July 2nd

It's July 2nd.........Richard Petty's birthday! Happy Birthday to the King!

All Hail the "King". Hate to bum anyone out but "Balls" also passed this day in 1964.

And an appropriate age this year considering the year this nation was founded = 76:

Well, and then there's this.

Yes, Happy Birthday to The King. And, as Randy points out, this is also the day we lost Fireball Roberts. Hearing that news back in 1964 was rough. Fireball had been around from my beginning with the sport and losing him left a void for racing, and for me. Thanks for pointing that out Randy.

And Chase, what can I say about your appropriate posting? To have connected the 76 to both the Declaration of Independence AND the Union 76 brand show creative talent beyond belief. Way to go Chase Man!

This date is ironic, with Richard and Fireball......... but Richard took the sport and ran with it elevating it even further, back in the '60's, in the tragic aftermath of the 1964 season. A new era had dawned, not unlike Jeff Gordon's first race coinciding with Richard's final race.

A 1975 AP photo illustrating a St. Petersburg Times story by the late Jack Flowers who later worked many years for Val Lesieur of North Easton, Massachusetts writing the Winston Cup pages of the weekly trade paper Speedway Scene.

Two years ago, I blogged a few pics from past birthdays of King in Daytona. While the blog post itself may now be a bit dated, Ol' Blue is timeless.

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2011/07/happy-birthday-to-king-richard.html

43 years ago today, fresh out of college, on July 2, 1970, I moved to Wilson, NC to begin a management training program with the makers of Wrangler Jeans. Not only did that move lead to a love affair with the 1/2-mile dirt Wilson County Speedway, it eventually took me into auto racing full time beginning in late 1980 as Manager of Wrangler Jeans NASCAR Special Events and the Dale Earnhardt sponsorship.

Today Richard Petty IS 76. How about how he looked IN '76 when he sported his short lived bicentennial beard.

Richard Petty / Boris Said - Separated at Birth?!

AJ Foyt's annual tradition was a rattlesnake barbeque on 'Firecracker' weekend in the Daytona garage area in honor of Richard's birthday.

Yep. The King and 76 have been together for many years before today.