FAYETTEVILLE RACE WON BY ALLISON

FAYETTEVILLE (The Robesonian) - Bobby Allison drove his Chevrolet to victory in the first annual Cumberland 200 Grand National East event at Cumberland Speedway Sunday afternoon, finishing less than nine seconds ahead of Cale Yarborough.  The Hueytown, Ala., veteran started from the pole position after qualifying at a speed of 93.96 miles per hour and averaged 85.816 for the 200-lap chase.

Yarborough was the third fastest qualifier behind Tiny Lund and chased the Coke machine all afternoon and led the 100-miler from lap 101 through 135 when Allison pitted for gas and tires.  Allison jumped out front on the first lap and was chased by Yarborough in the Junie Donlevy Mercury from the start with Cecil Gordon in fourth position and Lund in fifth.  Buddy Baker, whose car was late arriving, joined the chase at the start and came from 21st starting position to fourth within 30 laps.  The Charlotte veteran suffered from an improper set-up and made three pit stops, finishing the race two laps back in fourth position, behind Gordon.

The race was slowed five times for 17 laps when minor spins caused the caution flag to be displayed.  Elmo Langley was the fifth driver to finish while Wayne Andrews was sixth and Neil Castles was seventh.  Earl Brooks was the eight driver to cross the finish line, while Ernie Shaw was ninth and D.K. Ulrich was 10th. 

Fin	St	Driver	#	Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Laps Led
1  1  Bobby Allison   12  Edmond Allison  1973 Chevrolet  200  1,000   Running 165  2  3  Cale Yarborough   90  Junie Donlavey   1971 Mercury  200  600   Running 35  3  4  Cecil Gordon   24  Cecil Gorcon  1972 Chevrolet  199  400  Running 0  4  21  Buddy Baker   71  Nord Krauskopf  1972 Dodge  198  350   Running 0  5  7  Elmo Langley   64  Elmo Langley  1972 Ford  195  325  Running 0  6  6  Wayne Andrews   97 Jack St Clair  1970 Ford Mustang  193  300   Running 0  7  5  Neil Castles  06 Neil Castles  1973 Dodge  187  475    Running 0  8   11  Earl Brooks  26 Earl Brooks  1972 Ford  185  270    Running 0  9  15  Ernie Shaw  17 Ernie Shaw  1970 Ford Mustang  181  265    Running 0  10  20  D.K. Ulrich  40 D K Ulrich  1971 Ford  170  260     Running 0  11  17  Bobby Fleming  54 Bobby Fleming  1973 Chevrolet Camaro  169  255     Running 0  12  10  Dean Dalton  91 William Strong  1970 Chevrolet  164  250    RF Brake 0  13  18  Ed Negre  8 Ed Negre  1971 Ford   164  245    Runnimg 0  14   2  Tiny Lund  93 Toy Bolton  1973 Chevrolet Camaro  155  240    Running 0  15  14  Travis Carter  22 L.G. DeWitt  1971 Mercury  126  235    RF Wheel 0  16  12  Baxter Price  33 Patsy Price  1972 Chevrolet  29  230    Overheatng 0  17  9  Rick Newsom  20 Rick Newsome  1971 Ford  13  225     Quit 0  18  16  Bill Shirey  74 Bill Shirey  1970 Plymouth   8  220     Quit 0  19  13  Vic Parsons  08 Ed Negre  1971 Mercury  8  215     Oil Press 0  20  19  Dick May  30 Ballard Racing  1971 Mercury  5  210     Quit 0  21  8  Richard D. Brown  44 Jerry Brown  1971 Chevrolet  3  205     Battery 0

Time of race: 01:09:35
Average Speed: 85.816 MPH
Fastest Qualifier: Bobby Allison 1973 Chevrolet 96.93 MPH (18.57 seconds )
5 cautions for 17 laps
Race Purse: $ 8,850