| Year: | 1973 |
| Race Name: | World 600 |
| Details Ref: | [1] |
| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Race No: | 12 |
| Season No: | 28 |
| Official Name: | World 600 |
| Location: | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina |
| Course Mi: | 1.500 |
| Course Km: | 2.414 |
| Distance Laps: | 334 |
| Distance Mi: | 500 |
| Distance Km: | 804 |
| Weather: | Temperatures reaching of 75.9F; wind speeds of 11.1mph |
| Avg: | 134.89mi/h |
| Attendance: | 85,000 |
| Pole Driver: | Buddy Baker |
| Pole Team: | Nord Krauskopf |
| Most Driver: | Buddy Baker |
| Most Team: | Nord Krauskopf |
| Most Laps: | 220 |
| Car: | 71 |
| First Driver: | Buddy Baker |
| First Team: | Nord Krauskopf |
The 1973 World 600, the 14th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on May 27, 1973, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.[2]
The grid consisted of 40 drivers. Alton Jones would finish in last place due to an engine problem on lap 2 out of the 400 laps that made up the race.[2] Buddy Baker defeated David Pearson by 1.8 seconds in front of 85,000 spectators. [2] Baker made history as he became the first driver to both win this race two years in a row and win the race three times.[3] Six cautions slowed the race for 48 laps. There were 23 different leaders. The race lasted four hours and twenty-six seconds.[2]
Baker would qualify for the pole position with a speed of 158.051mph while the average race speed was 134.89mph. [4] Other drivers in the top ten included: Cale Yarborough, Bobby Isaac, Benny Parsons, Jim Vandiver, Darrell Waltrip, Cecil Gordon, Dick Brooks, and David Sisco.[2] Ed Negre (#08), David Ray Boggs (#8) and Charlie Roberts failed to qualify for the race.[4]
Peter Gregg had a terrible crash early in the race in the final race for Cotton Owens' famous red #6 Dodges, then Vic Parsons would have had hard crash later on in the race.[2]
Notable crew chiefs in the race were Tim Brewer, Jake Elder, Travis Carter, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Vic Ballard, Tom Vandiver, and Bud Moore.[5]
On the day of the race, 0.01 inches of precipitation would be recorded around the speedway.[6] It would be enough rain to delay the race from lap 241 to lap 256.[2]
Cotton Owens would retire as a NASCAR race car owner after this race. David Pearson would be prevented from tying Richard Petty's record of ten consecutive wins at this race. Pearson would end up racking a 105 victories. Bobby Allison skipped this race to do the 1973 Indianapolis 500.
Peter Gregg would make his only NASCAR Cup Series start at this event. Billy Scott-Union,S.C. BD 8/9/1935 and Charlie Blanton would start their respective NASCAR careers at this race and would race for several others.[7]
| Source: [8] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fin | St | Driver | Sponsor | Make | Laps | Led | Status | ||
| 1 | 1 | 71 | Buddy Baker | K & K Insurance | '73 Dodge | 400 | 220 | running | |
| 2 | 2 | 21 | David Pearson | Purolator | '71 Mercury | 400 | 29 | running | |
| 3 | 4 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Kar-Kare | '73 Chevrolet | 399 | 15 | running | |
| 4 | 15 | 15 | Bobby Isaac | Sta-Power Industries | '73 Ford | 397 | 0 | running | |
| 5 | 8 | 72 | Benny Parsons | Union 76 Racing Oil | '73 Chevrolet | 393 | 1 | running | |
| 6 | 16 | 31 | Jim Vandiver | Bradford Enterprises | '72 Dodge | 392 | 0 | running | |
| 7 | 13 | 95 | Darrell Waltrip | Kmart, Terminal Transport | '71 Mercury | 391 | 0 | running | |
| 8 | 6 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | Panasonic | '72 Chevrolet | 384 | 0 | running | |
| 9 | 26 | 90 | Dick Brooks | Truxmore Industries | '73 Ford | 378 | 0 | engine | |
| 10 | 32 | 05 | David Sisco | Sisco Racing | '72 Chevrolet | 378 | 0 | running | |
| 11 | 28 | 96 | Richard Childress | L.C. Newton Trucking | '73 Chevrolet | 373 | 0 | engine | |
| 12 | 25 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Engineering | '71 Mercury | 373 | 0 | running | |
| 13 | 3 | 43 | Richard Petty | STP | '73 Dodge | 370 | 134 | running | |
| 14 | 34 | 64 | Elmo Langley | Langley Racing | '72 Ford | 368 | 0 | running | |
| 15 | 21 | 92 | Larry Smith | Carling Black Label | '71 Mercury | 368 | 0 | running | |
| 16 | 30 | 10 | Bill Champion | Earl Powell Auto Parts | '71 Ford | 366 | 0 | running | |
| 17 | 40 | 47 | Raymond Williams | Jet Way Wax | '72 Ford | 366 | 0 | running | |
| 18 | 10 | 30 | Walter Ballard | Ballard Racing | '71 Mercury | 354 | 0 | running | |
| 19 | 31 | 4 | Ed Negre | Mills Air Conditioning | '71 Dodge | 354 | 0 | running | |
| 20 | 19 | 5 | Charlie Blanton | TravelLodge Motels | '73 Dodge | 351 | 0 | engine | |
| 21 | 20 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | '72 Chevrolet | 350 | 0 | running | |
| 22 | 23 | 1 | Billy Scott | Big Chance Special, Ranger Motor Homes | '73 Chevrolet | 340 | 0 | running | |
| 23 | 35 | 79 | Frank Warren | Warren Racing | '73 Dodge | 287 | 0 | engine | |
| 24 | 5 | 28 | Charlie Glotzbach | Lemon Tree Inn | '73 Chevrolet | 281 | 0 | engine | |
| 25 | 9 | 18 | Joe Frasson | Pizza Hut | '73 Dodge | 278 | 1 | engine | |
| 26 | 39 | 45 | Vic Parsons | Seifert Rent-A-Racer | '71 Ford | 241 | 0 | crash | |
| 27 | 22 | 09 | Charles Barrett | Dahlonega Ford Sales | '71 Ford | 241 | 0 | overheating | |
| 28 | 12 | 2 | Dave Marcis | AMC | '73 Matador | 204 | 0 | engine | |
| 29 | 17 | 49 | G.C. Spencer | Spencer Racing | '72 Dodge | 163 | 0 | steering | |
| 30 | 37 | 7 | Dean Dalton | Belden Asphalt | '71 Mercury | 145 | 0 | driveshaft | |
| 31 | 27 | 25 | Jabe Thomas | Robertson Racing | '73 Dodge | 117 | 0 | oil leak | |
| 32 | 24 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Cherokee Construction | '72 Plymouth | 100 | 0 | transmission | |
| 33 | 14 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | Cunningham-Kelley | '72 Chevrolet | 71 | 0 | engine | |
| 34 | 38 | 06 | Neil Castles | Howard Furniture | '73 Dodge | 64 | 0 | rear end | |
| 35 | 18 | 83 | Paul Tyler | Smithville Farms | '71 Mercury | 52 | 0 | alternator | |
| 36 | 29 | 55 | Tiny Lund | Price Construction | '72 Chevrolet | 50 | 0 | engine | |
| 37 | 7 | 6 | Peter Gregg | Jacksonville Dealers, Owens Racing | '72 Dodge | 34 | 0 | crash | |
| 38 | 11 | 54 | Lennie Pond | Master Chevy Sales | '73 Chevrolet | 14 | 0 | engine | |
| 39 | 36 | 44 | Richard D. Brown | Brown Racing | '72 Chevrolet | 4 | 0 | transmission | |
| 40 | 33 | 3 | Alton Jones | Crimson Dale Nursery | '73 Chevrolet | 2 | 0 | engine | |