Notable: Runner-up Joe Weatherly was the only other driver on the lead lap in Petty’s third consecutive win.
Notable: A rare instance where foreign cars were permitted - Austin-Healey, Alfa Romeo and MG were among the automakers represented. 25-mile asphalt track in Winston-Salem, N.C. Notable: One of a handful of wins for the King in a car not numbered 43. Notable: Petty led all 200 laps in the only premier-series race hosted by the Huntsville track, which is still in weekly operation today. Notable: Petty drove one of only two Plymouths in the 21-car field, winning by more than three laps over runner-up Jack Smith. Track: Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway. 8 RacingOne | ISC Archives via Getty Images Notable: Event marked the first race in more than a year for Lee Petty, Richard’s father, who returned from injuries suffered in a qualifying race the previous season at Daytona. Final career start for NASCAR Hall of Famer Herb Thomas. Notable: Petty led the final 82 laps, taking command when Ned Jarrett exited with engine failure.
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Notable: Victory helped Petty win the pole for NASCAR’s longest race qualifier also marked the series debut for NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Isaac. Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile track in Concord, N.C. Notable: Petty led 182 of 200 laps to top the 12-car field, one of the smallest in series history. Notable: Petty led all 110 laps to notch his first win from the pole position. Notable: The race inspired a 2013 song by Nashville group Wild Ponies called “Massey’s Run,” with lyrics telling the story from the perspective of runner-up Jimmy Massey. 2 RacingOne | ISC Archives via Getty Images Notable: Petty won in his 35th career start in NASCAR’s premier series, collecting $800 in prize money. What follows is both a document of two and a half decades of competitive excellence at NASCAR’s highest level and a tribute to one of the sport’s legendary champions. 43, a thought that seems like heresy today. The King’s wins in cars numbered something higher than No. The time that vandals sabotaged cars ahead of a Talladega event in the 1970s. The race red-flagged for observance of a funeral at a nearby cemetery. When NASCAR’s premier series said farewell to racing on dirt in 1970, it was Petty who gave it a triumphant send-off.Īnd oh, the oddities. Then the races in NASCAR’s infancy without names at all.ĭale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Bill Elliott all made their debuts in races that Petty won.
The races sponsored by beer brands of a bygone time: Falstaff, Tuborg, Schaefer. The wins with automakers now relegated to the history books: Plymouth, Pontiac, Oldsmobile. The wins with multiple-lap margins of victory. There were the battles with Hall of Famers: Pearson, Isaac, Yarborough, Allison. The exercise provided a glimpse into not only Petty’s greatness, but how much stock-car racing changed during his prime. For each of Petty’s seven thoroughly documented Daytona 500 triumphs, there’s a substantially larger number of weekday wins on semi-obscure short tracks, several of which are long since gone.īut armed with Racing-Reference and access to newspaper clippings, we pressed on with capsules for all 200 wins. The reason: Short of a herculean effort to scour the archives of numerous speedways, fans and drivers, no readily accessible photos exist for some of Petty’s earliest victories. The photo gallery did not hit the double-century mark, instead rounding out at 80 photos to coincide with the 80th birthday festivities. The Petty project that developed was a hybrid - one part photo gallery of iconic images and one part research paper, both offering a tour through NASCAR’s history from the perspective of its winningest driver. What I intended to say was: “Great! I gleefully accept the assignment.” What I actually blurted out, with concern for organizing and maintaining a 200-slide photo gallery, was: “What? That’ll be like flushing all the toilets in the building at the same time.”Įditor’s note: We did that gallery for Kyle Busch, though. Boss starts dreaming big: “What about a photo gallery with all 200 wins?” The conversation started several weeks ago, bouncing around ideas for Richard Petty’s 80th birthday celebration. We present it again as he celebrates his 85th. Editor’s note: This article originally ran July 2, 2017, to mark the occasion of Richard Petty’s 80th birthday.
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