| Year: | 1973 |
| Race Name: | Alamo 500 |
| Details Ref: | [1] |
| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Race No: | 14 |
| Season No: | 28 |
| Official Name: | Alamo 500 |
| Location: | Texas World Speedway, College Station, Texas |
| Course Mi: | 2.000 |
| Course Km: | 3.218 |
| Distance Laps: | 250 |
| Distance Mi: | 500 |
| Distance Km: | 804 |
| Weather: | Warm with temperatures of 84.9F; wind speeds of 15mph |
| Avg: | 142.144mi/h |
| Attendance: | 27,000 |
| Pole Driver: | Buddy Baker |
| Pole Team: | K&K Insurance Racing |
| Most Driver: | Buddy Baker |
| Most Team: | K&K Insurance Racing |
| Most Laps: | 168 |
| Car: | 43 |
| First Driver: | Richard Petty |
| First Team: | Petty Enterprises |
The 1973 Alamo 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 10, 1973, at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.[2] [3] Speeds for this race would reach an average of 142.114mph.[3] [4]
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 (and under their own power). 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.
It took three hours and twenty-six minutes to resolve a race spanning 250 laps.[2] [3] Richard Petty defeated Darrell Waltrip by at least two laps in front of 27000 people; Waltrip finished a lap ahead of Joe Frasson, both of whom scored their first Cup Series podium in their careers. It was Frasson's only podium, while for Waltrip it was the first of 197 podia in his career.[2] [3] There were always large margins of victory at Texas World Speedway because of many long green-flag runs.[2] [3] Drivers were either became very cautious or very lucky and they managed to avoid having to deal with relatively long yellow-flag runs.[2] [3] Five cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 27 laps.[2]
Twenty-eight lead changes were reported amongst five leaders.[5] Nearly two years later, Darrell Waltrip would actually win a superspeedway race.
Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.
Buddy Baker would earn the pole position with a speed of 169.248mph.[2] J.D. McDuffie would make a top-ten finish here;[2] [3] a rare occurrence considering that he finished last-place the most often. Richie Panch would become the last-place finisher of the race due to an ignition problem on the first lap.[2] [3] This would be the last race done at Texas World Speedway until the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. There were 38 American-born drivers on the racing grid.[2] [3] Bob Whitlow and Ed Sczech would make their NASCAR debuts at this racing event; Whitlow was driving a second car for Ed Negre.[5]
Petty would receive a prize amount of $17,820 for winning the race ($ when considering inflation) while Panch would collect a mere $920 as his "reward" for finishing in last place ($ when considering inflation).[3] [6]
Notable crew chiefs who fully participated in this race were Tim Brewer, Jake Elder, Travis Carter, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, and Bud Moore.[7]
| Grid | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Buddy Baker | Nord Krauskopf | ||
| 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | ||
| 3 | 11 | Cale Yarborough | Richard Howard | ||
| 4 | 95 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip | ||
| 5 | 15 | Bobby Isaac | Bud Moore | ||
| 6 | 18 | Joe Frasson | Joe Frasson | ||
| 7 | 24 | Cecil Gordon | Cecil Gordon | ||
| 8 | 14 | Coo Coo Marlin | H.B. Cunningham | ||
| 9 | 72 | Benny Parsons | L.G. DeWitt | ||
| 10 | 42 | Marty Robbins | Marty Robbins |
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased