The 1975 NASCAR Grand National Winston Cup Series was the 27th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 4th season in the modern era of the NASCAR Cup series. The season began on Sunday, January 19 and ended on Sunday, November 12. Richard Petty, driving the #43 Petty Enterprises STP Dodge scored his sixth NASCAR Grand National Series Winston Cup Championship. Bruce Hill was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year. NASCAR introduced a new points system for 1975, a system designed by statistician Bob Latford. For the first time, each race on the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National schedule carried an equal point value, a system that would be used for 36 seasons, from 1975 to 2010, with modifications in 2004 and 2007 each time by increasing the emphasis for a win in adding five additional points each time for a race winner. The original points system ran for the first 29 seasons, from 1975 to 2003.
Season recap No. Date Event Circuit Pole positionMost laps led WinnerManufacturer1January 19 Winston Western 500 Riverside International Raceway Bobby AllisonBobby Allison Bobby AllisonAMCFebruary 13125 Mile Qualifying RacesDaytona International SpeedwayBobby AllisonDavid Pearson2February 16 Daytona 500 Donnie AllisonDavid Pearson Benny ParsonsChevrolet3February 23 Richmond 500 Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway Richard PettyRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge4March 2 Carolina 500 North Carolina Speedway Buddy BakerCale Yarborough Cale YarboroughChevrolet5March 16 Southeastern 500 Bristol International Speedway Buddy BakerRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge6March 23 Atlanta 500 Atlanta International Raceway Richard PettyRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge7April 6 Gwyn Staley 400 North Wilkesboro Speedway Darrell WaltripRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge8April 13 Rebel 500 Darlington Raceway David PearsonDavid Pearson Bobby AllisonAMC9April 27 Virginia 500 Martinsville Speedway Benny ParsonsRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge10May 4 Winston 500 Alabama International Motor Speedway Buddy BakerBuddy Baker Buddy BakerFord11May 10 Music City USA 420 Nashville Speedway Darrell WaltripCale Yarborough Darrell WaltripChevrolet12May 18 &19 Mason-Dixon 500 Dover Downs International Speedway David PearsonDavid Pearson David PearsonMercury13May 25 World 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway David PearsonRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge14June 8 Tuborg 400 Riverside International Raceway Bobby AllisonBobby Allison Richard PettyDodge15June 15 Motor State 400 Michigan International Speedway Cale YarboroughDavid Pearson David PearsonMercury16July 4 Firecracker 400 Daytona International Speedway Donnie AllisonBuddy Baker Richard PettyDodge17July 20 Nashville 420 Nashville Speedway Benny ParsonsCale Yarborough Cale YarboroughChevrolet18August 3 Purolator 500 Pocono Raceway Bobby AllisonDavid Pearson David PearsonMercury19August 17 Talladega 500 Alabama International Motor Speedway Dave MarcisBuddy Baker Buddy BakerFord20August 24 Champion Spark Plug 400 Michigan International Speedway David PearsonA.J. Foyt Richard PettyDodge21September 1 Southern 500 Darlington Raceway David PearsonRichard Petty Bobby AllisonAMC22September 14 Delaware 500 Dover Downs International Speedway Dave MarcisRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge23September 21 Wilkes 400 North Wilkesboro Speedway Richard PettyRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge24September 28 Old Dominion 500 Martinsville Speedway Cale YarboroughCale Yarborough Dave MarcisDodge25October 5 National 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway David PearsonRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge26October 12 Capital City 500 Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway Benny ParsonsLennie Pond Darrell WaltripChevrolet27October 19 American 500 North Carolina Speedway Dave MarcisCale Yarborough Cale YarboroughChevrolet28November 2 Volunteer 500 Bristol International Speedway Cale YarboroughRichard Petty Richard PettyDodge29November 9 Dixie 500 Atlanta International Raceway Dave MarcisBuddy Baker Buddy BakerFord30November 23 Los Angeles Times 500 Ontario Motor Speedway David PearsonBuddy Baker Buddy BakerFord
1975 Season races
Round 1: Winston Western 500 Bobby Allison led 173 laps at Riverside International Raceway in Roger Penske's AMC Matador to beat David Pearson by 22 seconds. Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake116Bobby AllisonAMC221David PearsonMercury324Cecil GordonChevrolet471Dave MarcisDodge564Elmo LangleyFord648James HyltonChevrolet743Richard PettyDodge857WGary MatthewsChevrolet98Ed NegreDodge1029WHershel McGriffChevrolet
Round 2: Daytona 500 After falling back several laps due to overheating, Richard Petty pulled forward Benny Parsons in his draft to catch Pearson. With three to go Pearson moved into a group of lapped cars that included Cale Yarborough; inexplicably Yarborough got into Pearson and David spun down the backstretch. The win was Parsons' first since 1973. Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake172Benny ParsonsChevrolet216Bobby AllisonAMC311Cale YarboroughChevrolet421David PearsonMercury583Ramo StottChevrolet671Dave MarcisDodge743Richard PettyDodge898Richie PanchChevrolet949G.C. SpencerDodge1048James HyltonChevrolet
Round 3: Richmond 500 With a field of only 22 entries due to a dearth of team sponsorships, Petty led 444 laps and won by six laps. Cale Yarborough was among the teams not entered, due to losing Carling sponsorship after the 1974 season. Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake143Richard PettyDodge254Lennie PondChevrolet372Benny ParsonsChevrolet490Dick BrooksFord564Elmo LangleyFord667Buddy ArringtonDodge724Cecil GordonChevrolet805David SiscoChevrolet996Richard ChildressChevrolet108Ed NegreDodge
Round 4: Carolina 500 The 1975 Carolina 500 was run on March 2. In below-freezing temperatures, Cale Yarborough edged Pearson for the win while Petty finished nine laps down due to the same overheating problems that had plagued him at Daytona. Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake111Cale YarboroughChevrolet221David PearsonMercury343Richard PettyDodge490Dick BrooksFord547Bruce HillChevrolet696Richard ChildressChevrolet78Ed NegreDodge848James HyltonChevrolet967Buddy ArringtonDodge107Dean DaltonFord
Round 5: Southeastern 500 Richard Petty won his first race at Bristol International Speedway since 1967. Cale Yarborough led 78 laps but fell out with rearend failure. Following the race Maurice Petty found out the team's overheating problems traced to cracked cylinder heads; "we discovered another cracked head that could have cost us the race."Stock Car Racing Magazine, August 1975 issue, p. 9 Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake143Richard PettyDodge272Benny ParsonsChevrolet315Buddy BakerFord424Cecil GordonChevrolet548James HyltonChevrolet617Darrell WaltripChevrolet705David SiscoChevrolet871Dave MarcisDodge996Richard ChildressChevrolet1010Ricky RuddFord
Round 6: Atlanta 500 With Maurice fixing the team's cylinder head issues, Richard Petty engaged Pearson in a running duel for the lead, but Pearson lost a lap in the final 30 laps, result of a slow leaking tire and resultant green flag stop. A late caution for Lennie Pond's engine failure set up a one-lap duel between Petty and Buddy Baker; Petty contended the race ran past 328 laps, a statement supported by his official scorer (Richard Hucks) and the scorers for Pearson (Grover Atkins) and Dick Brooks (Russell Page), but NASCAR showed scoring cards proving it had run the correct distance; among those who scored the race was Richard's daughter Sharon, who said Petty "went by 328 times." Manual scoring with cards and a clock created controversy over the years in NASCAR; the system was used until 1993, when NASCAR switched to transponder-based scoring, which was supplemented by GPS-based scoring in 2003 to determine winners of the race if necessary. Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake143Richard PettyDodge215Buddy BakerFord321David PearsonMercury490Dick BrooksFord517Darrell WaltripChevrolet688Donnie AllisonChevrolet714Coo Coo MarlinChevrolet824Cecil GordonChevrolet997Harry JeffersonFord1054Lennie PondChevrolet
Round 7: Gwyn Staley 400 The 1975 Gwyn Staley 400 took place on April 6 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The race was dominated by Richard Petty, who led a total of 311 laps and won by a margin of over three laps. Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake143Richard PettyDodge211Cale YarboroughChevrolet315Buddy BakerFord471Dave MarcisDodge554Lennie PondChevrolet672Benny ParsonsChevrolet717Darrell WaltripChevrolet890Dick BrooksFord924Cecil GordonChevrolet1030Walter BallardChevrolet
Round 8: Rebel 500 Darlington Raceway once again proved tougher than Richard Petty as the #43 Dodge crashed out after 159 laps. Benny Parsons and David Pearson got into the late duel for the lead; when Pearson dove under Parsons entering Turn One on lap 350 both cars hammered the wall and ground to a halt. Bobby Allison, who'd been two laps down earlier, unlapped himself and edged Darrell Waltrip and Donnie Allison nose to tail at the stripe.
Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake116Bobby AllisonAMC217Darrell WaltripChevrolet388Donnie AllisonChevrolet471Dave MarcisDodge514Coo Coo MarlinChevrolet672Benny ParsonsChevrolet721David PearsonMercury848James HyltonChevrolet937Bruce JacobiChevrolet1067Buddy ArringtonPlymouth
Round 9: Virginia 500 The 1975 Virginia 500 was run on April 27 at Martinsville Speedway. The race saw Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, and Cale Yarborough battle in out for the lead in the closing stages of the race. At lap 397, Yarborough would fall back and lose the lead to Petty, leading to Darrell and Richard to battle it out. Darrell would take the lead on lap 452, but on lap 480 Petty would retake the lead and lead the rest of the remaining laps that day to win by 6 seconds Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake143Richard PettyDodge217Darrell WaltripChevrolet311Cale YarboroughChevrolet416Bobby AllisonAMC571Dave MarcisDodge672Benny ParsonsChevrolet763Jimmy HensleyChevrolet890Dick BrooksFord996Richard ChildressChevrolet1048James HyltonChevrolet
Round 10: Winston 500 Tragedy blackened Buddy Baker's first win since 1973 and the first win for team owner Bud Moore since 1966. Richard Petty's wheel well caught fire while leading and he pitted; his brother in law Randy Owens fitted a hose to a pressurized water tank; the tank exploded, nearly landing on Petty's roof, and Owens was killed. Baker edged Pearson at the stripe while Dick Brooks and Darrell Waltrip had sparkling efforts in finishing out the top four. The race lead changed 51 times among 13 drivers.
Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake115Buddy BakerFord221David PearsonMercury390Dick BrooksFord417Darrell WaltripChevrolet514Coo Coo MarlinChevrolet695Harry JeffersonFord741Grant AdcoxChevrolet837Bruce JacobiChevrolet960Joe MihalicChevrolet1096Richard ChildressChevrolet
Round 11: Music City 420 The Music City 420 took place on May 10 at Nashville Speedway. The race had two contenders: Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough. Darrell had the pole and led 47 laps before Cale took it away on lap 48. He then proceeded to lead the next 273 laps, with Darrell behind. However, Cale's car proceeded to have engine problems and retired on lap 322, thus handing the lead back over to Darrell. Darrell, who had a 2 lap lead on the next car behind, Benny Parsons, cruised on to a victory, his first of 84 that is second in post-1972 NASCAR scheduling that led to being part of the 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Top 10 finishersPos.No.DriverMake117Darrell WaltripChevrolet272Benny ParsonsChevrolet314Coo Coo MarlinChevrolet471Dave MarcisDodge524Cecil GordonChevrolet668Alton JonesChevrolet743Richard PettyDodge805David SiscoChevrolet948James HyltonChevrolet1030Walter BallardChevrolet
Round 12: Mason-Dixon 500