The1973 Richmond 500 was aNASCARWinston Cup Series racing event that took place on February 25, 1973, atRichmond Fairgrounds Raceway (now Richmond Raceway) inRichmond, Virginia.

1973 Richmond 500

Race details[1][2]
Race 3 of 28 in the1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Layout of Richmond Speedway
Date	February 25, 1973 (1973-02-25)
Official name	Richmond 500
Location	Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway,Richmond, Virginia
Course length	0.542 miles (0.872 km)
Distance	500 laps, 271 mi (436 km)
Weather	Temperatures of 57.9 °F (14.4 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)
Average speed	74.764 miles per hour (120.321 km/h)
Attendance	18,000[3]
Pole position
Driver	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison Motorsports
Time	21.453 seconds
Most laps led
Driver	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
Laps	227
Winner
No. 43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting theGrand National Series withLee Petty winning that first race in Richmond.^[4] The original track was paved in 1968.^[5] In 1988, the track was re-designed into its presentD-shaped configuration

The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway".

Five hundred laps took place on a pavedoval track spanning .542 miles (0.872 km) for a grand total of 271.0 miles (436.1 km).It took three hours and thirty-seven minutes for the race to conclude in front of eighteen thousand spectators.^[6]

Notable crew chiefs that were a part of the race includedHerb Nab,Bud Moore, Lee Gordon,Vic Ballard,Dale Inman andHarry Hyde.^[7]Richard Petty defeatedBuddy Baker by 13.6 seconds, bringing about Petty's 150th NASCAR Cup Series career win.^[3][8]

Eight cautions for seventy-eight laps slowed the race.^[3][2][8] The other drivers in the top ten were:Cale Yarborough,Bobby Isaac,Dave Marcis,Bill Dennis,Lennie Pond,Cecil Gordon,James Hylton, andBenny Parsons. Though Lennie Pond made his debut four years prior, this was only his third career start, and it yielded his first top-10.^[3][2][8] Notable speeds were: 74.764 miles per hour (120.321 km/h) as the average speed^[8] and 90.952 miles per hour (146.373 km/h) as thepole position speed.^[3]

Canadian driverVic Parsons started in 27th place and ended the race in 30th place (out of 30 drivers).^[3][2][8] J.D. McDuffie would ruin his vehicle's engine on lap 54 while David Sisco would do the same thing on lap 110.^[3] Engine problems would also claim the vehicles of Dean Dalton on lap 126, Ray Hendrick on lap 151 and Donnie Allison on lap 162.^[3] Neil Castles' vehicle would suffer from terminal damage due to a crash on lap 210 while Tiny Lund would lose his vehicle's rear end on lap 229.^[3] Frank Warren's vehicles ran out of tires on lap 237 while a crash would cause terminal damage to Sonny Hutchins' vehicle on lap 254.^[3] Richard D. Howard would acquire the final DNF of the race due to engine problems on lap 349.^[3]

Total winnings for this race were $35,600 ($252,162 when considering inflation).^[2][8]DiGard Motorsports would throw their collective hats into what would become their debut race as a NASCAR Cup Series team.

Section reference:^[3]

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased