1974 Daytona 500

1974 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 2 of 30 in the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1974 Daytona 500 program cover
1974 Daytona 500 program cover
Date February 17, 1974 (1974-02-17)
Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 180 laps, 450 mi (724.205 km)
Scheduled Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds approaching 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)[1]
Average speed 140.894 miles per hour (226.747 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Wood Brothers Racing
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Bobby Isaac Banjo Matthews
Duel 2 Winner Cale Yarborough Richard Howard
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 74
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network ABC's Wide World of Sports
Announcers Keith Jackson
Jackie Stewart
Chris Economaki

The 1974 Daytona 500, the 16th running of the event, was won by Richard Petty (for the fifth time) after three hours, eleven minutes, and thirty-eight seconds of racing on February 17, 1974, at Daytona International Raceway in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.

During the start of the 1974 NASCAR season, many races had their distance cut ten percent in response to the energy crisis of the year. As a result, the 1974 Daytona 500,[2][3] won by Richard Petty (his second straight, making him the first driver ever to do it), was shortened to 180 laps (450 miles), as symbolically, the race "started" on Lap 21 and the race is often known as the Daytona 450. The Twin 125 qualifying races (won by Bobby Isaac in a Banjo Matthews Chevrolet and Cale Yarborough in the Richard Howard Chevy prepared by Junior Johnson) were also shortened to 45 laps (112.5 miles).[4]

  1. ^ "Weather of the 1974 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  2. ^ NASCAR.COM – Daytona Countdown: '74 – Jan 19, 2005
  3. ^ Daytona At 50: Looking Back At 1974 by Michael Daly – CATCHFENCE.com
  4. ^ Zeller, 84-87.