It was not easy finding a date for the History Minute for this date that did not represent a win by either Richard or Lee Petty. March 5th must have been a great date for races if you were a Petty as the first four races I found on this date were Petty victories. I leave those races for my good friend TMC Chase as HE is the Petty Historian and does a fantastic job. Perhaps he will add one or more of those races to today's report.
Today we head out west to the 2.5 mile track known as Ontario Motor Speedway. All the photos and videos I've ever seen of that track indicates it was a beautiful facility, built somewhat on the design of Indy, but sort of in a class by itself.
A. J. Foyt, winner of the previous 500 at Ontario, parked his Wood Brothers Mercury on the pole with a qualifying speed of 153.217 mph. Even though the track was 2.5 miles, same length as Daytona, banking on the Ontario turns was practically non-existent, thereby giving such a lower speed. Bobby Allison, in a Richard Howard Chevrolet, would start second, Richard Petty in the Petty Enterprises Plymouth third, Buddy Baker in the Petty Enterprises Dodge fourth, and Bobby Isaac in the K&K Dodge fifth. There were 51 cars starting the race in rows of 3 abreast, akin to the Indy 500. There was more Indy influence there than just the track design.
A. J. Foyt would show Wood Brothers dominance by leading 145 laps of the 200. Others to lead were Bobby Isaac, Ray Elder, Bobby Allison, Benny Parsons, Buddy Bakerand Richard Petty. However, the other leaders were in front for just a few laps at a time before being overtaken by the flying Foyt. It was just a Wood Brothers kind of day. As dominant as Foyt was, the lead did change hands a total of 25 times between 7 drivers.
It was during this race that Richard Petty recorded a milestone event worth the noting. On the 80th of the 200 laps, Petty recorded his 100,000 mile complete in Cup racing. Although that was probably mostly overlooked at the time, it was a milestone not matched by anyone at that time.
On lap 45, Bobby Isaac hooked the left rear of Mark Donohue and both cars crashed hard into the wall. Donohue was unhurt, but Isaac climbed from his car, walked to the infield grass and collapsed. He was treated for a bruised shoulder in the infield hospital and released. Isaac accepted responsibility for the accident although he did point out that Donohue moved down to pass another car when Isaac was "there". That was the second new K&K Dodge destroyed in the new year.
A crowd of 68,498 watched the race under a bright California sun. The race was also televised, in part, by ABC Sports and it ran opposite a professional basketball game. The telecast drew a 8.3 rating for the first half hour but increased to 12.3 in the second part of the race. This is of interest as both races thus far in 2014 have drawn less than a 5.0 rating.
Finishing Order:
1. A. J. Foyt, Wood Brothers Mercury, winning $31,695.00
2. Bobby Allison, Richard Howard Chevy,winning $16,945.00 (4.2 secs back)
3. Buddy Baker, Petty Enterprises Dodge, winning $11,670.00
4. Richard Petty, Petty Enterprises Plymouth, winning $9,970.00 (1 lap down)
5. Ray Elder, Fred Elder Dodge, winning $5,545.00 (6 laps down)
6. Hershel McGriff
7. James Hylton
8. Marty Robbins
9. Elmo Langley
10. Ramo Stott
11.Jimmy Finger
12. Jack McCoy
13. John Soares, Jr.
14. Benny Parsons
15.Bill Butts
16. Cliff Garner
17. Johnny Anderson
18. Dick Bown
19. J. C. Danielson
20. Bill Champion
21. Ben Arnold
22. Kevin Terris
23. J. D. McDuffie
24. Mike James
25. Dean Dalton
26. Raymond Williams
27. Jim Whitt
28. George Altheide
29. Bob Kauf
30. Carl Adams
31. Henley Gray
32. Charles Roberts
33. Chuck Bown
34. Les Loester
35. Ron Gautsche
36. Cecil Gordon
37. Dick Kranzler
38. Don White
39. Gene Romaro
40. G. T. Tallas
41. Red Farmer
42. Earl Canavan
43. Frank Warren
44. Mark Donohue
45. Bobby Isaac
46. Bill Osborne
47. Walter Ballard
48. Don Noel
49. George Follmer
50. David Ray Boggs
51. Jim Vandiver
PERSONAL MEMORIES: Actually, I don't recall seeing this race televised by ABC so either I wasn't keeping up with the television listings or it received very little advertisement here. But, being located in Columbia, South Carolina, it is a pretty safe bet to assume our local ABC affiliate had some college basketball game to televise. Our local affiliates for ABC, CBS, and NBC here in Columbia go overboard in coverage of college sports, be it football, basketball or baseball, in an effort to appeal to the major university fans of both Clemson and Carolina.
I do have special memories of the Ontario Motor Speedway though as every time I did see a video or picture from that track, and finally in the later years some televised races live from the facility, I always thought it a beautiful track and the competition was good, in my opinion. It was a shame to lose that track but we lost Riverside which I truly enjoyed and Ontario. That left us Somona which is passable as a road course and the Fontana debacle. While doing these History Minutes I have discovered several Grand National races run in California in the early days so the interest for the sport is there, or was there. Not sure where that interest may be now but thinking about it, all the Beach Boy songs were about drag racing and little old ladies in a hotrod superstock Dodge, with none about oval track racing. Perhaps, and just perhaps, that may be the problem, if, indeed, there is a problem.
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: 03/05/19 08:46:59PM
