February 24, 1974 - Richmond 500

Richard Petty captured the Daytona 500 on February 17, 1974. The win was his fifth 500 victory and third in four years. As is always the case in racing, however, you have limited time to celebrate. A week after Daytona, the teams hauled to Richmond to battle 500 laps on the Virginia half-mile bullring.

As impressive as King's Daytona record was, his Richmond stats exceeded it. Coming into the winter '74 race, Petty had 11 victories at Richmond - including the previous seven in a row.

Despite the enviable streak, no win ever comes easy. The Petty Enterprises bunch had to set the Daytona trophy to the side and once again face the challenges of the competition.

The race was billed as the Sixth Annual Richmond 500. Though NASCAR's Grand National / Cup cars had raced on various surfaces and configurations at Richmond since 1953, the track adopted its 500-lap format in 1969.

Bobby Allison, King's long-time rival, captured the pole in his self-fielded Coca-Cola Chevrolet. Cale Yarborough, winner of the season-opening race at Riverside, qualified alongside Allison. Petty and 1973 Winston Cup champion Benny Parsons made up the second row, and 1973 Rookie of the Year Lennie Pond timed fifth.

For about the first half of the season, NASCAR trimmed its race lengths by 10 percent in response to the OPEC-related energy crisis. From a branding perspective, the track retained the Richmond 500 race name. The first 50 laps, therefore, were "logged" but without any driver leading them.

When the field took the green, Yarborough got the jump on Allison to lead the first lap ... err, lap 51 officially. Cale found an early rhythm and led 86 of the race's first 87 laps.

Petty and Cale then split roughly the next 50 laps between themselves - with Parsons slipping in to lead a lap or two. The STP Dodge then cemented its routine position out front.

Petty's Dodge had found its groove as the race hit halfway. He led a stint of nearly 120 laps before yielding the lead once more to Allison during a pit stop around lap 300. As the Dale Inman-led crew serviced the car, the gasman got the dump can hung in the car. When the jack fell, Petty roared back onto the track - with the fuel can still attached.

King had to make another stop to remove his stowaway passenger, and his sizable lead over Allison was gone.

Petty spent the better part of the next 100 laps clawing back ground he'd lost because of the pit miscue. He finally surged back in front around lap 400 following a caution for Walter Ballard, but his time back out front was brief.

The caution for Ballard was unique and a bit frightening. Drive train issues forced him to the garage near the race's midpoint. Ballard began repairing his car in an effort to gain a few extra spots and points, and he suffered a heart attack while doing so. The caution flew so the ambulance could exit the track and transport Ballard to the hospital.

Remarkably, Ballard returned to race the following Sunday and all the races over the next two seasons. He reduced his driving schedule in 1976 and increased his role as an owner for others. Dale Earnhardt raced Ballard's #30 Chevelle at Charlotte in his second career Winston Cup start, the 1976 World 600.

Back to the race...

During their final stops, Allison opted for four tires whereas the 43 bunch took a gamble with two. The gamble didn't pay off. Allison resumed the point, and Petty spent the remaining laps trying to catch-up with an ill-handling car. As the checkers fell, Allison won comfortably over King. Yarborough finished third, six laps down to the top two finishers.

Allison fans left Richmond with a Coke and a smile. The Petty crowd likely hated to see one slip away. After a seven-race win streak and a Daytona trophy at home, however, most knew it was just a racing deal.

King put the disappointing P2 behind him. He bounced back the following Sunday with a win in the Carolina 500 at Rockingham. He also returned to his winning ways at Richmond by nabbing the next two events - the September 1974 Capital City 500 and February 1975 Richmond 500.

Source: Newport Daily Press

TMC

The King was Fond of Pond

A recent birthday advanced me to the year of Lennie Pond.

Richard Petty and Lennie Pond struck a friendship somewhere during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pond traveled from time to time to Level Cross during his late model sportsman years to buy parts from the Petty shop in Level Cross. His visits and success on Virginia shorts tracks caught King's eye. Lennie eventually moved to NASCAR's Winston Cup ranks with encouragement from the Pettys.

Credit: Donald Evans

In 1978, Petty and Pond helped one another in a relief role in multiple races.

In the Southeastern 500 at Bristol, both Petty and Pond were involved in an early race accident along with Darrell Waltrip and Roland Wlodyka. Petty parked his Dodge Magnum, but Ranier Racing patched Pond's #54 Chevy well enough to continue. The car had staying power, but Pond had a tough time remaining in the seat. The King took over and rallied the car to a top 5 running position. Pond later returned to his car and maintained the track position gained by Petty to finish fifth.

Credit: David Allio / RacingPhotoArchives

When the tour returned to Bristol for its inaugural night race, the two drivers reversed roles. Six days earlier at Michigan, Petty debuted his new STP Chevrolet. His first start, however, resulted in a late race wall pounding. The team borrowed a car from Henley Gray for Bristol, and King did his best to race with a battered ribcage. After Pond fell out 100 laps into the race, he took over the 43 in relief. Pond helped the borrowed ride finish fifth - coincidentally just as Petty did in Pond's car in the spring race.

*   *   *   *   * Before joining the Cup ranks full-time, Pond came *this close* to being at the wheel of a Petty car in the 1970 Daytona 500. Kinda. Maybe.

The Petty team was a Plymouth stalwart from 1960 through 1968. The racing community was stunned in late November 1968, however, when Petty Enterprises announced a switch to Ford for 1969. During the one-year run with Ford Motor Company, the team sold a 1968 Plymouth to another Virginian, Don Robertson.

Robertson partnered with another independent driver and fellow commonwealther, Jabe Thomas, to race the 1969 schedule with the Plymouth acquired from the Pettys. The car was painted slate blue and gold, and Thomas started and finished a respectable 14th at Daytona.

Robertson planned to field a second Plymouth in the 1970 Daytona 500, and he originally slotted James Cox to drive it. Cox raced eight times for Robertson in 1969, and Robertson apparently submitted Cox's name on the entry blank for the 500.

While it isn't known which car, if either, was the former Petty Plymouth, the paint on the cars does provide a suggestive clue. Thomas' #25 Plymouth arrived at Daytona painted red and gold.

The second Robertson #23 Plymouth, however, bore the base slate blue that Thomas raced a year earlier. Though the car number, gold accents, and sponsor lettering differed, the blue and gold suggest the second car may have been the Petty Plymouth.

A couple of weeks before Speedweeks, a friend urged Pond to call Thomas about the possibility of racing at Daytona for his second career Grand National start. After discussions with Robertson, all decided Pond would be a good choice to race Robertson's second Plymouth over Cox.

Source: Petersburg Progress Index

*   *   *   *   * NASCAR's 1966 Rookie of the Year, James Hylton, had also been a Mopar man in his three Grand National seasons. In the off-season before 1970, however, he sold his Dodge equipment and bought a used Holman Moody Ford previously raced by David Pearson.

Misfortune struck Hylton when he wrecked his Ford during a practice session on Monday before the Daytona 500. The damage was significant enough that Hylton realized his crew couldn't repair it in time for the race.

Robertson and Thomas knew of Hylton's problem - and that he had more experience than Pond. Unlike Lennie, Hylton was a full-time driver chasing points for the Grand National title.

As a nice gesture, Robertson turned the #23 Plymouth over to Hylton for the 125-mile qualifying race. Hylton finished 11th and earned the car a starting spot in the 500. Robertson then withdrew Cox's name as the official driver, substituted Hylton, and kept Lennie on the sideline. Hylton was obviously grateful for the opportunity to race, but he felt somewhat awkward knowing the ride had been promised to Pond.

When the day was done, Hylton finished 22nd in the 500 with teammate Thomas a few spots back in 25th. Cox's opinion about being removed from the car are unknown, and it's not clear if he even went to Daytona.

Though circumstances resulted in Pond's losing the opportunity to race in his first Daytona 500 in 1970, he soldiered on with his late model sportsman career. He moved to Winston Cup in 1973, ran the majority of the races, and narrowly won NASCAR's Rookie of the Year honor over Darrell Waltrip.

That season, Pond finally got behind the wheel of a Petty car for the first time when he relieved the King during the Southern 500 at Darlington.

TMC