September 21, 1975
“Wilkes 400”
Top 5 finishers.....
A $10 bill could buy a fan a seat for the 15th Annual Gwyn Staley 400 in 1975. It cost $8 to sit on the backstretch or to get into the infield. Children under 12 got in free with a paid adult. And I get a feeling Mr. Enoch Staley did not charge one cent to park a vehicle. Mr. Petty and Mr. Yarborough once again put on a great show. The two led a combined 356 of the 400 laps in the race. Mr. Dave Marcis led 44 laps, but experienced engine problems after just 92 laps and finished 27th in the 30 car field.
BRING BACK DAVE MARCIS!
Richard Petty won his 13th race at North Wilkesboro. Petty led 184 laps in the race. A qualifying lap of 21.327sec/105.500mph landed Petty on the pole for just the second time in his career at NWS. Petty’s win was his only victory at the track after starting from the pole. Up to this point, Petty finished in the top 3 at NWS in 13 consecutive races. Richard Petty won both 1975 races at NWS while driving a 1974 Dodge. In 1975, Petty won the Winston Cup Championship for the second straight year.
Cale Yarborough started fourth (21.640sec/103.974mph) and finished 2nd. He led 172 laps and finished 2.4 seconds behind Petty. The race following the spring race at NWS, Junior Johnson picked up Holly Farms at the sponsor for Yarborough’s car. The local sponsor must have been very pleased as Yarborough finish 2nd twice and 1st three times while carrying the Holly Farms name in five NWS races, not to mention the success of the #11 team at almost every other track.
Darrell Waltrip finished 3rd, after starting from the outside pole after a fast qualifying lap of 21.479sec/104.753mph. He finished 4 laps down. Call him “DW”.......or “D-dubya”, but he was known as “Jaws” at the time by his competitors (Yarborough gave him the nickname). Darrell Waltrip liked to talk.......sometimes trashy, sometimes brashy. He made comments about Earnhardt by stating that that he could say whatever he wanted about Dale and his team in the news because they “wouldn't be able to read it anyway.” While being booed in victory lane, he could silence the crowd by challenging them to say, “Boo if you love DW,” or “Those aren’t boos, they’re yelling DEW” in reference to his Mountain Dew sponsor. Whether it was his comments or his driving, Waltrip had the fire in him to be the best at both.
Buddy Baker finished 4th, six laps down. A 21.643sec/103.960mph lap during qualifying put Baker in the fifth starting spot. Five years from now, in 1980, Baker drove one of the fastest and scariest cars in NASCAR. It was called the “Gray Ghost” because it would blend in with the track. The gray part of the car which was the hood, top and rear deck-lid blended in with the speedway. The sides of the car were black and that didn't help either. When the other drivers would look in their mirrors they wouldn't see it coming and all of a sudden, it was there and gone. NASCAR officials finally made Baker put Day-Glo strips on the front of the car so it could be seen in the rearview mirrors of the other drivers. It was the Gray Ghost Baker drove to victory at the Daytona 500, his only victory there. Some of the drivers complained to NASCAR, thus the reason why the strips were ordered to be put on the car.
Lennie Pond drove his ’75 Chevrolet to a third straight 5th place finish. Pond circled the track during qualifying in 21.666 seconds for a speed of 103.849. He started the race from the sixth spot.
It took 2 hours, 48 minutes, 34 seconds to complete the race. 21 of the 30 cars were running at the finish. There were 7 cautions for 34 laps. Petty, Yarborough and Marcis exchanged the lead a total of 11 times. Buddy Arrington gained the most spots (11) during the race. He started 29th and finished 18th.
Just a few pics.....
A small birthday surprise for Richard Childress (Sept 21, 1945)
Richard Petty is presented with the SUN-DROP Pole Award
Coo-Coo Marlin spins as Walter Ballard passes on the outside