1974 Dixie 500

1974 Dixie 500

Race details[1]
Race 19 of 30 in the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Atlanta International Speedway, used until 1996
Date	July 28, 1974 (1974-July-28)
Official name	Dixie 500
Location	Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance	328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 88 °F (31 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h)
Average speed	131.651 miles per hour (211.872 km/h)
Attendance	38,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson & Associates
Most laps led
Driver	David Pearson	Wood Brothers
Laps	114
Winner
No. 43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1974 Dixie 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on July 28, 1974, at Atlanta International Raceway in the American community of Hampton, Georgia.

Souvenir magazines for this event was generally handed out to people at a rate of $2 USD per copy ($9.61 when adjusted for inflation). Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Background

Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate track to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.^[3] However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.

The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.^[4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.^[4]

Summary

There were 36 drivers in this 328-lap racing event; Dan Daughtry was the unfortunate last-place finish due to troubles with his engine on lap 10. Cale Yarborough earned the pole position for driving speeds up to 156.75 miles per hour (252.26 km/h) during solo qualifying sessions. Earl Ross, a Canadian NASCAR driver, was the only foreigner on the starting grid. Donnie Allison, Buddy Baker and Richard Petty would dominate the opening laps of this event.^[2]

Speeds at this event reached up to 131.651 miles per hour (211.872 km/h) throughout the entire three-hour-and-forty-two-minute spectacle. The green flag was officially waved at approximately 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Saving Time while the checkered flag was waved at approximately 4:42 PM EDST. Buddy Baker, David Pearson, and Richard Petty would dominate the final laps of the race. In the end, Richard Petty went on to defeat David Pearson by exactly 21 seconds. 38,000 live spectators would see other notable drivers such as Elmo Langley, J.D. McDuffie, James Hylton, Donnie Allison and Bill Champion.^[2]

Individual winnings ranged from the winner's share of $19,350 ($93,002.73 when adjusted for inflation) to a meager $875 for the last-place finisher ($4,205.55 when adjusted for inflation). The total prize purse for this racing event was $101,295 ($486,858.49 when adjusted for inflation).^[5]

Top ten finishers

References