For some of us, 1969 was a horrible, horrible year. It was the year that Richard Petty uttered a 4-letter word - "FORD" - and switched to that brand in NASCAR Grand National racing, forsaking (for 1 year only) the Plymouth brand that had taken him to fame and an unbelievable string of victories.
Mopar and Richard fans were heart broken. If you weren't around at the time, you can't understand the magnitude of the heartbreak. We can only imagine what might have been had Richard driven for Plymouth in 1969.
You may be familiar with an Upstate South Carolina string band / bluegrass group from Prater's Creek in Aiken County named The Drovers Old Time Medicine Show. I first became aware of them a few years back when I was looking up information about the late Johnny Unitas, quarterback of the Baltimore Colts.
On their 2004 "Dreamland" album, the group paid homage to several sports heroes with songs titled "The Johnny Unitas Song (Grandpa's Dream #19)"; "Brooks Robinson (Grandpa's Dream #5)" and "Never Die Easy - The Walter Payton Song (Grandpa's Dream #34)" - all available to hear on YouTube.
I somehow missed a song that could have provided a little solace in later life to those of us forced to endure the King's 1969 flaunting in our face of the Dearborn nameplate.
I thought folks like TMC-Chase and Tim Leeming might enjoy this 2004 release as well as folks who enjoy hillbilly songs, fast driving songs, bluegrass songs and songs about drinking. If you've heard it before, forgive me. Here's '69 Roadrunner (Grandpa's Dream #1) about a beep beep Plymouth. Enjoy as they cross the Georgia line down into Johnny Mallonee and Bill McPeek territory!
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM