June 16 - This day in Petty history

1974 - Richard Petty qualifies fourth, leads 80 of 180 laps, takes the yellow as the leader with 7 laps to go, and cruises the remaining laps to win the Motor State 400 at Michigan to earn his 159th career Winston Cup victory.

Throughout the first half of the 1974 racing season, NASCAR chose to cut its races by 10 percent as an acknowledgment of the nation's energy crisis and rise of OPEC. As a result, the Michigan race was 180 laps / 360 miles vs. 200 laps / 400 miles.

Ticket stub scan courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

Three of the top 5 finishers were certainly unique. Petty won the race, and David Pearson finished 3rd. The remaining drivers had career days:

• Canadian and Winston Cup rookie driver Earl Ross finished second. It was a career-best finish at the time for Ross; however, he later one-up'd himself. At Martinsville that fall, he became the rare rookie and the only Canadian to win a Cup race. 
• Career open-wheeler Gary Bettenhausen finished 4th in Roger Penske's AMC Matador - the top finish of his 8-race Cup career.
• Country singer and part-time racer Marty Robbins scored a career best 5th in his recognizable purple-and-yellow Dodge.

 Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

#85754435 / gettyimages.com

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

June 14 - This day in Petty history - part 2

Happy Flag Day!

May Old Glory be unfurled proudly

and viewed with honor and respect.

1970 - Starting second alongside Bobby Allison, Richard Petty goes on to dominate the Falstaff 400 at Riverside International Raceway. Petty leads 149 of 153 laps in his Plymouth Superbird on the southern California road course, and he banks his 106th career NASCAR Grand National victory. The King's win also gave Chrysler Corporation its first win at Riverside - a track that ran its first Grand National race in 1958.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

 A few race highlights...

 

When I visited the Richard Petty Museum in 2011, this trophy Richard won for the Falstaff 400 was one of the more unique ones I saw.

However, as seen in the video clip that follows, the King was awarded an additional, larger trophy for his win (fast forward to race highlights at 2:13 and trophy at 3:07).


Here is a better picture of the larger trophy - though I was unable to locate it in either of my visits to the Petty Museum.

Credit: Crabber1967 on Photobucket

If you are a more contemporary NASCAR fan, you may have heard the phrase "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." The auto manufacturers of that era certainly believed that slogan - and invested ad dollars towards it. Here is an ad I found on ebay that tried to encourage consumers to latch onto the King's Riverside win and nudge them towards a Plymouth purchase.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

And who amongst us doesn't like those winged MoPars of 69-70? Well, here is some bonus footage for you.

TMC

June 14 - This day in Petty history - part 1

HAPPY FLAG DAY

1964 - Starting second alongside career-rival David Pearson, Richard Petty leads 127 of 200 laps and wins the Music City 200 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

The win was Petty's first at Nashville and his 32nd career victory overall. In his book Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Volume 2, Greg Fielden wrote:

Petty and Pearson started on the front row and had the race virtually to themselves throughout the 200 lapper on the half-mile paved track. The event came down to a battle of pit crews. Pearson was leading when he whipped down pit road on lap 138. His Cotton Owens pit crew put in eight gallons of fuel, and the Spartanburg Dodge drive was back on the track after 26 seconds. Petty pitted on lap 142, and his Petty Engineering crew added 10 gallons in just 19 seconds. ~ pp. 265-266

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

2012 Charlotte race trip: Cheese Dogs and History

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)

TMC

June 12 - This day in Petty history - part 2

1977 - Continuing his good fortunes from a win in the World 600 two weeks earlier, Richard Petty wins the pole, leads 71 of 95 laps and wins the NAPA 400 at Riverside International Raceway for his 184th career victory.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Petty often said he didn't consider himself a good qualifier. Yet, his top run at Riverside was his 120th of 123 career pole runs. The King hustled his Dodge Charger around the track quicker than anyone in a car that hadn't been raced since the 1977 season opener at Riverside. Having a dedicated road course car was a true rarity in those days. Teams often raced their Riverside car at other tracks including Nashville and Dover.

Source: Gadsden Times via Google News Archive

At the drop of the green flag, Darrell Waltrip got the jump on the 43 and led the first 20 laps.

Photo courtesy of Rickysuave44 on Photobucket
(Visit his album for neat pics of other Cup drivers from the race)

The STP Dodge stayed right with Waltrip, however, and the two swapped the lead a few times over the next 12 laps along with Cale Yarborough and David Pearson. From there though, the King took over and settled into a comfortable lead. He paced the field around the serpentine track for the final 63 laps to clinch what seemed to be an easy victory.

Credit: Rickysuave44

The King leading The Silver Fox, David Pearson, through turn 8.

Petty pulling Darrell Waltrip through turn 6. After leading the first 20 laps, Waltrip eventually developed transmission problems in his DiGard Gatorade Monte Carlo and faded to 26th.

When the checkers fell, the 43 again took its rightful place in victory lane.

And Richard's reward: squeezing the girls for the 184th time...

Credit: Petersen Automotive Museum

and Riverside International Automotive Museum

Pearson's second place finish to King's win was the 63rd and final time the two rivals finished 1-2 in a GN / Cup race dating back to 1963. Although Pearson edged Petty in wins in those 1-2 finishes 33 to 30, the King did get the upper hand the final three times in 1977 at Atlanta, Charlotte and Riverside.

The winner's trophy as seen on display by TMC at the Richard Petty Museum in Randleman, NC in 2012:

As mentioned in a couple of recent posts about Petty's wins at Charlotte in 1975 and 1977, the September 1977 issue of Stock Car Racing magazine included three in-depth features on the King. Included with the three was a feature on his win in the June 1977 Riverside road courses.

Here is a PDF scan of the SCR article.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

Edited June 11, 2014

June 12 - This day in Petty history - part 1

1966 - Richard Petty wins the pole, leads 176 of 300 laps, and wins the Fireball 300 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in North Carolina for his 46th career victory.

In a remarkable comeback, Petty had a defining race as The King by coming back from THREE laps down with only TEN laps to go and passing career rival David Pearson on the last lap. Pearson hit the pits late for fuel and then cut a tire after completing his stop. As he slowly limped on three good tires to finish the race, Petty raced hard, passed Pearson repeatedly and eventually nabbed the win.

East Tennessee driver Paul Lewis - who drove a Petty Enterprises Plymouth at Rockingham later in the 1966 season - finished third, 2 laps behind Petty and Pearson.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

Another Pocono improvement needed

Stock cars have been a fixture on Pocono's unique triangular surface since 1971 when USAC's stock car series debuted there. NASCAR rolled into town in 1974, and King Richard won the inaugural Purolator 500.

Historically, the perception of many was that Pocono was often reluctant to change its ways. A few examples:

• The track hosted only one NASCAR race from 1974 until 1981. Beginning in 1982, a second event was added to the schedule. I don't put all that on Pocono. Built as a track for Indy cars, NASCAR was a bit of a side venture until the open wheelers fractured between USAC and CART.
• Many years of financial and operating struggles caused Pocono to lag behind other venues in fan amenities, camping spaces, media accommodations, and modernized team garage bays. From the late 1990s through the 2000s, the track finally began making improvements to these areas.
• Fencing was not installed along the backstretch until Kasey Kahne nearly went over the wall a couple of seasons ago.

• The track was a laggard in installing SAFER barriers along inside walls. It was forced to do so when Elliott Sadler suffered a vicious head-on crash a couple of years ago into an earthen berm fronted by an Armco barrier. Fortunately, Sadler wasn't seriously injured despite the absence of 'soft walls'.
• NASCAR races have always been 500 miles at Pocono - despite the long hours required, boring racing, and declining fan interest and TV ratings for the 500 milers. Only in 2012 have the races been reduced to 400 miles.

Under the direction of Pocono's new president, Brandon Igdalsky, the track now seems re-focused, open to making changes and improvements where necessary, and committed to staying relevant in the near and long term.

One aspect of Pocono that is not unique and still needs improving, however, is the winner's trophy. Joey Logano won Sunday's Pocono 400 (presented by "hashtag NASCAR" as beaten into us without mercy by Adam Alexander on TNT) but was awarded with what may well be the most boring trophy of all the Cup races.

Source: Bleacher Report

 Credit: Streeter Lecka / Getty Images

Pocono does seem interested in making meaningful changes and making them more rapidly than in the past. Perhaps their trophies will be updated too. If or when they do, I think they should revisit their history and incorporate a bit of old school.

When the track opened in the early 1970s, Schaefer beer was a big supporter / advertiser for the track's 500 mile Indy, open-wheel races. I realize I'm biased, but I think Schaefer should return and be featured prominently on the trophy and in victory lane.

I took the liberty of helping Brandon with a re-design of the trophy. And how about this for a tagline:

Pocono: The one race to win when you're winning more than one.

TMC