May 31 - This day in Petty history

1968 - Richard Petty wins the pole with a new track record, leads all 300 laps, laps the field and dominates for his 79th career win in the Asheville 300 at New Asheville Speedway in North Carolina.

While Petty's domination of the race may have resulted in a boring day for some, it hardly ended that way for others. As referenced in the article below, a couple of teams had a mid-race scrap as The King drove on to collect his trophy, check, and victory kisses.

Greg Fielden describes in Forty Years of Stock Racing - Volume 3:

As [David] Pearson was lapping Stan Meserve for the third time, the two cars tangled, sending Pearson into the wall. Meserve spun into the infield. Angry words were exchanged between Pearson and Meserve. The "jaw" session seemed to die down when apparently a member of Meserve's pit crew ran onto the track and hit Pearson from behind. The pits emptied and several fist-swinging incidents broke out. "I turned around saw everybody swinging." said NASCAR Field Manager Johnny Bruner. ~ p. 181

I get the feeling Bruner wasn't referring to this kind of swinging.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC