April 28 - This day in Petty history

1963 - Richard Petty wins his 19th career race by leading 130 of the 257 laps of the rain-shortened Gwyn Staley 400. Petty Enterprises teammate Jim Paschal finishes fourth in a second #41 Petty Plymouth.

The race started with all-Ford front row - Fred Lorenzen in the Holman Moody Ford with the quickest qualifying time and Tiny Lund beside him in the Wood Brothers Ford. Tiny continued making several starts for the Wood Brothers throughout the early part of the schedule as the team's regular driver, Marvin Panch, continued to recover from injuries and burns suffered in a crash at Daytona in February.

Lorenzen and Lund led a handful of laps, and chunky Junior Johnson led a sizable chunk of the first 100 laps of the race. But on lap 128, the blue 43 Plymouth went to the point and led the next 130 laps until rain fell to end the race.

Petty successfully defended his win in the 1962 Staley 400, and his victory was his third in a row after also taking the fall 1962 race.

Photo and article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

April 23 - This day in Petty history - part 3

1972 - Starting third, Richard Petty wins the Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway to notch his 143rd career win.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Unlike many of Richard's victories where he ran off and hid from the rest of the field, he paced himself a bit more to get this win. Though he did lead 84 laps, most of the race was dominated by the two front row starting Bobbys: Bobby Isaac and Bobby Allison.

In his book Forty Years of Stock Car Racing: Volume 4, Greg Fielden writes:

Petty edged past Bobby Isaac with 25 laps to go and went on to beat runner-up Bobby Allison by 2 seconds. Petty said he was comfortable running most of the race behind the foot-stomping Allison-Isaac duel. "That was a real wing-doolie of a battle." declared Petty afterwards. "Those cats were really racing - for all 400 laps. I had a ring-side seat for about 200 of 'em. I wanted to stay behind them because I figured they were likely to crash. On the last pit stop, we put on gumballs (soft-compound tires) and that probably made the difference.

TMC

April 21 - This day in Petty history - part 2

1974 - Starting fourth, Richard Petty leads 336 laps and wins the Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway to capture his 157th career victory.

Rival Bobby Allison finished second two laps behind The King, and Cale Yarborough - who went on a tear with 3 consecutive championships in 76-77-78 - finished third.

Although the race was billed as the Gwyn Staley 400, NASCAR had agreed to cut its races in 1974 by 10 percent to acknowledge the nation's energy crisis. As a result, laps 1-40 were neither run nor scored with a lap leader; however, they were logged as 'laps completed' in the finishing order. Petty led 336 of the 360 laps actually raced, but he is credited with having completed 400 laps.

Source: Save The Speedway

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

April 20 - This day in Petty history

1980 - Starting seventh, Richard Petty leads 327 of 400 laps and wins the Northwestern Bank 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

The King won his 191st race with a 1-lap victory over second place Harry Gant. Kyle Petty somehow managed to finish eighth despite three spins during the race. With all due respect to Kyle, however, he was making only his first start at North Wilkesboro, his third start of the season, and his eighth career Winston Cup career start.

Joe Millikan finished 10th. Before moving to Winston Cup as a rookie in 1979, he worked for Petty Enterprises and won a few late model sportsman and ARCA races for PE in the 1970s. He was hired by L.G. DeWitt to run for rookie of the year in 1979, and Millikan finished second to Dale Earnhardt - who from what I've read ended up having a decent career of his own. (YES! I had tongue-in-cheek as I typed that.)

After the Wilkesboro race, DeWitt announced it was over. He shut his team down, and the one-time Petty protege Millikan was out of a ride. Millikan had a handful of rides over the next couple of seasons, but he never returned to a consistent, competitive ride. DeWitt's departure was sad too as he once owned the Rockingham and Atlanta tracks and fielded cars for Benny Parsons that yielded the 1973 Winston Cup championship and a Daytona 500 victory in 1975.

The following photo from The TMC Archives includes Richard's daughter, Rebecca. Today, Rebecca runs the Petty Family Foundation and is married to Brian Moffitt - now CEO of Richard Petty Motorsports.

Interestingly, TMC was photographed for the high school annual wearing the same t-shirt as Rebecca wore at Wilkesboro.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

The King's 1980 Wilkesboro trophy was one I spotted during my visit to the Petty Museum in 2011.

TMC

April 18 - This day in Petty history - part 2

1971 - Starting from the inside of the second row, Richard Petty leads almost half the laps and comfortably wins his 126th career race in the Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The King also goes back-to-back as he successfully defends his win in the 1970 spring Wilkesboro race.

The race was run without a single caution - a remarkable feat for the tough ol' .625 flat short-track. Petty led 186 laps - including the final 126 - and finished a full lap ahead of second-place finisher David Pearson and four laps ahead of third-place finisher Dick Brooks who was driving Mario Rossi's #22 Dodge.

Pole-sitter Bobby Isaac led the first half of the race. He may well have dominated until the end except for a piece of metal hitting and breaking his windshield. After losing 2 laps to repair it, he regained his form but then lost an engine about 50 laps from the finish.

Today's fans are well familiar with NASCAR's use of restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega. Others may even know the use of them began most recently after Bobby Allison's wreck at Talladega in 1987. Still others may know NASCAR used them on the superspeedways in the early 70s. But how many folks knew NASCAR used them in 1971 on short-tracks such as Wilkesboro. Read on...

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

April 18 - This day in Petty history - part 1

1970 - Richard Petty starts deep in the field, heads to the point by lap 51, leads the remaining 349 of 400 laps, and easily wins his 104th career race by taking the Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Greg Fielden notes in Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Volume 3:

The 400-lap event was run on Saturday afternoon to accommodate live television coverage on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Petty left little doubt once the TV cameras were plugged into New York. He led every lap that was shown on TV, and most of the time he was better than a lap up on the field. ABC executives were squirming in their seats by the lack of a good show. "All the TV folks had to do to was hold up a board down there and tell me how much they would pay for a show," said Richard. "I would have given them a show if the price had been right. But my understanding was I would get paid more for winning the race than putting on a show." ~ p. 283

Courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

Full coverage of the race as it aired on ABC's Wide World of Sports.


TMC

April 15 - This day in Petty history - part 1

1962 - Leading in two sizable segments totaling about 140 laps, Richard Petty races to his sixth career win in the Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro.

For newer NASCAR fans unfamiliar with the still-standing yet quiet North Wilkesboro Speedway, it was a .625 mile paved track. The race length was 400 laps - or as the headline below reflects, 250 miles.

There is an old saying of I'd rather be lucky than good. On that day at Wilkesboro, Petty may well have benefited from the luck side of that adage. The Pontiac contingent of Junior Johnson, Fireball Roberts, and Joe Weatherly were the ones expected to battle for the win. (Interestingly, Little Joe was in a Bud Moore Pontiac vs. a Ford as was generally fielded by Bud during most of his career.) But after Roberts crunched Johnson's fender attempting a pass and after Roberts punted Weatherly out of the way, all three Pony-acks (as the King pronounces it) faded from contention. From there, Petty drove his Plymouth past Ned Jarrett and finished 4 car lengths ahead of second place Fred Lorenzen.

The scrap between the three marquis Pontiac drivers wasn't the biggest drama of the day. According to Greg Fielden in his book Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Volume 2:

An unusual emergency spiced the action. The fuel trucks ran dry of racing gasoline just after the half-way point of the race. Some members of pit crews were seen scurrying around the infield with buckets and hoses in hand, siphoning gas from passenger cars. A caution flag was thrown on lap 250 so that a fuel truck could go get more gas. However, it never made it back to the track. Track officials said the large number of cars running at the finish (23 of 35 starts) was responsible for the dwindling supply of gas. ~ pp. 153-154

The future King in victory lane with young son, Kyle...

#78735717 / gettyimages.com

A couple of interesting observations about other drivers in the race. Finishing 33rd in the 35-car field was David Pearson driving a #44 Pontiac for car owner Julian Petty. Julian was Lee's brother and Richard's uncle.

Herb Thomas made a noble but uneventful start. Thomas was a frequent winner and 2-time NASCAR Grand National champion in the early 1950s. His career effectively ended after suffering a critical injury in 1956. He returned for 2 starts in 1957 but then didn't make another start until this race in 1962. The 1962 Gwyn Staley 400 turned out to be his final career start.

Thomas had a lot of success driving a Hudson Hornet. Disney and Pixar paid a bit of a tribute to Thomas and the Hudson Hornet in the movie Cars where Paul Newman voiced the character of Doc Hudson.

View image | gettyimages.com

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal via Google News Archive

TMC
Edited April 14 2015

April 8 - This day in Petty history - part 2

1973 - Starting second, Richard Petty leads 387 of 400 laps, and easily banked his 151st career victory by winning the 1973 Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro by 4 laps over second-place finisher Benny Parsons.

The race seemed simply too easy for Petty - essentially a Sunday afternoon drive-around. Even more remarkable is the race had only one caution. At Wilkesboro. A flat, half-mile, bullring.

As a personality not generally known for a lot of quick, witty quips, Richard spun a good one about the ease of his day in the article below:

It's nice to win 'em that easy. Still I sort of missed the eyeball to eyeball racing that usually goes on here. It's more fun that way.

Source: savethespeedway.net

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

April 6 - This day in Petty history - part 2

1975 - Starting second, Richard Petty leads 311 of 400 laps, wins the Gwyn Staley 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway for his 168th career victory.

Petty was so dominant that he won by three laps over second-place Cale Yarborough and six laps over third-place Buddy Baker. Darrell Waltrip won the pole and finished 7th in his own #17, in-law-sponsored Chevrolet. Ol' DW was building a little momentum, and he won his first career Winston Cup race at Nashville Speedway about a month later.

Source: SaveTheSpeedway.net

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

April 5 - This day in Petty history

1981 - Richard Petty endures a one-hour pre-race rain delay, hangs around much of the day, adapts to a slick track, and leads the final 62 laps to win the Northwestern Bank 400 at North Wilkesboro.

Petty's victory was a repeat win following his 1980 win, his tenth Wilkesboro spring win, and his 15th time overall win at Wilkesboro. It was his 194th career victory and his final short track win.

The win was also his first victory following the departure of Dale Inman, Petty's long-time crew chief and cousin. Interestingly, Inman's former team and his new one - Osterlund Racing with Dale Earnhardt - were pitted next to one another.

Courtesy of Dennis Beck of RacersReunion.com

Rather than hire a new crew chief, the role was filled by long-time Petty Enterprises employees, Steve Hmiel and Wade Thornbug. For the last two decades, Hmiel worked as a crew chief and competition director for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s teams (later to become Earnhardt Ganassi Racing or Chip-N-Dale as I called it).

Prior to his stint with the DEI/EGR teams, Hmiel worked for Roush Racing in the 1990s. For many years, he was the crew chief for a driver who made his Winston Cup debut in this 1981 Wilkesboro race - Mark Martin. He qualified a respectable fifth, but he lost a rear-end and finished 27th in the 30-car field.

Credit to and courtesy of Ed Sanservino of RacersReunion.com

Kyle Petty made his second Wilkesboro start in this race. A year earlier, he had a pretty good day with an eighth place finish in the larger wheelbase Chevy Caprice. In 1981 with the shorter, 110-inch wheelbase Buick, well ... KP's day didn't go quite as well. He spun out not once - not twice - but three times a lady (apologies to Lionel Richie), crashed, and finished 22nd.

After one of his spins, Kyle drove the short distance from turn 1 to pit road from the opposite direction and stopped in his father's pit box. Note Inman in Earnhardt's pit with his arms crossed and most likely thinking "well, I thought I'd seen it all."

In the middle stages of the race, King and long-time rival Bobby Allison battled side by side, lap after lap. Richard was in his Buick Regal, and Allison raced his Ranier Racing Tuf-Lon Pontiac LeMans - the same model he raced in the Daytona 500 a month earlier.

And just like at Daytona, the 43 got the best of Allison for the win!

From 1970 through 1981, Petty had eight wins and remarkably finished no worse than second in Wilkesboro's spring race.

Article and photos courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC
Edited March 31, 2015

October 1 - This day in Petty history - part 2

1972 - Richard Petty scores his 148th career Grand National win in the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Much is made in today's historical reporting about the 'rivalry' between The King Richard Petty and the Silver Fox David Pearson. However, the true rivalry beginning in the late 1960s and continuing through the early 1970s was between the factory-supported Petty and the upstart, independent Bobby Allison.

Program Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Richard had established himself as The King by the late 60s. Bobby had established himself as an exceptionally talented 'car guy', a solid on-track racer, and a driver who routinely whined about conspiracies against him when he didn't win. Just as today's drivers such as Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski have said take THAT to the established drivers, Allison did the same in his era.

After a series of minor run-ins prior to 1972, Allison and Petty took it to a different level at Wilkesboro. They beat the absolute snot out of each other lap after lap.

With two laps to go, one car carried the other into the turn 1 guard rail. Somehow, both cars took off again with Allison leading. On the last lap, Richard muscled by Allison again and took the win...

...and Allison crossed the start-finish line with smoke billowing everywhere.

Source: www.racintoday.com/archives/26965

After Richard took the checkers and went to victory lane (the track's frontstretch I think), an Allison fan who disagreed with how things went down decided he'd settle up with Richard. One problem: the one thing Maurice Petty may have done better than build engines for the 43 was fight - especially to defend his brother. The guy got clocked upside the head with Richard's helmet and DING DING DING that was the end of that. (Had Maurice not been successful with his L.L. Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out approach, I wonder if that Hank Williams Jr. look-alike could have had Richard's back.)

Headline, article and victory photo courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC
Edited August 25, 2014