1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400

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1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400
Race details[1]
Race 17 of 28 in the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
Date July 4, 1973 (1973-July-04)
Official name Medal of Honor Firecracker 400
Location Daytona International Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 160 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather Temperatures between 72.9 °F (22.7 °C) and 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 11.8 miles per hour (19.0 km/h)
Average speed 158.468 miles per hour (255.030 km/h)
Attendance 60,000
Pole position
Driver
Bobby Allison
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Laps 51
Winner
No. 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing

The 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on July 4, 1973, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.

Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Summary

This race eventually became Marty Robbins' most iconic race during his career in NASCAR. While he would start in an absymal 36th place (out of the 40 drivers who made up the racing grid), he would put on a miraculous comeback and finish the race in eighth place, seven laps down. J.D. McDuffie ended up being the last-place finisher of this race due to an engine problem on lap 2 of 160. It took more than 160 minutes and two caution flags for David Pearson to defeat Richard Petty in front of a live audience of sixty thousand devoted stock car racing fans. Six car lengths was determined to be the distance between Petty and Pearson after the race was resolved. Bobby Allison secured the pole position for the race by driving at speeds up to 179.619 miles per hour (289.069 km/h) during the solo qualifying sessions.[2]

For the two and a half hour spectacle, the drivers averaged 158.468 miles per hour (255.030 km/h). Engine problems also took numerous other drivers out of the race. All competitors (except for Canadian-born Vic Parsons) were born in the United States. Mercury, Dodge, and Chevrolet made up the majority of the driving grid for this event. Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, and David Pearson jointly monopolized the changes in the leadership position.[2]

The winner of the race walked away with $16,100 in prize winnings ($110,503.45 when considering inflation) while the last-place winner received just $1,270 ($8,716.73 when considering inflation). All the prize winnings from this race added up to $105,080 ($721,223.75 when considering inflation).[3]

Top twenty finishers

  1. David Pearson
  2. Richard Petty
  3. Buddy Baker
  4. Gordon Johncock
  5. Benny Parsons
  6. Dave Marcis
  7. Vic Parsons
  8. Marty Robbins
  9. Dick Brooks
  10. Joe Frasson
  11. David Sisco
  12. James Hylton
  13. Cecil Gordon
  14. G.C. Spencer
  15. Roy Mayne
  16. Elmo Langley
  17. Dean Dalton
  18. Buddy Arrington
  19. Frank Warren
  20. Lennie Pond

References

  1. ^ Weather information for the 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 racing event at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b Racing information for the 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 at Racing Reference
  3. ^ 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series races
1973 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Firecracker 400 races
1973 		Succeeded by
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