February 22, 1959 - Lee Petty narrowly wins the inaugural Daytona 500 over Johnny Beauchamp. Joe Weatherly, who was about a lap down, is right there with them as the 3 cars sweep over the start-finish line.
Rookie Richard Petty starts 6th but ruins an engine and finishes 57th in the FIFTY-NINE car field. Good grief. An early exit may have been a blessing in a disguise for the future King because he was racing a convertible. I simply can't imagine hauling the mail at 150+ MPH in a big ol' ragtop. After he left the race, Richard went to Lee's pit stall to help with stops and rally his dad to a win.
Ticket stub for the preliminary qualifiers (Dargan Watts picture)
Ticket stubs for the 500 (Dargan Watts picture)
The start of what would become The Great American Race (Tiger Tom Pistone picture)
Richard in traffic with other convertibles (Ray Lamm picture)
Beauchamp, Weatherly & Lee Petty mixing it up (J.C. Hayes picture)
Some moving pictures!
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 02/22/20 11:31:48AM