1973 National 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
Map of Charlotte Motor Speedway
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| Date | October 7, 1973 | ||
| Official name | National 500 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course | 1.500 mi (2.414 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures approaching 75.9 °F (24.4 °C); wind speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 145.240 miles per hour (233.741 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 64,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Cale Yarborough | Howard & Egerton Racing | |
| Laps | 257 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 11 | Cale Yarborough | Howard & Egerton Racing | |
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Ken Squier, Marvin Panch | ||
| Turn Announcers | Hill Overton, Barney Hall | ||
The 1973 National 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on October 7, 1973, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the American community of Concord, North Carolina.
The first driver to qualify for pole, Charlie Glotzbach, was found in a post qualifying inspection to have modified his restrictor plate in an illegal fashion. Glotsbach's team was fined $500 and the $1,000 pole bonus he was to receive was rescinded. Glotsbach was forced to re-qualify after changes were made to the car to make it legal, and qualified 34th. Pole was then awarded to David Pearson, who had qualified second.
Dean Dalton, whose performance on Saturday did not qualify him for the race, was allowed into the race 41st on the grid, because of the above.
334 laps took place on a paved track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km) with two cautions given out for sixteen laps. However, the race took three hours and twenty-six minutes to finish with Cale Yarborough defeating Richard Petty by a time of 1.4 seconds. Yarborough and Petty would lap the field three times before retrieving the checkered flag.David Pearson won the official pole position with a speed of 158.315 miles per hour (254.783 km/h) - which was equivalent to 34.109 seconds. Sixty-four thousand people attended this live racing event.
Harry Gant would make his racing debut here; ultimately finishing in 11th place.Dick Trickle also made his debut here, finishing an impressive fifth. Wendell Scott would retire after this race; making a 12th-place finish in this event.
Buddy Baker retired his car on lap 228, and team owner Nord Krauskopf refused to allow NASCAR to inspect the car after this was done. NASCAR disqualified the team, and therefore, Buddy Baker officially finished 41st.
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