Wednesday, May 22, 2013

May 22, 1959 - Lee wins at Charlotte

May 22, 1959: Starting fourth on a Friday night, Lee Petty leads 58 of 200 laps in his Oldsmobile and wins by about 20 yards over former Petty Enterprises driver Tiny Lund in the 100-mile race at Southern States Fairgrounds speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lee's 58 laps on point on the half-mile dirt track were matched by fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker. When the checkers fell, however, Buck finished fifth and one lap down to Petty. Neither driver matched Joe Weatherly in terms of laps led. Weatherly started second and led 77 laps. A rear end failure ended his day, however, and the eventual 2-time NASCAR Grand National champion finished 16th in the 25-car field.

In only his 16th career NASCAR GN start, Richard Petty - Lee's son who eventually had a modicum of success in NASCAR - started 11th and finished 19th.


TMC

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