Relive the 1973 Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway. On this day Cale Yarborough took the checkered flag. For more NASCAR news, check out: www.NASCAR.com
You know it's bad when you come to RU-vid to watch a race that was run 47 years ago, than watch a NASCAR race today. No restrictor plates. No whining. And heck, we even saw a burning shoe. These drivers and cars are the real deal.
That's what I did ! Watched plastic cars today run a three part race . Remembered the car my dad drove from the 70 s and my 73 olds so I found this race to watch . Need to bring this racing back . Vintage series .
@Rob A. If I recall correctly, the Chevies that didn't have restrictor plates was because they were running the small block, and that in turn, allowed the car to weigh a certain amount less. I do recall Donnie Allison talking about winning races with smaller engines on certain tracks, because the advantage was the car could be quite a bit lighter.
@Rob A. I got to thinking after I responded to you, so I looked up NASCAR history, and I am correct: The very first era for restrictor plates came in 1971, because NASCAR had already decided they were going to downsize all engines EVENTUALLY from 426/427 cu in, down to 358 cu in. However, these years were known as "the transitional years", and ANY team was allowed to use a 358 cu in small block engine WITHOUT the restrictor plate, and they were also allowed to run the cars at a lighter, set weight, to run against the big blocks and heavier cars that HAD TO use the restrictor plates, to level the playing field with the smaller engines . It had nothing to do with "some big blocks being faster than other big blocks".......it was NASCAR's way of inducing as many teams as possible to get used to running the lighter cars with small blocks, and NO restrictor plate. And I DO recall that Bobby Allison spoke of actually preferring the small block with a lighter car, and NO restrictor plate, because they could do more things with the car AND the engine, and they won races doing so. The transition years ended in 1974, when nascar BANNED all big blocks, and ALL cars had to run small blocks with max of 358 cu in.....again: with NO restrictor plates. But as you probably already know: NASCAR mandated restrictor plates again in 1987, due to the crash involving Bobby Allison, when his car got way up high on the fence, and of course they've been using the restrictor plate on the super speedways to this very day. Like many people.......including the better veteran drivers back then, I personally wish they had allowed them to run WITHOUT restrictor plates, and spend the money to move the bleachers farther back & higher up, and beef the catch fences up to help hold the cars inside the track when getting airborne. Let them boys run flat out........lol.
@Rob A. See my other 2 responses. Something else to point out the proves what I'm saying is true in this very race: Go to time stamp 15:37 and start watching. Panch had just spun & wrecked, and in the pits. It shows the hood of his Ford Torino that clearly says: "351 CU IN". So it wasn't "just Chevies without restrictor plates".........ANY small block was allowed to run without the plates, in lighter cars, to run against the big blocks WITH plates in heavier cars.
I was born in 1967. When I was a kid my bedroom wall was plastered with photos of Richard Petty's cars, Yarborough's cars, Allison's cars, and every cool car ever found in Hot Rod Magazine. It was a good time.
I mean, technically they are driving cars that regular folks drive these days. When I think of racing, I really think of a Prius, a Focus, a Taurus... you know, front wheel drive cars that should never be on a circle track because they'd roll over from the sheer incline of the banked turns.
When I was kid in the mid 70's I went to summer camp every year. Whenever it rained and we couldn't do whatever we had planned for the day we'd all go the chaple and they'd set up the film projector and load it up with old movies and a ton of these old NASCAR clips. These were some of my favorites to watch on those rainy days. Every time I see these old clips and especially the tracks with the Orange 76 gas globe somewhere in or around the track it would remind me of those days as a kid. Those were the happiest days of my life. Outside from sunrise to sunset just hackin around with your buddies.....good times cheers people :)
I was a kid a teenager in the mid-seventies and late seventies I bought my first car at 13 1/2 yrs old 68 Nova for $800 my second car was a 69 Dodge charger RT 440 Magnum 4-speed with a 3:23 axle it would do over 165 miles an hour bouncing the needle off from the peg we think it might have been closer to 170. On F 78-15 bias-ply tires on the optional Magnum 500 rims which came with the car $900.00 your car was nine years old 65,000 miles.
I'm not a huge NASCAR fan, but I enjoy Motorsports, and I agree with many others commenting here who say this vintage NASCAR is way, way better than modern NASCAR. These cars are badass, and driving them at the limit must be way more difficult than driving today's vehicles.
Actual true competition based on the drivers strength talent in the car builders abilities so much better to watch this then the crap they’re doing now
@@plantfeeder6677 I think some of the Fords were runnin 351 clevelands since 69/70 seasons. Those big ports on those 4v heads were made for the race track.
I'm 52 yrs old now...this never gets old!!! I could watch these old NASCAR clips over & over again & never get tired of them!!! This makes me miss my dad...he used to tell me about the 60s & 70s NASCAR Racing when I finally got into NASCAR Racing in the early 80s. He would always talk about & tell me stories about these AWESOME drivers: Call Yarborough Buddy Baker Richard Petty David Pierson Bobby Allison Much love from Mobile Alabama
11:07 - A spin at car 3!! - There's another car outta control!! - Someone broke and engine and spilled oil on the track!! - Jim gets through the corner backwards!! - Quick reflexes save some other drivers!! - David is another spin victim!! Nobody hurt. - The safety car moves out to slow the field. - There's a fire in the pits on the back stretch!!! Gasoline splashed out of the refueling tanks and caught fire!! - The crewmans shoe is on fire!! - Fire is under control before any more is lost, except the shoes!! Action packed couple of minutes. lol
I remember working concessions selling tickets or hotdogs, listening to the roar for hours and being able to finish in time to watch the final laps! The crowd would be wild, the atmosphere pumped with excitement and smiles!
When they focused on Richard Petty and said his name I thought they were mistakening him for someone else, he seems so strange without his sunglasses, mustache and hat on lol
That reminds me of the time in 1998 when my husband was at Atlanta with his then-girlfriend. He said, "Look at that guy over there in the Richard Petty hat, Jane!" Jane: "That *is* Richard Petty, Tom."
I used to think 'cars from the 70s are too square, 60s or earlier for me', but now I love the 70s bodies! I don't know if the plastic bumpers of the 80s and 90s will ever win me over
These guys were tough , the real deal. I grew up by Rockingham , I was 11 in 73 and my dad took us to all the races for many years. I realize now how fantastic those days were. These guys were for real , the racing was in your soul. I don't even care about today's racing , I will watch it but the thrill is gone.SAD.👍👍🏁🏁
this is pretty much the way we got to see nascar races til 1979 daytona (or any other racing for that matter) ... recorded and condensed ... back then the only live race was indy and you had to listen on the radio ... picture being a kid and 4 hours of listening to a race , on a homemade radio , just so you could catch it live ... thanks for the post
From these races, you'd find out which tires you'd buy, what make of car was worthwhile, and what brand of oil you'd stay clear of. You had all the time to see for yourself.
17:08 No catch can man and gallons of high test leaded gasoline spewing out the overflow. Hell yeah, this is the real man's NASCAR. No fire suits, short sleeves and the pit crew were probably smoking Winstons while they were over the wall.
"Haha yea, but those candyasses are out there wearing helmets and goggles and have roll cages! Back in my day, if we tapped the wall, the car disintegrated and we just died and we LIKED it!" Moron.
Back in the day we jolly did have all horses and trains and we beat up our women in 1935! Those were the days my boys! Or stop being a KKona, and actually realize how times have changed - mostly for the better. But then again, being proud of an autosport consisting of driving in a circle kinda.. Yeah.
@@mylanmiller9656 Nope. All engines over 366 CID used plates in 1973. Wedge engines used 1.50" to 1.65" openings while Hemi engines used 1.20" openings.
@@sludge8506 No 'debris' (aka "Dale Jr/Jeff Gordon") cautions and no stages will do that. Throwing a caution ever 50 laps will keep everyone a lot closer, but I don't expect you to understand that because it's common sense, which is a rarity these days.
@@Ziggy_Moonglow You better re read the rule book, Every individual engine had a set rule and teh Big block Chevy had a softer rule than a FE ford wedge. NASCAR wanted Chevy to win to make there racing series popular .
So true my freind, the good ole days when men raced and worked hard to be able to race hard. I love the local tracks and haven’t watched the Pima Donna’s of NASCAR in years. If they went back to good racing like this , I would be a fan. 🍺 And to the guy that said food mixed with shit, if they put it in trunk and it helped them win 👍 great for them, they won the race. The good ole days where if shit in trunk help you win, well then you win.
If NASCAR was still like this I would 100% be watching every wkend. I know everything has to get safer and rightfully so but this style of racing is what makes stock car racing
This is what is missing today, back then - 1) Big simple V8's that resonated with the crowd, you knew there was fire & brimstone under the bonnet/hood, even if you didnt know anything about engines. 2) Likeable, recognisable cars that resonated with the crowd. 3) Likeable, down to earth drivers that resonated with the crowd. 4) Gladitorial event, man & machine. 5) No silly budgets bigger than some countries national debt. Hmmm, ever wonder why NASCAR is on a continous decline today? can anyone figure it out?
The noise, the smell, the danger. People who are in charge of the sport seem to have forgotten what brings people to the track in the first place, this goes for ALL motorsports. I'm sure unmanned drones running silently around historic tracks is not too far off. You can count me out then.
I agree. Wouldn't surprise me at all if we start seeing self-driving NASCAR autos some day, in which the "driver" is merely there just in case things go "wrong."
Haven't seen a lap in 13-15 years, wouldn't attend one as the honored guest of NASCAR even. I was into it so deep I'd send family the schedule of off weekends and tell them these are the weekends I can attend weddings, gatherings, etc-and meant it.
When men were drivers driving a full metal machine knowing no cowardly thing like electronics or carbon fiber will protect them!! I am a 90s born but still loving and enjoying this!! These three things made my day ""Roar, Roar and roar"" from engines!! Rumbling roar!!
Dude he’d be retired. Running D.E.I to championships. He’d be 66 years old in 2022 and may do a one off if he didn’t die at Daytona in 2001 at the last lap out of turn 3. Seeing his team of Dale Jr and Michael Waltrip and nothing but open track ahead of him. He then hit the wall when he taped the #40 car. It was a sad day.
Boy, I remember the old track and its open infield. During that Labor Day weekend, anything and everything was going on. I could write a book on the drunken shenanigans that went on back in those days and I loved every minute of it and the racing, too.
Real honest-to-God HOT RODS! No restrictor plates, no front air foils, no HANS device. Just 20 gallons of gas, a crash helmet and a foot made of lead lettin it all hang out. I was born 20 years too late. I just started to get interested in racing as these guys were retiring.
This was back when NASCAR was real! Forget the fake silliness that has been going on since the 1990's. Stopped watching it then. Elzie Wylie Baker Jr. was my racing hero when I was a kid.
This is why my first car was a 72 Satellite Sebring Plus (in 79) , then another one in 83 (400, 4 speed , AC, PS/PB, drove it to Oregon to live in 1985 , hit 125 mph in Kansas with more to go but I chickened out!) , then a 72 Roadrunner to restore in 2006 (400, 4 speed , no frills but an AM radio!) These cars were magical. Big, fast loud and you could work on them!
It's strange how our minds work. All my life I've been a motorsports racing fan. If it has wheels and/or any type of motorized mechanical propulsion, but especially any ICE powered RACING machines, two wheels or four. Or three. If it was shiny, loud, and fast I was interested. My dad was born in '42. So he was a young boy, in Los Angeles, CA just as the "Golden Era" of the Hot Rod culture was beginning. I was blessed to have been born in '66. The middle of two sisters was I, and we're all now auto&bike racing fans to one extent or another. Thanks dad! (We sure do miss you Joe Cook!) I have memories of watching this era of NASCAR. But in '73 I was just 6-7 years old. There wasn't much televised NASCAR racing back in those days but I have clear (as possible I suppose) memories of having seen this before. Then it came out of the memories mist of my mind... When I was between 11-15 my dad would take me to this incredible car show at a place called Cal Expo in Sacramento, CA. (we left L.A. in 70 as far as I know) called the Motorama or Autorama, something like that,. It was the car show major league, and it was just amazing to see the spectacular and beautiful cars and bikes. My dad was an exceptional automotive and motorcycle painter all his life, so when he'd be impressed, I knew it was genuinely impressive. 😏 There were these makeshift theater areas where there were folding chairs and a projector where there'd be movies playing of these NASCAR races, films about the Bonneville Speedway, the Isle of Mann TT, Indy Car, and such. Did every racing film back in those days have the same guy as the narrator? Anyways, it is nice to have seen this NASCAR video while I was just "junk watching" U-tube. It was the catalyst for several pleasant memories from that particular part of my life. Thanks NASCAR.It's strange how our minds work. All my life I've been a motorsports racing fan. If it has wheels and/or any type of motorized mechanical propulsion, but especially any ICE powered RACING machines, two wheels or four. Or three. If it was shiny, loud, and fast I was interested. My dad was born in '42. So he was a young boy, in Los Angeles, CA just as the "Golden Era" of the Hot Rod culture was beginning. I was blessed to have been born in '66. The middle of two sisters was I, and we're all now auto&bike racing fans to one extent or another. Thanks dad! (We sure do miss you Joe Cook!) I have memories of watching this era of NASCAR. But in '73 I was just 6-7 years old. There wasn't much televised NASCAR racing back in those days but I have clear (as possible I suppose) memories of having seen this before. Then it came out of the memories mist of my mind... When I was between 11-15 my dad would take me to this incredible car show at a place called Cal Expo in Sacramento, CA. (we left L.A. in 70 as far as I know) called the Motorama or Autorama, something like that,. It was the car show major league, and it was just amazing to see the spectacular and beautiful cars and bikes. My dad was an exceptional automotive and motorcycle painter all his life, so when he'd be impressed, I knew it was genuinely impressive. 😏 There were these makeshift theater areas where there were folding chairs and a projector where there'd be movies playing of these NASCAR races, films about the Bonneville Speedway, the Isle of Mann TT, Indy Car, and such. Did every racing film back in those days have the same guy as the narrator? Anyways, it is nice to have seen this NASCAR video while I was just "junk watching" U-tube. It was the catalyst for several pleasant memories from that particular part of my life. Thanks NASCAR.
Makin' me feel old. Had one of those Mercuries in High School 4 speed and bad to the bone, girlfriend had one like the safety car. 1977. Back when you couldn't give away four twenty anythings.
This film brought back so many childhood memories. These were the Golden Years of NASCAR, and I am so happy to have been a small witness to it. Cheers!
Oh my God this is great! Brings back such wonderful memories of the hey day of NASCAR racing. The greatest racers of the day & ever. Early 70's American stock cars that us common men could relate to. A race that was actually a race! The atmosphere of the track, the grandstands, the fans, the infield full of life, the pits, & the drivers themselves. An era of racing that will forever be unmatched. NASCAR today is rather boring & uneventful. In other words, it SUCKS! As the expression goes, all good things must come to an end! No more so than in racing.
Haven't seen a lap in 13-15 years, wouldn't attend one as the honored guest of NASCAR even. I was into it so deep I'd send family the schedule of off weekends and tell them these are the weekends I can attend weddings, gatherings, etc-and meant it.
This is far more exciting than Modern Day NASCAR.. I stopped watching 4 years ago now I follow AMA Flat Track racing.. They run in packs of 4 bikes some times have a pack of 8 bikes on the last three laps drafting and changing positions..
Wish they had in car camera in this race, would scare the crap out of you seeing how on edge the cars are and how hard they are working to keep them on the track.
A issue they could have had with in-car cameras back then would be with vibrations with shaky video footage. Nowadays there are all sorts of technology to steady the image which did not affordably exist back then. There was a lot of shaking going on with those old Detroit irons that ran in NASCAR back then.
Back when the cars on the track actually looked like the cars on the showroom floor. Now it's just plastic and decals. Cars spin and there's no caution. Guys smoking in the pits and there's a shoe on fire. No stupid stages. Just pure racing. This is much better than what we have today.
It is interesting how NASCAR drivers back where men and didn't look like the drivers of today, that look like a bunch of 15 year old's and the cars are recognizable like the ones you would see at your local car dealer, not like today's cars of which not changed appearance in at least 20 years. Too bad they didn't have in car cameras back then that would have ben interesting to see with those race cars .
Dubbed sounds and hilarious tire squeals in post production but still, a solid wrap up type show. Those are real people there- not all suits. Back then, people were not obsessed with safety.
I love these cars and these races... was it more fun back then ? .. it seems like it. It seems more like it was a daredevil sport than it does today and the cars today look like GLOBS !!
Growing up in South Carolina, stock car racing was huge back in these days. I was actually at this race with my Dad. I never dreamed that I'd see a replay of that day. I miss these days and how raw and real this racing was. I know Nascar wanted to grow, but,it was awesome to see to 2 South Carolina drivers fighting for the win.
These are Stock cars you can tell the Chevy's from the fords and they put on a great show. They done have body tolerances of .001 thousands of a inch. Their were great colorful drivers like the Alabama Gang, Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, and the list goes on. That is when NASCAR was popular and the stands full. Compare that to today's racing and cars and drivers and see why the stands are no longer full. The Racing is not near as good!!!
It also has a lot to do with demographic change. Yeah I know I'm not supposed to say it but we're all thinking it so fuck it... White America is declining. And white America is what made Nascar what it was. Yeah yeah I know I'm a racist for pointing out reality. Crucify me.
Fantastic narration and I love how long it takes to cut from one camera to the next. The modern fast pace video scene cut..cut..cut isn't anything like watching a real race on site. Same goes for tennis matches. Who the heck needs to see a face closeup and a swoosh transition in a tennis match.
