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Racing History Minute - May 20, 1979

Stock Car Racing History

Race report printed in The Reading Eagle .

And eventual winner Bonnett battling Cale Yarborough...

updated by @tmc-chase: 05/20/17 06:00:44PM

Racing History Minute - May 20, 1979

Stock Car Racing History

Qualifying was postponed because of rain. As it turns out, the one day delayed may have changed the course of Bonnett's career from May 1979 until his career and life were tragically ended at Daytona in 1994.

Imagine what would have happened had these plans unfolded. The Wood Brothers parted ways with David Pearson earlier in the spring. Throughout much of the 70s, the team and driver dominated qualifying for the Charlotte races. If Neil had indeed skipped the 600 for Indy, we're left to wonder who Leonard and Glen would have called to race their car. Think they could have patched things up with the Silver Fox for the one weekend? As it turns out, Neil DID go to Charlotte and the 21 team DID nab the pole as usual and as expected.

Source: The Evening Independent

Racing History Minute - May 20, 1979

Stock Car Racing History

Lee Greenawalt  has shared many cool photos from this race. Here are a few of them:

Richard Petty's OLDSMOBILE that only lasted 2 laps. He returned in the fall with a Monte Carlo and won the CRC Chemicals 500 on his way to his 7th Cup/GN championship.

 

The winner!

DW's Gatorade Chevy Caprice (or Impala depending on who you ask). Interesting to see the mix of models in the race - even from the GM camp.

Buddy Arrington still solidering in his Dodge Magnum - the brand that The King finally bailed on in mid 1978. The Dover race was 2 weeks after Buddy earned a popular 3rd place finish in the Winston 500 at Talladega.

A couple of rookies who would go on to have modicum of success in the Cup series - Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte.

updated by @tmc-chase: 05/20/17 06:00:13PM

Racing History Minute - May 19, 1962

Stock Car Racing History

David Pearson was presented an award during pre-race festivities. While the recognition was nice for David, the good vibe didn't transfer to the race. He led early but lost the engine and hit the showers early.

Race preview article from Spartanburg Herald Journal .

Racing History Minute - May 19, 1962

Stock Car Racing History

Here is the race report as published in the Spartanburg Herald Journal :

Racing History Minute - May 18, 1963

Stock Car Racing History

Here is the link to the blog entry I posted on this day a year ago. I didn't have much more to add though Jerry Bushmire did help me with a photo and article.

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/05/may-18-this-day-in-petty-history.html

updated by @tmc-chase: 05/18/17 12:10:30AM

May 17, 1953: Lee Master Martinsville

Stock Car Racing History

Lee Petty wins a 200-lap, 100-mile race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Yet as often was the case when Lee contended for a win, his victory involved some controversy.

Because of confusion with 'official' scoring by the teams and NASCAR (a tag-team effort from the early days of NASCAR until about 20 years ago), Petty was not credited with leading a lap. Yet, he was declared the winner of the race. Huh? What?

Read on for more:

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/05/may-17-1953-lee-petty-masters.html

updated by @tmc-chase: 05/17/17 10:17:15AM

Racing History Minute - May 17, 1959

Stock Car Racing History

In the same May 18 issue of the Daytona Beach Morning Journal in which the passing of Bob Flock was announced, the paper ran this neat photo of Fireball Roberts loving life on the beach. I wish we had a better copy of this fantastic pic vs. this scanned, low resolution, archival version. Who could ever believe less than 2 weeks later that he'd even up battling for his life.

Racing History Minute - May 17, 1959

Stock Car Racing History

Also, NASCAR's competitors and fans learned of sad news on Sunday, May 17, 1959. Late Saturday evening, May 16, Bob Flock passed away in Atlanta. Amazing how young he was.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal

Racing History Minute - May 17, 1959

Stock Car Racing History

Wire copy as published in the Reading Eagle