Racing History Minute - July 19, 1958
Stock Car Racing History
Preview article I found in the Buffalo Courier Express indicated a field of jalopy cars would race a couple of heats and a feature race.
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Stock Car Racing History
Racing History Minute - July 19, 1958
Stock Car Racing History
Some race preview ads and the race report from the Buffalo Courier Express.
Racing History Minute - July 19, 1958
Stock Car Racing History
Some video footage of racing at Buffalo's Civic Stadium. I don't think any of it is from the 58 GN race, but you'll need an idea of the stands and the racing surface. Also, beginning about the 10 minute mark, the video includes some footage of modifieds racing at Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto - the same track the GN cars ran on July 18, 1958.
Racing History Minute - July 19, 1958
Stock Car Racing History
Excerpted from my July 18, 1958 blog post:
Though not a Petty win, the Buffalo race does include a Petty-related trivia nugget. Twice in NASCAR's history has the pole speed been slower than the average race speed. The first time was in 1955 at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY when Lee Petty's race speed was about 4 MPH greater than his pole-winning speed. The second time was in the 1958 Buffalo race. Reed's 48 MPH average race speed was 10 MPH faster than Rex White's pole speed of 38 MPH - apparently the slowest pole speed for a NASCAR GN / Cup race. As he did the night before in Toronto, White raced a Chevrolet fielded by ... Lee's brother, Julian Petty.
As seemed to be the case a lot in those formative years of NASCAR, Buffalo was a one-and-done track for the Grand National series. Toronto the night before? Same deal. One race there & that was it.
A head-scratcher for me is why Richard raced 42A at Buffalo after racing #142 at Toronto the night before. Seems likely they'd just race the car as-is on both nights. But after Lee roughed up Richard at Toronto, perhaps Richard and his skeleton crew had to beat out the door panels. If so, they may have the opportunity to repaint the car number choosing the use 42A vs. 142. Dunno - pure speculation.
Racing History Minute - July 19, 1958
Stock Car Racing History
Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal
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updated by @tmc-chase: 07/19/17 10:37:23AM
Unexpected Petty trivia of the day
Stock Car Racing History
Dave - I found that book on-line last night after posting this column & "wish listed" it on Amazon to consider when I get home this weekend.
Found the same article too - which provided ANOTHER thread to pull. Lisa Huffman is quoted from Randleman. I wondered if she is related at all to former Miss Winston Pattie Huffman who married Kyle Petty. I'm not really sure where Pattie is from.
Unexpected Petty trivia of the day
Stock Car Racing History
So my blogs continue about the winning history of the Pettys. And I just concluded sharing a 10-day, 10-part interview series between Gene Granger and The King. So what to share next about the Pettys?
How about ... REAL ESTATE & MASSAGE PARLORS! Whoo-Hoo!
A year or so ago, RR member (but rare contributor here) Jerry Bushmire emailed me an interesting article. I'm not sure the date of it. But based on the font, the accompanying graphic, and the references to Lee and Pure Oil, I'm guessing its late 1960s.
Seems Petty Enterprises planned to develop a parcel of land in a multi-use facility - auto service center, warehousing, hotel, etc.
I've searched Google for the real estate agent's name - Leonard Berger - without any viable hits. So I know absolutely nothing about him - nor am I sure if the Dutch Inn deal was ever started much less completed.
But apparently the property DID get developed in some fashion. As I learned in this January 1979 Spartanburg Herald Journal article, Richard took offense to a few local business establishments that opened near the property in Charlotte owned by him and brother Maurice.
One interesting aspect of the following article is that Bill Frazier is noted as the manager for Richard. I had 2 immediate questions:
- Is this the same Bill Frazier who was involved with MRO?
- When did Jimmy Martin become Richard's business manager?
With respect to my first question, I just learned Bill Frazier DID work for the Pettys - the same one who founded MRO. Whether he was Richard's "business manager" isn't clear. But at least with respect to this real estate venture, Frazier spoke for The King.
Read more here about Frazier and his connection to the Pettys.
http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20121204/COLUMNISTS/121209995?p=all&tc=pgall
And here is a related story from The Dispatch of Lexington NC. I'm guessing business hassles like this one didn't exactly help Richard recover from his ulcer surgery.
updated by @tmc-chase: 07/03/17 11:07:52AM
July 18, 1958: The King's era begins
Stock Car Racing History
Yes. Included in this blog post:
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-18-this-day-in-petty-history-part-2.html
updated by @tmc-chase: 07/17/17 05:12:20PM
July 18, 1958: The King's era begins
Stock Car Racing History
I'd be remiss if I didn't bump this on July 18th.