November 22, 1962: Driving a #41 Petty Enterprises Plymouth, Jim Paschal wins the Turkey Day 200 at Tar Heel Speedway in Randleman, NC. Maurice Petty finished fifth in his #42 family team Plymouth, and Richard finished 11th after losing a transmission with 12 laps to go.
Though run in November 1962, the race was actually the third event of the 1963 season. Petty Enterprises was on a roll by winning all three races - and racking up top 5s to boot:
November 4 at Fairgrounds Raceway in Birmingham AL - Paschal wins, Richard 2nd
November 22 at Tar Heel Speedway - Paschal wins, Maurice 5th
The race was the first of only three Grand National races run at Tar Heel - all as part of the 1963 schedule. Each race was 200 laps and 50 miles on the tight quarter-mile, paved track. Paschal won this first one, and he backed it up on May 5, 1963 with another victory in the second one. Richard finally broke through with a win on October 5, 1963 in the third and final race.
Glen Wood won the pole in his family team's #21 Ford, and Paschal started alongside him. Jimmy Pardue and Ned Jarrett made up the second row. Petty cars claimed three of the top 6 starting spots as Richard and Maurice timed 5th and 6th.
When the green flag waved, Wood set sail. The NASCAR Hall of Famer from Stuart, Virginia dominated the day by leading the first 173 laps. But with victory in the caution-free race seemingly in sight, Wood blew a tire, exited the race, and faded to a 15th place finish. Paschal took over the top spot and cruised unchallenged the remaining 27 laps to the win.
Parts of the speedway remain on a farm owned by the family of the late Frank Millikan. In May 2012, fellow Schaefer HOFer, Philly, and I gave it our best to visit what is left of the track. We found it - but had to leave before getting a chance to explore it.
This post concludes my 2013 series about wins by Petty Enterprises drivers other than by The King. If you've read one or more of the posts, tweeted about them, posted a link to Facebook, commented, emailed me, told someone about them, etc., THANK YOU. I've thoroughly enjoyed researching each of the races and finding supplemental information like photos, articles, program covers, etc. to add.
I'm not sure what direction I'll go next after having blogged about all of Richard's 200 wins and now the victories by other Petty Enterprises drivers. I'm open to ideas though - so let me hear them. Until then, GO 43!
May 5, 1963: Starting third, Jim Paschal wins at Tar Heel Speedway in Randleman, NC. The speedway only hosted three NASCAR Grand National races - all in the 1963 season. Petty cars won all three of them - two by Paschal and one by Richard Petty.
In the second of the three races run and won by Petty cars, Paschal raced a #43 Petty Plymouth. While the concept of a driver other than Richard Petty winning in 43 may seem odd, it was most likely a team strategy. The Petty team often fielded multiple cars throughout the early 1960s, and Richard was generally given the pick of the litter. He likely believed the team's #41 Plymouth was the right choice - especially since Paschal won at Tar Heel in the car a few months earlier in the season. Early returns suggested he was headed in the right direction as he qualified second. But a faulty fuel pump relegated Petty to 13th in the 15-car field - the last car still running - while Paschal took the checkers in the 43.
... race 22 of the '63 campaign was held at Tar Heel and Richard Petty, being the clever guy that he is, swapped cars with Paschal for this one, not to be fooled twice in his own sandbox. There were only 15 entries and the top two were the same as before. It was deja vu all over again as Jim Paschal decided to lay back and watch [Ned] Jarrett pace the field for the opening 130 laps until he had a flat a la Glen Wood in the Turkey Day 200 six months earlier. Paschal inherited the lead according to plan as Ned lost a mile getting fresh rubber. High Point's Paschal cruised away, taking 43 to his second win in a row at Tar Heel and sixth straight on the season for Petty Plymouth... Richard's brilliant car switch backfired as he finished the last man running 13th, 20 laps behind after a fuel pump was replaced.
Fellow Schaefer HOFer Philly and I made the trip to Randleman to see the remnants of Tar Heel Speedway in May 2012. We arrived and got ... close. Yet, we were so far away.Its obvious why Petty Enterprises wanted to succeed - and did - at Tar Heel. The track was only about 2.5 miles from the Petty team shop.
Defending Grand National champion (and eventual 1963 champ), Joe Weatherly, finished second in the race in a car owned by Cliff Stewart. The race was also promoted by Stewart. About two decades later, Stewart fielded cars for drivers such as Morgan Shepherd, Geoff Bodine...
Having negotiated turns one and two, I now barrel down the backstretch and into turn three of my four-part blog series about the great times enjoyed during four days in Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Schaefer racing experience, and all related trappings.
After spending Friday morning at Petty's Garage, our quartet was ready for a bite of lunch before heading to the Richard Petty Museum in Randleman, NC. With no objections from the other three, I made my offer based on some pre-trip reconnaissance. I proposed we head to a dive diner called Frank and Larry's about 2 miles or so from Petty's Garage. We needed to go there for a reason.
My desired post-lunch tour stop was to be a complete wild card. Through research I've done the last several months for my Richard Petty 200 Wins blog series, I learned Randleman was once home to Tar Heel Speedway. The paved, quarter-mile track hosted three NASCAR Grand National races - all in 1963. The hometown Petty Enterprises team won all three of them - the first two by Jim Paschal and the last by Richard.
Through some web research and a chapter in Perry Allen Wood's book Silent Speedways of the Carolinas (PDF excerpt), I learned the remains of the track were on the property of Frank Millikan - the father of Joe Millikan who worked for Petty Enterprises in the 1960s and 70s.
After working a few years in the shop, Joe then raced and won in Petty-built Dodge Chargers in several ARCA and late model sportsman events in the mid to late 1970s. He landed a Cup ride with L.G. DeWitt in 1979 and finished second to Dale Earnhardt for Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.
Courtesy of Ray Lamm
Joe lost his ride in early 1980 when DeWitt's team folded. Petty Enterprises drew on his availability when Richard broke his neck at Pocono around mid-season. Millikan relief-drove for Richard in a couple of races including Talladega and Bristol. (Incredibly, the King raced without relief for all 400 miles at Michigan sandwiched between 'Dega and Bristol.)
With the Petty-Millikan connection, I simply HAD to meet Frank and get to his property to see what was left of Tar Heel Speedway. My objective was to stand on the broken pavement - smiling - wearing a 43 hat - and holding a Schaefer beer.
Based on a local source, I was told Frank was in his 80s and co-owner of the diner. We found the place easily. After studying the menu, all of us ordered our hot dogs and Pepsi Colas - at least I thought so. I ordered two 'cheese dogs' with mustard and onions. Everyone got a good laugh when the waitress brought precisely what I'd ordered: two buns layered with Kraft Singles and toppings. Perplexed for a moment, I asked "Um, I seem to be missing my dawgs." She politely but curtly reminded me I'd ordered cheese dogs - not hot dogs (vs. a hot dog with cheese on it as I'd thought). "You want weenies on 'em? I can make 'em for you?"
Once I got the minor menu miscue behind me, it was time to move to the next step. After our waitress added the hot dogs to my cheese dogs, I felt a bond between us was beginning to develop. I innocently asked if Frank was working that day. She winced and said "Naw hon, I'm 'fraid not. Frank passed away." Slightly embarrassed and clearly under-informed, I replied "Holy cow! I'm really sorry. Was it recent?" to which she replied "Naw, twas prob'ly 'bout 2 year ago. But Larry is still here if ya wanna talk to him!" We smothered a snicker and said no thank you.
But we'd made it this far, and I wasn't prepared to concede my mission. I told her I was looking for an old race track that was on his property. She said Frank's widow was still alive and may be able to help us. As we left the parking lot, I told SHOFer Philly "turn left" (as true stock car drivers do). We drove 2 clicks of a mile away and there we found a long gravel driveway. We drove it slowly and found a nice, modest log house - but it didn't look as if anyone was home. So we drove deeper into the property. And there it was - a building that was once likely a ticket booth and/or a payoff booth for the drivers, remains of what may have been some grandstands, and a bunch of trees and ivy followed clearly by a row of "clear" which likely meant the track surface was still there. As we drove by a trailer with a pick-up truck parked outside it, we found a gate to what once an entrance to turn 4.
I got my camera and a can of Schaefer and was about ready to exit our vehicle. But then I glanced back and saw a man standing by the pick-up with hands on his hips and his face void of a smile. Sensing an uh-oh moment, I suggested we double-back to him, laugh him up with our search idea, pass him a Schaefer as thanks, and get permission to look around. Instead, we got just the opposite. The convo went something like this:
TMC: Hey sir, how are ya? We're in the area for the race this weekend. Over in Charlotte? And we're big Petty fans and racing historians of sorts. Trailer Dude: Yeah? TMC: Yes sir. And I learned recently Tar Heel Speedway was right over here where Richard won way back in the 60s. TD: Dar ain't nuttin' back there. TMC: Yeah, but I think I saw... TD: Huh? TMC: Well, I understood Frank Millikan once owned the area. But I understood from over at Frank and Larry's that he'd passed away, and I was sorry to hear that. (tried to name drop and get a little empathy working) TD: Yeah, and his boys own the place. They put that gate up thar so ain't nobody gonna get hurt back thar. TMC: Well, we were hoping we could... TD: Yain't gonna need to go back thar.
[Pause - look at the truck - look at Philly - make a visual go/no go decision - annnnd, realize this could turn for the worse] TMC: OK, well look. We appreciate it. Great talking with you.
With that last exchange, we were gone. Sensing he may have a high-caliber enforcer in his truck, we made the decision not to push matters. After a slow ride in, Philly kicked up a good rooster tail of gravel dust as he sped back to the main road - with Trailer Dude's dogs running and barking in hot pursuit. They matched our speed stride-for-stride for about 300 yards until finally breaking off.
The trip wasn't a total loss. I didn't get to walk the grounds or get my photo op. But we...were...there. About the only localized photo I got was the mailbox that still bears the name of the late Frank Millikan.
And ... I did find Richard's winning trophy from Tar Heel on display later in the afternoon at the Richard Petty Museum.
We were soooo close. I'm not sure the year or season of the aerial photo below. But it gives some idea of how close we were. The van marks the area near the 4th turn gate. The arrow marks where Trailer Dude stood staring us down.
In the end though, it was the right - and safest - thing to do to just move on. Saturday and Sunday race days would have sucked if the two of us had landed in the hospital loaded with buckshot. Lt. Philly, iiice creeeam. Schaefer-flavored ice cream Lt. Philly.
Once back on Randleman Road, we drove the few short miles to the Richard Petty Museum on West Academy Street. We arrived to see the Smithfield Foods / Farmland #43 Ford show car having just been unloaded in the parking lot. This Petty-blue rich scheme will run in four 2012 races: Kansas City, Texas, Chicagoland, and Phoenix.
Upon entering, I had a reunion of sorts with [name withheld] who helped me find and then hold the Schaefer 300 trophy last year. (I agreed she and I would keep her name a secret in case the King got wind of it and disapproved!) She remembered me, laughed at the Schaefer links I'd sent her over the past year, and was surprised to learn I'd brought more Schaefer devotees with me - including 200WINZ who is the only person I know who actually got to see the King win the Schaefer 300 at Trenton.
I took a lot more photos of trophies I missed during my previous visit or that had been added to the cases since then. Many will be incorporated into future blog posts about the King's 200 wins. I did spot a few other interesting items such as...
The checkered flag from Marcos Ambrose's win at Watkins Glen last August.
The winner's trophy for the King's second and final career win at Bristol in 1975 as I blogged about back in March.
Richard's 123rd career and final Winston Cup pole win also came at Bristol. He landed the top spot for the 1979 Volunteer 500 summer night race.
Petty's trophy from his 199th career win in the Budweiser 500 at Dover while driving for Curb Motorsports.
Credit to and courtesy of Brian Hauck
Amongst the hundreds of guns in the museum's collection is supposedly Richard's first BB gun, a Red Ryder Daisy. As a fan of the iconic movie, A Christmas Story, I couldn't help but wonder if Richard once pleaded with Lee to get him a Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot, Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.
I've thoroughly enjoyed my two trips to the museum. Obvious misses with some of the displays, however, are also a minor irritant to me. For example, the 1984 Pontiac Grand Prix on display is alleged to be the one the King raced to his 200th win. Except it isn't. And the impressive 1970 Petty blue Plymouth Superbird greeting visitors upon their entrance? Nope. Its neither a 'Bird nor a Petty built chassis. The two cars are gorgeous, and I certainly know what they represent. However, I think the museum would be better served to let folks know both are replicas.
On this year's trip, I noted two more facepalm mistakes:
A Petty Enterprises sign tagged as the "original" one. Original?? Its not even the original logo of Petty Enterprises - never mind the company was originally known as Petty Engineering. The sign may well have been the last one hanging when PE merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports and ceased operations. But it certainly isn't the original sign.
The other clear miss was the inclusion of a Winston Cup Series decal on the side of the restored 1969 Ford Torino. Winston didn't become NASCAR's top series title sponsor until 1971, and the red-white-checkered flag logo wasn't even used until a couple of years afterwards.
My nitpicking aside, the visit was great. I'd return tomorrow if given the opportunity to continue exploring the various trophies and items collected by the King over the years. Perhaps in my later years, I could be the curator or a tour guide for the museum rather than riding out my days as a Wal-Mart greeter feller. (caution on that last link - Rodney Carrington humor isn't for everyone)
I continue today with round two of what is likely now a four-part blog series about the expected and realized great times enjoyed by many - including me - during four days in
Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Schaefer racing experience, and all related trappings.
Thursday evening, we ripped a mighty Whoooo! upon seeing the two Richard Petty Motorsports Fords sweep front row. On Friday morning, Schaefer Hall of Fame co-founder Philly, Schaefer Ring of Honor member Brian "200WINZ" Hauck, WINZ' son, and TMC spent several hours at ground zero of where the Petty racing family began - in Level Cross, North Carolina.
The first stop for Philly and TMC was at the Level Cross United Methodist Church cemetery to pay our respects. Buried there are the parents of Richard and Maurice Petty - NASCAR Hall of Famer, 3-time Grand National champion, and 54-race winner Lee Petty and his wife, Elizabeth.
Mrs. Petty's maiden name was Toomes so I suppose her grave marker could technically be referred to as a Toomes Stone.
In front of the Petty plot was one for another Toomes family. While I didn't take pictures of it, we did study the dates and names. The husband Toomes was born within a couple of years of Elizabeth Toomes Petty leading us to believe he may have been her brother and Richard's uncle. Next to him lay his wife whose maiden name was Staley. My mind began to wonder. Is it possible she was related to NASCAR driver, Gwyn Staley? Gwyn was from Burlington, NC - not terribly far from either Greensboro or Level Cross. Lee and his brother Julian were originally from Greensboro, and Lee later moved to Level Cross. Gwyn drove a few NASCAR convertible races for Julian. So with racing bringing folks together on a personal and professional level, I suppose my hypothesis may have some merit. And yes, feelers have already been extended to someone in the area to see if I can glean new info.
Leaving the church, Philly and I made the short hop to the Level Cross Volunteer Fire Department - Station No. 43 of course. The department was in the processing of installing a a brand new sign just as we arrived. We'd like to think this may have been the first (or near it) photo taken of it - complete with a recognizable font for their station number.
With only a brief stop to watch the sign installation and say hello and thanks to the fireman, we re-loaded for the ride down Branson Mill Road to Petty's Garage. I visited Petty's Garage (blog entries) and the Richard Petty Museum (blog entries) about a year ago - but immediately hoped for the opportunity to return.
Upon arrival, we were told we could look around the main 'showroom' (the red-floored shop of what used to be the Petty Enterprises race shop) and peek a bit at the projects. But we were also cautioned that we shouldn't be out on the floor getting in the guys' way as they worked on cars and prepared for the next day's Petty Fest.
Acknowledging the basic 'rules', we browsed around the main room. I won't recap all of the stuff we saw because a lot of the cars were the same ones I mentioned in my blog a year ago. However, we did note a couple of standouts.
I got a much better view of the Legacy By Petty custom-built convertible this year. This thing is just sick. You can't fully appreciate the detail of the hand-painted collection of Petty images on both sides without standing right next to the door.
I was also taken aback when I spotted Old School Cool. This street version 1981 Buick Regal with Kyle Petty replica paint scheme is owned and was restored by Jim "Member #77" Boyle. Jim is a fellow Petty fan who posts regularly on a couple of Petty-themed message boards I frequent. Petty's Garage helped him with fabrication and installation of a few of the pieces on the car. It was a true pleasure seeing Jim's work up close. You can see a few more photos of his project here and an article about his restoration here.
After browsing around a couple of minutes, however, I began to get the itch. We wandered towards the shop floor with the hopes of spotting Doug Murph who'd been kind enough to give me a two-hour tour last year. We found him, and I reminded him of my visit and his courtesy a year ago. As expected, he really didn't have any recall of me. The more I talked about the good time I had, however, I think he began to have some slight recall. I told him I wanted to show Philly some of the same legendary yet abandoned rooms of Petty Enterprises. He looked at us, smirked, and said "You know your way around. Go wherever you want to." With that, we were off.
A handful of restoration projects were underway on the floor including:
A 1969 winged Dodge Daytona...
A 1970 Plymouth Superbird
A Hudson Hornet...
...whose engine I'm quite sure isn't a stock one from the 1950s era. Vroom!
A Ford pick-up truck 'shoebox' project. This is going to be be a long, tedious, expensive restoration.
We then wandered throughout other rooms of the shop finding nary a locked door. Fans of Petty Enterprises likely know the shop was essentially built one room/shop at a time over the decades as needs arose. Floor elevations and thresholds from one room to another don't always align. There isn't a natural 'flow' throughout the buildings as is found in contemporary race shops. Yet these buildings are where magic happened for about 50 years.
Championships for Lee and Richard.
More than 250 wins for Lee, Richard, Kyle and Adam Petty.
Victories by hired guns such as Pete Hamilton, Jim Paschal, Joe Millikan, Buddy Baker, Bobby Hamilton, Marvin Panch, and others.
I again found Maurice Petty's old dyno room, PE workbenches, racks of mounted tires, etc. The musty, dust-laden air smelled richly of racing history. Then opening another door, we stumbled across a room packed with old Petty cars previously driven by more contemporary drivers such as Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Jeff Green, and Bobby Hamilton - including this mid-90s STP Pontiac.
We then opened a door, received a greeting of sunlight, and realized we'd exited the back of the shop. Doug toured me back there somehow last year. However, we stood a good ways' back from the back of the property then. He described some of what we saw, told some funny and memorable stories, and then led me back into the shop.
I wanted to explore more during this trip. For the next few pictures, many may think the old vehicles look like hunks of junk. But for me, the rusting bodies screamed racing history and questions of "wonder what this one is all about?"
Some of the neat finds spotted were:
An old Dodge tractor cab that once hauled the famous Dodge by Petty 43 Chargers of the 1970s.
A mid 60s Plymouth Barracuda
Newer racing fans may not realize the King drag raced a Plymouth Barracuda in 1965 while a boycott by Chrysler Corporation kept the Petty's factory-backed Plymouths off the NASCAR circuit for several months.
An old Chrysler Imperial and Lincoln parked side by side. One of my uncles introduced me to racing in 1974. I still remember a huge Chrysler he drove - probably not too far in body year as this one. It was more of a powder blue vs. a Petty blue. But he definitely tried to get one colored as close as possible to his favorite driver's car color. The hoods on these things were longer than a drive across a Kansas prairie.
An old 1940s era Dodge languishing in the weeds.
I've got a Racing Champions die-cast of Lee Petty's car I think was designed based on a similar era Dodge Lee drove.
In the early 1990s, Maurice Petty's sons, Mark and Ritchie gave racing a shot just as their cousin, Kyle Petty, did. (Today, Mark and another brother Tim are involved with NASCAR as engine tuners with Richard Childress Racing.) Mark and Ritchie started with late models with limited sponsorship from a Winner's Circle Auto Parts. The company was a fly-by-night operation for whom Maurice was a spokesman.
We noticed this old box truck likely used to tow the late model to area short tracks.
Mark Petty made nine starts from 2000-2001 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (now sponsored by Camping World). Parked close to the back building under a roof was his Dodge Ram from the 2000 Dover race.
A couple of clues helped me hone in on the specific race for the truck. One, the NASCAR 2000 decla by the A-post. Two, Sambo's Tavern is the place we ate dinner last fall near Dover where we met King Richard. Of Mark's starts, only one was at Dover in September 2000.
At the edge of the paved lot sat the remains of Ritchie Petty's #53 Ford. As best we can tell, this is the car involved in the multi-car, turn one wreck during the 1993 DieHard 500 - one at which Philly and I attended.
Here is a better view where Ritchie's car can clearly be seen along with Jimmy Horton as he leaves the yard and Stanley Smith who took an impact angle similar to Dale Earnhardt's crash at Daytona in 2001. Safety crews arrived almost too late to Smith. Suffering a tremendous blood loss in the crash, he nearly became a fatality at the track. Fortunately, the safety crew was able to reach him, stabilize him, and get him to the hospital for surgery and recovery.
An odd-colored Dodge Magnum from the late 70s.
The King drove a Dodge Magnum for about two-thirds of the 1978 season. He finished third driving the Magnum in the first Cup race I saw at Nashville. Taken as a whole, however, the Dodge simply wasn't consistently competitive. Petty switched to Chevrolet as the season wound down and stayed with General Motors until 2000.
The boxy Magnum figured prominently in the early phase of Kyle Petty's career. Kyle won the 1979 ARCA 200 at Daytona in his very first race start driving a hand-me-down, discarded Magnum from Richard.
The team prepared another Magnum later that season as a Winston Cup car, and Kyle drove it to a ninth place finish in his first career Cup start in the 1979 Talladega 500.
Some Plymouth by Petty sheet metal.
We then went back inside the shop to meet up with 200WINZ and his son who had just arrived. The four of us explored a storage building where several additional treasurers awaited us. Among the things we found were:
The NASCAR street sweeper built from a Kyle Petty Dodge Charger by Jesse James during the first season of his show Monster Garage. If you didn't see the episode back in early 2000s, here is an article about the build and a few photos from it.
In the corner, we stumbled across an interesting but puzzling pile of body panels. Piled up were a grill, front and rear quarter panels, roof, and rear deck from a 1974 #28 Dodge Charger.
I began to rack my brain thinking of any Cup team from the 70s that may have raced a #28 Dodge. I recalled Hoss Ellington fielding a #28 Chevy for drivers such as A.J. Foyt and Donnie Allison - but that was it.
In discussing the car with 200WINZ, he had a vague memory of reading something on the web about the car. With a few Google searches, we honed in our answer.
One of the early - and coolest - projects by Petty's Garage was the restoration of the Petty Enterprises - built 1970 Plymouth Superbird driven by Pete Hamilton to victory in the 1970 Daytona 500. I knew about the PG project, but I didn't realize the old car had been re-skinned as a 1974 Dodge Charger, repainted and raced as a #28 late model along the west coasts. The body panels we spotted were apparently the discards after the #40 'Bird was re-skinned to its original Plymouth look.
Our final find had all sorts of relevance. Stored inside the original, single-car, 'reaper shed' built by Lee Petty as he began his racing career was a 1969 blue Ford station wagon.
The wagon was originally driven by Lynda Petty, Richard's wife. Richard later sold the station wagon to someone in Randleman area. Amazingly, the man held onto the car over the years, and Richard recently re-purchased it. Presumably, the car will be restored back to its original factory look.
Fans of the Disney/Pixar movie Cars may recall the character of Mrs. The King (voiced by Lynda) was ... a blue station wagon.
In addition, 200WINZ had his photo taken as a kid by the same station wagon the first time he met The King in 1969.
Roger Penske announced earlier this year his team will switch to Ford beginning in 2013. Since then, questions have been asked, and rumors began to fly. Who would become the new Dodge team(s)? Who will build the engines. Will Front Row Motorsports jump? What about Ganassi? And as many Petty faithful have suggested "I hear Petty's teams will make the switch."
So who knows - what was once old may become new again.
