Richard started wearing what is now his iconic cowboy hats around 1979 or 1980 when Kyle & Pattie opened Kyle Petty's Boot Barn. Others like Cale and Earnhardt tried the cowboy look too - but they simply couldn't pull off the coolness of The King.
Saw the segment last night & thought it was very cool. Interesting to see the devotion and attention to detail by the woman who makes The King's hats. And she'd never met him - until they brought him in for that segment.
1969 Virginia 500 in a 43 Ford
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-27-this-day-in-petty-history-part_27.html
1975 Virginia 500 - the highs of a Martinsville weekend were followed by a haunting low 1 week later at Talladega
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-27-this-day-in-petty-history-part.html
Thanks to RR's Stephen Sanders for the use of his photo from the 75 race.
If the Commodore is indeed the brand Chevy rolls out, they have no choice. They'll have to bring back Elmo Langley's old number.
Without question, i am NOT an engineer. But I have lived my whole life in Tennessee. East TN winters don't compare to places like Minneapolis, Nome or Buffalo. But they can be quite brutal - especially when contrasted with hot summer days those other places don't have. Combine those extremes with 36 or so degreed banking and I THINK that's why the decision was made to replace the asphalt w/concrete. Doesn't necessarily make for better racing - but it does likely make for more cost effective track maintenance. I think continuing w/asphalt w/temp extremes and those turn angles was like trying to get Joan Rivers face lifts to stay.
Yet Bristol DID manage to do so from 1969 thru early 90s. And despite claims from the global warming crowd, the summer and winter temps of that area haven't changed that much. But... the tires have. That as much as anything is probably what contributed to the change from pavement to cement.
Also, Bruton was faced with a true reality. He has a short window to make a change & still be ready by August. There is only so much that can be done for now. If this change doesn't work, he's likely facing a more significant overhaul to be scheduled between August 2012 and March 2013... including work on some of those cold blustery East TN winter days.
Two years ago, I posted a brief intro & link to my blog post about Richard Petty's win at Martinsville on April 25, 1971. I thought I'd bring it back with expanded text and pics.
Starting third, Richard Petty leads 118 laps - including the final 88 - and wins the Virginia 500 at Martinsville for his 127th career NASCAR Winston Cup win.
Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers
Schaefer Ring of Honor Member and Petty Fan Lifer, Brian Hauck remembers:
I believe I was off from school on Spring Break because my family and I would not have been able to take in a Sunday race in Martinsville and make it back to New Jersey in time for Monday work/school. I remember we stayed in one of those little, flat roof, all-rooms-in-a-row, one floor, road side motels. We arrived there on Saturday and rented the room with no reservation in Martinsville on a race weekend. We parked next to the Speedway on the rolling hillsides right next to the duck pond! If you have never been to Martinsville, there is a duckpond to the left side of the track. The ducks have worn a path in the grass from traversing back and forth to the pond. Just another part of the charm of Martinsville Speedway.
Richard started from the 3rd position. While he was fast, it just seemed like he did not have anything for Donnie Allison. Allison was driving the Wood Brothers Mercury, and it was on a rail. After a round of pit stops, Richard seemed to get a handle on the track, and he and Allison raced side-by-side for 12 laps! There was a lot of rubbing, but neither driver made a dirty move. I think by racing Allison hard Richard caused Allison to overwork the car, and later on the engine gave up the ghost. With the only real competition gone, it looked as if Richard had this one in the bag!
Richard pitted under green right near the end and blew out of the pits without the gas cap secured. I saw it dangling as he exited pit row as we were seated right near the first turn. My heart sunk because I knew that was a rule violation and SURELY he would be black-flagged. As he came down the front stretch, NO black flag was shown. No radio headset or scanners in those days, and you could not hear the PA announcer once the cars started! What was going on? Is it possible NASCAR had not seen the cap? NO WAY!!! You could see it dangling on the safety wire EVERY LAP!! The white and the checkers were shown to Richard, and I knew surely it was in ERROR or most certainly after the race Pearson would be declared the winner! We went pitside after the race, and there seemed to be a lot of commotion. But Victory Lane ceremonies had been completed, and the teams were packing up. As we left Virginia, for the first time in my life, I felt some favoritism had been shown toward the King. The newspaper articles show the King was the winner that day, but to ME right and wrong had been clouded!
It is an interesting footnote that this race was run with only one, YES ONE caution flag! Martinsville and one caution flag DO NOT go together in the same sentence. Maybe another reason the outcome remained the same. The other thing is once again, the cars had run restrictor plates on a half-mile track !! At that time, it was NASCAR's way of handicapping the high-dollar teams to help the independent drivers. Also the first STP Plymouth was in this race, and it was driven by Fred Lorenzen. It was entirely STP day-glo red and looked like it was neon in the bright, Virginia sun!!
Next 4 pics from Brian Hauck
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Richard Petty | '71 Plymouth |
| 2 | David Pearson | '71 Ford |
| 3 | Bobby Isaac | '71 Dodge |
| 4 | Dave Marcis | '69 Dodge |
| 5 | James Hylton | '70 Ford |
| 6 | Bobby Allison | '71 Dodge |
| 7 | Cecil Gordon | '69 Mercury |
| 8 | Ron Keselowski | '70 Dodge |
| 9 | Neil Castles | '70 Dodge |
| 10 | Bill Seifert | '71 Ford |
| 11 | Roy Mayne | '69 Chevrolet |
| 12 | Elmo Langley | '70 Ford |
| 13 | Henley Gray | '69 Ford |
| 14 | Bill Dennis | '69 Ford |
| 15 | Donnie Allison | '71 Mercury |
| 16 | Benny Parsons | '70 Ford |
| 17 | Wendell Scott | '69 Ford |
| 18 | Jabe Thomas | '70 Plymouth |
| 19 | J.D. McDuffie | '69 Mercury |
| 20 | Fred Lorenzen | '71 Plymouth |
| 21 | John Sears | '69 Dodge |
| 22 | Larry Baumel | '69 Ford |
| 23 | Dick Brooks | '70 Dodge |
| 24 | Bill Champion | '71 Ford |
| 25 | Walter Ballard | '71 Ford |
| 26 | Dub Simpson | '69 Chevrolet |
| 27 | Earl Brooks | '69 Ford |
| 28 | Bill Shirey | '69 Plymouth |
| 29 | Frank Warren | '69 Plymouth |
| 30 | Ed Negre | '69 Plymouth |
The King led about 20% of the 1971 Virginia 500. But near the end, NASCAR officials swallowed their whistle, looked the other way, held the black flag, dragged their toes in an arc in the sand, and shrugged their shoulders asking "huh? um... what? who? " as RP won the race with his gas cap clearly not attached - a supposed violation of the rules. Blog includes good first hand commentary from Petty lifer and RR member, Brian Hauck.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-25-this-day-in-petty-history.html
Back in 1961, the Richmond track was a half-mile dirt track known as the race track at the Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds. In a record shared with only a few other races, a short field of only twelve cars started the race.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-23-this-day-in-petty-history-part.html
As part of RP's magical 27-win season in 1967, The King continued his mastery of Martinsville by winning the Virginia 500.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/04/april-23-this-day-in-petty-history-part_23.html
