Tuesday, March 20, 2012

March 20 - This day in Petty history

1977 - Richard Petty wins the pole and then wins the Atlanta 500 for his 182nd career victory. The win is the King's second Atlanta 500 win in three years and his sixth and final Atlanta win overall.

Petty led about one-third of the race with fellow NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers David Pearson and Cale Yarborough splitting the remainder. But the laps Petty led were the most important as he led all but seven of the final 100 laps.

Green, green, green!!!

Credit: Ray Lamm collection
Petty's margin of victory over Pearson was about 12 seconds. Yarborough finished third, but he may have had a stronger showing had his brakes not failed during the last quarter of the race. Cale gamely raced the final 150 miles on the lightning quick mile-and-a-half oval with no brakes.

Headline courtesy of Russ 'Calhoun98' Thompson
Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire
TMC

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