In the off season between 1974 and 1975, several Cup drivers made their way to record several country covers for an album titled NASCAR Goes Country.
Some had the opportunity to listen to it during Speedweeks -on 8-track I'm sure - and I'm not sure any came away impressed including Marty Robbins. - From DBMJ .You can judge for yourself as I have all the tracks available in the [ music section of my RR page ].
Country singer Charlie Rich was the grand marshal / starter for the 500. My dad had one of his LPs though my mother wasn't - nor isn't - one of his biggest fans. One of his peers from the music biz - Marty Robbins - was IN the race vs. watching. But Marty was one of the cars caught up in the early multi-car wreck, and he likely had plenty of time the rest of the afternoon to compare lyrics and chords with Rich.
The field lines up 2x2 for the start of the second twin with legends even then, Pearson and Petty, on the front row. - Richard Guido
Independent driver and 1969 late model champion at Nashville, David Sisco, started a respectable 12th in the 500. But he lost an engine and finished 21st in the big show. - Craig Bontrager
Donnie Allison began what turned out to be final season with DiGard. He nabbed the pole for both of Daytona's races, but after the Firecracker 400, he was moved aside and replaced with Darrell Waltrip. - Richard Guido
Donnie had a DiGard teammate in the race - USAC regular Johnny Rutherford in a #08 Chevy. He started 11th in the 500 alongside Sisco. But as with Donnie, the 08 had engine issues. He finished 27th, one spot better than his teammate Allison. - Tom Knox
Richie Panch had a fantastic day in his brief Cup career. He brought home what I think may be the original Budweiser sponsored Cup car to an 8th place finish. - Craig Bontrager
Dick Trickle was hired to race the Puro Racing Mercury.... - Danny Quick
...but as Tim noted, Trickle's race lasted all of 3 laps when he was caught up in a multi-car wreck triggered apparently by Jim Vandiver. The car was reduced to this. - Dave Westerman's Florida Racing History
Coincidentally, this car was recently featured on Ray Evernham's new show, Americarna. Delbert Puro and his wife owned and built the car, and they entered 4 GN / Cup races. The storyline was that the Mercury was rebuilt and raced again - including with Panch as the driver. I do think there could have been some holes in the story though. The final 2 races for the Puros as owners were with a FORD vs. the Mercury. Also, the car number in the 4 Cup races entered by the Puros was 75 in two and 99 in the last two. The number on the car in the episode was 96.
Its likely the car was restored as one driven and owned by Mike Miller in 2 races in 1980 based on this Ray Lamm picture - though no reference was made to Miller during the show. Evernham made it seem as if the Puros owned the car the entire time vs. perhaps selling it off and somehow reclaiming it later.
But I digress...
What was left of Warren Tope's Ford. - Ray Lamm
Tope started only 2 Cup races - the 1975 500 and the Atlanta 500 that spring. He passed away on July 5, 1975.
When Speedweeks rolled around, Junior Johnson didn't yet have solid sponsorship for Cale Yarborough. Later in the spring, he signed Holly Farms Chicken to sponsor Cale. But at Daytona, the car was still sporting the Kar Kare colors of the year before - albeit without their decals.
After the traditional pre-race photo shoots were done but before the start of the 500, Junior worked out a short-term deal with Valvoline. The dollars were apparently meaningful enough to warrant putting their name on the full rear quarter panel.
Benny celebrates in victory lane with car owner L.G. DeWitt, Linda Vaughn and the Union76 Racestoppers including RR's Doshia Wall.
Marion Cox strolls down pit road before the start of the Permatex 300. Near him are the cars of 90 Bill Dennis, 92 Jimmy Means, and the back end of Pond's light blue 01 car. - Mike Cox
Means, the 1974 Nashville late model champion, was making his first Daytona start. He spun in turn 3 and got drilled by the 1970 and 1973 Nashville late model champion, Darrell Waltrip. Means ended up in 43rd and DW finished 44th and last in the field.
Its a shame Marion Cox's car ended up in yet another wreck in Daytona's sportsman race.
The 50 ended up on the hook (or worse) in:
The car went from looking like this( Mike Cox ) ...
...and this( Mike Cox ) ...
...to this ( Mike Cox )
A late uncle of mine sent me my first ever Petty postcard in 1975, and I still have it. It looks like this one with the traditional infield photo-op from 1975's Speedweeks. The inset is a victory lane shot from the 1974 500. Gone was Granatelli - present was then head of STP John Jay Hooker, a Nashville, grandstanding lawyer and perennial political flake.
John Jay managed to find other opportunities to embed himself in victory lane with the King in 1974 including...
the Talladega 500
and Music City 420 at Nashville.
Terry Link raced in the 2nd qualifying twin, but he finished 18th and failed to transfer to the 500. Link eventually raced 3 times in Cup - all at Talladega. His final event was the 1975 Talladega 500 when he unfortunately was involved in the wreck that claimed the life of Tiny Lund. - Tom Knox
Darrell Waltrip returned in 1974 with another #95 car and finished 7th in the 500. This time, however, it was a Chevrolet vs. a Mercury. And it was painted the same color of Creamsicle orange he ran on his P.B. Crowell late model cars at Nashville and the color often seen on Robert Gee prepared cars.
Wayne Andrews qualified 4th for the Permatex 300 Sportsman race. He started alongside the Iron Man Jack Ingram and just in front of 6th place starter Bobby Allison. - Kevin Andrews
I originally blogged about the 1974 Daytona 500 in 2012 - with a primary focus on its winner: King Richard.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-17-this-day-in-petty-history.html
I'll repeat much of it here - but expand it more for the rest of the race and Speedweeks in general.
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February 17, 1974 - Starting on the outside of the front row, Richard Petty wins his fifth Daytona 500. Even though he went on to win the race two more times in 1979 and 1981, his fifth win set a record that still stands as of today. - from Jerry Bushmire
In a visible and symbolic support of the nation's energy crisis, NASCAR agreed to cut its 1974 races by 10 percent. The first 20 'laps' of the race were counted but no driver was credited with leading them. The race then took the green at lap 21, and the Daytona 450 was on!
Right before the 1974 season began, a group of West Virginia businessmen put together a sponsorship package for ageless driver, Hershel McGriff. Petty Enterprises fielded a second Dodge Charger for him. - Jerry Bushmire
Bobby Isaac snagged the pole for the 500, and Petty timed 2nd quickest. Their times also locked up the front row for the qualifying twins. In the twins, two Chevy drivers bagged the two wins - Isaac with Banjo Matthews and Cale Yarborough with Junior Johnson. Isaac's return to Daytona AND the win were a bit surprising considering he'd withdrawn from the previous summer's Talladega 500 after claiming he'd "heard voices" during the event.
Starting line-up for the 2nd twin with the 2nd fastest overall qualifier Petty on the pole and the 4th overall quickest McGriff outside of the 43:
Chargin' Charlie Glotzbach returned in 1974 for what turned out to be a 3 race deal with Hoss Ellington before switching over to Junie Donlavey's Ford team. But as was often the case with Charlie AND with Hoss, the combo was hot off the trailer. He had the 3rd quickest time in qualifying, and he finished sixth in his qualifying twin. He lost a windshield of all things in the 500, and he took home a 36th place finish. - Danny Quick
For the second year in a row, Petty captured lightning in a bottle to get the trophy, cash, and kisses. In 1973, the King was aided in the closing laps by Buddy Baker's bad fortune. In 1974, it was Donnie Allison's turn to be heartbroken. With about 20 laps to go, the 43 cut a tire. Catching a break, Richard cut the tire coming out of turn 4 and was able to dive quickly to pit road. When he returned to the track, however, he was in second place and trailed Allison by over 30 seconds. Then with 11 laps to go, Bob Burcham blew an engine and dropped parts on the track. Allison ran through the debris and cut his tires. Unlike Petty's situation, Allison cut his tire after passing the entrance to pit road. Without good tires, Allison ended up spinning down into the infield grass. His clock-strikes-midnight moment handed the race lead back to Ol' Blue who drove on to the win.
Petty led the most laps with 74 of 200 though he didn't completly dominate the race. Fourteen other drivers led at least one lap of the race.
A recap of the race is captured in the following video. (McGriff's wreck begins at 1:18.) Legendary TV race announcer Ken Squier was the primary 'play-by-play' voice on Motor Racing Network back then. Barney Hall who later took over from Squier as the key voice on MRN Radio and remains so today was a corner commentator in 1974. Another corner commentator was Dave Despain who went on to host shows such as TBS' Motorweek Illustrated and Speed's Wind Tunnel.
When it came to to celebrating in victory lane, it was much like father...
| Fin | Driver | Sponsor / Owner | Car |
| 1 | Richard Petty | STP (Petty Enterprises) | '74 Dodge |
| 2 | Cale Yarborough | Kar-Kare (Richard Howard) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 3 | Ramo Stott | Smithville Farms (Norris Reed) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 4 | Coo Coo Marlin | Cunningham-Kelley (H.B. Cunningham) | '73 Chevrolet |
| 5 | A.J. Foyt | Purolator (A.J. Foyt) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 6 | Donnie Allison | DiGard Racing (DiGard) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 7 | Darrell Waltrip | Terminal Transport (Darrell Waltrip) | '73 Chevrolet |
| 8 | Bobby Isaac | Thundercraft Boats (Banjo Matthews) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 9 | Dick Brooks | Simoniz (Dick Brooks) | '74 Dodge |
| 10 | Walter Ballard | Ballard Racing (Vic Ballard) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 11 | Earl Ross | Carling (Allan Brooke) | '72 Chevrolet |
| 12 | Gary Bettenhausen | AMC (Roger Penske) | '74 Matador |
| 13 | Cecil Gordon | Gordon Racing (Cecil Gordon) | '72 Chevrolet |
| 14 | Dave Marcis | Deppe Enterprises (Dave Marcis) | '73 Dodge |
| 15 | David Sisco | Reliable Plumbing & Heating (David Sisco) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 16 | James Hylton | Bob Stott Chevrolet (James Hylton) | '73 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Bob Burcham | Precision Specialties (Jack White) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 18 | Richie Panch | Panch Go-Club (Roy Thornley) | '72 Ford |
| 19 | Jimmy Crawford | World Wide Tapes (Crawford Brothers) | '72 Plymouth |
| 20 | George Follmer | R.C. Cola (Bud Moore) | '73 Ford |
| 21 | Bill Dennis | Truxmore Industries (Junie Donlavey) | '72 Ford |
| 22 | Benny Parsons | King Row Fireplaces (L.G. DeWitt) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 23 | Lennie Pond | Master Chevy Sales (Ronnie Elder) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 24 | Johnny Rutherford | B & B Racing (Don Bierschwale) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 25 | Jim Hurtubise | Moran (Dan Bray) | '72 Chevrolet |
| 26 | Joe Frasson | Frasson Cement (Joe Frasson) | '73 Dodge |
| 27 | Jim Vandiver | Rossmeyer Dodge (O.L. Nixon) | '72 Dodge |
| 28 | J.D. McDuffie | Socar Inc. (J.D. McDuffie) | '72 Chevrolet |
| 29 | L.D. Ottinger | Lonesome Pine Raceway (Russell Large) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 30 | Bobby Allison | Coca-Cola (Bobby Allison) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 31 | Dick Simon | TraveLodge (Doc Faustina) | '73 Dodge |
| 32 | Jackie Rogers | Rogers Racing (Ray Frederick) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 33 | Tony Bettenhausen Jr | Vita Fresh Orange Juice (Gordon Van Liew) | '72 Chevrolet |
| 34 | Frank Warren | Hinson Construction (Frank Warren) | '74 Dodge |
| 35 | David Pearson | Purolator (Wood Brothers) | '73 Mercury |
| 36 | Charlie Glotzbach | Ellington Racing (Hoss Ellington) | '74 Chevrolet |
| 37 | Joe Mihalic | Lou Viglione | '74 Chevrolet |
| 38 | Dan Daughtry | Davis Racing (Morris Davis) | '72 Ford |
| 39 | Hershel McGriff | Almost Heaven, WV (Petty Enterprises) | '74 Dodge |
| 40 | Richard Childress | Garn Racing (Tom Garn) | '73 Chevrolet |
In 1973, NASCAR was celebrating its 25th anniversary. - this cover and several good articles about the first 25 years can still be read at the archives of [ Daytona Beach Morning Journal ].
All video clips embedded in original post are now gone. Here is a condensed recap.
Harry Gant had sponsorship for a while from Black Diamond Coal too as I recall. At least I've got it stuck in my mind he did. Around 2003-2004 at Loudon after Harry retired, he still showed up anyway to sign autographs at the Skoal trailer. I told him my dad was always a big Gant and L.D. fan back in the Black Diamond Coal days. He smiled and said "Wow, I haven't heard anyone mention Black Diamond Coal in a long time. What's your dad's name?" and he customized an autograph on a pic for him. Daddy still has it.
Wondered if you might be in this photo Tim.
