1973 American 500
The 1973 American 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on October 21, 1973, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. This event would mark the only instance that a NASCAR Cup Series season would end at Rockingham Speedway. Having a 43-car racing grid was a very infrequent case during this era of NASCAR racing. Today, it forms the mandated standards that NASCAR developed over the years. This is also the earliest in the year a Cup season has finished since the inaugural season in 1949, and the last time there have been no races in November. 1973 would become the "year of the smaller engine" while declining sponsorship interests for the drivers resulted in NASCAR keeping the bigger gas-guzzling engines from being abolished from the sport. Following this race, NASCAR started to tighten up on their pre-race inspections as a precautionary measure to ensure that only legal racing components are being used. Background North Carolina Motor Speedway is a closed racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is affectionately known as "The Rock". Race report David Pearson would defeat Buddy Baker by at least one lap after nearly four hours and fifteen