|| *Comments on the 1974 Winston Western 500:* View the most recent comment <#19> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Gary Robertson posted: 05.23.2006 - 1:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) May 2006: Jerry Robertson who currently runs in the busch series part time for Furniture Row Racing out of Denver Colorado is Odie Robertson's son. Odie ran dirt tracks and won often toward the end or career and now lives in South Carolina where he raced and won into his sixties against the likes of Freddy Smith, Buck Simmons and Mike Duvall just to name a few. 2. Jesper O. Hansen posted: 03.16.2007 - 8:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice back ground story of "just" another former NASCAR driver. Do you know who was car owner of Odie's car by any chance? Best regards Jesper 3. Jim Thurman posted: 09.21.2008 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Odie Robertson orginally raced out of the San Diego area and was a regular in the Super Stocks at Cajon Speedway before moving to Colorado. At Cajon, he raced alongside several other drivers who made NASCAR starts at Riverside - Carl Adams, Richard White and Larry Esau just in this race alone, but Bucky Peralta, Ed Hale among others. 4. Anonymous posted: 11.22.2008 - 6:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 17th back DNFed 5. Chase Whitaker posted: 01.24.2010 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was started on Jan 20. Rains moved in, and the race was stopped after 61 laps. The teams returned the following Saturday - Jan 26 - to complete it. 6. David H posted: 04.23.2011 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Missing Sponsor #96 Ray Elder Olympia Beer Dodge 7. 18fan posted: 04.23.2011 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cale spun on the first lap and was last at the end of the first lap and took the lead on lap 17. 8. nascar_vd / Racing-Reference.info posted: 01.31.2014 - 11:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Note: Red flag lap 63 (January 20, 1974). Race resumed January 26, 1974 9. 23andJoe posted: 06.03.2014 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #98 crew chief: Bobby Jones (same for all races this season) 10. Jim posted: 04.28.2016 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was this Cales's only road course win ? 11. Sam posted: 04.28.2016 - 3:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^No he won a road course race at this same track in 1978 12. Ivan Balakhonov posted: 02.26.2017 - 2:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) After the race had been rescheduled Glen Wood and Junior Johnson reached an agreement. Half of their pit crews were sent home, and cars of David Pearson and Cale Yarborough were served by a combined pit crew. Cost efficiency old-school style. 13. Ryan posted: 09.15.2019 - 12:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dang these races were long. Almost five hours. Like watching a Yankee-Red Sox playoff game 14. MSportRev posted: 03.02.2020 - 11:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQs: James Hylton Dick Simon Billy Vukovich, Jr. Source: Ultimate Racing History 15. binkerbo posted: 04.02.2020 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Vukovich Jr. DNQ'd in #36 Brawley's Restaurant Plymouth 16. RaceFanX posted: 11.29.2020 - 5:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) New Jersey racer Budd Hagelin makes his Cup debut, and only start of the season, and turns a few heads with a strong qualifying run just outside the top-10. Ultimately though his yellow #02 Ober Logging Dodge broke early though and he was on the trailer even before the rain paused the race for six days. 17. RaceFanX posted: 12.21.2020 - 6:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Road racing ace George Follmer made the highly unusual switch from Formula 1 to NASCAR Cup for 1974, swapping his Ford-powered Shadow for a big brash Bud Moore-prepped Ford Torino. His first outing in the famous white #15 saw him qualify the RC Cola entry right at the front and ran as high as third at the start before stalling out at Turn 6 on lap 2. The Torino was pushed back behind the wall by a tow truck but while they got it running again it wouldn't be a good day as while Riverside was known for high attrition in this era a brake failure later put it out for good. Follmer's tenure with Moore would last just 12 races but there would be some better days ahead. 18. RaceFanX posted: 12.21.2020 - 6:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cale Yarborough spun in front of the field coming up to the Esses on the opening lap and actually spun right into traffic out of control with the whole field bearing down on him. Remarkably no one hit him and he was able to get back going again before rallying back to win the race. Bobby Allison outdragged David Pearson at the line to lead the opening lap then went wide at the Esses on lap 2, in almost the same spot as Cale, and handed the top spot right back to the Silver Fox. Allison hung onto second and gave chase hot on Pearson's heels throughout the opening laps before he reclaimed the top spot. He mostly held onto it until Comeback Kid Cale blasted past him on the outside through Turn 9. Yarborough and Allison split time up front with Cale ahead when the rains came. One week later it all Yarborough as he dominated the race, surrendering the lead only briefly before cruising to the win. Allison took fifth after some transmission issues cost him a few laps and slowed him down. The Junior Johnson team gambled on gas mileage at the end of this one and it just barely paid off; Cale had enough fuel to make it to the end but ran out of gas driving the car back around to victory lane. "Car and Track" provided a TV coverage for this race. In the closing laps announcer Bud Lindemann said that "(Yarborough) is smiling and driving like he's got a trunk full of booze" as he headed for victory. 19. RaceFanX posted: 12.21.2020 - 6:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was USAC Champ Car star Gary Bettenhausen's first NASCAR Cup race since 1967 as his IndyCar owner Roger Penske tapped him to take the wheel of his red, white, and blue #16 AMC Matador. Bettenhausen qualified fifth and ran as high as third in the opening laps, holding off many attacks by Richard Petty for the spot, before he looped it at Turn 8. He got going again and would ultimately finish seventh. Gary's brother Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. had a rougher race as early off course excursion saw him lose time before he spun again after the one-week break for rain. A blown engine eventually ended the #9 Vita Fresh Orange Juice Chevrolet's day. Richie Panch spun out early but didn't hit anything. He rallied back to bring his yellow #98 Chevrolet home with a top-10. J.D. McDuffie broke his suspension and lost a wheel during the second week of this race. He went sliding through the Esses but was able to get going again...only to fall out later with engine woes. Former Riverside winner Ray Elder had a short day. His white #96 Dodge Charger went to the sidelines for good smoking on lap 11 due to a transmission failure. This was West Coast racer Jim Gilliam's lone Cup series start. The North Hollywood-based racer spun out early but was able to initially keep going before a transmission failure sent his #73 Chevy to the sidelines before halfway. Bill Osborne was another West Coast racer who hit issues on this day as he blew a motor and went for an off-course excursion in the Esses before his car came to a stop right against the wall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: