Richard Petty

[66340SEDAN]

I think King Richard deserves a thread here on FABO, feel free to post any stories, memories, pictures, whatever you want to share about him or any other members of the Petty family :glasses7:

 

[66340SEDAN]

Richard had so much pull back in the day that in 1969 Dodge built the Daytona, Petty went to Ford that same year and was losing bad...... Plymouth wanted Petty back real back and said "what will it take?" Richard said he wanted a wing car so Plymouth designed the 1970 Plymouth Superbird just for him :glasses7:

Just think, no Richard Petty, no Superbird

 

[krazykuda]

When we were very little, we went to MIS to watch a race. About halfway through the race Richard Petty went out with a blown engine. The guy behind us yells the Plymouth slogan at the time, "Plymouth makes it..." Apparently not a fan of Plymouth.

At the end of the race, I believe it was Pete Hamilton who took the checkered flag followed by two more "winged cars". My brother (5 years old at the time) turns around and looks at the guy and says, "Plymouth makes it".... That guy was soo pissed off....

 

[krazykuda]

Richard had so much pull back in the day that in 1969 Dodge built the Daytona, Petty went to Ford that same year and was losing bad...... Plymouth wanted Petty back real back and said "what will it take?" Richard said he wanted a wing car so Plymouth designed the 1970 Plymouth Superbird just for him :glasses7:

Just think, no Richard Petty, no Superbird

I heard that Petty wanted to race a Daytona and Chrysler wouldn't let him have one because he was a "Plymouth guy". So Petty went to Ford to race the Talledega until Plymouth caught up and came out with the Superbird in 70.

 

[66340SEDAN]

When we were very little, we went to MIS to watch a race. About halfway through the race Richard Petty went out with a blown engine. The guy behind us yells the Plymouth slogan at the time, "Plymouth makes it..." Apparently not a fan of Plymouth.

At the end of the race, I believe it was Pete Hamilton who took the checkered flag followed by two more "winged cars". My brother (5 years old at the time) turns around and looks at the guy and says, "Plymouth makes it".... That guy was soo pissed off....

Priceless memory, very cool Karl :glasses7:

I heard that Petty wanted to race a Daytona and Chrysler wouldn't let him have one because he was a "Plymouth guy". So Petty went to Ford to race the Talledega until Plymouth caught up and came out with the Superbird in 70.

Yup, I forgot about that part, he did want a Daytona and Chrysler wouldn't let him

 

[krazykuda]

Back in 64 when Chrysler was developing the Hemi, they chose 10 drivers to debut the Hemi. One of them was Richard Petty.

During testing for Daytona, Richard cracked the block of the Hemi. They identified it as a weak spot, and beefed up the casting in that area to prevent that same failure in the future. They modified the casting and then cast the block that Richard raced 10 days before the race. Richard then proceeded to win Daytona on a protytpe block. They knew then that the Hemi was destined for greatness....

 

[66340SEDAN]

Back in 64 when Chrysler was developing the Hemi, they chose 10 drivers to debut the Hemi. One of them was Richard Petty.

During testing for Daytona, Richard cracked the block of the Hemi. They identified it as a weak spot, and beefed up the casting in that area to prevent that same failure in the future. They modified the casting and then cast the block that Richard raced 10 days before the race. Richard then proceeded to win Daytona on a protytpe block. They knew then that the Hemi was destined for greatness....

Here is a very cool picture that dates to 1964, Lee, Richard, & Maurice Petty leaning over a 1964 Belvedere :glasses7:

 

[krazykuda]

In the video called "Petty Blue", they explain that Adam Petty was showing a real knack for racing. He had more "racing instinct" than his father, Kyle Petty. When Adam started racing, that put the Pettys in the record book for having the first family to have 4 generation sportsman in the family.... Lee, Richard, Kyle, and Adam...

It would have been interesting to see how far Adam could have gone, if he didn't get killed in the crash during testing.

 

[66340SEDAN]

The Hemi was so dominant in 1964 it was outlawed in 1965 so Petty left Nascar and built this 1965 Plymouth Barracuda 43 jr, AKA "Outlawed" for the 1/4 mile....

Unfornatually this led to an accident at the strip that led to a death of a 10 year old boy, Richard never talks about this and will never get over it. After the accident the car was crushed with a bulldozer and buried on the Petty property. That was his only stint in drag racing.....Recently somebody dug it up but it is a twisted, crushed rusted hulk.

 

[krazykuda]

Here is a very cool picture that dates to 1964, Lee, Richard, & Maurice Petty leaning over a 1964 Belvedere :glasses7:

Speaking of Maurice Petty. In Petty blue they also point out how good of a crew chief he was. They credit him with being responsible for Richard's 200th win.

It was getting close to the end of the race, and they weren't sure if Richard would have enough gas to finish the race, it would be close. Maurice made the call for Richard to stay out and not pit (no caution) and Petty was just able to make the finish without running out of gas.

 

[66340SEDAN]

In the video called "Petty Blue", they explain that Adam Petty was showing a real knack for racing. He had more "racing instinct" than his father, Kyle Petty. When Adam started racing, that put the Pettys in the record book for having the first family to have 4 generation sportsman in the family.... Lee, Richard, Kyle, and Adam...

It would have been interesting to see how far Adam could have gone, if he didn't get killed in the crash during testing.

Yup, very tragic, Adam was destined for greatness :sad5:

The last picture gives me goose bumps every time I see it :glasses7:

 

[66340SEDAN]

Some pics with Maurice Petty :glasses7:

 

[krazykuda]

The Hemi was so dominant in 1964 it was outlawed in 1965 so Petty left Nascar and built this 1965 Plymouth Barracuda 43 jr, AKA "Outlawed"
QUOTE]

It was like the powers that be in NASCAR didn't like when Chrysler had an edge over "the competition" and made rules to keep them down.

They handicapped the wing cars in 71 by making a rule that they could not have an engine over 5 Liters. Only one driver tried to race a Superbird with a 5 liter engine (Dale Brooks), but even with the superior aerodynamics, it was not able to compete with the other drivers using the 7 Liter engines in less aerodynamic bodies. When they should have been able to race them for four years otherwise.....

And when the Hemi showed that it was a superior power plant in 64, they made the rule that the race combination MUST BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH DEALERS. This lead to the boycott of NASCAR in 65 and eventually Chrysler deciding to make the Hemi available in production cars to the public. This also led to the famous saying, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday"....

Unfortunately, they don't feel like enforcing that rule for today's cars.

 

[66340SEDAN]

:glasses7:

 

[66340SEDAN]

The Hemi was so dominant in 1964 it was outlawed in 1965 so Petty left Nascar and built this 1965 Plymouth Barracuda 43 jr, AKA "Outlawed"
QUOTE]

It was like the powers that be in NASCAR didn't like when Chrysler had an edge over "the competition" and made rules to keep them down.

They handicapped the wing cars in 71 by making a rule that they could not have an engine over 5 Liters. Only one driver tried to race a Superbird with a 5 liter engine (Dale Brooks), but even with the superior aerodynamics, it was not able to compete with the other drivers using the 7 Liter engines in less aerodynamic bodies. When they should have been able to race them for four years otherwise.....

And when the Hemi showed that it was a superior power plant in 64, they made the rule that the race combination MUST BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH DEALERS. This lead to the boycott of NASCAR in 65 and eventually Chrysler deciding to make the Hemi available in production cars to the public. This also led to the famous saying, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday"....

Unfortunately, they don't feel like enforcing that rule for today's cars.

And if I remember correctly, the 1971 426 Plymouth Road Runner was even faster and handled better than the 1970 426 Superbird, and that car was later killed by Nascar..........

 

[krazykuda]

Yup, very tragic, Adam was destined for greatness :sad5:

The last picture gives me goose bumps every time I see it :glasses7:

Yes, they say that Adam had the "fire" in him for racing. Unlike his father, Kyle. He had more talent and desire to win than Kyle and they believe that he would have been able to have a more successful career than his dad.

 

[krazykuda]

They had an interview with Lee Petty. He was saying that back in the 50's when NASCAR first started, that he could go to the dealership and buy a new Plymouth for $800 and have it modified and ready to race by the weekend and capable to win.

Again, It's not like that today...

 

[66340SEDAN]

Yes, they say that Adam had the "fire" in him for racing. Unlike his father, Kyle. He had more talent and desire to win than Kyle and they believe that he would have been able to have a more successful career than his dad.

Yup....one good thing that became of all this grief was Kyle and his wife formed the "Victory Junction Gang" camp for sick and handicapped kids in memory of their son.

 

[krazykuda]

And if I remember correctly, the 1971 426 Plymouth Road Runner was even faster and handled better than the 1970 426 Superbird, and that car was later killed by Nascar..........

I knew a guy that worked in Chrysler vehicle development. He showed me a picture of a 69 Roadrunner body with a prototype Hemi that was 453 CID that they had proposed to the "powers that be" at Chrysler as an "emissions replacement" for the 426 Hemi. They intentionally made it 453 cubic inches so as not to trigger a "displacement war" with Ferd and Chebby. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't approved.

 

[66340SEDAN]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRzRQcx_Ge0"]1970 Richard Petty flip @ Darlington - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Dart_Doctor]

Ok i will share the pics i have found for yall .....ps howdy karl lmao

 

[66340SEDAN]

Its 44 minutes long but well worth the watch, best story yet and most recent, heart warming story too......great stuff

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rnnHtTbASA"]Richard Petty a Racers Life - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Dart_Doctor]

Too bad I caint watch Videos ..........

 

[Dart_Doctor]

:happy1:

 

[Dart_Doctor]

:hello2: