1973 Alamo 500

The 1973 Alamo 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 10, 1973, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.[2][3] Speeds for this race would reach an average of 142.114 miles per hour (228.710 km/h).[3][4]

1973 Alamo 500

Race details[1]
Race 14 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Layout of Texas World Speedway
Date	June 10, 1973 (1973-06-10)
Official name	Alamo 500
Location	Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas
Course	2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance	250 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather	Warm with temperatures of 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed	142.144 mph (228.759 km/h)
Attendance	27,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Buddy Baker	K&K Insurance Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Buddy Baker	K&K Insurance Racing
Laps	168
Winner
No. 43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises

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.

Race report

It took three hours and twenty-six minutes to resolve a race spanning 250 laps.[2][3] Richard Petty defeated Darrell Waltrip by at least two laps in front of 27000 people; Waltrip's second-place run was just his second-ever Winston Cup "top five" finish and his first on a superspeedway.[2][3] Five cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 27 laps.[2] Twenty-eight lead changes were reported amongst five leaders.[5]

Nearly two years later, Darrell Waltrip would actually win a superspeedway race.

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

Buddy Baker would earn the pole position with a speed of 169.248 miles per hour (272.378 km/h).[2] J.D. McDuffie would make a top-ten finish here;[2][3] a rare occurrence considering that he finished last-place the most often. Richie Panch would become the last-place finisher of the race due to an ignition problem on the first lap.[2][3] This would be the last race done at Texas World Speedway until the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. There were 38 American-born drivers on the racing grid.[2][3] Bob Whitlow and Ed Sczech would make their NASCAR debuts at this racing event; Whitlow was driving a second car for Ed Negre.[5]

Petty would receive a prize amount of $17,820 for winning the race ($102,632 when considering inflation) while Panch would collect a mere $920 as his "reward" for finishing in last place ($5,299 when considering inflation).[3][6]

Notable crew chiefs who fully participated in this race were Tim Brewer, Jake Elder, Travis Carter, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, and Bud Moore.[7]

Qualifying

Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Owner
1	71	Buddy Baker	'73 Dodge	Nord Krauskopf
2	43	Richard Petty	'73 Dodge	Petty Enterprises
3	11	Cale Yarborough	'73 Chevrolet	Richard Howard
4	95	Darrell Waltrip	'71 Mercury	Darrell Waltrip
5	15	Bobby Isaac	'73 Ford	Bud Moore
6	18	Joe Frasson	'73 Dodge	Joe Frasson
7	24	Cecil Gordon	'72 Chevrolet	Cecil Gordon
8	14	Coo Coo Marlin	'72 Chevrolet	H.B. Cunningham
9	72	Benny Parsons	'73 Chevrolet	L.G. DeWitt
10	42	Marty Robbins	'73 Dodge	Marty Robbins

Finishing order

1. Richard Petty (No. 43)
2. Darrell Waltrip (No. 95)
3. Joe Frasson† (No. 11)
4. Cale Yarborough (No. 18)
5. Cecil Gordon (No. 24)
6. Buddy Baker† (No. 71)
7. Benny Parsons† (No. 72)
8. Ramo Stott (No. 9)
9. David Sisco (No. 05)
10. J.D. McDuffie† (No. 70)
11. H.B. Bailey† (No. 36)
12. Jabe Thomas (No. 25)
13. Frank Warren (No. 79)
14. Bill Champion† (No. 10)
15. James Hylton† (No. 48)
16. Walter Ballard (No. 30)
17. Buddy Arrington (No. 67)
18. Charlie Roberts (No. 77)
19. Henley Gray (No. 19)
20. Ed Sczech* (No. 61)
21. Bob Whitlow (No. 08)
22. Dean Dalton (No. 7)
23. Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.*† (No. 38)
24. Lennie Pond* (No. 54)
25. Raymond Williams* (No. 47)
26. Bobby Allison* (No. 12)
27. Elmo Langley*† (No. 64)
28. Coo Coo Marlin*† (No. 14)
29. Marty Robbins*† (No. 42)
30. Jimmy Crawford*† (No. 22)
31. D.K. Ulrich* (No. 40)
32. Bobby Isaac*† (No. 15)
33. Dave Marcis* (No. 2)
34. Rick Newsom*† (No. 20)
35. Richard Childress* (No. 96)
36. Mel Larson* (No. 04)
37. Ed Negre* (No. 8)
38. Richie Panch*† (No. 98)

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

References

1. "1973 Alamo 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
2. "1973 Alamo 500 race information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
3. "1973 Alamo 500 race information (third reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
4. "1973 Alamo 500 race information (third reference)". Database Racing. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
5. "1973 Alamo 500 race information (second reference)". Race Database. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
6. "1973 Alamo 500 race winnings information". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
7. "1973 Alamo 500 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-22.

Preceded by 1973 Gwyn Staley 400	Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960-1984	Succeeded by 1973 Capital City 500