The 1974 Tuborg 400, the 14th race of the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series season, was held on Sunday, June 9 at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.
A crowd of 41,000 watched the 35-car field tackle the 2.62-mile road course. George Follmer, in the #16 Roger Penske AMC Matador, captured the pole with a qualifying speed of 109.093 mph, but his day ended quickly after just seven laps with engine failure.
Cale Yarborough, driving the #11 Richard Howard Chevrolet, dominated much of the event. He led 79 laps, and held off Bobby Allison by a narrow 2.7 seconds in a race shortened to 138 laps (361.6 miles) due to the ongoing energy crisis. Benny Parsons finished third, followed by Cecil Gordon in fourth and Frank Warren in fifth.
Yarborough’s victory came at an average speed of 102.489 mph. He earned $17,925 for his sixth win of the season. The race saw minimal disruption with only two cautions for five laps and just five lead changes overall. Mechanical issues plagued the field heavily, sidelining many contenders including Richard Petty and Dave Marcis. The win allowed Yarborough to stretch his points lead to 102.83 over Richard Petty.
