1970’s – Thunder Of The 70’s (Vol 2)

1973 Daytona 125 Qualifier – Daytona, FL – (Non-Points race)
Condition (VG) – This is one of the Daytona 125 mile Qualifier races that occurred 3 days before the
actual Daytona 500. In later years, these qualifier races would be called the Twin 125 Qualifiers,
then the Gatorade Twin 125’s. Buddy Baker takes the win here, and we see a rare appearance by
Indy Car driver Gordon Johncock, who actually takes the lead for a few laps. (8 min.)

1973 Permatex 300 – Daytona, FL – Late Model Series
Condition (VG+) – This is a NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series race, held the day before the
Daytona 500. This racing series that would later be named the Busch Series, then the Nationwide
Series. Many independent teams in this race, and we see some older 1969 Chevelles and Ford
Torinos running, even some mid 60’s cars. But the action is, just like in today’s Nationwide Series,
just like a regular Winston Cup race. The eventual winner is Bill Dennis, and some future (and past)
NASCAR racers are seen in the field, including Tiny Lund and Neil Bonnett. (17 min.)

1973 Daytona 500 – Daytona, FL – Race #2 of the 1973 season
Condition (VG) – Richard Petty takes his 4th Daytona 500 win. This race is
hampered by several blown engines, one of those being pole-sitter Buddy
Baker, who led most of this race. This race took place on a cloudy Sunday, and
this footage is not as bright and clear as the other races. (14 min.)

1973 Carolina 500 – Rockingham, NC – Race #4 of the 1973 season
Condition (VG+) – The TV show “Car And Track” (who filmed most of these highlight films)
must have been a little short on time this week, as they show 6 minutes of highlights from
the 1965 Carolina 500. But the 1965 footage is excellent, as it shows the legendary Curtis
Turner taking the win. As for the 1973 race, several cars explode their engines, including
Richard Petty, and the new AMC Matador entry of Dave Marcis. David Pearson is the winner
in the familiar Wood Brothers #21 Mercury, with Cale Yarborough taking 2nd. (16 min.)

1973 Southeastern 500 – Bristol, TN – Race #5 of the 1973 season
Condition (VG) – Cale Yarborough is totally dominant in this race, from the first green flag to the
checkered flag, no one would come close today. With Yarborough far ahead of the field, the race is
postponed on lap 52 due to rain, and restarted….2 weeks later! Starting from lap 52 on the restart,
Yarborough once again immediately takes the lead (he would lead all 500 laps), and he wins easily over
Richard Petty, who was 2 laps behind! This marked the full return of the great Cale Yarborough, who
had spent the 2 previous years running USAC Indy Cars, only occasionally running NASCAR. (12 min.)

1973 Rebel 500 – Darlington, SC – Race #8 of the 1973 season
Condition (VG+) – Excellent battle between David Pearson and Bobby Allison, with
Pearson taking the win by an amazing 13 laps, Benny Parsons taking 2nd. Although
superspeedways), Pearson would eventually lose the championship to Benny
Parsons, whose unsponsored team chalked up only 1 win all year! (21 min.)

1973 Winston 500 – Talladega, AL – Race #10 of the 1973 season
Condition (VG) – David Pearson continues his incredible 1973 season, and luck
filmed, but the aftermath is incredible). Pearson goes on to record an easy win
(with only 17 cars left in the field), and Bobby Allison finishes 2nd. (12 min.)

1973 World 600 – Charlotte, NC – Race #12 of the 1973 season
Condition (VG+) – The longest race on the circuit, Buddy Baker and David Pearson have
a great battle, with Baker taking the win. Lots of super slow motion photography in this
race showing the frantic, archaic pit stops that would define the era. (22 min.)

1973 Southern 500 – Darlington, SC – Race #22 of the 1973 season
Condition (VG+) – In this 1973 race, we see a how far safety rules have come since the 70’s. A
car blows an engine and sprays the track with oil, but because rules back then allowed cars to
race back to the start/finish line, 4 cars (1 at a time) spin out in the oil before things settle down.
There’s a also a fire in the pits, with no cars around! A classic Cale Yarborough and David
Pearson dual punctuate another great Southern 500. (23 min.)

1974 Western 500 – Riverside, CA – Race #1 of the 1974 season
Condition (VG) – The 1974 season was immediately impacted by the OPEC gas
crisis, and NASCAR announced all races would be shortened by 10%, practice
sessions would be limited, and starting fields would be smaller (the actual names
of the races remain unchanged though, for historical purposes). On this
challenging road course, the legendary Cale Yarborough spins off the track on
the very first lap, the field passes him by, but within 19 laps he takes back the lead
in his new 1974 Chevy Monte Carlo, eventually taking the win! (9 min.)

1974 Daytona 500 – Daytona, FL – Race #2 of the 1974 season
Condition (VG) – Richard Petty fights his way back from a flat tire to take the lead with just 11
laps remaining. Cale Yarborough finishes 2nd, and the Ramo Stott takes 3rd. (22 min.)

1974 Rebel 500 – Darlington, SC – Race #7 of the 1974 season
Condition (VG+) – Dave Marcis takes over the driving duties for the Penske-owned
red/white/blue AMC Matador. There’s a brutal side impact hit in this race that hospitalizes
both drivers. Then a single car accident takes out part of the outside guardrail in Turn 1,
and the race is red flagged for repairs by the track workers, who use pry bars to fix the
barrier! David Pearson takes the win again in the Wood Brothers #21 Purolator Mercury,
with Bobby Allison bringing the #12 Coca-Cola Chevrolet in 2nd. (22 min.)

1974 Winston 500- Talladega, AL – Race #10 of the 1974 season
Condition (VG) – The race starts under cloudy skies, and eventually is delayed by rain. We see
driver named Richard Childress is running in the front pack. After the rain delay, the race is
restarted, but pit lane is still wet! Bettenhausen’s AMC Matador is violently rear ended while in
his pit box by another car that slides on wet pavement, and pit crew members go flying. (20 min.)

1974 NASCAR Pit Crew Competition – Rockingham, NC
Condition (Excellent) – A short segment showing the NASCAR Pit Crew competition from
Rockingham, NC. While all of the races on this DVD show pit stops, this is a fascinating clip in
that the camera angles and quality of footage is excellent. Crew members without any head
protection, gas splashing out the fill tube, this is how they did it ‘old school’. (3 min.)

1974 World 600 – Charlotte, NC – Race #13 of the 1974 season
Condition (Excellent) – Great coverage from an old Speedvision broadcast (watermark in the
corner), this one has Richard Petty doing battle for most of the day with his nemesis at this
time, David Pearson. Bobby Allison brings his AMC Matador in for a 3rd place finish. (20 min.)

1974 Southern 500 – Darlington, SC – Race #23 of the 1974 season
Condition (VG+) – Current 1973 Winston Cup Champion Benny Parsons is running up
front with David Pearson, when Benny blows his engine, taking out Pearson and
Richie Panch in the process. Cale Yarborough takes the win with a young Darrell
Waltrip taking 2nd. Lots of blown engines again in this race (Darlington seems to have
a habit of doing that), and Baker and Petty both crash out of this one. (22 min.)

NOTE : These are NOT the “Back In The Day” programs (hosted by Dale Earnhardt Jr.) that appeared on
TV few years ago. However, some of these films ARE the actual ones used on those broadcasts. The films
contained on these DVD’s were originally aired back in mid-1990’s and do NOT have the little pop-up
balloons or trivia notes that appeared in the “Back In The Day” programs. Please understand that these
highlight reels were originally shot on film, not video. I am trying to be as honest as I can about the film
quality. These films were originally intended for the smaller TV sets of the 60’s, so they may appear grainy
 on the big TV sets of today.