1973 Winston Cup Series

1973 Winston Cup Series
Season statistics
No. of races	28
First race	1973 Winston Western 500
Last race	1973 American 500
Drivers' champion	Benny Parsons
Manufacturers' champion
Rookie of the Year	Lennie Pond
Most popular driver	Bobby Allison
Previous	1972
Next	1974

The 1973 Winston Cup Series was the 25th season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The season began with the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 21 and ended with the American 500 at North Carolina Speedway on October 21.

Benny Parsons won his first and only Winston Cup championship in his fourth full-time season. He won only 1 race in the season and it was his only finish on the lead lap. As it was in 1972, the points system for the season gave drivers points for finishing position as well as the amount of race distance completed, with larger tracks giving more points than smaller tracks. Parsons was able to win the championship due to a quick repair job following an early crash in the final race of the season, getting back out on track to finish 28^th while competitor Richard Petty suffered mechanical issues and fell out of the race.

1973 was notable for multiple race cancellations and postponements due to weather or facility issues. Races at Ontario, Trenton and Michigan were effected. The 28-race season was the fewest for a Cup Schedule since 1950. It was also notable for being the final season in which Plymouth won a Cup race, while Cale Yarborough returned from racing in USAC to drive for the Richard Howard/Junior Johnson team and David Pearson earned 11 wins driving in his first full time season with the Wood Brothers.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	January 21, 1973	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway
	February 15, 1973	125 Mile Qualifying Races	Daytona International Speedway
2	February 18, 1973	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway
3	February 25, 1973	Richmond 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
4	March 18, 1973	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
5	March 25, 1973	Southeastern 500	Bristol International Speedway
6	April 1, 1973	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway
7	April 8, 1973	Gwyn Staley 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
8	April 15, 1973	Rebel 500	Darlington Raceway
9	April 29, 1973	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
10	May 6, 1973	Winston 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
11	May 12, 1973	Music City 420	Nashville Speedway
12	May 27, 1973	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway
13	June 3, 1973	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
14	June 10, 1973	Alamo 500	Texas World Speedway
15	June 17, 1973	Tuborg 400	Riverside International Raceway
16	June 24, 1973	Motor State 400	Michigan International Speedway
17	July 4, 1973	Medal of Honor Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway
18	July 8, 1973	Volunteer 500	Bristol International Speedway
19	July 22, 1973	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway
20	August 12, 1973	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
21	August 25, 1973	Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway
22	September 3, 1973	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
23	September 9, 1973	Capital City 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
24	September 16, 1973	Delaware 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
25	September 23, 1973	Wilkes 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
26	September 30, 1973	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway
27	October 7, 1973	National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway
28	October 21, 1973	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1973 Winston Western 500	David Pearson	Mark Donohue		3	10	104.055	10
	1973 125 Mile Qualifying Race # 1	Buddy Baker	Buddy Baker		1	3	173.611	15
	1973 125 Mile Qualifying Race # 2	Pete Hamilton	Coo Coo Marlin		2	10	157.177	22
2	1973 Daytona 500	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty		4	28	157.205	20
3	1973 Richmond 500	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		8	78	74.764	19
4	1973 Carolina 500	David Pearson	David Pearson		7	47	118.649	2
5	1973 Southeastern 500	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		7	56	88.952	0
6	1973 Atlanta 500	Gordon Johncock	David Pearson		4	31	139.351	23
7	1973 Gwyn Staley 400	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		1	9	97.224	5
8	1973 Rebel 500	David Pearson	David Pearson		11	71	122.655	21
9	1973 Virginia 500	David Pearson	David Pearson		7	49	70.251	11
10	1973 Winston 500	Buddy Baker	David Pearson		4	54	131.956	13
11	1973 Music City 420	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		2	6	98.419	3
12	1973 World 600	Buddy Baker	Buddy Baker		6	48	134.890	23
13	1973 Mason-Dixon 500	David Pearson	David Pearson		3	22	119.745	13
14	1973 Alamo 500	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty		5	38	142.114	28
15	1973 Tuborg 400	Richard Petty	Bobby Allison		4	22	100.215	12
16	1973 Motor State 400	Buddy Baker	David Pearson		0	0	153.485	25
17	1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400	Bobby Allison	David Pearson		2	17	158.468	25
18	1973 Volunteer 500	Cale Yarborough	Benny Parsons		5	33	91.342	5
19	1973 Dixie 500	Richard Petty	David Pearson		6	47	130.211	14
20	1973 Talladega 500	Bobby Allison	Dick Brooks		7	52	145.454	64
21	1973 Nashville 420	Cale Yarborough	Buddy Baker		3	28	89.310	5
22	1973 Southern 500	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		7	38	134.033	25
23	1973 Capital City 500	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		5	123	63.215	6
24	1973 Delaware 500	David Pearson	David Pearson		7	56	112.852	23
25	1973 Wilkes 400	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison		2	9	95.198	12
26	1973 Old Dominion 500	Cale Yarborough	Richard Petty		6	69	68.631	6
27	1973 National 500	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		2	16	145.240	12
28	1973 American 500	Richard Petty	David Pearson		5	36	117.749	20

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Benny Parsons	28	1	15	21	0	7173.8
2	Cale Yarborough	28	4	16	19	5	7106.65	-67
3	Cecil Gordon	28	0	8	18	0	7046.8	-127
4	James Hylton	28	0	1	11	0	6972.75	-201
5	Richard Petty	28	6	15	17	3	6877.95	-296
6	Buddy Baker	27	2	16	20	5	6327.6	-846
7	Bobby Allison	27	2	15	16	6	6272.3	-902
8	Walter Ballard	28	0	0	4	0	5955.7	-1,218
9	Elmo Langley	27	0	0	4	0	5826.85	-1,347
10	J.D. McDuffie	27	0	3	10	0	5743.9	-1,430
11	Jabe Thomas	25	0	0	1	0	5637	-1,537
12	Buddy Arrington	26	0	1	4	0	5483.9	-1,690
13	David Pearson	18	11	14	14	8	5382.8	-1,791
14	Henley Gray	24	0	0	4	0	5215.5	-1,958
15	Richard Childress	25	0	1	2	0	5169.5	-2,004
16	Frank Warren	26	0	0	0	0	4992.15	-2,182
17	David Sisco	23	0	2	6	0	4986.45	-2,187
18	Ed Negre	24	0	1	2	0	4942.55	-2,231
19	Dean Dalton	26	0	0	2	0	4712.3	-2,462
20	Charlie Roberts	24	0	0	0	0	4695.4	-2,478
21	Bill Champion	26	0	0	1	0	4447.85	-2,726
22	Coo Coo Marlin	21	0	1	8	0	4233.9	-2,940
23	Lennie Pond	23	0	1	9	0	4013.85	-3,160
24	Dave Marcis	23	0	3	6	0	3973.9	-3,200
25	Raymond Williams	22	0	0	3	0	3708.25	-3,466
26	Bobby Isaac	19	0	5	6	0	3352.4	-3,821
27	Dick Brooks	14	1	3	9	0	3200.7	-3,973
28	Darrell Waltrip	19	0	1	5	0	2968.2	-4,206
29	Joe Frasson	14	0	2	4	0	2952.2	-4,222
30	Vic Parsons	18	0	0	6	0	2929.25	-4,245
31	Jim Vandiver	10	0	0	4	0	2508.85	-4,665
32	John Sears	17	0	0	0	0	2465.25	-4,709
33	Larry Smith	11	0	0	1	0	2367.85	-4,806
34	Rick Newsom	12	0	0	0	0	1931	-5,243
35	Donnie Allison	14	0	2	5	0	1755.75	-5,418
36	D.K. Ulrich	11	0	0	0	0	1543.9	-5,630
37	G.C. Spencer	10	0	0	1	0	1503.15	-5,671
38	Mel Larson	10	0	0	0	0	1182.05	-5,992
39	Johnny Barnes	8	0	0	0	0	1174.2	-6,000
40	Eddie Bond	6	0	0	0	0	1163.5	-6,010

Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.

Rookie of the Year

With 1 Top 5 and 9 Top 10s in 23 starts, Lennie Pond won the 1973 Rookie of the Year Award.

Position	Driver	Race Wins
1	Lennie Pond	0
2	Darrell Waltrip	0
3	Johnny Barnes	0

Manufacturer's Championship

Despite only winning 7 times to Mercury’s 11 and Dodge’s 8, Chevrolet won the 1973 Manufacturer’s Championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		7
2		8
3		11
4		0
5		1
6		1
7		0