1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 explained

Year:1973
Race Name:Medal of Honor Firecracker 400
Details Ref:[1]
Type:NASWINSTON
Race No:17
Season No:28
Official Name:Medal of Honor Firecracker 400
Location:Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Mi:2.500
Course Km:4.023
Distance Laps:160
Distance Mi:400
Distance Km:643
Weather:Temperatures between 72.9F and 89.1F; wind speeds of 11.8mph
Avg:158.468mi/h
Attendance:60,000
Pole Driver:Bobby Allison
Pole Team:Allison Racing
Most Driver:David Pearson
Most Team:Wood Brothers Racing
Most Laps:51
Car:21
First Driver:David Pearson
First Team: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.

This race - and the 1969 and 1971 runnings of this race - was actually called the "Medal of Honor Firecracker 400", in an effort to honor Congressional Medal of Honor winners.[2]

Race report

This was the first race with new rules regarding carburetor restrictors. It was widely assumed that these rules helped volume production wedge engines, especially that used by Chevrolet.

This race eventually became Marty Robbins' most iconic race during his career in NASCAR. While he would start in 36th place (out of the 40 drivers who made up the racing grid), he would 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 sixty thousand fans. Six car lengths was the distance between Petty and Pearson. Bobby Allison secured the pole position at 179.619mph during qualifying.[3]

The race averaged 158.468mph. Engine problems 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 grid. Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty and David Pearson were the only lap leaders. The Chevrolet vehicles dominated the race, but after Yarborough and Allison retired it was David Pearson's show.[3]

Notable crew chiefs in the race were Tim Brew, Jake Elder, Travis Carter, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver, and Bud Moore.[4]

Vic Parsons scored his best NASCAR finish in seventh place.[3] Gordon Johncock, fresh from his Indy 500 win, finished 4th at this race.[3]

The winner of the race won $16,100 ($ when considering inflation) while the last-place winner received $1,270 ($ when considering inflation). All the prize winnings from this race were $105,080 ($ when considering inflation).[5]

Qualifying

GridDriverManufacturerOwner
112 Bobby Allison Bobby Allison
211 Cale Yarborough Richard Howard
315 Bobby Isaac Bud Moore
443 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
514 Coo Coo Marlin H.B. Cunningham
621 David Pearson Wood Brothers
772 Benny Parsons L.G. DeWitt
831 Jim Vandiver O.L. Nixon
995 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip
1088 Donnie Allison DiGard

Finishing order

  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
  21. Larry Smith
  22. Raymond Williams
  23. Henley Gray
  24. Bill Champion
  25. Darrell Waltrip
  26. Walter Ballard
  27. Richard Childress
  28. Donnie Allison
  29. Ed Negre
  30. Bobby Allison
  31. Jabe Thomas
  32. Jim Vandiver
  33. John Sears
  34. Ed Sczech
  35. Dick Simon
  36. Cale Yarborough
  37. A. J. Foyt
  38. Coo Coo Marlin
  39. Bobby Isaac
  40. J.D. McDuffie

Timeline

Section reference: [3]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/FL/Daytona%20Beach/1973-07-04 Weather information for the 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 racing event
  2. http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/features/07/01/enterprise.inside.nascar.daytona.july.race/index.html The Reason for the Race's Name
  3. http://www.racing-reference.info/race/1973_Medal_Of_Honor_Firecracker_400/W Racing information for the 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400
  4. https://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1973-17/W/C 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 crew chiefs
  5. http://fantasyracingcheatsheet.com/nascar/races/results/1973/daytona-international-speedway/firecracker-400/1307 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400

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