Today, April 8, was the anniversary of another memorable Petty moment - unfortunately, however, it wasn't a win. He waged an epic battle with Darrell Waltrip in the waning laps of the 1979 CRC Chemicals 500 at Darlington. The two of them swapped the lead repeatedly making breathtaking moves lap after lap. With 2 or 3 to go, even Donnie Allison stuck his nose in briefly - but couldn't pry the top 2 spots from DW or The King.
When the checkers fell, it was ... sigh... the Gatorade Chevy that won. Dagnab it.
The race is also known for what I thought would never happen - the Wood Brothers and David Pearson separated a few days after the 21 car left pit road without lug nuts on the left side tires. Sure nuff, those things are needed as David soon found out. Both tires *poof* came off, Pearson sat helplessly, and a couple of days later Neil Bonnett got a huge bump in his career as he took over for Pearson.
Love hearing Jackie Stewart on these ABC WWS telecasts.
Short version w/finish:
Part 1 (starts B&W and eventually gets back to color) :
Part 2 - begins with 21's pit problem:
Part 3:
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM