1974 Winston Cup Series

1974 Winston Cup Series
Season statistics
No. of races	30
First race	1974 Winston Western 500
Last race	1974 Los Angeles Times 500
Drivers' champion	Richard Petty
Manufacturers' champion
Rookie of the Year	Earl Ross
Most popular driver	Richard Petty
Previous	1973
Next	1975

The 1974 Winston Cup Series was the 26th season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The season began with the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway on January 20 and ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway on November 24.

Richard Petty won his fifth Winston Cup championship in his 14^th full-time season, winning 10 races including his fifth Daytona 500. The points system for the season was determined by winnings from track purses, multiplied by the number of races started, divided by 1000. As a result of finishing 1-2 in the Daytona 500, the race with the largest purse, Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough were effectively locked into the top 2 positions in points the rest of the season.

1974 was notable for having several early races shortened by 10% distance due to the ongoing energy crisis, and was the first season in which Pocono Raceway hosted a NASCAR Cup Series event.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	January 26, 1974	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway
	February 14, 1974	125 Mile Qualifying Races	Daytona International Speedway
2	February 17, 1974	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway
3	February 24, 1974	Richmond 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
4	March 3, 1974	Carolina 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
5	March 17, 1974	Southeastern 500	Bristol International Speedway
6	March 24, 1974	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway
7	April 7, 1974	Rebel 450	Darlington Raceway
8	April 21, 1974	Gwyn Staley 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
9	April 28, 1974	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
10	May 5, 1974	Winston 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
11	May 11, 1974	Music City USA 420	Nashville Speedway
12	May 19, 1974	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
13	May 26, 1974	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway
14	June 9, 1974	Tuborg 400	Riverside International Raceway
15	June 16, 1974	Motor State 360	Michigan International Speedway
16	July 4, 1974	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway
17	July 14, 1974	Volunteer 500	Bristol International Speedway
18	July 20, 1974	Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway
19	July 28, 1974	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway
20	August 4, 1974	Purolator 500	Pocono International Raceway
21	August 11, 1974	Talladega 500	Alabama International Motor Speedway
22	August 25, 1974	Yankee 400	Michigan International Speedway
23	September 2, 1974	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
24	September 8, 1974	Capital City 500	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
25	September 15, 1974	Delaware 500	Dover Downs International Speedway
26	September 22, 1974	Wilkes 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway
27	September 29, 1974	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway
28	October 6, 1974	National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway
29	October 20, 1974	American 500	North Carolina Motor Speedway
30	November 24, 1974	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1974 Winston Western 500	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		2	12	101.140	15
	1974 125 Mile Qualifying Race # 1	David Pearson	Bobby Isaac		3	17	123.212	7
	1974 125 Mile Qualifying Race # 2	Richard Petty	Cale Yarborough		4	18	129.724	11
2	1974 Daytona 500	David Pearson	Richard Petty		10	53	140.894	59
3	1974 Richmond 500	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison		3	16	80.095	11
4	1974 Carolina 500	Cale Yarborough	Richard Petty		2	15	121.622	9
5	1974 Southeastern 500	Donnie Allison	Cale Yarborough		3	28	64.533	5
6	1974 Atlanta 500	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		3	24	136.910	12
7	1974 Rebel 450	Donnie Allison	David Pearson		7	66	117.543	29
8	1974 Gwyn Staley 400	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		2	11	96.200	3
9	1974 Virginia 500	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough		12	70	70.427	5
10	1974 Winston 500	David Pearson	David Pearson		6	60	130.220	53
11	1974 Music City USA 420	Bobby Allison	Richard Petty		8	96	82.240	9
12	1974 Mason-Dixon 500	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough		3	25	115.057	9
13	1974 World 600	David Pearson	David Pearson		8	48	135.720	37
14	1974 Tuborg 400	George Follmer	Cale Yarborough		2	5	102.489	5
15	1974 Motor State 360	David Pearson	Richard Petty		6	40	127.098	50
16	1974 Firecracker 400	David Pearson	David Pearson		6	41	138.310	49
17	1974 Volunteer 500	Richard Petty	Cale Yarborough		9	105	75.430	22
18	1974 Nashville 420	Darrell Waltrip	Cale Yarborough		4	57	76.368	13
19	1974 Dixie 500	Cale Yarborough	Richard Petty		5	38	131.651	23
20	1974 Purolator 500	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty		4	42	115.593	20
21	1974 Talladega 500	David Pearson	Richard Petty		6	40	148.637	33
22	1974 Yankee 400	David Pearson	David Pearson		5	30	133.045	45
23	1974 Southern 500	Richard Petty	Cale Yarborough		11	101	111.075	26
24	1974 Capital City 500	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		13	123	64.430	6
25	1974 Delaware 500	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty		7	55	113.640	6
26	1974 Wilkes 400	Richard Petty	Cale Yarborough		6	71	80.782	11
27	1974 Old Dominion 500	Richard Petty	Earl Ross		10	78	66.232	11
28	1974 National 500	David Pearson	David Pearson		9	79	119.912	47
29	1974 American 500	Richard Petty	David Pearson		4	37	118.493	23
30	1974 Los Angeles Times 500	Richard Petty	Bobby Allison		3	17	134.963	39

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Richard Petty	30	10	22	23	7	5037.75
2	Cale Yarborough	30	10	21	22	3	4470.3	-567
3	David Pearson	19	7	15	15	11	2389.25	-2,649
4	Bobby Allison	27	2	17	17	3	2019.195	-3,019
5	Benny Parsons	30	0	11	14	0	1591.5	-3,446
6	Dave Marcis	30	0	6	18	0	1378.2	-3,660
7	Buddy Baker	19	0	11	12	2	1016.88	-4,021
8	Earl Ross	21	1	5	10	0	1009.47	-4,028
9	Cecil Gordon	30	0	1	10	0	1000.65	-4,037
10	David Sisco	28	0	2	9	0	956.2	-4,082
11	James Hylton	29	0	1	8	0	924.955	-4,113
12	J.D. McDuffie	30	0	0	7	0	920.85	-4,117
13	Frank Warren	29	0	1	2	0	820.845	-4,217
14	Richie Panch	28	0	2	7	0	775.44	-4,262
15	Walter Ballard	27	0	1	6	0	748.44	-4,289
16	Richard Childress	29	0	0	3	0	735.44	-4,302
17	Donnie Allison	21	0	6	10	2	728.805	-4,309
18	Lennie Pond	22	0	5	11	0	723.25	-4,315
19	Darrell Waltrip	16	0	7	11	1	609.975	-4,428
20	Tony Bettenhausen Jr	27	0	0	1	0	601.695	-4,436
21	Jackie Rogers	22	0	0	6	0	587.88	-4,450
22	Coo Coo Marlin	23	0	1	5	0	581.67	-4,456
23	Ed Negre	26	0	0	0	0	534.3	-4,503
24	Bob Burcham	20	0	1	5	0	445.5	-4,592
25	Elmo Langley	23	0	0	3	0	433.78	-4,604
26	Charlie Glotzbach	14	0	4	5	0	293.09	-4,745
27	Dick Brooks	16	0	0	3	0	267.52	-4,770
28	Joe Frasson	14	0	0	3	0	240.8	-4,797
29	George Follmer	13	0	3	5	1	230.49	-4,807
30	Buddy Arrington	16	0	0	4	0	221.2	-4,817
31	Bill Champion	18	0	0	0	0	207.72	-4,830
32	D.K. Ulrich	15	0	0	0	0	155.325	-4,882
33	Bobby Isaac	11	0	1	5	0	152.95	-4,885
34	Travis Tiller	14	0	0	0	0	146.44	-4,891
35	Roy Mayne	11	0	0	0	0	141.72	-4,896
36	Dean Dalton	14	0	0	0	0	125.44	-4,912
37	Neil Castles	14	0	0	0	0	123.565	-4,914
38	G.C. Spencer	10	0	0	1	0	96.8	-4,941
39	Ramo Stott	6	0	1	4	0	82.95	-4,955
40	Jim Vandiver	7	0	0	1	0	71.4	-4,966

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

Rookie of the Year

With 1 win, 5 Top 5s and 10 Top 10s in 21 starts, Earl Ross won the 1974 Rookie of the Year Award.

Position	Driver	Race Wins
1	Earl Ross	1
2	Richie Panch	0
3	Jackie Rogers	0
4	Ramo Stott	0

Manufacturer's Championship

With 12 wins, Chevrolet won the 1974 Manufacturer's Championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		12
2		10
3		7
4		0
5		1
6		0
7		0