January 19, 1972 - Andy Granatelli hosts a press conference in Chicago to announce a sponsorship by STP of Richard Petty and Buddy Baker. The NASCAR game changed forever. (Interesting that the sponsorship was reported that Andy 'purchased' Petty Enterprises.)
TMC
I heard when Andy was meeting with Richard, Maurice and Dale (I suppose). Andy wanted the STP colors, and he said "I want the car to be red and blue" Richard wanted it Blue and Red, and when Andy wouldn't agree, the Petty guys walked out, only to be stopped at the door and Andy agreed to have the car painted BLUE and red. haha
The King left Chicago with a hand shake agreement with Granatelli. Andy apparently said something about "now if you change your mind about the color..."
Richard said when the paper contract arrived there was a clause in it offering an extra $50,000 or something like that for an all-red car. Richard marked it out, passed on the 50 g's, and continued with the day-glo red and Petty blue combo.
