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