June 6 - This day in Petty history - part 1

May we pause a moment to reflect upon the herculean and heroic efforts of the thousands of Allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy, France on June, 6, 1944: "D-Day". I remain in awe of the sacrifices so many men made as the opened transporter gates crashed against the surf and the invasions began upon Juno, Omaha, Gold, Sword and Utah beaches.

Source: Wikipedia Commons

1967 - Starting from the pole, Richard Petty cruises to his 57th career victory by winning the Macon 300 at Middle Georgia Speedway in Georgia.

Former Petty Enterprises teammate, Jim Paschal, led for almost 60 laps in the middle of the race. However, he had an extended pit stop and then blew his engine. Once Paschal put his #14 Plymouth on the trailer, the King rolled on a 5-lap victory over second-place James Hylton.

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. Petty won the inaugural Grand National race at the track in 1966 and then repeated in this race in 1967. Seven more GN races would be run at Middle Georgia before NASCAR's top series left the track after the 1971 season. Petty eventually scored four victories in the nine Grand National races held at the track.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

TMC