May 5, 1974 - Talladega's Winston 500

NASCAR's Cup teams were back in Talladega for the 10th race of the 1974 season. Though the race was billed as the Winston 500, it was in reality a 450-mile race. NASCAR agreed to cut its races by 10 percent in response to the country's energy crisis.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

David Pearson, the two-time defending winner of the race, won the pole in his Wood Brothers' Purolator Mercury. Indy Car regular Gary Bettenhausen qualified alongside Pearson in Roger Penske's AMC Matador. Bettenhausen raced in three NASCAR events in 1967 for car owner H.B. Ranier, father of Harry Ranier who had great success with drivers such as Cale Yarborough and Davey Allison. After spending the late 1960s and early 1970s in Indy Car, Bettenhausen returned to NASCAR in 1974 with a limited schedule in Penske's car.

As Cup began a transition from big-block engines with restrictor plates to small-block engines whose design generally remains in today's racing, the starting lineups of several races had several interesting names up front. Several drivers could lay down a fast lap with their small-block vs. the established teams still running an inventory of proven big-blocks.

With that in mind, Bettenhausen was joined near the front by a couple of other head-scratching names to many race fans - George Follmer and Dan Daughtry - who started third and fourth. Follmer was an accomplished racer in his first season with long-time owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore. Daughtry qualified for only his third Cup start after finishing 38th in the Daytona 500 and 32nd at Atlanta earlier in the season. 

Other notable drivers in the 50-car field included:

• Red Famer - The 2021 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee made only 36 Cup starts in his career. After the 1974 Winston 500, he started only three more Cup races - Talladega's '74 summer race and both Talladega races in 1975.
• Neil Bonnett - A member of the Alabama Gang along with Farmer and the Allison brothers, Bonnett made his Cup debut that day. It was a less than ideal start, however, as he suffered engine failure and finished 45th.
• Marty Robbins - The country music crooner qualified and finished a respectable 15th in his purple and yellow Dodge.
• Johnny Ray - The race was Ray's Cup debut. He eventually participated in eight Cup races, four of which were at Talladega. For many years, he was better known for hauling the American flag around Talladega attached to his big diesel rig.

Embed from Getty Images

One driver not in in the field was second-year Cup driver, Darrell Waltrip. He blew an engine in qualifying and missed his third consecutive race. The weekend in general was dismal for DW as he dominated a 50-lap LMS race at Nashville the night before - only to helplessly fade as a tire's valve stem came loose eight laps from the finish with a half-lap lead over second place.

Embed from Getty Images

To keep the 188-lap count consistent with other Talladega 500-mile races, the first 18 laps (50 miles) were neither run nor scored. As the field took the green for the first time to begin lap 19. Bettenhausen seized the lead followed the next lap by Daughtry.  

That two lap exchange set the tone for the rest of the afternoon, and it was the type of racing Talladega fans have grown to expect. The race featured 53 lead changes among 14 drivers. Many name drivers as well as many independents or so-called backmarkers got an opportunity to pace the field for a lap or two at a time.

Of the race's 170 laps, 60 were run under caution primarily because of a couple of rain showers - plus a blown engine that nearly had tragic consequences. 

Tennessee's Dave Sisco blew an engine on lap 105 resulting in a caution. As he made his way around the track and into the garage, Sisco left a trail of oil - including on the rain-slickened pit road. Bettenhausen, still in the hunt after leading 35 laps, pitted during the caution. As his Penske team serviced the Matador, rookie Grant Adcox slipped in an oily puddle and crashed into the back of Bettenhausen's car.

The collision crushed volunteer crewman Don Miller between the cars and injured two other crew members. One of Buddy Baker's crewmen and future NASCAR crew chief, Buddy Parrott, ran to Miller's aid and immediately used his belt as a tourniquet high on Miller's shattered leg. Upon realizing the severity of the accident, Adcox withdrew from the remainder of the race. 

Though Miller survived, he lost his right leg in the accident. Miller became an integral part of Penske's NASCAR operations in the decades to follow, and he was instrumental in pairing Penske with driver Rusty Wallace.

Even after the near-tragic pit road accident and two extended delays for rain, the drivers still mixed it up in the second half of the race. Follmer showed folks he was no slouch by leading off-and-on for 26 laps. Benny Parsons, the defending Winston Cup champion from 1973, also jumped in the fray and led nine laps. 

As Follmer, Parsons, and a couple of others cycled to the lead one or two laps at a time, the driver who generally took the lead back was Pearson. Shortly after taking the lead back from Parsons, Pearson made his final stop with 20 laps to go. 

Pearson was leading as he made his final pit stop with just a handful of laps remaining. Though he seemed slow exiting the pits, he quickly amp'd his speed down the backstretch. In seemingly no time at all, he sailed by Parsons and led the remaining 17 laps. Parsons finished a close second followed by Petty. After having a solid day, Follmer's engine blew with about 20 to go dooming him to P28.

With his 79th career win, Pearson three-peated in the Winston 500 after also winning in 1972 and 1973. The victory was the fourth consecutive Winston 500 for the Wood Brothers as Donnie Allison won the race for them in 1971.

Source: Montgomery Advertiser

TMC

May 6, 1973 - Talladega's Winston 500

On Sunday, May 6th, NASCAR's Winston Cup Series rolled into Talladega for the Winston 500 as the 10th race of the 1973 season. How Cinco de Mayo may have been celebrated on Saturday - if at all - in the Talladega infield is unknown. What is known, however, is the infield crowd would not have needed a made-up holiday to party as they've always done there. 

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

David Pearson and the Wood Brothers team arrived riding a remarkable streak. Pearson and his Purolator Mercury had won the four previous events in which the team raced: Rockingham, Atlanta, Darlington, and Martinsville. The team didn't enter the car at Bristol or North Wilkesboro, but it's entirely possible they could've swept them too if they had!

Harry Hyde's well-tuned, red Dodge Charger won the pole for the second consecutive year. Bobby Isaac laid down the hot lap in 1972, and Buddy Baker captured the top spot in 1973. Pearson, the defending race winner, qualified on the front row alongside Baker. Richard Petty timed third in his Hemi-powered STP Dodge, and Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison rounded out the top five starters.

 

When Sunday's start rolled around, 60 cars took the green - SIXTY! Though the race didn't represent the largest starting field for a NASCAR race (see Darlington in the early 1950s and Daytona in the early 1960s), it certainly was the largest for the fastest track ever to occupy a slot on the Cup tour.

Baker seized the lead and pulled Yarborough and Allison with him. Pearson lagged back just a tick as the early pace developed. 

Embed from Getty Images

With the 60-car field, Baker needed only a few laps to catch the rear of the field and begin lapping cars. The caution waved as the leaders crossed the start-finish line to complete the 10th lap. Ramo Stott had blown an engine coming off turn two. Though he coasted to the grass off the backstretch to get out of the way, he left a long trail of oil. NASCAR's policy in that era was to not only race back to the caution but to also continue doing so until they caught up to the pace car. Before drivers could react and crack the throttle, about 20 cars spun in Stott's oil and wrecked badly enough to send up a curtain of impenetrable dust and smoke. 

Contemporary fans have come to expect The Big One during races at Daytona and Talladega. To that point in only Talladega's fifth season, however, no one had seen the hot mess that unfolded on the backstretch. The wreck wiped out pole-winner Baker, Yarborough, and Allison from the top five starters. It also ensnared 1973 rookie of the year candidate (and eventual winner) Lennie Pond, Ron Keselowski (Brad's uncle), and several independents. 

Wendell Scott got the worst of it with a broken leg, pelvis, and ribs. He was hospitalized for over a month, and the wreck effectively ended his racing career. He returned just once more to race in the National 500 at Charlotte that fall. 

Petty avoided the wreck, but he ran over some debris and damaged the underside of his car. Though he returned to make a few more laps, the King parked it for good around lap 50. 

Pearson took over the lead when the thinned field returned to racing. He had wriggled through the wreck but knew many of his fellow competitors had been involved in the wreck. His Wood Brothers crew didn't volunteer any information - and Pearson didn't ask. He raced the rest of the day not knowing who may have been injured or worse.

After Pearson surrendered the lead after 15 laps to pit, Charles Barrett took over the lead in only his second career Cup start. Barrett raced a Ford fielded by George Elliott, father of Bill Elliott and grandfather of Chase Elliott. Barrett's short-lived lead was followed by nice showings from drivers unaccustomed to time at the front including J.D. McDuffie, Coo Coo Marlin, and Cecil Gordon. 

Rookie Darrell Waltrip then found his way to the lead and paced the field for an impressive 26 laps before his Mercury's engine failed well shy of the race's halfway mark. Though he led a sizable chunk of laps in 1973, DW's frustration grew as his streak of engine failures and poor Talladega finishes grew to three. (As an aside, Waltrip finished P7 in that summer's Talladega 500.)

 

With most of the big dogs wrecked or otherwise on their trailers early, Pearson took over to dominate the relatively-quiet second half of the race. Perhaps fittingly though, the race finished under caution when Vic Parsons wrecked with three laps to go. 

Pearson led 96 of the race's final 102 laps - including the final three under caution. He notched his 71st career win, won his second consecutive Winston 500, and extended his 1973 winning streak to five.

Source: Winston Cup Museum

Source: Anniston Star

TMC

TMC Racing Stories: My Significant Other

A fitting post for Valentine's Day I think...

Aside from the racing, time with friends, and enjoyment of Schaefer, one of the most enjoyable parts for me of attending a NASCAR weekend is meeting new folks. We've had some of the best times meeting couples from Loudon to Vegas and from Phoenix to Charlotte. It's fun to see their tailgating styles, menu options, which driver they pull for, their pets, whatever. Having said that, I travel as the sole representative of my own household on racing trips for three specific reasons.

Strike 1

Not long after a co-worker and I started dating, I regularly mentioned my passion for racing. She agreed to give it a try, and we went to Talladega in May 1989 for the Winston 500.

I'd been to Talladega once before. For the 1987 Winston 500, I sat on the frontstretch just a couple of sections to the right of Harold Kinder - not far from where Bobby Allison horrifically ripped the fence. The tickets were comp'd, and I really didn't explore the track much or have a strategy for parking.

Because our plan to go in '89 was last minute, I didn't buy reserved seats. Instead, we opted for general admission backstretch tickets. My girlfriend's first impression of the scene was not a favorable one.

• The morning air was pretty chilly. 
• The wooden bleachers were full of splinters. 
• The smell of cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air. 
• And the hootin' and hollerin' from the rowdies was already at volume level 8.

As race time drew near, the sun jumped the temps pretty quickly. A good ol' boy lounging on the grassy bank below our bleachers decided it was time to get in the zone. He was wearing a pair of sweat pants, and he stumbled a bit as he tried to shed them in favor of his shorts. But in the process of doing so, he managed to hook his thumbs in the waistband of this sweats, shorts, and tighty-whities. He mooned the whole bleacher section - including my girlfriend. Don't look Ethel!

When the green flag dropped and the restricted engines of the bunched pack muscled up to speed, I focused more on the race than I did her. Hey, we were at a race. Right? It wasn't as if we were on a date date.

The bleacher bums amp'd their lusty cheers to 11 as their heroes screamed down the backstretch - the Earnhardt's Goodwrench Chevy, Rusty's Kodiak Pontiac, Neil Bonnett in the Wood Brothers' Ford, and Alabama's newest favorite son Davey Allison in the Havoline Ford. WHOOOOOO! But my girlfriend just sat there stoically and wasn't buying it.

About halfway through the race, one of the fellas behind us needed a break. Rather than cross over his brethren, he decided he'd step down a few rows of empty pine. After navigating a couple of them successfully, he misstepped one and pitched forward. Fortunately for him - but not so much for us - my girlfriend was his brake. He caught her in the upper back and bent her over as he stopped. To his credit, he pulled up and slobbered out a meek sorry ma'am.

To my credit, I was chivalrous, defended my lady friend, dog cussed the guy, and tossed him to the aisle. Actually, that's a bald-faced lie. I laughed heartily at the whole scene and earned a death glare from her when it wasn't directed at Gomer.

The bad situation (for her - still funny to me) got worse as the race hit the 3/4 mark and the dicing intensified. The intensity was too much for another one of our new-found buddies behind us to stomach. Or maybe it was the prodigious amount of booze he'd consumed that weekend. Either way, we heard the unmistakable sound of wretching as the Puke Monster unloaded on the empty bleacher row in front of him. That's it, enough. She was ready to bolt for the car, but fortunately I talked her into moving a couple of sections away so I could be there for the finish.

Amazingly, we made it to the end. Even more surprising is she later agreed to marry me, and we got hitched about 18 months later. I'm glad we stayed. As it turned out, I was there to see Davey take the win as I was his other two times in 1987 and 1992.

Embed from Getty Images

Strike 2

Two years after Talladega, she agreed to give racing a second chance. Being a bit wiser myself, I opted for going to Atlanta instead of coaxing her into a return trip to Talladega. Our target: the 1991 Motorcraft 500. To help things a bit, a friend of mine and his wife went with us.

We were prepared for a great day of racing fun. Alan Kulwicki qualified fastest in his debut race with Hooters as his sponsor, and Ken Schrader had a fast car which made my friend happy.

The race began, but then a persistent rain followed. We sat in the stands with our meager ponchos as we hoped for relief. The track's PA announcer and MRN reassured the fans that we'd soon be racing again because a weather window was opening. I bet we heard weather window a hundred times that afternoon.

The window never opened, and the remainder of the race was postponed until Monday. On our way back to Chattanooga, my buddy and I made the decision to take a vacation day and return for the conclusion. But not my wife. She'd had enough.

Strike 3

When Richard Petty announced his plans to retire after the end of the 1992 season, Schaefer co-founder Philly and I made plans to hit as many races as we could that year. Of critical importance to us was attending his final event - the Hooters 500 at Atlanta. I asked my wife if she wanted me to buy her a ticket as well. The King's last race - on a fall, southern afternoon? C'mon.

Her answer was along the lines of "Fine, but I'll take a book to read." What? A book? I replied it would be wasted money if I bought her a ticket only to have her read the whole time. Who could even do that? "Then don't buy me a ticket. I really don't wanna go anyway." So I didn't.

My 43rd year as a racing fan is now underway. And I've been the sole representative from my home at all races I've attended since March 1991. I generally have a great time meeting other couples at races, but odds are slim to none any of them will ever meet my better half.

TMC

TMC Racing Stories: Talladega 2

The eventual co-founders of the Schaefer Hall of Fame hit Talladega for the 1991 summer race. The weekend was a return trip for me but the first Dega experience for Philly.

For the most part, my previous trips to the track served me well. We talked our way into the camping area behind turn two as I'd done before despite not having tickets in hand. On race morning, we also moved the car to just outside the camping area behind the backstretch. I'd parked in the same place for three or four races. The spot made for a pretty easy, post-race getaway after leaving the backstretch GA seats.

On this particular day, however, the spot was a bad call. We made it to the car and began a slow crawl down what was then a gravel road behind the back stretch through the throng of Talladega loonies.

As we got closer to turn three with a plan of getting to Speedway Boulevard, traffic flared to three or four makeshift - and gridlocked - lanes.

We soon realized the problem. Track officials had opened the crossover gate allowing cars and motorhomes to leave the infield. They did so with zero staff directing traffic at ground zero where the perpendicular flows of traffic intersected.

Once a couple of motorhomes eased their way through the cars, it was a bit like a procession of elephants. Several cars forced the issue by jumping between the vehicles leaving the infield. Zero progress.  

Finally, one good ol' boy had seen enough. Shirtless but with a beer in hand, scrawny chest puffed out, and middle finger extended, he made his way between two rows of cars to voice his displeasure at the column of campers.

The door slowly opened to one of them and out stepped an occupant. Giving the drunk redneck his due, he immediately recognized who it was.

He ran up to Bobby Allison, put his arm around him, flipped his scowl to a big grin, and started hollering at his crew somewhere back in traffic "It's Bobby Allison man! Bobby Allison!"

Allison was very calm about the encounter. He whispered something in the dude's ear and went back inside his motorhome. A split-second later, the guy went into Moses mode to part the seas. He directed cars to halt so Allison could continue - presumably to the neighboring airport for a quick flight home.

Once Bobby was rolling again, the self-designated traffic control official strutted back to where he began exclaiming "Bobby Allison y'all. F'n Bobby Allison."

TMC

TMC Racing Stories: Talladega 1

After several years of blogging detailed posts about racing history, I'm pretty tired.

So for the downtime of racing season between now and 2017 Speedweeks, I don't plan to do a lot of racing research or meaningful blogging. Instead, I thought I'd just share some random stories from days at the track over the years. I don't really have much of a plan or schedule. I'm guessing one story trigger a memory and will simply lead to another post. So here goes.

A bud of mine and I rolled into Talladega in May 1992 for a weekend of racing and fun. That weekend as has been documented previously is best remembed by us as the flashpoint for our Schaefer beer tradition. But we also met a few characters - as is generally the case with any trip to Talladega.

We were setting up our tent, readying the grill, unloading the coolers, etc. when a couple of good ol' boys wandered over. The conversation went a little something like this.

Bubba: Y'uns been down here afore?
Me: Yeah, a few times.

Bubba: Was y'all here last year?
Me: As a matter of fact, we were. We...

Bubba: Yeaaahhh man, we served a mess a'breakfast that day. Dang.
(Bubba #2 chuckled a bit to break his silence.)
Bubba: Man, we had people from everywheres over thar. Did y'all come over?
Me: No, we just had our thing going over here friend.

Bubba: I'm tellin' ya man. If I had a nickel for every cup of coffee we poured, damn. We woulda had about twen... well, we woulda had about four dollars.

TMC

Michael Waltrip fan base has changed. Right?

On July 24, 1993, Schaefer Hall of Fame co-founder Philly and I headed for a weekend of camping and racing at Talladega. The headline event was Sunday's DieHard 500. In tow was one of Philly's co-workers headed to his first NASCAR race.

He knew little about racing and didn't have a favorite driver. As we headed south on I-59 towards Gadsden, I asked him where he was from. When he responded Owensboro, Kentucky, I paused, looked at Philly, and smirked a bit like Ferris Bueller breaking the fourth wall. I looked back at him and said "I've got the driver for you. Michael Waltrip. He is from Owensboro."

To his credit, he was open-minded about his newly assigned favorite driver. Philly and I then formed an unspoken covenant that we'd drain his wallet with purchases of Mikey swag.

After we settled into our campsite amongst the trees behind turn two and away from the rowdies that prowled the wide open spaces behind the back stretch, we headed for Saturday's Busch race and then the souvenir trailers.

In those days, souvenir row was positioned along Speedway Boulevard across from the track's main entrance. Our eyes roamed to and fro looking for what should have been the easily identifiable, vibrant yellow, Pennzoil emblazoned trailer featuring a boo-coodle of Mikey Merch.

Earnhardt had what seemed to be about a dozen trailers. The noob, Jeff Gordon, had his stuff sold at a handful of trailers as well. The other predictable trailers were there as well hawking gear for drivers such as Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett, Darrell Waltrip, etc.

As we roamed about the beaten-down grass, I still vaguely remember scalding my mouth with a cup of Maxwell House coffee. Why a cup of coffee in late July in the heat and humidity of central Alabama? Well, one - they sponsored Sterling Marlin. Reason enough, right?

But also - duh - it was free! Well, that plus the consumption of a prodigious amount of beer during the Busch race and a copious supply of stupidity. But I digress...

The search for Michael's gear soon grew weary. I was sweating like a hack poker player and had scar tissue forming inside my mouth from my free cup of joe. I headed for one of Kyle Petty's Mello Yello trailers for a transaction and an answer to a question.

A few weeks before the race, I'd won a Kyle Petty jacket on a Chattanooga sports talk radio show. One problem: it was a medium. I laughed at medium after about two semesters in college - yet the jacket was free.


I explained my situation to the guy at the Mello Yello trailer, and he was superb with customer service. "No problem. Whadda ya want? XL? *pitch* There ya go man." Boom, that easy. With a big grin, I shook off the lisp from my scalded tongue and dehydration from my multiple adult beverages to ask a legit question. "Can you help out my bud here? He's a big fan of Mikey. But we can't find his trailer out here anywhere. Are we just overlooking it - have you spotted it?"

The dude went from Mr. Gregarious to the scene from Casino when DeNiro and Pesci believe the FBI can read lips from a distance. His reply still makes me laugh to this day: "Naw, there ain't one here. Mikey has a lot of good lookin' stuff. He just ain't got any fans."

It was the line of a lifetime. In 1993, no one quite frankly could argue with him. Our new Mikey fan got off without spending any money on a shirt, hat, koozie, die-cast, seat cushion, jacket, decal, anything. Fast forward a few years, and Mikey did build a sizable fan base. He did it through hard work, some wins, and a sizable dose of campiness.

As the 2016 season began, it was indeed different. The field did not feature Michael Waltrip on a regular basis - as a driver or as an owner. The new guy was prepared to buy Mikey's gear that day in '93, not me. Yet, Michael has been a part of Cup racing for over two decades.

He is certainly still a part of NASCAR with his commentary during televised truck races and FOX Sports' pre-race grid walks. Many seem to love what he does - but he has also has a ton of detractors. As Dale Earnhardt once said "At least they’re making noise. It’s when they stop making noise that you know something’s wrong.”

 TMC

Oldsmobile: Old School & New Life for Pettys

Twelve years ago - April 29, 2004 - the last Oldsmobile rolled off GM's assembly line. Oldsmobile was America's oldest automotive brand, and it was the second brand to roll into General Motors. Over the decades, however, the brand found itself as the red-headed stepchild of GM. It wasn't the most luxurious, cheapest, hippest, coolest, oldest, creative or any other adjective. It was solidly in the middle of the company's product offerings, and GM made the decision to shutter the brand.

Oldsmobile had its place in racing, particularly NASCAR. In the mid to late 1950s, Lee Petty fielded cars for himself and often other drivers. The race car of choice during that time was an Oldsmobile Delta 88. Other Petty drivers included the likes of Bill Lutz, Tiny Lund...

From Andy Towler at RacersReunion.com

...Bobby Myers (father of long-time Richard Childress Racing crewman Chocolate Myers)...

Final photo taken of Bobby Myers courtesy of Randy Myers

....and even Ralph Earnhardt.

Courtesy of Don Smyle / Smyle Media

Richard Petty's first career start at Columbia Speedway was in a hand-me-down Oldsmobile convertible. The remnants of what is believed to be the Olds that King drove in that first race in 1958 now resides in Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville, NC. It's also likely the car was the same Petty Olds raced by Billy Myers (Bobby's brother, Chocolate's uncle) to his final win in a convertible race at North Wilkesboro in 1958.

TMC Photo

The Pettys field a pair of Oldsmobiles in the first Daytona 500 in 1959. Richard entered an older Olds convertible, and Lee narrowly won the race in his new Olds hardtop.

View image | gettyimages.com

Partway through the 1959 season, the Pettys became a full-time Plymouth team. In 1971, Petty Enterprises fielded a Dodge Charger for Buddy Baker while keeping the King in a Plymouth. In early 1972, the decision was made to move the 43 to a Dodge as well. The 43 stayed a Dodge through 1978 with Richard racing the 1974 Charger and the ill-fated 1978 Magnum.

Midway through 1978, the Dodge was no longer competetive. The Pettys made a logical - yet unpopular to many - decision to switch to Chevrolet. The team ran a purchased Monte Carlo the rest of the season until they could begin to build their own.

In the off-season, the team expanded its General Motors fleet beyond just the workhorse Monte Carlo. As previously blogged, a Caprice was built to run several of the short tracks. And for the superspeedways, the Pettys returned to the name brand with which Richard started: Oldsmobile.

Junior Johnson fielded the Olds Cutlass 442 for Cale Yarborough in 1978. By 1979, just about every GM team built one for the big tracks. Junior's team ran the 442 frequently, but most other teams raced it sparingly - primarily at tracks such as Daytona and Talladega.

1979 Daytona 500 - This race is perhaps the most well-known race for the 43 442. With a solid Petty blue hood and no STP oval because of an on-going financial chess match between STP and the Pettys, the newly built 442 won its debut race.

1979 Atlanta 500 - This 442 started and finished 11th with a one-time, unique look. The STP oval was back on the hood - but a small one. And a series of varying sized STP decals were applied to the quarter panels.

1979 Southeastern 500 - The 43 finished a strong 4th at Bristol in the first of only two short-track races for the 442.

Credit: Woody Delbridge

Credit: David Allio / RacingPhotoArchives.com

Courtesy of Ray Lamm

1979 Winston 500 - The car took a beating in this race at Talladega. A spin by Buddy Baker triggered a multi-car crash in which the majority of the top running cars were collected. Amazingly, most were able to continue and be competitive albeit with hundreds of yards of duct tape applied. The King brought home his mangled 442 to a P4 finish. A new deal had also been worked out with STP, and the 43 again sported a large STP oval on its hood.

1979 Mason-Dixon 500 - Petty's Olds was wiped out in lap 2 accident at Dover. The 442 finished 30th in the 31-car field. Richard was hurt badly enough that he needed relief help from Jimmy Insolo three races later in Riverside, California.

Credit: Lee Greenawalt

1979 Firecracker 400 - Though Petty wasn't able to sweep Daytona in 1979, he did back up his Daytona 500 win with a fifth place finish in the July 4th Firecracker race.

1979 Talladega 500 - The race earned double-chicken money for the Petty teams. Richard finished fourth in his Olds to match his P4 from the spring's Winston 500, and Kyle finished ninth in the Dodge Magnum in his debut Cup race.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

After the second Talladega race, the Olds was parked in favor of the Monte Carlo and Caprice. The two Chevy cars were used in the stretch run as Richard successfully battled Waltrip for the championship. With his seventh title in the books, the team went back to work readying for 1980. The team went with what worked before, and they again prepared the 442 to defend their title at Daytona.

1980 Daytona 500 - This one was my first Daytona race to see in person. I watched from atop a small motorhome in the infield and was mesmerized by the brilliantly-bright, day-glo red despite the great distance from me to the track. Though King won the 500 for the 6th time in 1979 and his 7th and final time in 1981, my first trip wasn't a good day for the King or the Olds. After starting 4th, the 442 broke a clutch and Petty finished a disappointing 25th.

View image | gettyimages.com

Adding insult to injury was that Kyle missed his first Daytona 500 after wrecking his hand-me-down Dodge Magnum in his 125-mile qualifier. The accident started when Nashville's Gary Baker spun and wrecked coming out of turn 4 in his #4  ...  Olds 442.

TMC Archives

1980 Winston 500 - The superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega were great to the 43 in 1979 with finishes of 1st and 5th at Daytona and a pair of P4s at Talladega. In 1980, the big tracks weren't quite as kind. After a 25th at Daytona, Richard finished 31st at Talladega after losing an engine in his Olds. Kyle (foreground) was back to working on his dad's pit crew.

Credit: Robert Turner

1980 Firecracker 400 - After a miserable first two races at the superspeedways, Richard finished a respectable fifth in Daytona's summer scorcher.

1980 Talladega 500 - The previous week at Pocono, Richard suffered a terrible crash in his Monte Carlo. He spun, backed into the wall hard, and was then t-boned by Darrell Waltrip. He walked away from the crash - but his face showed obvious pain. Folks learned later that Richard suffered broken vertebrae in his neck. Amazingly, the safety crew didn't stabilize the King's neck after taking him from the car.

Yet, the King soldiered on. He belted into the Olds at Talladega long enough to start the race. A midday rain shower benefited the team. The race was started under a green-yellow flag (laps count, speed doesn't - a NASCAR rule I truly disdain). Richard completed one official lap and was therefore credited with the race's driver points. As he neared completion of the second lap, the 43 hit pit road. Previous Petty driver and crewman Joe Millikan qualified the car fifth and then jumped into the Olds to race the full event. Unfortunately for Millikan, however, Maurice Petty's engine soured as it did in the spring at Talladega. The 442 finished 18th after completing only 154 of the race's 188 laps.

Source: SportingNews

1980 Old Dominion 500 - Kyle raced the Olds 442 at Martinsville in its second and last short-track race. He qualified 29th and finished 27th in his one and only career start in an Olds.

In the end, the Pettys won only one modern-era race in an Olds. Yet in my opinion, the 442 remains one of the best looking rides from the Level Cross shops in that era.

A year or so after Petty Enterprises moved to a 110-inch wheelbase Buick Regal on the track...

...I began learning how to drive...
...in my parents' Oldsmobile...
...with a wheelbase far longer than 110 inches.

The car was a 1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88. The four-door sled had a 455 cubic inch engine. A true beast.

The Petty Olds? I miss it. My family's Delta 88? Ehh, not so much.

R.I.P. Oldsmobile

TMC

Last chance for last dance

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about many of the racing firsts I've been fortunate to witness. I've also had my share of memorable lasts - though in some cases I wouldn't have known it at the time.

The ones I can recall...

1992 Food City 500 - Bristol Motor Speedway
Alan Kulwicki's second and final Bristol win
Alan was killed in a plane crash one year later

1992 Winston 500 - Talladega Superspeedway
Buddy Baker's last career start

Source. J.C. Hayes at RacersReunion.com

1992 Pepsi 400 - Daytona International Speedway
Richard Petty's last Daytona race
President George Bush was the Grand Marshal

1992 Hooters 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway
Richard Petty's last race
Unfortunately, the King went out in a blaze of glory

2000 Winston 500 - Talladega Superspeedway
Dale Earnhardt's final career win

View image | gettyimages.com

2003 Pop-Secret 400 - North Carolina Motor Speedway
Bill Elliott's final career win

View image | gettyimages.com

2007 Coca-Cola 600 - Charlotte Motor Speedway
Kyle Petty finished third - his final career top 5

2011 AAA 400 - Dover International Raceway
Kurt Busch's last win for car owner Roger Penske

View image | gettyimages.com

Any other memorable lasts you were able to witness?

TMC