1973 Southern 500

1973 Southern 500

Race details
Race 22 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Darlington Raceway
Date	September 3, 1973 (1973-09-03)
Official name	Southern 500
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Course	1.375 mi (2.212 km)
Distance	367 laps, 500.5 mi (805.4 km)
Weather	Race start time: 88 °F (31 °C) (heat index 95 °F (35 °C)) Race end time: 93 °F (34 °C) (heat index 100 °F (38 °C)) Wind speeds up to 8.1 miles per hour (13.0 km/h)
Average speed	134.033 miles per hour (215.705 km/h)
Attendance	70,000
Pole position
Driver	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Howard & Egerton Racing
Laps	277
Winner
No. 11	Cale Yarborough	Howard & Egerton Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Bill Flemming Chris Economaki
Radio in the United States
Radio	Darlington Universal Racing Network (URN)
Booth Announcers	Dave "Silver Throat" Rogers, Hal Hamrick
Turn Announcers	Charlie Bailey, Paul Sexton, Earl Kelley, Dick Jones

The 1973 Southern 500, the 24th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on September 3, 1973, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. This race would highlight the relative lack of safety involved when an engine-related oil spill caused four cars to spin out on the track before a caution flag settled things back down to normal.

Bud Moore would ultimately leave the NASCAR Cup Series as a driver after the conclusion of this event. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Jackie Cooper was named honorary race marshal for the 1973 Southern 500.

Summary

Before Race Weekend

Jim Vandiver, who was dealing with a child custody case with his first wife, was to appear in a Greenville, South Carolina court on Friday, August 31 for a hearing. He was assured by his lawyer that appearing would not be necessary because he was expected in Darlington. The judge at the hearing did not consider this grounds for absence, and found Vandiver in contempt of court. An arrest warrant was issued.

Qualifying

Pole position for the Southern 500 was taken by David Pearson, of Wood Brothers Racing.

Race

Neil Castles, who qualified 38th in a Dodge, withdrew before the race. First alternate Mel Larson took his place, 40th on the grid.

Two Greenville County sheriff's deputies arrived at Darlington on race day. In Darlington Raceway president Barney Wallace's office, they informed him of their intent to arrest Vandiver on the contempt charge. Wallace convinced them to make their arrest after the race. Neil Castles had been in Wallace's office at the time, overheard this conversation, and informed Vandiver before the race.

Early in the race, Roy Mayne relieved Jabe Thomas in his car. NASCAR points structure meant that Thomas would receive the points for Mayne's finish. Other drivers took advantage of a relief driver, in part because of the very hot day. Richard Petty was one of these.

40 drivers competed in this race; only one foreigner competed - Canadian-born Vic Parsons. This event took three hours and forty-four minutes to complete 367 laps. Richard Childress was credited as the last-place finisher due to a problem with his stock car engine on lap 19. Frank Warren was the lowest-finishing driver to complete the event while being nearly 100 laps behind the lead lap cars.

Jim Vandiver, who was already nursing a problematic engine, would deliberately spin his car on lap 223, on Darlington's back stretch. This caused a caution, and in a break in race traffic, Vandiver jumped the back fence and left raceway property. From there, he hitchhiked home to Monroe, North Carolina, and thus avoided arrest on race day.

Joe Frasson's problematic engine on lap 304 would force him to finish in the middle of the pack.

Cale Yarborough defeated David Pearson under caution in front of the collective eyes of 70,000 loyal NASCAR followers. Ironically, Pearson would qualify for the pole position by driving speeds up to 150.366 miles per hour (241.991 km/h) during the solo qualifying sessions. Average race speeds would end up being 134.033 miles per hour (215.705 km/h) due to the seven yellow flags that NASCAR officials handed out for a duration of 37 laps. Chevrolet and Ford were the dominant manufacturers at this racing event. Richard D. Brown suddenly quit this race on lap 30 for no apparent reason.

Individual race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's portion of $23,140 ($123,349.73 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's portion of $1,700 ($9,061.99 when adjusted for inflation). NASCAR officials authorized a total amount of $126,725 to be handed out to every qualifying driver on the conclusion of this event ($675,518.35 when adjusted for inflation).

Finishing order

1. Cale Yarborough
2. David Pearson
3. Buddy Baker
4. Richard Petty
5. Benny Parsons
6. Bobby Allison
7. Coo Coo Marlin
8. Darrell Waltrip
9. Dick Brooks
10. J.D. McDuffie
11. Cecil Gordon
12. James Hylton
13. Jabe Thomas
14. Buddy Arrington
15. Randy Tissot
16. Charlie Roberts
17. Walter Ballard
18. D.K. Ulrich
19. Dean Dalton
20. Henley Gray
21. Mel Larson
22. Bill Champion
23. Joe Frasson*
24. Frank Warren
25. Raymond Williams*
26. Ed Negre*
27. Jim Vandiver*
28. David Sisco*
29. Bud Moore*
30. Charlie Glotzbach*
31. Elmo Langley*
32. Dick May*
33. Richie Panch*
34. Vic Parsons*
35. Johnny Barnes*
36. Tommy Gale*
37. Lennie Pond*
38. Richard D. Brown*
39. G.C. Spencer*
40. Richard Childress*

* Driver failed to finish race

References

Preceded by 1973 Nashville 420	Winston Cup Series races 1971–2004	Succeeded by 1973 Capital City 500
Preceded by 1972	Southern 500 races 1973	Succeeded by 1974