The 1974 World 600, the 15th running of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

, was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

event that was held on May 26, 1974, at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing includin ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

. This would be the first time the World 600 and

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

were raced on the same day.

Race report

The race was shortened by 40 laps due to the energy crisis of that year. The lead changed 37 times among David Pearson, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker, and

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...

. Allison and Baker fell out with engine failures while Yarborough spun out early in the race, raced back to the front, then crashed out in the final 20 laps. The race took three hours and fifty-eight minutes. Eight cautions slowed the race for 48 laps. The average speed was . Pearson defeated Petty by 0.6 seconds in front of eighty-four thousand people. The late Jim Vandiver came home in eighth place in his signature #31 Dodge. This would be Pearson's second World 600 victory. His first career Cup win was in this event in 1961.

Sam McQuagg Samuel "Sam" McQuagg (November 11, 1937 – January 3, 2009) was an American former NASCAR Rookie of the Year driver. He died of cancer on January 3, 2009 at the age of 71. He and his wife Joy had recently celebrated their 54th wedding anni ...

would make his final start in this race before retiring from NASCAR; McQuagg was teammates with Bobby Isaac; they retired on lap 187 due to vehicle problems. He would later become a commercial pilot for the W. C. Bradly Co. in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and would eventually die of cancer in 2009. Individual earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $26,400 ($ when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $1,075 ($ when adjusted for inflation). NASCAR allocated a grand total of $167,305 ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Qualifying

Finishing order

''Note: Each driver would get an additional 40 laps due to the then-current

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...

(which officially ended in 1980).'' # David Pearson† (No. 21) # Richard Petty (No. 43) #

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

(No. 12) # Darrell Waltrip (No. 95) #

Earl Ross Earl Ross (September 4, 1941 – September 18, 2014) was a Canadian race car driver who competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1973 to 1976 driving the Carling Red Cap #52. Career summary Ross was born in Fortune, Prince Edward Island, C ...

† (No. 52) # Dave Marcis (No. 2) #

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

† (No. 81) #

Jim Vandiver Jim Vandiver (December 13, 1939June 18, 2015) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1968 to 1983. As an independent driver, he had limited financial resources but enjoyed a level of success that relatively few independent drivers ...

† (No. 31) #

David Sisco David Sisco (June 26, 1937 – July 25, 2016) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who ran 133 races from 1971 to 1977, and was the 1969 Nashville Fairgrounds track champion. Career Sisco also managed to earn $251,359 in his seven-year NASCA ...

† (No. 05) #

J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

† (No. 70) # Cale Yarborough* (No. 11) #

Walter Ballard Walter Harvey Ballard Sr. (born January 12, 1933) is a former NASCAR driver from Houston, Texas. In 1971, he won the Rookie of the Year Award in the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series (known as the NASCAR Cup Series as of 2021), in its f ...

(No. 30) #

Roy Mayne Roy Mayne (May 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He was a driver in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Au ...

† (No. 25) # Harry Gant (No. 5) #

James Hylton James Harvey Hylton (August 26, 1934 – April 28, 2018) was an American stock car racing driver. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition and was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished second i ...

*† (No. 48) #

Neil Castles Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from 1957 to 1976, and won the NASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972. Early life Castles was born in Ma ...

(No. 06) # Frank Warren (No. 79) # Dick Skillen (No. 78) #

Buddy Arrington Buddy Rogers Arrington (July 26, 1938 – August 2, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. Racing career Arrington has the second-most starts without a win, and finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1 ...

* (No. 67) #

Lennie Pond Lennie Wayne Pond (August 11, 1940 – February 10, 2016) was an American NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier. Pond ...

*† (No. 54) # Tony Bettenhausen Jr.† (No. 9) # Buddy Baker*† (No. 15) # Richie Panch*† (No. 98) # Bill Scott* (No. 1) #

G.C. Spencer Grover Clifton "G. C." Spencer (July 9, 1925GC Spencer obituaryhttp://www.heartfeltconnections.net/memberEulogy.cfm?memberid=14734&sqry_rownum=1&CFTOKEN=39227896 . – September 20, 2007) was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/ ...

*† (No. 49) # Travis Tiller* (No. 46) #

Dick Brooks Richard Brooks (April 14, 1942 – February 1, 2006) was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500. Brooks held off veteran Buddy Baker b ...

*† (No. 32) # Cecil Gordon*† (No. 24) #

Dan Daughtry Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

* (No. 35) #

* (No. 88) #

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, ...

*† (No. 72) #

*† (No. 28) #

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...

*† (No. 29) # Richard Childress* (No. 96) #

Randy Tissot Randall Lee Tissot (March 30, 1944 – August 15, 2013) was an American stock car racing driver from Akron, Ohio. He made 13 NASCAR Winston Cup Series starts in his career, with a best finish of 15th place at Darlington Raceway in 1973 and 1975, ...

* (No. 74) #

Bob Burcham Robert Wayne "Bob" Burcham, Sr. (August 22, 1935 – April 10, 2009) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1968 to 1979.

*† (No. 57) #

Charlie Glotzbach Charles Lee Glotzbach (June 19, 1938 – April 23, 2021) was an ARCA and NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. He holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He has the record for fastest pace at Bristol Motor Speedway for a NASCAR race. He was ...

* (No. 90) #

Coo Coo Marlin Clifton Burton "Coo Coo" Marlin (January 3, 1932 – August 14, 2005) was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series. Local track history Marlin earned a name for himself at the short tracks in Tennessee and Alabama, running ag ...

*† (No. 14) #

Jackie Rogers Jackie Rogers (born May 6, 1943 in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who has led only six out of the 4943 laps that he raced in his entire career. Rogers earned $64,582 ($ when adjusted for inflation) ...

* (No. 93) #

Joe Frasson Joseph "Joe" Frasson (September 3, 1935November 21, 2016) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver.' ...

*† (No. 18) ''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''
''* Driver failed to finish race''

References

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World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...

NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway