Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers |
One driver attempting to qualify for the race was Larry Pearson, son of David Pearson. After a couple of years of racing in NASCAR's Baby Grand series for small sedans, Larry was ready to give The Big Time a shot. He hitched a ride in Junie Donlavey's Mercury as somewhat of a teammate to Donlavey's regular driver, Ricky Rudd. Pearson's sponsors were Sunny King Ford of Anniston, AL (a frequent supporter of Donlavey's cars) and Andre The Giant Travel Agency! During a practice session before the first round of qualifying, however, Pearson spun and wrecked his Mercury. The team thrashed to make repairs, but Pearson couldn't muster enough speed in any of the qualifying sessions to make the show. His Cup debut wouldn't come for another six years when he qualified for the 1986 Daytona 500.
Though Pearson's car sponsored by Andre The Giant went home early, the famed wrassler - a North Carolina resident - stayed. He was the grand marshal for the race, posed with track and race team owner L.G. DeWitt, and clowned around a bit with the Unocal Racestoppers.
Credit: Rockingham Speedway by Rick Houston |
Credit: Rockingham Speedway by Rick Houston |
Bobby W., fellow member at RacersReunion.com, remembers...
For that year's Rockingham race, me and friends simply bought $8.00 general admission tickets for the backstretch stands. Those tickets only allowed access to the first 10 rows of stands. But after the race was about 100 laps in, we could wander anywhere and watch from the upper sections - which we did. Richard was driving a '79 Monte Carlo, took the lead early, and blistered the field again. I was lucky. I was convinced the sun rose and set over Level Cross, and I got to see Richard in his prime. Good times!
Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire |
Joe won a couple of those events, and his performance in the Petty-built Dodges helped tee him up for a Cup rookie-of-the-year run with L.G. DeWitt. As it turns out, however, Millikan had the bad fortune to be a Cup rookie in the same season as a a guy named Dale Earnhardt.
Petty left Rockingham leading in the championship battle by eight points over Waltrip. Richard was almost 230 points behind Waltrip two months earlier.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Bushmire |
TMC
Edited October 21, 2014
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