1974 American 500

The 1974 American 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on October 20, 1974, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.

1974 American 500
Race details
Race 29 of 30 in the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
Date October 20, 1974 (1974-October-20)
Official name American 500
Location North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.017 mi (1.636 km)
Distance 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures of 66.9 °F (19.4 °C); wind speeds of 11.8 miles per hour (19.0 km/h)
Average speed 118.493 mph (190.696 km/h)
Attendance 35,000
Pole position
Driver
  • Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 231
Winner
No. 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

Joe Millikan would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut while Jerry Schild would exit the series in this event. A rare NASCAR Winston Cup appearance by former Champ Car team owner and driver Tony Bettenhausen Jr. would make this race into a landmark event in motorsports history. His first NASCAR appearance was at the 1973 Atlanta 500 while his final appearance at the Cup Series level would be at the 1982 Champion Spark Plug 400.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.