May 13 - This day in Petty history

1967 - Starting alongside pole-winner David Pearson, Richard Petty leads 266 of 291 laps and wins the Rebel 400 at Darlington by a full lap over Pearson.

Richard's 55th career win set a new mark for excellence in NASCAR Grand National. His victory broke a tie he had with his father for most career Grand National wins. As a result, Richard became (and remains) NASCAR's winningest Grand National/Cup driver.

For the start of the race, pole winner David Pearson took the outside lane with second-place qualifier Petty on the inside. The Silver Fox was making his first start with the Holman & Moody, factory-supported Ford team.

#109185589 / gettyimages.com

Photo courtesy of Ray Lamm

At the drop of the green, Chattanooga TN's Friday Hassler thought he had opening on the outside along the wall. Except he didn't - he got clipped and then went two wheeling like a Joie Chitwood thrill show. Before the back part of the field could even make it to the starter's stand, several wound up in a wrecked heap including Hassler, Jabe Thomas (25), Roy Mayne (46), and NASCAR HOFer Buck Baker.

All that action was behind the leaders. Petty spent time jostling with the leaders in the first third of the race before taking over for good. He went to the point for good on lap 101 and led the final 191 laps to take the checkers.

#103233432 / gettyimages.com

When I visited the Richard Petty Museum in 2011, the 1967 Rebel 400 trophy was one spotted on display.

One thing I found interesting about the trophy is the Marlboro sponsorship. Just four years later, R.J. Reynolds' Winston cigs would become the title sponsor of the series, and competing cigarette brands would no longer sponsor tracks, races or drivers.

Look closely at the following picture, and you'll spot the trophy on the hood of the car.

Following Richard's milestone win to break the tie with his father, Chrysler Corporation announced it would dedicate a permanent marker at the speedway in Richard's honor. The article below indicated the marker would be installed at the start-finish line.

#108825675 / gettyimages.com

I'm not sure if the plaque was ever installed at the start-finish line. But I do know the track still has it. The Darlington Raceway Stock Car Museum (formerly known as the Joe Weatherly Stock Car Museum - and it still should be!) still has the plaque on display, and a reader kindly shared a couple of photos of it with me.

Credit to and courtesy of Travis Atkison

Articles courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC
Edited May 12, 2014

May 12 - This day in Petty history

1974 - Starting second on May 11th, Richard Petty leads the final 106 laps and wins his 158th career race in the Music City 420 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway...on May 12th.

The race began on Saturday, May 11, and pole sitter Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison swapped the lead for about the first 100 laps. Evening rains then began to fall. Because at least half the laps hadn't been run, the race wasn't declared officially complete. As a result, the rest of the race was postponed to Sunday, and the King led about one-third of the remaining laps.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Russ Thompson (known as Calhoun98 in some web circles) knows just about everything that can be known about racing at Nashville. He has been kind enough to share some photos, magazine/program covers, front pages of National Speed Sport News, and several answers to my questions during this 200 Wins blog series. Russ posted the following ten-minute YouTube video from practice, the race, and the finish of the 1974 Nashville race (no audio).

The King stalks pole-winner and dominant lap-leader Yarborough...

After Cale lost an engine and fell out of the race, Richard went to the front and stayed there. Winner!

In victory lane, the King was swamped by John Jay Hooker and (presumably) his family. At the time, Hooker was the head of STP Corporation. He has also been a perennial candidate for various Tennessee political offices - and a perennial loser in those contests as well.

#85768404 / gettyimages.com

Courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC
Edited: May 10, 2014

May 10 - This day in Petty history - part 2

1980 - Starting sixth, Richard Petty leads 96 laps - including the final 45 - and beats Benny Parsons by one car length to win his 192nd career race in the Music City 420 at Nashville International Raceway at Nashville's fairgrounds in Tennessee.

The victory was the King's ninth and final one at Nashville's banked oval dating back to his first win there in 1964. (Jim Paschal banked two additional wins for Petty Enterprises in 1962-1963, and he nabbed a third Nashville win in 1961 for car owner Julian "J.H." Petty - Lee's brother and Richard's uncle.)

Cale Yarborough, who feasted on the track through much of the mid to late 1970s, won the pole and led about two-thirds of the race. A local hotshoe youngster who had been racing late models at Nashville for the second half of the 70s made his Winston Cup debut in the race - Mike Alexander. Mike raced a #40 Monte Carlo fielded by D.K. Ulrich who gave many up and comers a shot in his car including Sterling Marlin, Tim Richmond, and Al Loquasto.

View image | gettyimages.com

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

The new NASCAR tire rule, rapidly turning into a controversial subject, worked perfectly for Richard Petty as he saved his tires for the end and won the Music City 420...The new rule, which imposes a two-lap penalty to any team changing one or more tires under the yellow flag, originally received support from Petty and Cale Yarborough. But after the second race run under the new cost-saving system, it would difficult to find anyone who supports the new rules. "The tire rule probably won for me tonight," admitted Petty..."I'm not sold on this rule though. It confuses me. I don't know who's runnin' where. More importantly, its confusing the fans." ~ p.299-300

The margin of victory...

TMC Archives

View image | gettyimages.com

Even though I didn't see the win in-person, the 420 trophy was one I specifically sought out when I visited the Richard Petty Museum in Randleman in 2011.

Articles from TMC Archives

I had simultaneous, polar-opposite feelings about Petty's win. On the one hand, any Petty win was a great one - especially as the King's tally grew closer to 200. On the other hand, however, I was bent because I missed the race.

My high school concert band traveled to Orlando, FL for a multi-day trip. We performed in a contest, went to Disney World (my first time there), spent the day with sand and surf at Cocoa Beach, etc. When I returned home with stories from the trip, my dad told me he and a couple of my uncles went to the speedway and saw the King win. They were nice enough to buy a program for me (scanned above). Missing the win, however, gnawed at me for a long time. At the time, maturity and understanding the 'big picture' weren't my key strengths - and I'm not sure they are even today!

TMC
Edited May 10, 2014

May 10 - This day in Petty history - part 1

1966 - Starting from the pole position, Richard Petty leads 159 of 200 laps and wins the Speedy Morelock 200 at Middle Georgia Raceway to notch his 45th career NASCAR Grand National victory.

Tiger Tom Pistone finished second - the only other car on the lead lap with Petty. Now in his 80s, Tiger Tom is still quite active today with a racing parts business and his grandson's racing efforts. With assistance from daughter Chrissy, he is plugged into social media outlets such as Twitter and RacersReunion.com and maintains a personal and parts webpage (including several good photos). A solid interview with Tom was published earlier this year at OneDirt.com - a must read for those who may not be familiar with his background. (One teaser from it is Tom asserts he was the driver originally chosen by Andy Granatelli to be sponsored by STP.)

A bit of history and trivia about Middle Georgia Raceway were included in TMC's November 8, 2011 post about Petty's 1970 win there. Speedy Morelock, for whom the race was named, was a race driver from Macon. He was instrumental in overseeing the development of Middle Georgia Raceway. Petty's win was in the inaugural Grand National race at the track. Eight more GN races would be run at Middle Georgia before NASCAR's top series left the track after the 1971 season.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

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

TMC

May 2 - This day in Petty history

1963 - Richard Petty collects his twentieth career race by winning the Sandlapper 200 from the pole at Columbia Speedway in South Carolina.

Petty won by three car lengths over second place Buck Baker in the 200-lap, 100-mile event. Richard won in car number 41. Brother Maurice finished 20th in the 24-car field driving a second Petty Enterprises number 43 Plymouth.

In his book Silent Speedways of the Carolinas, author Perry Allen Wood writes:

They lined up with Richard on the pole and Buck barely missing quick time in second... Honestly, it was a weak field as some drivers on the way up did not have good rides and those on the way down did not either. A lot of never-will-bes filled in the grid. When the green waved, it was Richard, Buck, and Ned [Jarrett] distancing themselves from the pack. Cautions marred the event as Bobby Issac crashed out for 21st, Maurice Petty did the same for 20th, and [Joe] Weatherly in a borrowed ride followed suit for 19th... At the front, Petty led, but Jarrett and Baker would not go away. The cautions ended after 13, and it was a sprint to the finish with Richard Petty finally wining in Columbia. But he did it with Buck Baker beating away at his back bumper. ~ p. 59

As a side note, Joe Weatherly bounced back from this wreck to have a successful season. He claimed his second consecutive championship in 1963 racing for nine different car owners.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC

May 1 - This day in Petty history

1983 - Starting 15th, Richard Petty leads 52 laps - including the final 24 - and beats Benny Parsons to the line by two car lengths to capture his 197th career race in the Winston 500 at Talladega.

The win was Richard's next to last victory driving for Petty Enterprises. After winning once more at Charlotte in the fall, he left Petty Enterprises after the '83 season to drive for Curb Motorsports. He won twice - 199 and 200 - for Curb in 1984.

Kyle Petty finished 30th in his #7 Petty Enterprises, green-white-orange 7-Eleven Pontiac after being caught up in The Big One.

Darrell Waltrip raced a one-time only white Pepsi paint scheme. His yellow Pepsi Challenger Chevy scheme was unique enough in its own right. But the white one was almost comically bad.

Courtesy of Ray Lamm

A couple of other notable trivia items about this race:

• Morgan-McClure Racing made its debut in this race with Tennessee's Connie Saylor behind the wheel. The team had a myriad of drivers in its early years but really came of age in the 1990s with drivers such as Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin.
• Perennial independent driver Jimmy Means notched his career best finish - 7th - in this race.

 Around lap 70, Waltrip cut a tire and got into Phil Parsons' #66 Skoal Pontiac just a little bit. But it was enough to get Parsons really messed up and Talladega's typical Big One began. Several cars including Kyle's #7 Pontiac were eliminated from the race. Though he barrel-rolled about a dozen times and was taken to the hospital, Parsons was not injured critically - nor did the other drivers get hurt. (Don't bang your computer or speakers. The following video clip does not have audio.)


Today, the wrecked hulk of Parsons' Pontiac sits in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame adjacent to Talladega Superspeedway.

Credit to & courtesy of Brian Cleary / bcpix.com

'Bumpertag', a fellow member at RacersReunion.com remembers:

I've been a Richard Petty fan since 1972 and started going to races in 1973. When I helped on the crew of James Hylton in 1983, I saw Richard win at Talladega. This was an amazing race from the pits. I watched Petty go to the outside in the tri-oval many times that day and pass cars running side by side all day. He would go 3-wide. When they hit the short chute to turn 1, he would be in the fastest line and make the pass. When he won, I stood in the middle of pit road so I could see him approach and turn into Victory Lane. That was the last race I saw Petty win, but it was amazing.

The finish! Richard takes the victory with Phil Parsons' older brother Benny in hot pursuit. Lake Speed finished third.

Source: Stock Car Racing magazine

Courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

The whole team got to celebrate in victory lane.
The race was featured in Stock Car Racing magazine.

NSSN cover courtesy of Russ Thompson

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC
Edited: April 30, 2014