June 25th - A Lee Petty Daily Double

First - a Happy Birthday to my daughter who turns 15 today on June 25th. Oh where has the time gone. And what is a dad to get except a learner's permit and a stomach ulcer.

On to racing.

Lee Petty won twice on June 25th. The first time was in 1954 at Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester, NY. Herb Thomas won the pole for the 200-lap, 100-mile race on the half-mile dirt track and finished 2nd to Lee. Dick Rathaman, Buck Baker and Hershel McGriff rounded out the top 5.

The '54 Rochester race is one of a handful where I've all but struck out finding much information beyond Greg Fielden's recap in Forty Years of Stock Car Racing. I'm hoping someone here knows more about the race and help supplement what I've blogged here:

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-25-1954-lee-petty-romps-to.html

Lee's 2nd June 25th win was in 1958 at Lincoln Speedway near New Oxford, PA. Ken Rush won the pole while driving for ... Julian Petty. Buck Baker finished second, and Bob Welborn finished third in a second Julian Petty entry. Future Petty Enterprises driver - Jim Paschal - finished seventh. Also, Mario Rossi made his final start as a driver in this race.

Lincoln Speedway still runs an active program of dirt cars today.

Read on for more.

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-25-1958-lee-pettys-pennsylvania.html

Happy birthday to little msTMC!

Lee was the man. Imagine if he hadn't been hurt.

If anyone ever wants to shell out $3.95, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper did a story in 2007 on the Monroe County Fairgrounds and its NASCAR history. Here's the link to their archive where the article may be purchased:

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/democratandchronicle/access/1736645591.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+29%2C+2007&author=Bob+Marcotte&pub=Rochester+Democrat+and+Chronicle&edition=&startpage=B.3&desc=Track+at+fairgrounds+is+part+of+NASCAR%27s+history" target="_blank"> http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/democratandchronicle/access/1736645591....

That's actually a good point Dave. I've been reluctant to pass for research as part of this effort. But I am trying to be open minded to spend a nickel or two here and there if I'm certain I can learn something. I've bought 3-4 old issues of Southern Motorsports Journal and Illustrated Speedway News and gleaned some neat things. I haven't bought archived newspaper articles b/c I'm unsure what is written beyond the abstract & whether its worth the money. But absent much more for Rochester, you've given me something to think about. I'm also planning to check with Nashville's library to see if they have an interlibrary loan program where I can get some microfilm from Rochester's paper from back in the 50s.

Better late than never I suppose. I finally landed on some archival material for Lee Petty's June 25, 1954 win at Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester NY. I'll true up my blog entry about the race later. But for now, I'll share what I imaged this afternoon from the archives of the Rochester Democrat Chronicle newspaper.

June 20 edition preview article

June 22 edition preview article - Good grief! Look at promo shot of Hershel McGriff!

June 25 race day preview article

June 26 race report - Lee Petty the race winner

Love those preview stories, especially the Hershel McGriff one. Thanks, Chase.