April 21, 1974
“Gwyn Staley 400”
Top 5 finishers.....
The race lasted just 2 hours, 20 minutes, 20 seconds. At first it looks like a quick race. But the timing and scoring didn’t start until lap 41. No information is giving in the following NWS race’s program as to why. Was it rain? And the first 40 laps were run under green/yellow as they were back in the day? But it is documented that just 11 laps were run under caution for two different periods. And nobody was given credit for being the leader during laps 1-40. I’m curious as to why.
The driver who was leading at the end of lap 400 was Richard Petty. It was Petty’s 11th win at North Wilkesboro. Petty started the race from the 4th position. He posted a qualifying lap of 21.427sec/105.008mph. Petty’s Dodge led 336 laps in the race—laps 62-95 and laps 99-400 and it was the only Dodge in the top 5. Spots 2 thru 5 were Chevrolets.
Cale Yarborough finished in second. Yarborough also started from the second spot. He had a fast qualifying lap of 21.300sec/105.634mph. He finished two laps behind Petty. His second place finish at NWS matched his best finish at the track (1965). Good things were about to come Yarborough’s way. He was in his second season of an 8 year run in which he ran full time. It would be an impressive 8 years. And folks, Cale is fixin’ to make some noise at NWS. Consider yourself warned.
Carrying the Coca-Cola sponsor on his 74 Chevy was Bobby Allison. He finished 3rd, four laps behind Petty. Allison led 21 laps in the race (laps 41-61). Allison started from the pole at NWS for the third consecutive race and a career 4th time at the track. His qualifying lap was 21.293sec/105.669mph—just .007 seconds faster than Yarborough’s lap. Allison would not return at NWS for the fall race or to the races in 1975. But he still has a lot of NWS in him. You’ll be seeing more of him in the future.
The 4th place finisher was the 1973 Winston Cup Champion, Benny Parsons. Parsons' #72 Kings Row Fireplace Chevy started form the 7th spot after a qualifying lap of 21.521sec/104.550mph. Parsons finished 8 laps down en route to his seventh consecutive top 5 finish at NWS. Get well soon Benny.
The 5th place finisher, also 8 laps down, was the 1973 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, Lennie Pond. He started in the sixth spot—21.504sec/104.631mph and led laps 96-98 during the race. Pond had been a star on the Virginia Sportsman circuit for 10 years before joining Winston Cup racing. Drivers and fans saw him as a true competitor. Late in his rookie season, Pond was involved in a fiery crash at Richmond. His car was charred. Thanks to his crew, and friends working around the clock, the following week the team rolled out what looked like a new car at the track. But it was the same car involved in the fire. Pond finished that race in the top 10 and he would do so in 3 of 4 races following that. Those efforts played a major role in Pond being voted as ROTY over Darrell Waltrip. The ROTY award came with controversy though and starting in 1974, NASCAR introduced a new points system to determine the ROTY.
Some new faces to Cup racing at NWS included—
George Follmer (6th place finish) in his only NWS race. Follmer raced in many series. Some information about Follmer can be found at http://www.vpracing.com/The_Drivers/George_Follmer/george_follmer.html
Harry Gant (9th) from Taylorsville, NC just south of Wilkesboro.
Tony Bettenhausen Jr (14th) ran his only Cup race at NWS. Bettenhausen was the youngest son of a famous racing family. He drove in 11 Indianapolis 500-Mile Races. Tony Lee Bettenhausen Jr. was one of three racing brothers and a son of two-time U.S. Auto Club national champion Melvin “Tony Bettenhausen, who ran at the Indianapolis 500 from 1946-60 and was killed in practice in 1961. Although their names were different, the son went by Tony Jr. Tony Bettenhausen Jr. died in a plane crash Feb. 14, 2000, along with his wife and two others.
Richie Panch, son of the great Marvin Panch also made his Cup debut at NWS (18th). Richie Panch ran both races at North Wilkesboro in 1974. Panch would also be killed in a plane crash in 1985.
18 of the 30 cars entered in the race were running at the finish. Cecil Gordon improved 14 positions from his starting spot (25th to 11th), the most of any driver in the race.
Pics from the 1974 Gwyn Staley 400 race.....
L to R—Winston’s Ralph Seagraves, Junior Johnson and Grand Marshall John Marcum, the ARCA
president share some laughs during pre-race ceremonies
A Pontiac pace car—there were no Pontiacs in the race though
Rolling out onto the first pace lap
Dick Brooks (32) Cale Yarborough (11) Neil Castles (06) Tony Bettenhausen Jr (9) in turn 3
Petty (43) and Yarborough (11) racing in turns 3 and 4. The scoreboard also reads 54 (Lennie Pond),
12 (Bobby Allison) and 72 (Benny Parsons) after lap 185. These five drivers would also make up the top
five after lap 400.
Benny Parsons in the pits
Victory lane celebration with (L to R) Maurice Petty, Miss Winston Cup and winner Richard Petty