This post will be a "Sgt. Joe Friday" one by me: Just the facts ma'am. I'm hoping Dave Fulton and others can fill in more details.
I've never been to Martinsville - though I'd like to. While I grew up watching many of the Late Model Sportsman drivers come through Nashville occasionally, I didn't see all the greats including Ray Hendrick. And modifieds? Barely heard of them down here. I was aware of guys like Richie Evans and Jerry Cook, but we didn't get any coverage in The Tennesseean. My multi-year subscription to Southern MotoRacing in my teens and 20s helped educate me a bit more on those distant LMS guys, the modified drivers and their marquis events such as the Cardinal 500 at Martinsville.
Forty years ago today, the teams from the two ranks visited Martinsville's half-mile for the 1974 fall classic held on October 27th.
Conventional wisdom held that the 250-lap modified race would be a duel between Evans and Cook. From the start though, both drivers and the rest of the field would have to get by pole winner Geoff Bodine. - Tom Knox
In the late model sportsman side of the bill, Virginian & multi-time Martinsville winner Ray Hendrick was top dog on qualifying day. - Spartanburg Herald
The starting line-ups for the 2 races.
Bugs Stevens modified - Tom Knox
Drivers from the two races lined up 4-wide for pre-race ceremonies. That had to have have been a sight to behold.
Jimmy Griffin (12), Jack Bland (41), Dave Mader III (8), Jack Ingram (11), - Tom Knox
Gene Glover (10), Tiny Lund (22), Ray Hendrick (1 modified), Roy Hendrick (33) - Tom Knox
Ray Hendrick rolling off for the start in the modified first-half of the 500. - Tom Knox
When the dust settled on the modified race, neither Evans or Cook were in victory lane. Neither was pole-winner Bodine or the ol' vet Hendrick. Instead, the young'un from Fitchburg, Massachusetts - Ron Bouchard - took the checkers. The result was a bit more predictable in the LMS race as Ray Hendrick won yet another Martinsville event.
Bouchard and Hendrick posed their duo photo-op with Martinsville's traditional grandfather clock "trophy". - Getty
Race report - Spartanburg Herald
Top 10 finishers in LMS race. I have not yet found a complete finishing order for either race.
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM