Thursday, September 15, 2011

September 15 - This day in Petty history - part 3

1974 - Richard starts second in the Delaware 500 at Dover, dominates the race by leading 491 of 500 laps, and wins by 3 laps over the 2nd place finisher to capture his 164th win.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers
Former Petty Enterprises teammate, Buddy Baker, won the pole in Bud Moore's Ford. Baker led the first two laps before the 43 STP Dodge passed him for a 30-lap segment. The King let a few drivers have some fun by leading a handful of single laps. But Petty soon returned to the front, put his Charger in the wind, and led the final 461 laps to claim the win.

Baker finished second - albeit 3 laps down to the winner. Canadian Earl Ross had a nice day with a third place finish. Ross had five career top 5 finishes - all in 1974. Also, he coincidentally had one of each in the numerical sequence: a win at Martinsville, 2nd at Michigan, his P3 at Dover, a 4th at North Wilkesboro and a 5th in the World 600 at Charlotte.


Courtesy of Jerry Bushmire
Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire
TMC
Edited September 14, 2014

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