1966 Peach Blossom 500

As has been noted before, Paul Goldsmith won the one and only Peach Blossom 500 at Rockingham in the spring of 1966. A sidebar piece of trivia about the race is that The King, Richard Petty, didn't race in it. Trying to rekindle his youth as a high school football phenom, he messed up the ligaments in the finger of his left hand- enough so to require surgery and it turn miss the race at the Rock.

But he still got to enjoy the spoils of victory from his 2nd Daytona 500 win. Though in retrospect, I can't help but laugh at the full-length cast he had to wear for finger surgery.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Darel Dieringer was hired to race the 43 and keep the Pride of Plymouth on the track. Unfortunately, Dieringer's day was a short one as he crashed and finished a dismal 35th.

With the King sporting a fist of plaster and Darel parked, the Petty Enterprises crew rallied to assist one of their own. They helped pit Jim Paschal - a former teammate at Petty Enterprises and fellow Plymouth driver.

More pics from the race to follow. Had to get these Petty related ones posted while they were "hot off the press".

All pics from Southern Motorsports Journal.

I won't bore everyone by reposting, but the link below describes some of my memories of that race that I recounted here the other year, my first visit to Rockingham:

http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/current-nascar/5901/rockingham-race-train-washington-dc-to-the-track

Cool stuff i remember Goldsmith winning the race but did not no about Pettys finger

The Freidkin #14 was painted maroon that day.

Do you know whose tires Darel Dieringer used to get the Petty car qualified at the Peach Blossom 500?

Hin t: Before he won the Sunday race, pole sitter, Paul Goldsmith earned the nickname "The Banker" from fellow competitors at Rockingham.

* First, Goldsmith talked his car owner, Ray Nichels into loaning a set of gears to Lee Roy Yarbrough to qualify his car.

* Then Goldsmith loaned the same set of tires he qualified on to Sam McQuagg to get in the show.

* Next up to use the Goldsmith tires was Fred Lorenzen's factory Ford... pretty unbelievable, huh?

* Finally, the tires were loaned to Darel Dieringer and the Pettys for qualifying.

Dieringer in the Petty Plymouth became the fourth driver to qualify on the same set of tires. Anybody know if that is a record?

Good thing they didn't have the rule about starting on the same set of tires you qualified on, heh?. This was back in the days of the soft "great smoking blue gumball" qualifying tires and qualifying engines.

Now you can't make up this stuff.

Here's a link below to the Associated Press story describing Goldsmith becoming "The Banker" at the first, last and only Peach Blossom 500!

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Vm8hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=R4oFAAAA...

Obviously has to be more to the story, right? I believe I've read teams could bring their own tires and mix and match compounds over the weekend to see what worked best for them. But this goes beyond that normal practice.

I have a feeling Goldsmith's team had something nice, sumpin reeeeeeallly nice juiced up in those tires.

Maybe it was Ray Nichels who taught Richard Childress how to soak tires.

Here is another one of The King and Dieringer in the Daytona Beach Morning Journal .

Hey, pull my finger would ya? Don't do it Darel!

But oh the irony. Paul still won but it wasn't without some challenges - including his shoes!

Article also from The Tuscaloosa News

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