The 1973 Dixie 500 was a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 22, 1973 at Atlanta International Raceway

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...

 in the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 community of Hampton

Hampton, Georgia

Hampton is a city in southwestern Henry County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,987. Census Estimates for 2005 show a population of 4,743. Hampton mailing addresses also dip into eastern Clayton County and northern Spalding County.The Atlanta Motor...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

.

Summary

It took three hours and fifty minutes for David Pearson to defeat Cale Yarborough

Cale Yarborough

William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...

 by more than one lap on a paved track spanning 1.522 miles (2.4 km).

Pearson would take home $16,650 in prize money while last-place finisher Charles Barrett would receive only $880 in take-home pay. Fourteen lead changes were exchanged amongst six leaders (Richard Petty, Bobby Allison

Bobby Allison

Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....

, Bobby Isaac

Bobby Isaac

Bobby Isaac is a former NASCAR Grand National champion.-Early life:Isaac grew up on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina, the second youngest of nine children...

, Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison

Donnie Allison

Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...

, and David Pearson). Six cautions were given out for 47 laps and the average speed of the race was 130.211 miles per hour (209.6 km/h). Thirty-thousand people would see a racing grid of 39 American drivers and one Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 driver (Vic Parsons

Vic Parsons

Vic Parsons is a retired NASCAR driver from Willowdale, Ontario, Canada . He competed in nineteen Winston Cup Series events in his career with seven top-tens.-Cup career:...

). Richard Petty

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

 would gain the pole position

Pole position

The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...

 with a speed of 157.163 miles per hour (252.9 km/h). Barrett would receive the last-place finish due to an engine

Engine

An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...

 difficult on lap 3 out of 328.

Only the winner of the race would be on the lead lap by the end of the race.

Finishing order

1. David Pearson
2. Cale Yarborough
3. Donnie Allison
   Donnie Allison
   Dunkiny "Donnie" Allison is a former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of the "Alabama Gang," and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison...
   
   
4. Joe Frasson
   Joe Frasson
   Joseph "Joe" Frasson is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver with four finishes in the top five and nineteen finishes in the top ten under his belt. He has experienced 20284 laps of racing and an overall career windfall of $148,930...
   
   
5. Jody Ridley
   Jody Ridley
   Jody Ridley is a former NASCAR driver. He won the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award and one race at Dover International Speedway the next year, the only Cup victory for Donlavey Racing....
   
   
6. Lennie Pond
   Lennie Pond
   Lennie Pond is a former NASCAR driver. He won NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 1973, and won his only race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1978 for Ronnie Elder and Harry Ranier....
   
   
7. J.D. McDuffie
   J.D. McDuffie
   John Delphus McDuffie was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career...
   
   
8. G.C. Spencer
   G.C. Spencer
   G. C. Spencer July 9, 1925 in Owensboro, Kentucky – September 20, 2007 in Johnson City, Tennessee was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1977...
   
   
9. Jabe Thomas
   Jabe Thomas
   Cerry Ezra "Jabe" Thomas is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who competed from the mid 1960s through the late 1970s. His son Ronnie was also a NASCAR Cup Series driver; competing from 1977 to 1989.-Career:Thomas drove 75243 laps of racing and earned $295,497 in total...
   
   
10. Larry Smith
11. Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington
    Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...
    
    
12. Rick Newsom
    Rick Newsom
    Rick Newsom , was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver from Fort Mill, South Carolina.Newsom competed in 82 Winston Cup races from 1972–1986.He was killed in a private plane crash on August 16, 1988.-References:...
    
    
13. Henley Gray
    Henley Gray
    Henley Gray is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977.-Summary:...
    
    
14. Frank Warren
    Frank Warren (NASCAR driver)
    Frank Warren is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1963 to 1980.Out of 88863 laps finished in his career, Warren had led 72 of them. Warren's total career earnings were $625,886 and while his average finish was 20th place in his entire career. The total amount of miles...
    
    
15. Walter Ballard
    Walter Ballard
    Walter Ballard is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver from Houston, Texas.He made a single Grand National start in 1966 and did not return to the series until 1971 when he ran a nearly full season in a car owned by his father Vic capturing 11 top tens on his way to Rookie of the Year honors and a...
    
    
16. Randy Tissot
17. Bill Champion
    Bill Champion
    Buford Billy Champion , is a retired American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who played in 202 games in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.-External links:...
    
    
18. Ed Negre
    Ed Negre
    Ed Negre is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979....
    
    
19. Charlie Roberts
    Charlie Roberts
    Charles "Charlie" Roberts was an English footballer.-Playing career:Born in Darlington, Roberts started his football career with Bishop Auckland, but soon moved to Grimsby Town....
    
    
20. Raymond Williams
21. James Hylton
    James Hylton
    James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72...
    
    
22. Dean Dalton
23. Richard Childress
    Richard Childress
    Richard Childress is a former NASCAR driver and the current team owner of Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. As a business entrepreneur, Childress became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina...
    
    
24. Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon
    Cecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....
    
    *
25. Benny Parsons
    Benny Parsons
    Benjamin Stewart Parsons was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst on TBS, ESPN, NBC and TNT...
    
    *
26. David Sisco
    David Sisco
    David Sisco is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who has led 98 laps out of the 33668 that he raced in his entire career. Sisco also managed to earn $251,359 in his seven-year NASCAR career . His average starting position is 22nd place while he managed to finish in 19th place on average...
    
    *
27. Bobby Allison
    Bobby Allison
    Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....
    
    *
28. Ed Sczech*
29. Vic Parsons
    Vic Parsons
    Vic Parsons is a retired NASCAR driver from Willowdale, Ontario, Canada . He competed in nineteen Winston Cup Series events in his career with seven top-tens.-Cup career:...
    
    *
30. Coo Coo Marlin
    Coo Coo Marlin
    Clifton "Coo Coo" Marlin was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series.-Local track history:...
    
    *
31. Darrell Waltrip
    Darrell Waltrip
    Darrell Lee Waltrip is a 3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion , 3-time runner-up , winner of the 1989 Daytona 500 and 5-time winner of the prestigeous Coca-Cola 600 ,...
    
    *
32. Dave Marcis
    Dave Marcis
    Dave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...
    
    *
33. Richard Petty
    Richard Petty
    Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
    
    *
34. Buddy Baker
    Buddy Baker
    Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...
    
    *
35. Bobby Isaac
    Bobby Isaac
    Bobby Isaac is a former NASCAR Grand National champion.-Early life:Isaac grew up on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina, the second youngest of nine children...
    
    *
36. John Sears*
37. Tommy Gale
    Tommy Gale
    Thomas "Tommy" Gale was an English footballer who played for Sheffield Wednesday and York City in the Football League.-Career:...
    
    *
38. Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...
    
    *
39. H.B. Bailey*
40. Charles Barrett*

* Driver failed to finish race