August 25, 1973 - 250 Miles - Purse $36,245

The cars of Darrell Waltrip, Coo Coo Marlin and Richard Childress go through NASCAR Pre-Race Tech Inspection before the 1973 Nashville 420.

 

 

Bobby Allison watches his crew as they prepare his car for the race. (Photo: Dale Ernsberger The Tennessean

Cale Yarbrough and car owner Junior Johnson would debut the 1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo to NASCAR Grand National racing during the 1973 Nashville 420.  The basic Monte Carlo body style would compete until the 1980 season and is regarding by many racing historians as the most successful short-track race car in the history of the sport.

Buddy Baker won his first and only victory at the Fairgrounds. This would the first of Baker's two short track wins in his career. Baker was quoted as saying the following about his 1973 Dodge Charger "It doesn't run so well when I slow down."

Yarborough would lose 14 laps due to repairs needed after a crash on lap 258. 

Darrell Waltrip would have rear end problems and exit the race after completing 131 laps.  Bobby Allison would also exit the race early after his oil scavenger pump failed on lap 145.  

Independent driver Cecil Gordon won the second of the Winston Points segments and captured a $10,000 prize for his accomplishment.

This would be Rick Newsome's best career finish in his 82 Grand National Starts. The Fort Mill, South Carolina native finished 17th in a 1970 Ford purchased at the end of the 1972 season from James Hylton.

Columbia, Tennessee's Coo Coo Marlin would score a career best finish of third.  This would tie his previous record of third scored at the 1972 Lone Star 500 at Texas World Speedway

Race attendance was a track record 25,000

The Cunningham - Kelley Team of Coo Coo Marlin, based in nearby Columbia, Tennessee
 


Frank Warren drove D.K. Ulrich's Ford


Walter Ballard's Mercury


The Ford Torino of Elmo Langley

Rick Newsome 1970 Ford’s Prestigious Lineage

The Ford Torino driven by Rick Newsome in the 1973 Nashville 420 was built by Holman-Moody for Junior Johnson to campaign during the 1970 season.  Driver Lee Roy Yarbrough sat on the pole with the car for the 1970 Nashville 420 and led the first 16 laps of the race. Unfortunately, Yarbrough blew a tire on lap 45 and subsequently crashed, finishing a disappointing 23rd.

James Hylton purchased the car from Johnson and immediately scored an impressive 2nd place finish in 1971 at Nashville.  He would back up his performance with an 9th place finish in 1972 edition of the race. Hylton would sell the Ford to Newsome in the later part of the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup season.  Newsome and the Torino would race to a 22nd place finish in the late season 1972 Texas 500 at College Station.

Rick Newsome (posing proudly with his new race car in the above photo) would finish 16th in the 1973 Music City 420 and 11th in the 1973 Nashville 420.  It might be noted that because of the similarity between the 1970 and 1971 Ford Torino, this particular car was about to successfully skirt NASCAR's three year body style rule.  In all probably, it has to have the track record for most appearance in a Winston Cup Race with five. 

The car was restored to a body style it never competed as in the early 2000’s.  The car survives today in Vacaville, California.

 

Average Speed:    89.31 : Time of Race:   2:48:12 Margin:  4 Laps
Pole Winner:         Cale Yarborough  103.024 Attendance:      25,000 Cautions:  3 for 28 Laps
Lap Leaders:        Yarborough 1-67. Waltrip 68-82, Yarborough 83-85, Allison 86-134, Yarborough 135-260, Baker 261-420
 
DriverDDriver Fin Str Car Team / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
Buddy Baker 1 7 71 K & K Insurance  - 
Nord Krauskopf
73 Dodge 420 6,750 Running 160
Richard Petty 2 8 43 STP - Petty Enterprises 73 Dodge 416 4,960 Running 0
Coo Coo Marlin 3 4 14 Cunningham-Kelley
 H.B. Cunningham
72 Chevrolet 409 2,125 Running 0
David Sisco 4 19 05 Charlie McGee 72 Chevrolet 402 1,750 Running 0
Ed Negre 5 11 8 Ed Negre 73 Dodge 399 1,570 Running 0
James Hylton 6 13 48 James Hylton 71 Ford 398 1,220 Running 0
Walter Ballard 7 15 30 Hekimiam Foreign
Parts - Ballard Racing
71 Mercury 394 1,160 Running 0
Cecil Gordon 8 6 24 Cecil Gordon 72 Chevrolet 392 985 Running 0
Alton Jones 9 24 68 Crimson Dale Nursery Butch Hawkersmith 73 Chevrolet 390 650 Running 0
Bill Champion 10 21 10 Powell Auto Parts   -
Bill Champion
71 Ford 387 875 Running 0
Rick Newsom 11 28 20 Holbrook Waterproofing   -  Rick Newsom 71 Ford 384 585 Running 0
Buddy Arrington 12 32 67 Cherokee Construction   - Buddy Arrington 72 Dodge 384 825 Running 0
Henley Gray 13 17 19 Henley Gray 71 Mercury 380 915 Running 0
Cale Yarborough 14 1 11 Kar-Kare    -
Richard Howard
73 Chevrolet 377 2,150 Running 196
Frank Warren 15 20 40 D K Ulrich 71 Ford 377 595 Running 0
Earl Brooks 16 30 26 Earl Brooks 71 Ford 375 470 Running 0
Charlie Roberts 17 29 77 Sunny King -
Charlie Roberts
71 Ford 358 690 Running 0
J.D. McDuffie 18 16 70 J D McDuffie 72 Chevrolet 346 745 Running 0
Benny Parsons 19 5 72 L G DeWitt 73 Chevrolet 324 625 Engine 0
Richard Childress 20 9 96 L.C. Newton Trucking      -  Tom Garn 73 Chevrolet 235 570 Crash 0
Elmo Langley 21 22 64 Clyde Lynn Auto Parts  - Elmo Langley 72 Ford 159 520 Engine 0
Bobby Allison 22 2 12 Coca-Cola   -
Bobby Allison Racing
73 Chevrolet 145 1,835 Engine 49
Lennie Pond 23 12 54 Master Chevy Sales    -  Ronnie Elder 73 Chevrolet 136 385 Rear end 0
Darrell Waltrip 24 3 95 Terminal Transport  -  Darrell Waltrip 73 Chevrolet 131 305 Rear end 15
Richard D. Brown 25 23 44 Jerry Brown 72 Chevrolet 126 250 Rear end 0
Jabe Thomas 26 31 25 Don Robertson 73 Dodge 102 500 Rear end 0
Dean Dalton 27 14 7 Belden Asphalt   -
Dean Dalton
71 Mercury 62 615 Crash 0
Dick May 28 25 08 Ed Negre 71 Ford 61 250 Over
Heating
0
Vic Parsons 29 26 45 Jet Way  -  Bill Seifert 71 Ford 52 250 Crash 0
Raymond Williams 30 18 47 JUG  -
Raymond Williams
72 Ford 30 345 Over
Heating
0
Mel Larson 31 27 73 ThermaSol     -
Don Robertson
73 Dodge 23 250 Vibration 0
Dick Brooks 32 10 90 Truxmore     -
Junie Donleavy
71 Mercury 16 275 Engine 0
Robert Brown 33 33 58 Jones Construction    -  Allan Brown 72 Chevrolet 5 250 Suspension 0