1974 Old Dominion 500


The 1974 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 29, 1974, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
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. 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 anymore.

Race report

Today, the race is a part of the First Data 500 annual series of Martinsville races that occur in the autumn for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race lasted three hours, fifty-eight minutes, and three seconds. Ten cautions were enacted by NASCAR for seventy-nine laps. The event had an attendance of 33,000 people. Attrition took its toll in this race, as there were only 10 cars left running at the end of the race. While the NASCAR Cup Series had progressed when it came to safety measures by the mid-1970s, a lot of the safety features that would make NASCAR safe and enjoyable at the same time only came after the death of Dale Earnhardt at the 2001 Daytona 500.
Canadian Earl Ross defeated his American opponent Buddy Baker by more than one lap. Ross was also the first rookie to win a NASCAR Cup Series race; this record would not be broken until Dale Earnhardt won the 1979 Southeastern 500.
He also broke the 23 race winning streak of the "big three drivers" of the 1974 season. Jimmy Hensley leads his first ever laps in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and he would have to wait until 1992 to lead again. Sonny Hutchins dominated the first 78 laps of the race and could have easily won the race if his car hadn't blown up; forcing him to crash. Cale Yarborough also looked like a dominant competitor during the race; leading 288 laps during the race and giving the other drivers a difficult time. It was a huge surprise to everyone when he blew an engine with 79 laps to go. Petty, Yarborough and Pearson managed to win 27 out of 30 races in 1974 and the only other drivers to win a race were Bobby Allison, who won twice, and Earl Ross.
Pole speed was per hour while the average speed was per hour. Notable drivers at this race included Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Coo Coo Marlin, and Richard Childress. There were also some equally notable crew chiefs in the race; including Tim Brewer, Travis Carter, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman among others.
There was a thirty driver grid compared to the forty-three driver grid of today. The winner received $14,550 while starting in eleventh place. Modified fan favorite racer Satch Worley makes his Winston Cup debut and scores an impressive top-10 finish.
Until Juan Pablo Montoya's most recent victory at Watkins Glen driving the #42 Chevrolet Impala at the 2010 running of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen race, Canadian Earl Ross' victory in this race was the most recent Cup race won by a foreign driver. The most active Canadian driver in the Monster Energy Cup Series today is Patrick Carpentier who participates as a road course ringer at the Watkins Glen, Infineon and the Montreal Nationwide Series race.

Technological concerns

Improvements in tire and engine technology in the early 1970s had made NASCAR Cup Series vehicles overpowered compared to the limited space that Martinsville Speedway had for breathing space. Further technological advancements by 2013 have caused further concern for driver safety at Martinsville; indicating that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series may have to use restrictor plates in Martinsville if tire/engine technology keeps its current pace of development.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference:
  1. Earl Ross
  2. Buddy Baker†
  3. Donnie Allison
  4. Dave Marcis
  5. Richie Panch†
  6. James Hylton†
  7. Elmo Langley†
  8. Frank Warren
  9. Satch Worley*
  10. Jabe Thomas
  11. Cale Yarborough*
  12. Lennie Pond*
  13. D.K. Ulrich
  14. Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.*†
  15. Benny Parsons*†
  16. J.D. McDuffie*†
  17. Ed Negre*
  18. Ray Hendrick*
  19. Jimmy Hensley*
  20. David Sisco*
  21. Sonny Hutchins*†
  22. Coo Coo Marlin*
  23. Pee Wee Wentz*
  24. Richard Childress*
  25. Walter Ballard*
  26. Cecil Gordon*†
  27. Randy Hutchison*
  28. Jackie Rogers*
  29. Richard Petty*
  30. Paul Radford*
* Driver failed to finish race
† Driver is deceased

Timeline

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