The 1974 Daytona 500 has a place in the history books due to the energy crisis of the time. NASCAR had to cut fuel consumption by 10% and this reduced the annual race to the Daytona 450 as 20 laps were cut erasing 50 miles. The race started at Lap 21 and Richard Petty won his 5th Daytona which was his first back-to-back (set a record). He competed in his #43 STP Dodge Charger below... [Note: The reduction made sense for most of racing but should have been ignored for the Daytona 500 since it was a single event. The reduction made a bold statement about fuel conservation at a bad time, but losing 20 laps (50 miles) just made for a shorter race and a footnote in NASCAR history. A driver might wonder about those missing 20 laps which could have brought about another winner other than Petty. As it was Petty _almost_ lost to Donnie Allison]

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