1974 Daytona 500

1974 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 2 of 30 in the 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1974 Daytona 500 program cover
Date	February 17, 1974 (1974-02-17)
Location	Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance	180 laps, 450 mi (724.205 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds approaching 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)[1]
Average speed	140.894 miles per hour (226.747 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner	Bobby Isaac	Banjo Matthews
Duel 2 Winner	Cale Yarborough	Richard Howard
Most laps led
Driver	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
Laps	74
Winner
No. 43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network	ABC's Wide World of Sports
Announcers	Keith Jackson Jackie Stewart Chris Economaki

The 1974 Daytona 500, the 16th running of the event, was won by Richard Petty (for the fifth time) after three hours, eleven minutes, and thirty-eight seconds of racing on February 17, 1974, at Daytona International Raceway in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.

During the start of the 1974 NASCAR season, many races had their distance cut ten percent in response to the energy crisis of the year. As a result, the 1974 Daytona 500,^[2][3] won by Richard Petty (his second straight, making him the first driver ever to do it), was shortened to 180 laps (450 miles), as symbolically, the race "started" on Lap 21 and the race is often known as the Daytona 450. The Twin 125 qualifying races (won by Bobby Isaac in a Banjo Matthews Chevrolet and Cale Yarborough in the Richard Howard Chevy prepared by Junior Johnson) were also shortened to 45 laps (112.5 miles).^[4]