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1973 Capital City 500

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1973 Capital City 500
Race details
Race 23 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Layout of Richmond International SpeedwayLayout of Richmond International Speedway
Date September 9, 1973 (1973-09-09)
Official name Capital City 500
Location Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
Course 0.542 mi (0.872 km)
Distance 500 laps, 271 mi (436 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 82 °F (28 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)
Average speed 63.215 miles per hour (101.735 km/h)
Attendance 18,000
Pole position
Driver Bobby Allison Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 429
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Motor car race

The 1973 Capital City 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing event that took place on September 9, 1973, at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway (now Richmond International Raceway) in Richmond, Virginia.

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond. The original track was paved in 1968. In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration

The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway". The Strawberry Hill Races, which are a series of steeplechase horse races were formerly held the third Saturday of April at the Richmond Raceway Complex. In 2001, the races were moved to Colonial Downs in New Kent County, Virginia's first Thoroughbred racetrack.

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power any more.

Summary

Richard Petty defeated Cale Yarborough by at least two laps in front of 18000 live spectators. It took four hours and thirteen minutes to finish the 500-lap race with the track spanning exactly 0.542 miles (0.872 km). Petty had won six other races at this track before extending his lucky streak to 7 at the end of this event.

Bobby Allison acquired the pole position with a qualifying speed of 90.245 miles per hour (145.235 km/h) while the average race speed was 63.215 miles per hour (101.735 km/h). Five cautions were given out for 123 laps in this racing event. Baxter Price received the last-place finish due to a crash on lap that also took out nine other guys that were starting lap 4. Out of the 34 races on the grid, 33 were born in the United States while Vic Parsons was born in Canada. J.D. McDuffie and Darrell Waltrip were also two notable figures that participated in this race. The future owner of Richard Childress Racing (Richard Childress) would also make a racing appearance here.

There were threatening skies from the green flag; causing most of the race to be done under the yellow flag. No attempt was made to postpone the race or to call it "official." A record amount of 86 laps were done under caution until the skies became blue again. Besides the weather, a red flag also held up the race for 70 minutes as Price and Bill Champion had to go to the hospital for their respective injuries.

Top ten finishers

Pos Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps
1 5 43 Richard Petty Dodge 500
2 3 11 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet 498
3 1 12 Bobby Allison Chevrolet 497
4 7 72 Benny Parsons Chevrolet 492
5 20 67 Buddy Arrington Dodge 482
6 6 30 Walter Ballard Mercury 477
7 11 24 Cecil Gordon Chevrolet 477
8 14 18 James Hylton Mercury 476
9 16 19 Henley Gray Mercury 473
10 26 47 Raymond Williams Ford 461

Timeline

  • Start of race: Bobby Allison had the pole position to start the event
  • Lap 51: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 64: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty
  • Lap 66: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 83: Richard Petty took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
  • Lap 179: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty
  • Lap 181: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison
  • Lap 203: John Sears managed to overheat his vehicle
  • Lap 305: Mel Larson's engine stopped working properly
  • Lap 343: Jabe Thomas had a terminal crash; forcing him to exit the race prematurely
  • Lap 383: David Sisco had a terminal crash; forcing him to exit the race prematurely
  • Lap 411: Elmo Langley managed to blow his engine while he was racing
  • End of race: Richard Petty won the race

References

  1. "1973 Capital City 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  2. ^ "1973 Capital City 500 race information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  3. http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "Richmond International Raceway has hosted the NASCAR Winston Cup Series since 1953. Lee Petty won the first race that year. "
  4. http://racing.ballparks.com/Richmond/index.htm "The original track was paved in 1968."
  5. Strawberry Hill Races Traditions
  6. ^ "1973 Capital City 500 race information (second reference)". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  7. ^ "1973 Capital City 500 race information (third reference)". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
Preceded by1973 Southern 500 Winston Cup Series races
1971–2004
Succeeded by1973 Delaware 500
Preceded by1973 Alamo 500 Richard Petty's Career Wins
1960-1984
Succeeded by1973 Old Dominion 500
1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
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