Two of my favorites from a year earlier:
The ORIGINAL 7x CHAMP...
...and the uh-oh, advance-prep, and humorously unusable headline.
Interesting to see Lake Speed's name on the pit wall. I didn't realize his Cup career started that early. Checked Racing Reference to learn 1980 was indeed his rookie year. I remember his Yazoo Mowers red 17 car in the early 80s & of course his tearful top 5 finish at Daytona with Nationwise Auto Parts (not NationWIDE Insurance) with Rahmoc around 85 or so. But seeing him in that 1980 season was surprising.
My bet is when the dust settles, Matt remains with the 17, Ford, and RFR - and with a raise. But ... if he makes the jump, seems it would be to Gibbs vs. Penske. One, he respects Mark Martin a lot. Mark may be giving some ideas about life outside of Roush in general and with Toyota specifically. Two, it seems to me too much could go wrong with a move to Penske. With The Captain's change to Ford, I'm not sure Jack would like selling engines to the competitor who hired his former driver.
I'm not a huge autograph hound. But Hersh is one I'd like to have - especially on a pic I've got of his 04 gold & dark blue Petty-built Charger from 1974.
Holy cow. That is quite the field. Finishing 4th was Hershel McGriff. Ol' Hersh is still kicking. He raced as recently as Saturday in the K&N race at Sonoma - finishing 18th. All 80 some-odd years of him. Simply amazing.
http://www.racing-reference.info/race/2012_Pick-N-Pull_Racing_To_Stop_Hunger_200/P
I refer to myself as toomuchcountry.
My wife is notenoughcountry.
My son is toomuchtexting.
My daughter is toomuchculture.
If my dog Winston was still alive, I reckon I'd have to refer to him as toomanyfleas!
Richard wins his first career race in a Dodge in the Lone Star 500 at Texas World Speedway under a brutally hot Texas sun:
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/06/june-25-this-day-in-petty-history.html
Some interesting sidebar trivia (at least to me it was) about Richard Childress, Doc Faustina, Pete Hamilton, and Petty Enterprises with this race.
For a moment, I thought Tony Eury Jr. was gonna lay a whupping upside Jackie V's head. If he had, JV may have ended up looking like an unmasked Darth Vader.
Going back just a few short years, Petty Enterprises reprised the use of offset racing stripes. Kyle's Petty Blue Dodge had them in the 2006 season-ender at Homestead.
The King begins a three-race winning streak at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in SC.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/06/june-24-this-day-in-petty-history.html
The accident that began with a problematic water truck reminded me of an accident with a problematic driver that ended with water.
