Racing History Minute - 1964 Daytona 500

Tim Leeming offered me the captain's chair today to post about the 1964 edition of the Daytona 500. I'm not sure why as nothing really relevant happened that week that I might be interested in writing about. Ha.

I originally blogged about this race two years ago. I'm going to copy most of the content here but then add more to it. My original blog entry is here:

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-23-this-day-in-petty-history.html

1964 was an eventful year in multiple ways ...

• The Beatles released their first U.S. album and later appeared on The Ed Sullivan show.
• The Rolling Stones released their debut album.
• Super Tex - A.J. Foyt - won his second Indianapolis 500 though Indy hero Eddie Sachs was killed
• NASCAR and its fan base were rocked with the deaths of two-time reigning NASCAR champion, Joe Weatherly, at Riverside in January and Fireball Roberts following his horrific crash in the World 600.
• And the 1964-1965 World's Fair opened in New York featuring ... [  The Schaefer Center  ].

A couple of other notable racing historical moments took place in 1964:

• Chrysler Corporation unleashed the famed hemispherical combustion engine - The Hemi - on NASCAR's competition. The rest of the field participated, but without a hemi it was akin to their bringing a knife to a gunfight.
• Richard Petty won his first Daytona 500 and eventually his first of seven NASCAR Grand National / Winston Cup championships.

In a format closer to what we're about to see in 2014 with Cup qualifying than the traditional "fast lap" time trials, the teams participated in a 50 lap heat race if you will to determine the front row for the 500. Fellow Plymouth driver Paul Goldsmith and Petty made short work of the two races placing them on the front row for the 500 and the pole position for each of the qualifying twins. NSSN cover from Russ Thompson.

The winners from the qualifying heat races with their trophies. From [  DBMJ  ].

In the first twin, Goldsmith started from the pole but did not contend for the win. On the 27th lap of the 40-lap event, Goldsmith's hemi let go - surely causing the Chrysler brass to pucker. With a couple of laps to go, veteran Buck Baker was on point in the Petty team's second #41 Plymouth. Junior Johnson and David Pearson in Dodges followed close behind him. The next closest driver, Marvin Panch in a Ford, was waaaay behind the trio - demonstrating early and often how the hemi engine was there to dominate.

On the last lap, Johnson pulled a sling shot move in turn 3 to ease past Baker for the lead. Baker tried to return the move as they headed for the tri-oval, but Johnson blocked the move to hold on for the win. Baker settled for 2nd with Pearson third.

In the second twin, it was all Petty, all the time. Well, almost. When the green lap dropped, the 43 was gone. He paced the field for the first 39 of 40 laps. The win was secured as he had comfortable lead on Bobby Issac and Jimmy Pardue ... but then it happened. With the checkers in sight, the Plymouth ran out of fuel. Petty coasted along the apron helplessly as Isaac and Pardue closed quickly. The three of them flashed across the line in a finish too-close-to-call. The start-finish line camera malfunctioned, and officials needed four hours before deciding Isaac won, Pardue 2nd, and Petty 3rd. (Coincidentally, the camera was installed after the finish of the inaugural Daytona 500 when Lee Petty barely edged out Johnny Beauchamp.)

From [  Spartanburg Herald  ]

From Ray Lamm

Despite Petty's near-miss in his qualifying race, his second place starting spot for the 500 was still secure. Paul Goldsmith's 25 team replaced the hemi and retained his top starting position. From Ray Lamm .

Green, green, green! - Laverne Zachary

Petty led 184 of 200 laps en route to his 29th career win and the first superspeedway victory of his 5-year career. Teammate Baker started fifth and finished twelfth.

Before the race, Petty told Chris Economacki he'd likely make 5 pit stops - maybe 4 depending on fuel mileage, how cautions fell, etc. As it turned out, the 43 team made 6 pit stops - and nailed them all. Perhaps it was Maurice Petty's magical Petty blue boots that helped as much as the crew's preparation and readiness.

Richard's hemi-engine Plymouth powered the blue #43 to a 1-lap victory. Second place Pardue and third place Goldsmith gave Plymouth and the hemi a 1-2-3 finish.

To the victor belongs the spoils ... including a nice, little kiss.

The winner posing with his trophy...

... and the trophy hanging out afterwards on the hood of a car before it headed back to Level Cross. From Tim Leeming .

Richard's 1964 Daytona 500 winning trophy was one of a handful I specifically wanted to see when visiting the Richard Petty Museum in March 2011. I must concede, however, that I still don't understand the significance of the Japanese emphasis. Must have been some cross-promotional tourism / economic development agreement between the US and Japan.

Race report - from Jerry Bushmire

In victory lane, the future king of the sport was quick to offer praise to his father Lee and brother Maurice. From Spartanburg Herald.

Fin	Driver	Car
1	Richard Petty	'64 Plymouth
2	Jimmy Pardue	'64 Plymouth
3	Paul Goldsmith	'64 Plymouth
4	Marvin Panch	'64 Ford
5	Jim Paschal	'64 Dodge
6	Billy Wade	'64 Mercury
7	Darel Dieringer	'64 Mercury
8	Larry Frank	'64 Ford
9	Junior Johnson	'64 Dodge
10	Dave MacDonald	'64 Mercury
11	Tiny Lund	'64 Ford
12	Buck Baker	'64 Plymouth
13	Jo Schlesser	'64 Ford
14	Dan Gurney	'64 Ford
15	Bobby Isaac	'64 Dodge
16	Larry Thomas	'63 Plymouth
17	Cale Yarborough	'64 Ford
18	Doug Cooper	'63 Ford
19	Ralph Earnhardt	'63 Ford
20	Smokey Boutwell	'63 Ford
21	Curtis Crider	'63 Ford
22	Reb Wickersham	'64 Dodge
23	Sal Tovella	'64 Ford
24	A.J. Foyt	'64 Ford
25	Jim McElreath	'64 Mercury
26	Johnny Rutherford	'64 Mercury
27	Ned Jarrett	'64 Ford
28	Parnelli Jones	'64 Mercury
29	Buddy Baker	'64 Plymouth
30	David Pearson	'64 Dodge
31	Fred Lorenzen	'64 Ford
32	Jack Anderson	'63 Ford
33	G.C. Spencer	'63 Pontiac
34	Ronnie Chumley	'63 Pontiac
35	Bobby Marshman	'64 Ford
36	Bobby Johns	'64 Pontiac
37	Fireball Roberts	'64 Ford
38	Wendell Scott	'62 Chevrolet
39	Elmo Henderson	'63 Pontiac
40	Joe Clark	'64 Ford
41	Bill McMahan	'63 Pontiac
42	Jim Bray	'62 Chevrolet
43	Bunkie Blackburn	'63 Plymouth
44	Bob Cooper	'62 Pontiac
45	Jim Cook	'63 Ford
46	Neil Castles	'62 Chrysler

tmc i enjoyed this post looks like the hemis showed who the boss was

RacersReunion is so very fortunate to have TMC Chase both as a member and a contributor to the Forums Section. As Chase is the "ordained" Richard Petty fan and has detailed the Petty victories over the years, it was a "no brainer" to turn over the supposed "Captain'sChair" to him for the Petty Daytona Victories. As I promised Chase, I will add my personal memories to his posts.

As for the 1964 Daytona 500, Tom McCahill,in Popular Mechanix,predicted Petty's win in an article written a couple of months before the race. I was absolutely determined I would be at that race. My Uncle Bobby did not let me down. We left Friday, in that same 1963 Plymouth that had served us in 1963. We got there early Saturday morning and went directly back to the previous year's parking spot on the shores of Lake Lloyd. This time, there was a mound of dirt about 8 feet high next to where we parked, and for the top of that mound,you could see almost all the way around the track.

We watched the Modified-Sportsman race on Saturday which was won, I believe, by LeeRoy Yarbrough, but I'm not sure of that. All I do know is that it was another win for those ultra-aero dynamic early 50s Studebakers with whatever kind of souped up engine there may have been.

Sunday it was sunny,but it was cold and windy. I got on top of the dirt mound early because I didn't want anyone stealing my spot. My cousin brought me up the sandwich and coke for lunch but I stayed right there. It was cold, and it was windy, but I was going to be there to see my guy win the Daytona 500. As I recall, this is the only race on which I made a bet. Not just one bet,but a bet with every classmate in my senior class. If Richard had not won that race, I would have left the country. No choice on that.

I remember the first lap was led by Paul Goldsmith and as he came through the tri-oval, a huge cloud of paper (hot dog wrappers blown on the track) almost blinded the following cars and Richard was right behind him. Lap two Richard took over, but then Bobby Isaac took over. (that is from my memory as I am not referring to my reference source). Isaac led a few laps and then Richard went to the front in what looked like a totally effortless move by his car. The lead see-sawed back and forth in the early laps with the number 43 right in the mix. Richard eventually just took over and showed that Hemi power as he rode the high side of the track lap after lap.

To say that I was excited would be a mild understatement. I turned around and around on top of that dirt mound as I followed the blue 43 every laps. When he would make a pit stop,I could not see him but I would hold my breath until that blue streak flew out of the pits and back on the track.

Even as I write this today,50 years after the fact, I get a little emotional as I recall watching that last lap. I had been to enough races to see Richard lose in the last lap, or last few laps, to know anything could happen, as did in the qualifying race when he ran out of gas on the last lap. I watched #43 down the back straight into turn three and off the high side of turn four. No one was within a lap of him. I lost sight of him as he went behind the buildings over which I could not see and then a flash of Petty blue came back in sight heading into turn one. I jumped (so said my aunt Mary,5 feet in the air, dove off that mound and went running towards victory circle. I got to the fence there just as Richard was pulling in. I climbed up the fence,maybe 3 or 4 feet, and was hanging on to watch the festivities. I saw everything, but I tell you I can't remember anything specific except seeing those Petty Blue Boots when Richard got out of the car.

When festivities were over, they opened the gate and let us all into the pits, as was usual back then. I headed to the Petty pits and they were packing up. I walked across the pit road and there were Lee and Elizabeth Petty sitting on the tailgate of their Chrysler Station Wagon (I have a picture of that I will try to find and upload) and stopped to talk with them. I took that picture Chase posted of the trophy sitting on the hood of Richard's Imperial.

I waited around for what turned out to be a couple hours but seemed like a minute or two, until I got to see Richard after all the press interviews. We discussed his Petty Blue boots and he told me what dye he had used and I was determined to have those same boots. If I can find that picture of me racing bikes in those boots, I'll show you I got them too!!! But we won't even discuss the white pants and burgundy shirt that set off a stampede all over Columbia back in 1963 when Richard wore those to Columbia. lol

When I finally walked back into the infield, my Uncle, Aunt and cousin were somewhat upset with me as the infield was pretty well cleared out and I wasn't there to leave. But they got over it when I told them all I had done and that I had talked with Lee and with Richard. The trip back to Columbia seemed really short and I suppose that was because I slept most of the way back from exhaustion and exhileration.

Oh, and for all those bets, they were all for a "Coke". I didn't have to buy a coke at school for the rest of the school year and I had one every day. A lot of my classmates became Petty fans after that weekend. Great times to remember and it seems almost surreal that all those things happened 50 years ago and seem as though it was yesterday.

Richard and I are both old now, but as we shared memories at the Stocks for Tots this past December, one of the fans brought a picture of Richard in victory lane in the 1964 Daytona 500 for Richard to autograph. As I was sitting next to him, Richard turned the picture my way and asked "remember this?" As we nodded to each other and smiled, the young lady with the picture had this quizzical look on her face. She didn't know what Richard was talking about, but I did. Thanks for the memories!

I visited that 1964 World's Fair in NY, but have no recollection of teetotaling mom & dad taking us to Schaefer Center, - though I enjoyed the Coke exhibit and traveled across the parking lots to a spanlking new Shea Stadium to watch the mets vs. Cubs. And, I was definitely glued to the TV with my church teen group 50 years ago tonight to watch Beatles on Sullivan.

I did listen to the 500 and couldn't wait for those cars to get to Richmond where I'd see my first race in March 1964.

During a 50-lap ARCA preliminary race before its 250-miler, Bay Darnell had quite the wet adventure. He slid coming off of turn 2 and kerplunked it right into Lake Lloyd. - Jerry Bushmire

Here is the photo referenced by Tim of Lee and Elizabeth Petty just relaxing on the rear door of their station wagon. However, it does look like took for him to have the film processed judging by the Nov 1964 marking on the photo border. Tim - did you have to save a bunch of Coke bottles to return for deposit to pay for the prints? - Team SC Midlands

Mutt Powell raced in the modified sportsman race won by Tiny Lund. Powell raced for Marion Cox and finished 42nd in the 50-car field. - Tony Powell

Doug Cooper finished a respectable 18th in the 500 - sandwiched between 2 racing legends of Cale Yarborough and Ralph Earnhardt. - Danny Quick

The hemi-powered Plymouths were hot right off the trailers. From DBMJ .

But if FoMoCo drivers Tiny Lund and Parnelli Jones had any stress about racing the Mopars, they sure didn't show it. Rather than pace the garage, Tiny did what Tiny did best - have fun and relax, especially at a prime fishing spot.

Little Bud Moore made his 2nd career modified sportsman start in the preliminary event during Daytona's Speedweeks. His first GN start wouldn't happen for another 6 months when he debuted at Nashville. He finished 43rd in the 50-car field.

Johnny Rutherford won one of the qualifying races in Smoky Yunich's Chevrolet in 1963. JR returned in 1964 and caught a ride with the other Bud Moore. The car began the race looking very sporty.

But during the race, things got turned upside down a bit when Rutherford tangled with Ned Jarrett.

Tiny Lund won the modified sportsman race - edging out Junior Johnson. Even in 1964, the preliminary event had its share of "Buschwhackers". From News And Courier .

LeeRoy Yarbrough was involved in vicious wreck, was knocked unconscious, and had to be pulled from the car. - Ray Lamm

Ken Rush - who raced several times for Julian Petty and Cliff Stewart - raced in the modified sportsman event. Unfortunately for him, he finished 48th in the 50-car field.

We're now in an era where NASCAR requires drug testing. Also 5 Hour Energy passes out free energy shots by the scads at every track on the circuit.

Debates also continue as to what age may be too old to participate in high level racing. James Hylton finally hung it up, Morgan Shepherd still races occasionally as does Hershel McGriff, and Mark Martin is often the butt of jokes based on his longevity.

I'm not sure there is an exact age for when a driver should hang it up, and I don't really have the exact answers for an acceptable drug testing plan. But when I saw this photo of Bill Buchman from the 1964 SCCA American Challenge Cup Continental race, I thought "Yeah, no drug testing needed for this one. I think its time to head for the porch." Ha.

I smell a conspiracy with the Petty 1964 Daytona 500 Hemi win. I'm speculating that the hemi was actually designed by Toyota to test the stock car waters and that is probably Miss Toyota with Richard.

And this might have been a Rising Sun tach?