1973 Alamo 500

1973 Alamo 500

Race details[1]
Race 14 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Texas World Speedway
Date	June 10, 1973
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 up to 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds up to 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 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]

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

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.^[2][3] Five cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 27 laps.^[2] Twenty-eight lead changes were reported amongst five leaders.^[5] 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.^[5]

Petty would receive a prize amount of $17,820 for winning the race ($94,991.02 when considering inflation) while Panch would collect a mere $920 as his "reward" for finishing in last place ($4,904.14 when considering inflation).^[3][6]

Finishing order

1. Richard Petty
2. Darrell Waltrip
3. Joe Frasson
4. Cale Yarborough
5. Cecil Gordon
6. Buddy Baker†
7. Benny Parsons†
8. Ramo Stott
9. David Sisco
10. J.D. McDuffie†
11. H.B. Bailey†
12. Jabe Thomas
13. Frank Warren
14. Bill Champion†
15. James Hylton
16. Walter Ballard
17. Buddy Arrington
18. Charlie Roberts
19. Henley Gray
20. Ed Sczech*
21. Bob Whitlow
22. Dean Dalton
23. Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.*†
24. Lennie Pond*
25. Raymond Williams*
26. Bobby Allison*
27. Elmo Langley*†
28. Coo Coo Marlin*†
29. Marty Robbins*†
30. Jimmy Crawford*†
31. D.K. Ulrich*
32. Bobby Isaac*†
33. Dave Marcis*
34. Rick Newsom*†
35. Richard Childress*
36. Mel Larson*
37. Ed Negre*
38. Richie Panch*†

† 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.