1975 World 600

The 1975 World 600, the 16th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 25, 1975, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Summary

There were 40 drivers on the grid; 39 of them were born in the United States of America while Earl Ross was the only Canadian.Coo Coo Marlin had an engine problem on lap 33 out of the regulation amount of 400 laps - earning him a last place position and a meager $1,455 in winnings ($63,999 when adjusted for inflation).Richard Petty would defeat Cale Yarborough by at least one lap in front of 90,600 audience members. Petty would earn the majority of the prize money with a swifty-earned paycheck of $30,290 ($133,204.82 in when adjusted for inflation).

Dale Earnhardt would make his debut here; finishing 22nd in the process. Randy Bethea would race his only NASCAR Cup Series race here; he would participate in 251 laps (approximately 62.8% of the total distance) before engine problems relegated him to the sideline.Joe Frasson failed to qualify for this race while Darel Dieringer would make his NASCAR comeback here. Richard Childress would also compete in his event; finishing one place behind his future employee Dale Earnhardt.

Coca-Cola 600

The Coca-Cola 600 is an annual 600-mile (970 km) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina during Memorial Day weekend. The event, when first held in 1960, became the first race to be held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Run since 1960, it is the longest race on NASCAR's schedule at 600 miles (970 km). It is also unique for the fact that the race changes drastically from start to finish. It starts around 6:20 PM and the track is bathed in sunlight for the first third of the race. The second third happens at dusk, and the final third under the lights, In 2016, with Memorial Day being on May 30, the race will be held on May 29, with the Sprint Showdown and the Sprint All-Star Race moving up, and the FedEx 400 will move from the last week in May to the third weekend in May before All-Star Weekend.

Race origins

In the spring of 1959, Curtis Turner returned to Charlotte, North Carolina after viewing Bill France, Sr.'s Daytona International Speedway and had an idea of building a race track in the surrounding area. Turner thought he could borrow enough money to build a $750,000 track with 45,000 permanent seats on his property in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Afterward, he learned that a group led by Bruton Smith had a similar idea to build a track near Pineville.

Dale Earnhardt

Ralph Dale Earnhardt /ˈɜːrnhɑːrt/ (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001), known professionally as Dale Earnhardt, was an American race car driver and team owner, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR. He began his career in 1975 in the World 600 as part of the Winston Cup Series.

Regarded as one of the most significant NASCAR drivers, Earnhardt won a total of 76 Winston Cup races over the course of his career, including one Daytona 500 victory in 1998. He also earned seven NASCAR Winston Cup championships, tying for the most all-time with Richard Petty. His aggressive driving style earned him the nickname "The Intimidator".

On February 18, 2001, during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt died at the age of 49 when he sustained a fatal basilar skull fracture after crashing in the race's final lap. He has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.

Biography

Early and personal life

Sprint Cup Series

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (often shortened to Sprint Cup or the Cup Series) is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series is named for its current sponsor, the Sprint Corporation, and has been known by other names in the past. It was originally known as the Strictly Stock Series (1949) and shortly became the Grand National Series (1950–1970). While leasing its naming rights to R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, it was known as the Winston Cup Series (1971–2003). A similar deal was made with Nextel in 2003, becoming the Nextel Cup Series (2004–2007) and it became the Sprint Cup after Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005. The name "Sprint" refers specifically to the subsidiary of Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank which is the entitlement sponsor; sprint car racing is a separate racing discipline.

The drivers' champion is determined by a point system where points are given according to finishing placement and laps led. The season is divided into two segments. After the first 26 races, 16 drivers, selected primarily on the basis of wins during the first 26 races, are seeded based on their total number of wins and compete in the last 10 races with the difference in points greatly minimized. This is called the Chase for the Championship.

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway, formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway, is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles (21 km) from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the Sprint All-Star Race, and the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

The 2,000 acres (810 ha) complex also features a state-of-the-art quarter mile (0.40 km) drag racing strip, ZMAX Dragway. It is the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States and hosts NHRA events. Alongside the drag strip is a state-of-the-art clay oval that hosts dirt racing including the World of Outlaws finals among other popular racing events.