October 18, 1959 - Lee Petty Wallops Wilkesboro

October 18, 1959: Starting second in his #42 Plymouth, Lee Petty wins the Wilkes 160, a 100-mile race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. Son Richard finishes third in only his second time at the track.

Lee swept both Wilkesboro races in 1959. Richard also developed a knack for the track. His third place finish in only his second trip there was a harbinger of good things to come. He eventually racked up 15 wins and 33 Top 5s in 66 starts over his career.

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

...26 stockers went to the post led by [Glen] Wood's '58 Ford and [Lee] Petty's '59 Plymouth. Bob Welborn spiced up time trials by tumbling down the front stretch in his blue '59 Impala 49. In the race, the other two dozen did not much matter as Papa Lee led all 160 laps, winning handily over [Rex] White and son Richard, both also doing all 100 miles. For the Old Man, it was his 48th career victory, tying him for the all-time lead with Herb Thomas, who won his last on June 3, 1956... Thee minor cautions flew in front of less than 6,000 fans. ~ p. 257

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal via Google News Archive

Richard Petty ended his career with 200 GN / Cup victories. He became NASCAR's winningest driver in 1967 when he won his 55th career race, and he kept on a'winning until #200. His 55th win in the Rebel 400 at Darlington surpassed the previous record of 54 wins held by his father. Lee himself tied the record for most career victories by winning at Wilkesboro. Going into the race, Herb Thomas had earned 48 wins. Lee's win tied Thomas' mark. Lee went on to set a new record by winning 6 more times through 1960. His record stood 7+ years before his son initially broke it and eventually shattered it.

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October 17, 1954 - Lee Petty Masters Martinsville

October 17, 1954: Starting from the pole in his #42 Chrysler, Lee Petty wins at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

The race was scheduled for 200 laps and 100 miles; however, officials displayed the checkered flag at 165 laps because of darkness.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

The record books indicate Petty won the pole; however, the rest of the starting line-up is unknown. Papa Lee dominated the shortened race by leading 157 of the 165 laps. The remaining 8 laps were led by ageless Hershel McGriff who finished second. McGriff later ran a handful of races in the early 70s for Petty Enterprises.

The victory was also meaningful for Petty because it clinched him his first of three NASCAR Grand National series championships.

Greg Fielden recapped the race in his book Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Vol. 1:

Lee Petty locked up his first Grand National driving title with a victory in the scheduled 100-miler at Martinsville Speedway.

Hershel McGriff finished in second place, in the the same lap with Petty and in a position to challenge for his fourth win of the year. Third place went to Buck Baker, Dick Rathman took fourth and Jim Reed was fifth with relief help from Herb Thomas.

Three caution flags broke the action. The most serious altercation occurred in the 34th lap when Dink Widenhouse and Glen Wood flipped their cars simultaneously in the third turn.

44 cars started the event which produced some tight traffic jams from start to finish. Twenty-six cars finished the race. ~ p. 163

With only three cautions and Martinsville's having a few years of races under its belt to estimate average race times, its unclear why NASCAR and track management couldn't run the full race. Based on the race article above, the race was slated to begin at 2:30 PM. Perhaps race day rain delayed the start - or ominous rain clouds and accompanying darkness moved in during the afternoon.

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October 15: Some NASCAR firsts and lasts

In the month of October, we're Halfway to Halloween. But until I started studying some of NASCAR's history a bit closer, I didn't realize how many firsts and lasts bookended this day's races.

1950 Martinsville Speedway

NASCAR Hall of Fame member Herb Thomas leads more than half the race and claims his first career Grand National win in a 200-lap race at Martinsville.

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Also, Leon Sales finished last in the race after crashing Hubert Westmoreland's #98 Plymouth. The car was wrecked just six weeks after Johnny Mantz finished first in it in the inaugural Southern 500.

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1967 National 500 - Charlotte Motor Speedway

Buddy Baker wins his first NASCAR Grand National race by capturing Charlotte's fall race in Ray Fox's Dodge.

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Baker's long-awaited win was coupled with Richard Petty's early exit. A failed engine relegated Petty to an 18th place finish and ended the King's 1967 consecutive winning streak at 10 races. (Interestingly, the highest finishing Petty Enterprises entry was journeyman G.C. Spencer who finished 5th in a #42 Petty Plymouth in the 2nd of his 3 starts for the team.)

1989 Holly Farms 400 - North Wilkesboro

The King lasts only 124 laps, crashes, and finishes 32nd and last. Painfully, son Kyle Petty develops ignition problems, goes out the same lap, and finishes 31st - next to last.

Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt waged a classic battle in the waning laps to see who would finish first. Instead, they BOTH spun on the last lap giving first place to Geoff Bodine. This type of hardscrabble action is what's missing from today's NASCAR cookie-cutter, play-it-safe racing. (Be sure to watch and listen through the post-race interviews.)

Coincidentally, Bodine was in his last season with Hendrick Motorsports and would be replaced by Rudd in 1990. The race was also the first race for Winston Cup cars to run Goodyear radial tires.

2000 Winston 500 - Talladega Superspeedway

Dale Earnhardt pulled off what seemed like an impossible win. He came from deep in the field with just a few laps remaining to win. Though he finished first, it was his last Winston Cup victory.

Fellow Schaefer Hall of Famers Philly and Paducah joined me that day at Talladega. After many trips to the track, however, the race remains our last one there.

So as you reflect on the racing history of October 15th - and just life in general - remember the timeless and challenging guidance of Reese Bobby...


Edit 2013-10-15: Overlooked another October 15th first. Ricky Craven won his first Winston Cup race in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville on October 15, 2001. HT to @ClassicNASCAR on Twitter for tweeting about Craven's win.

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October 11, 1959 - Lee Petty Wins Weaverville

October 11, 1959: Starting fourth in his #42 Plymouth, Lee Petty motored to the front and won the 200-laps, 100-miles event at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in North Carolina. Coincidentally, the race was the 42nd event of the 1959 season.

Tommy Irwin won the pole. With the race nearing half-way, however, he lost an engine and finished 28th - one spot ahead of Bob Welborn, who made several starts in NASCAR's Grand National and Convertible series driving for for Lee Petty's brother, Julian. (He also started a handful of GN races for Petty Enterprises.) The previous race at Asheville-Weaverville was the Western Carolina 500 just a couple of months earlier in August 1959. Welborn won the race, but he finished 29th - dead last in the October one.

Lee's son, Richard, started eighth and improved to a fifth place finish. The October race was the future King's second event at the track with the previous one being August's Western Carolina 500. Not only did Richard improve during the race, but he also improved in all areas from the first race to the second. In the August race, he qualified 22nd, crashed, and finished 26th. So the October race was far and away a marked improvement.

NASCAR kept records for qualifying and the finishing order. The lap leaders, however, remain unknown - other than Lee Petty's leading the final one.

Several other future NASCAR Hall of Famers raced in the event including:

• Glen Wood - 2nd
• Ned Jarrett - 8th
• Junior Johnson - 9th
• Cotton Owens - 11th
• Buck Baker - 12th

Source: The Index-Journal of Greenwood SC

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October 5, 1958 - Lee Petty Stakes Claim to Salisbury

October 5, 1958: Lee Petty wins a 160-lap, 100-mile race on the .625-mile, dirt Salisbury Super Speedway in in Salisbury, NC. The promoter of the race way back then is still well known to contemporary race fans: O. Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc.

As an aside, one of our Schaefer Beer Hall of Famers bears a strong resemblance to Smith. Accordingly, he earned his member nickname Bruton.

But I digress.

Gober Sosebee won the pole for the Salisbury race. The rest of the starting line-up and the race's lap leaders, however, were apparently not documented. Or if they were, someone forgot to hold onto the paperwork. Lee's son, Richard, entered the race in car number...2. It was his seventh career Grand National race.

Credit: Salisbury Post

In Silent Speedways of the Carolinas, author Perry Allen Wood notes:

...Atlanta's old 'shine-runner Gober Sosebee put his black Cherokee Garage 1957 Chevy 50 on the pole... The green fell on Sosebee and 20 others around 3:30 that afternoon and almost 1 hour and 43 minutes later, Lee Petty completed the scheduled 160 circuits first in a '57 Oldsmobile with Buck Baker the only man on the same lap. It clinched the 1958 Grand National Championship for Petty over Baker, the Randleman veteran's second of three... Third was [Cotton] Owens, fourth George Dunn, and fifth [Roy] Tyner... Richard Petty made fifty fish for swimming home in 22nd place, only 23 laps behind in his father's '57 Olds #2. He had used two other numbers so far, he had not hit on 43 yet. ~ p. 132

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

NASCAR's history at Salisbury was short-lived. The track hosted only two major NASCAR-sanctioned races: a September 1958 convertible race won by Bob Welborn and the October 1958 Grand National race won by Lee Petty. Interestingly, Welborn's car was fielded by Lee's brother, Julian Petty. Richard was one of several drivers who ran in both races (though Lee and Welborn raced only in their respective events.)

The Salisbury Post published a lengthy article in September 2011 about the history of the speedway and even a short recap of Lee's win in the 1958 GN event.



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October 5, 1957 - Lee Petty Shines in Charlotte

October 5, 1957: Starting from the pole position, Lee Petty wins a 200-lap, 100-mile race at the half-mile, dirt Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte, NC.

The rest of the top five in qualifying were Speedy Thompson, Joe Weatherly (driving car #2X), Johnny Allen and Fireball Roberts.

While its unknown the leaders of each lap, Petty apparently led a large portion of the race - including taking over the for good around the halfway point of the race. As noted in the following article, Petty managed to go the full race - leading most of it - without making a pit stop.

Perry Allen Wood recapped the race in Silent Speedways of the Carolinas:

The third visit for the 1957 came on Saturday, October 5th, the day after the Russians launched Sputnik and two days before Dick Clark launched American Bandstand. Lee Petty took the pole and led most of the way in an Olds, edging Fireball Roberts' Ford... Petty won the $900 first prize in just under two hours. The next afternoon, there was a sweepstakes race in Martinsville, VA, for 250 miles. What a schedule! ~ p. 198

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal via Google News Archive

As Wood noted, the Grand National series made an overnight dash to Martinsville. Many of the same drivers competed in a 'sweepstakes race' - one that included drivers and cars from NASCAR's Grand National and Convertible series. Petty backed up his win at Charlotte on October 5th with a third place finish at Martinsville 24 hours later.

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October 2, 1949 - Petty Legacy Kicks Off in Pittsburgh

October 2, 1949: In the seventh race of NASCAR's first season for its Strictly Stock series (known later as the Grand National and Cup series, Lee Arnold Petty of Level Cross, NC wins career race number one. The race was a 200-lap, 100-mile event on the half-mile, dirt Heidelberg Speedway near Pittsburgh, PA. Petty won 53 more Grand National races over the remainder of his career.

Al Bonnell won the pole but finished last in the 23-car field. The rest of the starting line-up and the race's lap leaders have been lost to history.

Dick Linder had a five-lap lead on the field with five laps to go in the race. But he lost a wheel and was apparently done for the day. Petty made up the five-lap difference and completed the full 200 laps. Linder was awarded second place based on his 195 laps completed. The third place finisher, Bill Rexford, was seven laps down to Petty and two behind Linder.  

Petty's winning trophy is on display at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

Credit: Uni-Watch.com

Greg Fielden recapped the race in his book, Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Vol. 1:

In the first Strictly Stock event in Charlotte in June, Lee Petty entered a bulky Buick Roadmaster. The enormous automobile was fast on the straights, but it wobbled like a tank through the turns. Just past the halfway point, Petty rolled the Buick a number of times....[T]he North Carolina speedster vowed never to drive a heavy vehicle in competition again.

In the 100-mile event at Heidelberg Speedway, Petty driving his number 42 lightweight Plymouth, was five full laps ahead of his nearest competitor. 

Dick Linder's Kaiser finished second but was in no position to challenge the fleet Petty.

Bill Rexford finished third, Sam Rice's Chevrolet was fourth with relief driver Glenn Dunnaway at the helm. Fifth place went to Sara Christian, the first time a female driver has cracked the top five in a premier NASCAR event. ~ pp. 20-21

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Google News Archive

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