In the 1973 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway on September 30, a 36-car field drew a crowd of 28,000 fans. Cale Yarborough earned the pole position with a qualifying speed of 85.922 mph. Richard Petty started 6th in his STP Dodge and drove to victory, winning by a full lap over Yarborough after rain shortened the race to 480 laps. Bobby Allison finished third, followed by Buddy Baker in fourth and Jack McCoy in fifth.
The event saw six cautions for 69 laps, with Petty averaging 68.631 mph over the roughly 3-hour-49-minute contest and taking home $11,750 for his 17th win of the season and 118th career victory. Yarborough led a race-high 366 laps. In the points standings, Petty moved into second place, trailing leader Benny Parsons (who finished sixth) by 201.35 points.
