Dodge | 287 | 0 | engine |
| 24 | 5 | 28 | Charlie Glotzbach | Lemon Tree Inn | '73 Chevrolet | 281 | 0 | engine |
| 25 | 9 | 18 | Joe Frasson | Pizza Hut | '73 Dodge | 278 | 1 | engine |
| 26 | 39 | 45 | Vic Parsons | Seifert Rent-A-Racer | '71 Ford | 241 | 0 | crash |
| 27 | 22 | 09 | Charles Barrett | Dahlonega Ford Sales | '71 Ford | 241 | 0 | overheating |
| 28 | 12 | 2 | Dave Marcis | AMC | '73 Matador | 204 | 0 | engine |
| 29 | 17 | 49 | G.C. Spencer | Spencer Racing | '72 Dodge | 163 | 0 | steering |
| 30 | 37 | 7 | Dean Dalton | Belden Asphalt | '71 Mercury | 145 | 0 | driveshaft |
| 31 | 27 | 25 | Jabe Thomas | Robertson Racing | '73 Dodge | 117 | 0 | oil leak |
| 32 | 24 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Cherokee Construction | '72 Plymouth | 100 | 0 | transmission |
| 33 | 14 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | Cunningham-Kelley | '72 Chevrolet | 71 | 0 | engine |
| 34 | 38 | 06 | Neil Castles | Howard Furniture | '73 Dodge | 64 | 0 | rear end |
| 35 | 18 | 83 | Paul Tyler | Smithville Farms | '71 Mercury | 52 | 0 | alternator |
| 36 | 29 | 55 | Tiny Lund | Price Construction | '72 Chevrolet | 50 | 0 | engine |
| 37 | 7 | 6 | Peter Gregg | Jacksonville Dealers, Owens Racing | '72 Dodge | 34 | 0 | crash |
| 38 | 11 | 54 | Lennie Pond | Master Chevy Sales | '73 Chevrolet | 14 | 0 | engine |
| 39 | 36 | 44 | Richard D. Brown | Brown Racing | '72 Chevrolet | 4 | 0 | transmission |
| 40 | 33 | 3 | Alton Jones | Crimson Dale Nursery | '73 Chevrolet | 2 | 0 | engine |
References
edit- ^ "1973 World 600 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "1973 World 600 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- ^ "Buddy Baker win information". Scene Daily. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- ^ a b "1973 World 600 qualifying information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
- ^ "1973 World 600 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
- ^ Climatology information Archived 2018-09-08 at the Wayback Machine at SERCC
- ^ "Introductions to NASCAR". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- ^ "1973 World 600 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-05-06.