1974 Old Dominion 500

1974 Old Dominion 500
Race details[1]
Race 27 of 30 in the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

View from turn one and two bleachers
Date September 29, 1974 (1974-September-29)
Official name Old Dominion 500
Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.525 mi (0.844 km)
Distance 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching a high of 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds up to 11.8 miles per hour (19.0 km/h)
Average speed 66.232 miles per hour (106.590 km/h)
Attendance 33,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 288
Winner
No. 52 Earl Ross Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1974 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 29, 1974, at Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, Virginia, USA).

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

Summary

Today, the race is a part of the TUMS Fast Relief 500 annual series of Martinsville races that occur in the autumn for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race lasted three hours, fifty-eight minutes, and three seconds.[2] Ten cautions were enacted by NASCAR for seventy-nine laps.[2] The event had an attendance of 33,000 people.[2] Canadian Earl Ross (driving for Junior Johnson) defeated his American opponent Buddy Baker by more than one lap.[2] Pole speed was 84.119 miles (135.376 km) per hour while the average speed was 66.232 miles (106.590 km) per hour.[2] Notable drivers at this race included Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Coo Coo Marlin (father of Sterling Marlin), and Richard Childress (future owner of Richard Childress Racing).[2] There was a thirty driver grid (twenty-nine Americans and one Canadian) compared to the forty-three driver grid of today.[2] The winner received $14,550 ($69,932.29 when considering inflation) while starting in eleventh place.[2]

Until Juan Pablo Montoya's most recent victory at Watkins Glen driving the #42 Chevrolet Impala at the 2010 running of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen race,[3] Canadian Earl Ross' victory in this race was the most recent Cup race won by a foreign driver. The most active Canadian driver in the Sprint Cup Series today is Patrick Carpentier who participates as a road course ringer at the Watkins Glen, Infineon and the Montreal Nationwide Series race. Ross was also the first rookie to win a NASCAR Cup Series race; this record would not be broken until Dale Earnhardt won the 1979 Southeastern 500.[4]

Technological concerns

Improvements in tire and engine technology in the early 1970s had made NASCAR Cup Series vehicles overpowered compared to the limited space that Martinsville Speedway had for breathing space. Further technological advancements by 2013 have caused further concern for driver safety at Martinsville; indicating that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series may have to use restrictor plates in Martinsville if tire/engine technology keeps its current pace of development.

Finishing order

  1. Earl Ross (the only Canadian to ever win a NASCAR Cup Series race[5])
  2. Buddy Baker† (highest finishing Ford vehicle)
  3. Donnie Allison
  4. Dave Marcis (highest finishing Dodge vehicle)
  5. Richie Panch†
  6. James Hylton
  7. Elmo Langley†
  8. Frank Warren
  9. Satch Worley*
  10. Jabe Thomas
  11. Cale Yarborough*
  12. Lennie Pond*
  13. D.K. Ulrich
  14. Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.*†
  15. Benny Parsons*†
  16. J.D. McDuffie*†
  17. Ed Negre*
  18. Ray Hendrick* (final Cup Series start)
  19. Jimmy Hensley*
  20. David Sisco*
  21. Sonny Hutchins*†
  22. Coo Coo Marlin*
  23. Pee Wee Wentz* (final Cup Series start)
  24. Richard Childress*
  25. Walter Ballard*
  26. Cecil Gordon*†
  27. Randy Hutchison*
  28. Jackie Rogers*
  29. Richard Petty*
  30. Paul Radford*

* Driver failed to finish race
† Driver is deceased

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ "1974 Old Dominion 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "1974 Old Dominion 500 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  3. ↑ "Juan Pablo Montoya wins at road course". ESPN. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  4. ↑ "NASCAR Win for Rookie Earl Ross". Scene Daily. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
  5. ↑ "Canada's only NASCAR Cup Series winner". NASCAR.com. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
Preceded by
1974 Wilkes 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Season
1974 		Succeeded by
1974 National 500
Preceded by
1973		 Old Dominion 500 races
1974 		Succeeded by
1975
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