| 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |
| Previous: 1973 | Next: 1975 |
The 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Season began on Sunday January 20 and ended on Sunday November 24. The first 15 races were shortened 10 percent due to the 1973 oil crisis. Richard Petty was Winston Cup champion at the end of the season finishing 567.45 points ahead of Cale Yarborough. Earl Ross was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year.[1]
Notable races[]
Daytona 500[]
- Main article: 1974 Daytona 500
Carolina 500[]
Cale Yarborough led most of the first half but his handling went away and Richard Petty dominated the second half en route to the win.
Atlanta 500[]
NASCAR mandated smaller carburators for big-block engines. David Pearson led the most laps in a small block but had to pit late for fuel, giving Cale Yarborough the win.
Gwyn Staley Memorial[]
Richard Petty debuted a hand-built small-block Chrysler engine and won going away.
Winston 500[]
The lead changed 52 times among 14 drivers as David Pearson edged Benny Parsons. During pitstops at Lap 105 crewman Don Miller lost a leg when he was hit by the spinning car of rookie Grant Adcox.
Music City 420[]
Neil Bonnett's first Winston Cup start.
World 600[]
David Pearson edged Richard Petty as the lead changed 37 times, the most for the race to that point of its history.
Motor State 400[]
This was the last race of the season shortened by NASCAR due to the energy crunch. The lead changed 50 times among eight drivers, a new record for the track to that point. Petty edged rookie Earl Ross after Pearson pitted under a late yellow for tires and the green never flew again.
Firecracker 400[]
Pearson pulled an audacious fake as he slammed his brakes to put Petty into the lead on the final lap, then drafted past at the stripe. Some ten seconds behind them Cale Yarborough and Buddy Baker hit the stripe nose to nose for an official tie for third. Bobby Allison led 50 laps but broke an intake valve late in the race and finished fifth. The lead changed 45 times, a race record that stood until 2010.
Northern 300/Purolator 500[]
Originally published in NASCAR's schedule, the annual 300-miler at Trenton Speedway was cancelled and replaced by Pocono's Purolator 500. Richard Petty won the race.
Talladega 500[]
25 of the event's 50 entries were found sabotaged in the garage area on race morning. NASCAR institutes several competition cautions to allow teams to find previously-undetected sabotage. Petty sideswiped past Pearson at the stripe.
Southern 500[]
Cale Yarborough took his third win in the race after melees eliminated half the field; Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker were notable crash victims, and rookie Richie Panch was singled out for criticism after being involved in three wrecks. Sophomore Darrell Waltrip took second. NASCAR's 1974 point system, which took purse winnings multiplied by number of starts divided by 1,000, came under fire when Petty wrecked early yet outpointed every car that finished ahead of him except race-winner Yarborough.
Old Dominion 500[]
Earl Ross pulled off the upset win, the first for a rookie since 1965 and first for a Canadian driver ever. The win came after teammate Cale Yarborough crashed.
National 500[]
David Pearson made up a lap lost in the first 100 laps of the race and edged Richard Petty, who erased a two-lap deficit despite a pit fire three-quarters into the race; it was the fifth time in the season Pearson and Petty finished together in the top two and Pearson's fourth win in that rivalry. The race was chaotic as a ten-car melee erupted on the third lap and a vicious two-car crash in Turn Four eliminated Grant Adcox and Ramo Stott. The lead changed 47 times, a track record that lasted five years, among 11 drivers; it was the sixth race of the season to break 40 official lead changes.
Los Angeles Times 500[]
Originally left off of NASCAR's schedule, the race was added late in the season. Richard Petty led the most laps but fell out late and finished 15th. Bobby Allison took the win in Roger Penske's AMC Matador but was fined $9,100 for unapproved valve lifters in postrace inspection.
Season recap[]
| Date | Event | Circuit | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 20 & 26 | Winston Western 500 | Riverside International Raceway | Cale Yarborough |
| February 17 | Daytona 500 | Daytona International Speedway | Richard Petty |
| February 24 | Richmond 500 | Richmond International Raceway | Bobby Allison |
| March 4 | Carolina 500 | North Carolina Speedway | Richard Petty |
| March 17 | Southeastern 500 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Cale Yarborough |
| March 24 | Atlanta 500 | Atlanta International Raceway | Cale Yarborough |
| April 7 | Rebel 500 | Darlington Raceway | David Pearson |
| April 21 | Gwyn Staley 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Richard Petty |
| April 28 | Virginia 500 | Martinsville Speedway | Cale Yarborough |
| May 5 | Winston 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | David Pearson |
| May 11 & 12 | Music City USA 420 | Nashville Speedway | Richard Petty |
| May 19 | Mason-Dixon 500 | Dover Downs International Speedway | Cale Yarborough |
| May 26 | World 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | David Pearson |
| June 9 | Tuborg 400 | Riverside International Raceway | Cale Yarborough |
| June 16 | Motor State 400 | Michigan International Speedway | Richard Petty |
| July 4 | Firecracker 400 | Daytona International Speedway | David Pearson |
| July 14 | Volunteer 500 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Cale Yarborough |
| July 20 | Nashville 420 | Nashville Speedway | Cale Yarborough |
| July 28 | Dixie 500 | Atlanta International Raceway | Richard Petty |
| August 4 | Purolator 500 | Pocono Raceway | Richard Petty |
| August 11 | Talladega 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | Richard Petty |
| August 25 | Champion Spark Plug 400 | Michigan International Speedway | David Pearson |
| September 2 | Southern 500 | Darlington Raceway | Cale Yarborough |
| September 8 | Capital City 500 | Richmond International Raceway | Richard Petty |
| September 15 | Delaware 500 | Dover Downs International Speedway | Richard Petty |
| September 22 | Wilkes 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Cale Yarborough |
| September 29 | Old Dominion 500 | Martinsville Speedway | Earl Ross |
| October 6 | National 500 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | David Pearson |
| October 20 | American 500 | North Carolina Speedway | David Pearson |
| November 24 | Los Angeles Times 500 | Ontario Motor Speedway | Bobby Allison |
Final Points standings[]
| Place | Driver | Points | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Richard Petty | 5037.750 | $432,019 |
| 2nd | Cale Yarborough | 4470.300 | $363,781 |
| 3rd | David Pearson | 2389.250 | $252,819 |
| 4th | Bobby Allison | 2019.195 | $178,437 |
| 5th | Benny Parsons | 1591.500 | $185,080 |
| 6th | Dave Marcis | 1378.200 | $83,376 |
| 7th | Buddy Baker | 1016.880 | $151,025 |
| 8th | Earl Ross | 1009.470 | $81,199 |
| 9th | Cecil Gordon | 1000.650 | $66,165 |
| 10th | David Sisco | 956.200 | $58,312 |
| 11th | James Hylton | 924.955 | $61,384 |
| 12th | J. D. McDuffie | 920.850 | $59,534 |
| 13th | Frank Warren | 820.845 | $55,779 |
| 14th | Richie Panch | 775.440 | $52,712 |
| 15th | Walter Ballard | 748.440 | $54,038 |
| 16th | Richard Childress | 735.440 | $50,248 |
| 17th | Donnie Allison | 728.805 | $60,314 |
| 18th | Lennie Pond | 723.250 | $55,989 |
| 19th | Darrell Waltrip | 609.975 | $67,774 |
| 20th | Tony Bettenhausen | 601.695 | $38,994 |
| 21st | Jackie Rogers | 587.880 | $32,367 |
| 22nd | Coo Coo Marlin | 581.670 | $41,944 |
| 23rd | Ed Negre | 534.300 | $24,622 |
| 24th | Bob Burcham | 445.500 | $27,923 |
| 25th | Elmo Langley | 433.780 | $24,722 |
| 26th | Charlie Glotzbach | 293.090 | $34,172 |
| 27th | Dick Brooks | 267.520 | $22,760 |
| 28th | Joe Frasson | 240.800 | $22,629 |
| 29th | George Follmer | 230.490 | $53,780 |
| 30th | Buddy Arrington | 221.200 | $22,085 |
| 31st | Bill Champion | 207.720 | $13,480 |
| 32nd | D.K. Ulrich | 155.325 | $11,955 |
| 33rd | Bobby Isaac | 152.950 | $22,642 |
| 34th | Travis Tiller | 146.440 | $11,410 |
| 35th | Roy Mayne | 141.720 | $15,284 |
| 36th | Dean Dalton | 125.440 | $12,485 |
| 37th | Neil Castles | 123.565 | $12,479 |
| 38th | G.C. Spencer | 96.800 | $12,985 |
| 39th | Ramo Stott | 82.950 | $23,705 |
| 40th | Jim Vandiver | 71.400 | $15,909 |
| 41st | Dan Daughtry | 63.040 | $12,413 |
| 42nd | Jabe Thomas | 49.140 | $7,835 |
| 43rd | Gary Bettenhausen | 49.000 | $12,750 |
| 44th | A.J. Foyt | 41.220 | $17,110 |
| 45th | Jerry Schild | 35.375 | $8,395 |
| 46th | Earle Canavan | 34.920 | $6,570 |
| 47th | Dick Trickle | 24.780 | $10,828 |
| 48th | Marty Robbins | 23.780 | $5,734 |
| 49th | Alton Jones | 20.400 | $4,395 |
| 50th | Hershel McGriff | 23.340 | $8,585 |
References[]
External links[]
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