Richard Petty’s 10 Greatest Races

JULY 12, 1958, COLUMBIA
200-lap NASCAR Convertible division race at Columbia Speedway
Ten days after his 21st birthday, Richard Petty and cousin Dale Inman hauled a 1957 Oldsmobile convertible owned by his famous racing father, Lee, down to the half-mile dirt track at Columbia for a 200-lapper.
Petty qualified 13th in the 25-car field and finished sixth. The race didn’t count in his Grand National/Winston/Sprint Cup career, because it was a convertible race. But if you ask Petty where it all began…
JULY 18, 1958, TORONTO, CANADA
100-lap Grand National race at Canadian National Exposition Speedway
Less than a week after Petty’s convertible debut, he made his first “official” start, in NASCAR’s top Grand National division, and learned about life among the big boys.
Petty’s father Lee was racing Cotton Owens when they came up behind him and he pulled over to let them by: “Cotton went on by, but Daddy bumped me in the rear, and my car went right into the wall,” Petty said. He finished 17th in the 19-car field.
JULY 18, 1959, COLUMBIA
200-lap NASCAR Convertible Division race at Columbia Speedway
This one wouldn’t count as one of Petty’s 200 career victories because the convertibles were in a separate NASCAR division, but ask Petty about his first victory, see above.
The 22-year-old’s brand-new Plymouth took the checkered flag ahead of veteran Jack Smith — no margin of victory was listed — and he won $900.
When he was asked how it felt to finally break the ice, in true Petty fashion he said: “The only difference I can tell is that first place pays more than second.”
FEB. 28, 1960, CHARLOTTE, N.C.
200-lap NASCAR Grand National Division race at Charlotte Fairgrounds.
It was official. Petty won his first Grand National/Winston Cup event, and he was off to the races. Before it was all over, he added 199 more for a record that will never be broken.
Petty got a little help when his father “bumped” Rex White’s Chevy with 13 laps to go. Petty’s strategy was to pass White when he hit a bump in the first turn. Guess it depends on your definition of “bump.”
“I didn’t hurt his chances,” said his dad.
MAY 13, 1967, DARLINGTON
Rebel 400, Darlington Raceway
Petty had not begun his unbelievable 10-for-10 win streak that earned him the nickname “The King” later that year, but his Rebel victory may have been more significant in the long run.
It was the 55th win of his career, breaking the all-time wins record set by his father six years earlier. Typically, Petty said, “There’s been a lot of fuss lately over me breaking Daddy’s record… . As far was we’re concerned, the Petty family has 109 wins.”
SEPT. 4, 1967, DARLINGTON SOUTHERN 500
In California they called it “The Summer of Love,” but back on the right coast it was the Year of Petty. His dominant victory at Darlington (he led all but 19 laps) was the fourth win in a 10-race win streak, and one of his record 27 victories of the year.
As it turned out, it was Petty’s only win in the Southern 500 (NASCAR’s first “big race”) and one of only three at the storied track. His father never won at Darlington.
“Even if we win the rest of the races, this is the biggest thrill,” Petty said. “We’ve been trying to win this race for 18 years.”
FEB. 15, 1976, DAYTONA, FLA.
DAYTONA 500
This was not a win for Petty, but it is often regarded as the greatest race in NASCAR history. Petty was leading on the last lap when he was passed on the backstretch by rival David Pearson.
Petty tried to get inside Pearson coming off the final corner, but the two made contact, causing both cars to spin in to the grass just short of the finish line. Petty’s car stalled about 100 feet short, but Pearson was able to keep his car running and limp over the finish line for the win.
“Whenever David and I hooked up, everyone knew it was going to be exciting,” Petty said. “We raced hard.”
NOV. 15, 1992, HAMPTON, GA.
HOOTERS 500, ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Petty wanted to end his career in a blaze of glory but, he said after the checkered flag fell, “We forgot about the ‘glory’ part.”
There was entirely too much going on for one race. Bill Elliott and Alan Kulwicki were chasing Davey Allison down to the wire for the Winston Cup championship; Allison crashed, Elliott won the race and Kulwicki, by leading one extra lap, won the title. And a young kid named Jeff Gordon had his first Winston Cup start.
In the 1,177th start of his 35-year career, Petty got tangled up in a wreck early, caught fire, and his crew spent the rest of the afternoon fixing his car so that his racing career could end with the seven-time champion still on his feet.
“When it was over, nobody left,” Petty said. “There was so much going on that everyone just hung around and enjoyed the moment.”
— Compiled by Jim McLaurin
Source: Author Greg Fielden’s series of books on NASCAR racing.

Nearly a half a century ago, somewhere on a darkened two-lane road between Columbia and Level Cross, N.C., Richard Petty had his moment of epiphany.
The 21-year-old had been around racing since his dad, Lee, took the family sedan down to Charlotte in 1949 and wrecked it in the first NASCAR race. This moment was different.
As the three young adventurers headed home on that night of July 12, 1958, the younger Petty finally realized what he had done that day.
“I don’t know that there was a time during the race because I was busy. But just going up the road I was thinking, ‘You know, that wasn’t bad. I liked that,’” the 70-year old racing icon said this month as he recalled the day of his first race.
“I do know that going home, with me and Dale Inman and Red Myler in a pickup truck, we got out of a town about the North Carolina border. I told Dale, ‘You know what? I think I’m gon’ like this driving.’”
Coming from a guy who would later be known simply as “The King,” that could have been the understatement of the generation of hard-bitten men who turned stock car racing from little more than a legal joy ride for bootleggers into a mainstream sport.

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June 27, 1965
Cale Yarborough drives Kenny Myler’s Ford to his first career NASCAR Grand National win at Valdosta, Georgia. Yarborough takes the lead 18 laps from the finish when engine problems end G.C. Spencer’s bid for victory.

Daytona 500 Heroes: Cale Yarborough