May 18, 1968 - Langley's Tidewater 250

NASCAR completed the first third of its 49-race, 1968 Grand National division schedule with the Tidewater 250 at Langley Field Speedway in Hampton, Virginia. 

Track promoter Henry Klich noted how NASCAR was evolving. New speedways had opened or were on the drawing board. Several dirt tracks had begun a conversion to a paved surface. So after years of operating as a dirt track, Klich replaced the red clay with asphalt. The project was completed in time for the GN regulars to roll into town.

Despite Langley Field's switch from dirt to asphalt, Richard Petty captured his third consecutive pole at the track. He was also the two-time defending winner of the race after going back-to-back in 1966 and 1967.

To the surprise of no one, David Pearson joined Petty on the front row. What was a bit of a surprise, however, was Pearson's appearance at all. Just three weeks earlier, Ford Motor Company announced Pearson and his Holman Moody car would stop running the short tracks and focus on speedway races. The announcement was made despite Pearson's three short-track wins to that point of the season. In doing so, Pearson would also forfeit his shot at winning a second Grand National points title. 

In the days after the announcement, Pearson won his fourth short-track race of the year at Asheville-Weaverville followed by a win at Darlington. Ford reversed its decision, and Pearson continued to enter all races. He notched his fifth short-track race of the year at Beltsville Speedway in Maryland the night before Langley Field, and was looking to extend his winning streak to four on the newly paved Virginia track. 

Though it's not clear who or what led Ford to backpedal on their position, one person quite happy with moving forward was Pearson's crew chief, Dick Hutcherson. Just four years earlier, Hutch relo'd from the midwest and a successful IMCA stock car career to try his hand at NASCAR. 

After earning an impressive 14 wins in 104 starts, Hutch left the driver's seat after the 1967 season to become a crew chief for Holman Moody. Paired with Pearson, the duo began racking up wins on a regular basis. 

Source: Newport News Daily Press

Pearson got the jump on Petty as the race began. He led the first 55 laps around the tight track before Petty went to the top spot. 

After a few laps, Pearson got back by Petty's 43. His return, however, was short-lived as Petty once again put his Plymouth in the wind with no intentions of surrendering the lead again.

Petty led about 100 of the next 120 laps. Buddy Baker led a stretch of about 20 laps during a cycling of pit stops. Eventually, however, Petty returned to the top and seemed to be on his way to a Langley Field threepeat.

Things tightened up though with about 80 laps to go. Pearson's Ford closed on Petty's Plymouth, he got alongside him, and the two battled side by side for about 20 laps. The 43 then twitched a bit and doored Pearson's #17. As Petty cracked the throttle to straighten his car, Tiger Tom Pistone doinked him to send the King spinning. 

After popping the fence, Petty headed for the pits but lost three laps as his Dale Inman-led crew thrashed to make sure the car was okay to return to the track. Petty roared back into action and made up one of his lost laps. 

The damage and Petty's urgency to make up the lost distance were too much for the car's engine. The Hemi started bellowing smoke with about 10 laps to go, and Petty finally had to park it with four to go. The DNF was his second in as many nights and his fifth in seven races.

With Petty's late race issues, Pearson rolled on with no pressure. He led the last 60+ laps to capture his 37th career win. The victory was also his sixth short-track win of the year and his fourth consecutive victory. 

Though Petty missed out on his threepeat, Pearson began one. The Silver Fox went back-to-back with a second victory in August and then completed the triad in May 1969. 

Source: Newport News Daily Press

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May 17, 1969 - Langley's Tidewater 375

NASCAR's Grand National drivers battled in mid-May 1969 for the third time in a week and on back-to-back nights. After racing at Beltsville Speedway in Maryland on Friday night, the teams made the short trek to Langley Field Speedway in Hampton, Virginia for the Tidewater 375.

 

The six previous GN races at Langley Field had been 250-lap, 100-mile events around the 4/10-mile, paved oval. The distance was extended for the first time in 1969 to 375 laps for 150 miles. 

David Pearson captured the pole for the race and was flanked by Bobby Isaac. Pearson had already won four races during the season-to-date, and Isaac had claimed six victories - including at Beltsville the night before the race at Langley Field.

Independent, lower-funded drivers comprised much of the rest of the 24-car field. Virginia racing legend, Ray Hendrick, had planned to run the race. Hendrick knew the track like the back of his hand and won often at Langley Field in the track's modified and late model sportsman divisions.

Source: Newport News Daily Press

Hendrick raced in a handful of GN events - including a month earlier at Richmond. Though it's not clear if Hendrick failed to make the race during qualifying or if his expected ride didn't materialize, he wasn't on the track when the field took the green that Saturday night.

Another driver who wasn't in the field was Richard Petty. Two weeks earlier, Petty suffered what he says was the toughest hit of his career. He blew a tire coming out of turn four during the Fireball 300 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, and stuck it in the wall. Long before SAFER barriers and unlike many other tracks who used wooden or steel guardrails in that era, Petty's 43 Ford drilled the concrete wall and stopped suddenly.

The King rallied his sore body to qualify second and finish 11th the next weekend in the Rebel 400 at Darlington. The Petty Enterprises team, however, skipped the next two races at Beltsville and Langley Field. 

Physically, Petty may have been able to make the starts. The Weaverville wreck destroyed their short-track car; however, and it wasn't rebuilt in time to run the back-to-back races. 

A couple of calls were placed to other Ford teams to see if a spare car could be rallied for Petty to run the two races. When nothing surfaced, the team focused on readying Ol' Blue for the upcoming World 600 at Charlotte and getting the short-track car back in form for races beginning in June. 

With almost no other top team cars in the field, the race was a battle between rivals and friends Pearson and Isaac. Pearson leveraged his top starting spot to grab the lead at the start and hold it for the first 40 laps. Isaac then passed Pearson and paced the pack for about the next 30 laps when the race's first caution flew. 

Dick Hutcherson, Pearson's crew chief, called the #17 Ford to pit road. Isaac's crew chief Harry Hyde, however, made the call for Isaac to stay on the track. His plan was to have Isaac build a big lead over Pearson after the race returned to green and then pit under a subsequent caution.

With the race back under green, Isaac extended his lead over Pearson who was navigating traffic behind Isaac's #71 Dodge. Isaac remained out front for over 125 laps. 

As the race neared halfway, Hyde realized his pit strategy had backfired. The subsequent caution never occurred, and Isaac was forced to pit under green and surrender the lead back to Pearson. 

Though Pearson returned to the lead, Isaac tracked him down after 60 laps and motored by him with about 150 laps to go as he sought his seventh win of the year. 

About 25 laps later, Pearson made a second stop to ensure he had enough fuel to go the distance. Though the second stop put him well behind Isaac, Hutcherson firmly believe Pearson still had a shot at the win. 

Isaac continued to churn lap after lap as the race neared its conclusion. But then with about 15 laps to go, his Dodge's Hemi burped as the tank ran dry. As he coasted to the pits, Pearson flashed by to take the lead. Isaac's stop was agonizingly slow as the crew scrambled to get the car to re-fire. In the blink of an eye, Isaac went from a dominating day and a possible win to a P4 finish seven laps down to the winner.

Pearson led the rest of the way. He banked his 51st career victory, his fifth of the season, and his third consecutive win at Langley Field.

Source: Newport News Daily Press

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May 20 - This day in Petty history - part 1

1967 - Richard Petty wins the pole, leads 223 of 250 laps, defends his race win from 1966, and notches his 56th career victory in the Tidewater 250 at Langley Field Speedway in Hampton, VA.

Petty's win was his eighth win of the 1967 season (on his way to a 27-win season) and his sixth of his last nine starts. In a quirk of the points system design of that era, however, Petty still trailed James Hylton in the points championship standings at that point of the season.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

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May 7 - This day in Petty history

1966 - Richard Petty earns his 44th career victory with a win from the pole in the Tidewater 250 at Langley Field Speedway in Hampton, VA.

Despite winning the pole, John Sears jumped to the lead on lap 1 from his front row starting spot. He set the pace for the first 73 laps. But mechanical gremlins hit him, and he faded from contention. Petty took over, and he led the rest of the way for the in.

The race included a caution for a bizarre accident. According to Greg Fielden in Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Volume 3:

Bill Seifert was shaken up in a weird accident. Seifert's Ford popped a tire and struck the guard rail. Seifert's car was partially sticking through the rail. Henley Gray's Ford ran into the debris blew a tire, and hit Seifert's machine, pushing it down a steep embankment. The Skyland, NC driver spent one night in the hospital after x-rays proved negative. ~ p. 80

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

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