In late June 1974, several of NASCAR's national Late Model Sportsman drivers rolled in to Nashville to rub doors with the local heroes in the Union 76 200.
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National drivers such as Jack Ingram, Red Farmer, Butch Lindley towed their cars to Nashville's fairgrounds track to race against some prominent locals such as Flookie Buford, Charlie Binkley, Jerry Lawley, and Darrell Waltrip. Despite having set out for a Cup career, Waltrip returned to race frequently at his home track in the mid 1970s.
Waltrip didn't just show back up at Nashville to collect show money. He won the second of his two track championships at Nashville in 1973. He carried his momentum into 1974 by winning just about anytime he hit the track.
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The Tennessean included several solid advance, race preview articles. But for reasons I haven't determined yet, a full race report was not included in the Sunday, June 30 edition of the paper. But... Russ Thompson has some solid photos from the race...
http://russthompsonracing.com/1974Union200.html
... and I know a bit about how the race played out based on references to it in previews of subsequent races.
Waltrip won the pole, and Lindley accompanied him on the front row. Bobby Allison and Ingram made up the second row.
Nashville regular Jerry Sisco - brother of Cup independent and former Nashville track champ David Sisco - raced his regular #16. Out-of-towner Lindley masked the "1" on his #16 Chevelle, and he was scored in car #6 for the night. I'm not sure if there was a gentlemen's agreement, Lindley deferred to the local driver, or dates of entry blanks determined who got 6 vs 16.
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Lindley got an early jump on Waltrip from the outside as the field barreled into turn 1. But he didn't get too far away from him. As a matter of fact, Lindley, Waltrip, Allison stayed close to another for a large portion of the race.
When the checkered flag fell, Allison captured his first late model feature win at the Fairgrounds since winning a 100-lap race in September 1965. Lindley finished second, and Waltrip got ready to head to Daytona for the Firecracker 400 with a 3rd place finish in his pocket. Though Waltrip finished the race, it was the first time in five 1974 starts that he didn't win.
Lawley raced with his new engine - but the result was the same. He finished fourth, and once again he had a view of Waltrip's back bumper.
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After winning at Nashville, Allison made a bee line for the airport. He flew to Hagerstown, Maryland to participate in the Zodiac 100 portion of the Johnny Roberts Memorial Classic at Hagerstown Raceway on Sunday, June 30. Bobby Goodling won the race when Allison broke an axle and fell out of the race. Following the race in Hagerstown, he like Waltrip headed to Daytona to race the famed AMC Matador for Roger Penske.
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 01/18/20 05:20:38AM