Racing History Minute - December 8, 1968

Race number 2 of the 1969 season was actually run on December 8, 1968. Although Richard Petty was to drive a Ford for the 1969 season, he would be making his last run in a Plymouth (until 1970) in the "Alabama 200" contested on the half-mile paved track located in Montgomery, Alabama. Richard would put his Plymouth on the pole with a speed of 80.899 mph.

Bobby Isaac would start the K&K Insurance Dodge in second, Bobby Allison in a Friedkin Enterprises Plymouth would start third, James Hylton in his own Dodge fourth and Red Farmer in the J. D. Bracken Chevrolet fifth.

Richard led the first 9 laps before giving way to Bobby Isaac. Isaac would stay in front until lap 45 when Petty would slip by. On lap 54 it was Isaac again and he would stay in front until lap 67. Richard took over again on lap 68 and remained out front until lap 143. Bobby Allison got by and led from lap 144 to lap 167 before it was Petty out front again. Petty would lead all the way except for the last 100 feet to the finish line as Allison moved around him to win by less than 4 feet.

Only 2,800 fans showed up on a very blustery and cold day in Montgomery. They watched as Petty retook the lead on lap 168 and was pulling away from a fading Allison. On lap 191, Roy Tyner blew an engine in his Pontiac which brought out the caution flag. Allison hit the pits for two outside tires but Richard remained on the track, opting for track position.

The green flew again with two laps to go. Allison, with the new tire, sliced through the field of 17 remaining cars and came charging into Petty's mirror on the white flag lap. As the cars came off turn four, Allison slipped by and they raced to the line with Allison's Plymouth beating the Petty Mopar by four feet.

Richard was visibly disappointed not to win his last race in the Plymouth and said afterwards that " I didn't figure he could catch up in one or two laps but he did". Allison was shaking his head and saying "I ain't believing this. We were out with 10 laps to go and here I am in victory lane".

Finishing order:

1. Bobby Allison, Friedkin Enterprises Plymouth, winning $1,000.00

2.Richard Petty, Petty Enterprises Plymouth, winning $600.00

3.James Hylton, Hylton Engineering Dodge, winning $400.00 (5 laps down)

4.Bobby Isaac, K&K Insurance Dodge, winning $300.00 (7 laps down)

5. Neil Castles, Castles Plymouth, winning $275.00 (12 laps down)

PLEASE NOTE, RICHARD, TOP FIVE ALL CHRYSLER PRODCUTS!!!!!!!

6. John Sears

7. Ben Arnold

8. Henley Gray

9. Cecil Gordon

10. Dave Marcis

11. Ervin Pruett

12. Earl Brooks

13.J. D. McDuffie

14. Jabe Thomas

15. Bill Ervin

16. Lee Gordon

17. Ed Negre

18. Roy Tyner

19. Wendell Scott

20. Red Farmer

21. Elmo Langley

22. Sherril Pruitt

Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future

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What a change! It's been awhile since I've checked in and I'm quite surprised. It may take me awhile to figure it our but first look it's really great.


updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

About a year ago, I blogged about this race as a tie-in to a friend's birthday.

https://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/12/december-10-this-day-in-shof-history.html

The race was originally scheduled for November 24, 1968 - a week after Petty's win in the 1969 season-opener at Middle Georgia Raceway near Macon, Ga. But after back-to-back Sunday rainouts, the race was re-scheduled for what turned out to be a cold day on December 8.

Not only was the race thought to be the final one for Petty in a Plymouth, Montgomery coincidentally was also Allison's final race in a Plymouth. Largely a Chevy guy, Allison raced just about every car brand throughout his career. In late 1968, however, he signed on to drive Tom Friedken's Plymouths. In a limited time as a car owner, Friedken's Plymouths were raced by some great drivers including Jim Paschal (also a former Petty Enterprises driver) and Curtis Turner.

As I understand it, Friedken's #14 cars were generally painted somewhat of a slate-blue such as the one shown here from 1968.

From what I've gleaned, however, the colors were changed when Allison joined the team for a handful of races in late '68. While I was unable to find an actual photo from the race, I learned this very nice model build is an indication of how great the car looked.

The paint scheme foreshadowed Allison's future a bit. From 1970 through 1974, Bobby drove a Dodge, Ford, and Chevrolet for different car owners but with common sponsorship by Coca-Cola. The scheme Friedken ran on Bobby's Montgomery-winning Plymouth turned out to be very similar to the one used during the early 70s.

RR and fellow Petty fan, Jerry Bushmire, provided me this NSSN headline and article.

I did have to laugh at the thought of the expression the Allisons and their family and friends may have had when they turned to the sports page of the Tuscaloosa News , the paper near Hueytown, to see this headline:

Russ Thompson provided me this full page scan of the NSSN published after the race.

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/08/19 03:11:05PM

When Jim Paschal first teamed with Tom Friedkin in 1965, Friedkin's car was a 1965 Chevy #41 painted a good looking reddish / burgundy as seen below in the Southern 500 at Darlington:

The first Jim Paschal / Tom Friedkin Plymouths - in 1966 - were painted this same good looking reddish / burgundy color combination. I had terrific 8mm color film of Paschal in the #14 burgundy Friedkin Plymouth battling Cale at Rockingham in the inaugural (and only) Peach Blossom 500. My eyesight and my color 8mm film confirmed that the car was much more of a burgundy than the more red models and few color photos (that need color correction) indicate - such as the photo below:

In 1968, also, my racing hero, "Mr. Modified" Ray Hendrick of Richmond at age 39, was allowed to drive the Friedkin Plymouth. He competed in 4 short track events - South Boston, Langley Field, Richmond and Martinsville - posting a 5th, a 6th and two 7th place finishes.

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

Chase, you had previously posted the two photos below on January 30, 2013 of Paschal at Rockingham when he drove the burgundy 1966 Friedkin Enterprises Plymouth #14 in the March 13, 1966 Peach Blossom 500. How I wish it was in color. The battle Jim put on for the lead with Cale Yarborough in the #27 orange/red Banjo Matthews Ford remains the best side-by-side battle I've ever seen at a superspeedway.

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"