1974 Winston 500

1974 Winston 500

Race details
Race 10 of 30 in the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Talladega Superspeedway
Date	May 5, 1974 (1974-May-05)
Official name	Winston 500
Location	Alabama International Motor Speedway, Talladega, Alabama
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.660 mi (4.280 km)
Distance	170 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km)
Weather	Very hot with temperatures approaching 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed	130.220 miles per hour (209.569 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Laps	58
Winner
No. 21	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing

The 1974 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on May 5, 1974, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama.

David Pearson acquired one of his superspeedway victories for the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season at this event. Tickets at this event sold at an average price of $10 ($61.78 when adjusted for inflation); with some tickets selling for a higher price. While the green flag was waved at 1:00 PM, the checkered flag was not waved until approximately 4:28 PM, giving fans ample time to find dinner accommodations.

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 miles (4.28 km), and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.

Summary

Due to a fuel crisis, the first 18 laps of the event were not scored. Engine problems caused most of the drivers not to finish the race. Jerry Schild made his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut in this event; starting in 37th and finishing in 40th place. David Pearson would end up defeating Benny Parsons by nearly 0.2 seconds after racing for almost 210 minutes. Sixty of these 170 laps were raced under yellow; half of the yellow flag laps were due to rain. A strong crowd of forty thousand people would see the lead change hands 53 times. Chevrolet and Dodge vehicles would dominate the race's grid while Ford products led the most laps. Iggy Katona would leave the NASCAR Winston Cup Series as a driver after this event.

Grant Adcox and his father qualified for the event. With a hundred laps in the books, a caution came out as Donnie Allison's clutch burned out and David Sisco's motor went up in smoke. Gary Bettenhausen, who had pitted a lap after the leaders, and was up on jacks as young Adcox came down for service. Adcox's car hit an oil and water patch and slammed straight into the Bettenhausen Matador, causing catch can man Don Miller to be crushed between the cars. A young crew member of the Nord Krauskopf team who was pitted nearby, Buddy Parrott, came rushing down to help, while Penske crewmembers John Woodward and John Watson were also injured. Miller was taken to the hospital and eventually had his right leg amputated. Learning of the extent of Miller's injuries, Adcox went into shock, and his car was withdrawn from the event.

Richard Petty was remarkably slow in qualifying; starting in a meager 24th place. Petty and Yarborough had brought out their big block engines thinking that the reliability would pay off, but Pearson running a 351 Cleveland held on for the win. Both of the Allisons ran the small-block Chevrolet vehicles but they didn't seem to hold up as well as the Ford vehicles.

The entire prize purse of this race would be $144,280 ($891,381.7 when adjusted for inflation); with the winner receiving $20,785 of it ($128,412.59 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher received a meager $1,175 ($7,259.31 when adjusted for inflation). A 1973 Mercury Montego would become the winning vehicle at this race. David Pearson would earn the pole position for this race by driving at speeds up to 186.086 miles per hour (299.476 km/h) during qualifying. Compared to today's pole speeds, it was considered to be the slowest except for Jeremy Mayfield's pole run at the 2000 DieHard 500. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Top ten finishers

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Laps led	Time/Status
1	1	21	David Pearson	'73 Mercury	188	58	3:28:09
2	11	72	Benny Parsons	'74 Chevrolet	188	9	+0.17 seconds
3	24	43	Richard Petty	'74 Dodge	188	0	Lead lap under green flag
4	19	90	Charlie Glotzbach	'72 Ford	188	1	Lead lap under green flag
5	26	54	Lennie Pond	'74 Chevrolet	187	0	+1 lap
6	22	2	Dave Marcis	'73 Dodge	187	0	+1 lap
7	13	14	Coo Coo Marlin	'73 Chevrolet	187	7	+1 lap
8	9	28	Sam McQuagg	'74 Chevrolet	187	1	+1 lap
9	5	11	Cale Yarborough	'74 Chevrolet	187	0	+1 lap
10	48	57	Bob Burcham	'74 Chevrolet	187	0	+1 lap

Failed to qualify

Section reference:

Name	Number	Car manufactuer
Bill Champion	10	Ford
Jimmy Crawford	22	Plymouth
Robert Brown	58	Chevrolet
Ramo Stott	83	Chevrolet
Darrell Waltrip	95	Chevrolet