June 5, 1960: Driving a #42 finned 1960 Plymouth, Lee Petty leads 18 laps - the final laps - and wins the Richmond 200 at Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds in Richmond, Virginia. Son Richard finished sixth. While I've been unable to land a photo from the Richmond race, the Pettys raced matching Plymouths looking similar to these.
Fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett started from the pole for the first time in his Grand National career and led the most laps; however, he ended up third - one lap behind winner Lee and second place Rex White.
Again, I don't have a photo of Jarrett's car from Richmond. However, I suppose it looked a good bit like the Ford he raced earlier in the year in the Daytona 500. That car is shown here racing alongside a driver with only two career starts but perhaps the greatest name in all of racing history: Johnnie Dollar.
Lee's victory didn't come without some anxiety and extra effort. About half-way through the race while running second, he blew a right front tire and had to make a quick stop. He fought his way through the field in the second half of the race, battled eventual 1960 Grand National champion Rex White, edged past White with less than 20 to go, and continued on to claim his 52nd of 54 career wins.
TMC
No comments:
Post a Comment