Richard Petty had a busy day at Pocono in 1974. Credit: Autostock

Enduring Performance: 1974 Purolator 500

Richard Petty was the best man twice at Pocono Raceway's first NASCAR race.

After serving as best man for his fan club president's wedding earlier in the day, Petty got in his No. 43 Dodge and led 152 of the 192 laps on a soggy afternoon in the Pennsylvania mountains to win the 1974 Purolator 500.

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Petty Enterprises' record in NASCAR's top series Starts 2,709 Wins 268 Top-5s 887 Top-10s 1,257 Poles 151 Avg. Start 14.8 Avg. Finish 15.0 Lead-Lap finishes 753 Laps Led 61,491 Earnings $66,479,397

The race was called eight laps shy of the scheduled distance because of darkness.

Buddy Baker was a distant second, 18 seconds back, as 39,000 fans braved wet conditions to watch NASCAR's first foray north of the Mason-Dixon line in the Modern Era.

Petty led all but 20 of the first 126 laps when rain halted the race for more than 80 minutes. When the race resumed, Petty once again pulled away from Baker, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson, the only other cars on the lead lap.

Bobby Allison appeared to have the only car capable of staying with Petty. Allison, driving an AMC Matador, led 20 laps before being sidelined with engine problems at the three-quarters mark.

The victory, reported as Petty's seventh of the season and 161st of his career, was worth $17,000. Petty averaged 115.593 mph, as four cautions for 42 laps slowed the pace from Baker's pole speed of 144.122 mph.

Two drivers were injured in a three-car accident. Virginian Lennie Pond was hospitalized with a broken shoulder after colliding with Earl Ross and Roy Mayne. Mayne, a part-time racer and full-time Air Force sergeant, was treated for bruises and released from the infield medical facility.

Because of the distance involved, many of the NASCAR regulars didn't make the trip. Instead, the 35-car field included open-wheel and modified stars like Jan Opperman, John Martin, Frank Warren and Tony Bettenhausen.

North Carolinian Jackie Rogers finished ninth -- one of his six top-10 finishes in 1974 -- while Pennsylvania native Kenny Brightbill was 10th in his NASCAR debut. Brightbill would run five more races during his career -- all at Pocono or Dover -- with a best of seventh at Dover in 1975.

How different was NASCAR three decades ago? Only three cars -- Petty (STP), Pearson (Purolator) and Allison (Coca-Cola) -- carried sponsorship that could be considered national in scope. Many of the other competitors were sponsored by the likes of Tuxedo Plumbing, Belden Asphalt and Bray Realty.