1970 - Starting second alongside Bobby Allison, Richard Petty goes on to dominate the Falstaff 400 at Riverside International Raceway. Petty leads 149 of 153 laps in his Plymouth Superbird on the southern California road course, and he banks his 106th career NASCAR Grand National victory. The King's win also gave Chrysler Corporation its first win at Riverside - a track that ran its first Grand National race in 1958.
When I visited the Richard Petty Museum in 2011, this trophy Richard won for the Falstaff 400 was one of the more unique ones I saw.
However, as seen in the video clip that follows, the King was awarded an additional, larger trophy for his win (fast forward to race highlights at 2:13 and trophy at 3:07).
Here is a better picture of the larger trophy - though I was unable to locate it in either of my visits to the Petty Museum.
If you are a more contemporary NASCAR fan, you may have heard the phrase "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." The auto manufacturers of that era certainly believed that slogan - and invested ad dollars towards it. Here is an ad I found on ebay that tried to encourage consumers to latch onto the King's Riverside win and nudge them towards a Plymouth purchase.
Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire
And who amongst us doesn't like those winged MoPars of 69-70? Well, here is some bonus footage for you.
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