Post by pettycash on Jun 22, 2010 22:34:48 GMT -5
1962 - Richard finishes 3rd at South Boston Speedway.
1971 - Richard finishes 7th in the Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Houston TX. Unfortunately, he finishes 7th in a field of 14 cars. It is the only Grand National race ever hosted by the speedway.
2002 - John Andretti finishes 10th in the #43 Cheerios Dodge in the Dodge / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.
Re: the race run at Meyer Speedway, here's a post at:
www.lonestarspeedzone.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t7915.html
I attended the Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Houston on Wednesday night, June 23, 1971. I don’t believe the event was a sanctioned NASCAR Grand National race (now called Nextel Cup). NASCAR did help conduct the race as a market research project to measure possible full sanctioned return races to Houston. NASCAR never returned to Meyer Speedway. Bobby Allison won the race. Richard Petty lost the lead when he had to pit for electrical system repair. Allison and Petty drove 427 CID Hemi Dodges.
The reason Meyer Speedway was able to attract the fourteen cars that it did, was because NASCAR had just held a sanctioned race on Sunday at Riverside Speedway in California. A Wednesday night race in Houston was selected because the teams who wished to compete would be returning home through Houston on I-10. A stop at the half mile Meyer Speedway would be convenient because in those days most NASCAR teams used short track cars for road races. They had the right type car with them on their open trailers, which most teams commonly used in those days. Several race teams opted to pass up the race because their car may have broken down in California or because the event was not a points race.
A note on the track configuration. Meyer Speedway was an half mile asphalt oval on east side of South Main Street in Houston. It was reasonably wide. The banking in the turns was progressive, that is, no bank on the inside of the turns which increased progressively to the steepest degree of banking at the guard rail. I don’t recall what the degree on banking was, but most drivers at speed ran the outside groove the entire lap. The track did use Armco guard rails for the entire outside length of the track as well as to protect the pit road, which couldn’t accommodate much more than a fourteen car field.
The electronic timing system was unique. Ed Hamblen developed a photo lab sweep hand clock that measured in tenths of a second. It was started and stopped by cars running over two pressure sensitive hoses (like those which rang the bell at full service gas stations). Ed’s system wouldn’t time but one lap at a time. The hoses were removed after time trials.
1971 - Richard finishes 7th in the Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Houston TX. Unfortunately, he finishes 7th in a field of 14 cars. It is the only Grand National race ever hosted by the speedway.
2002 - John Andretti finishes 10th in the #43 Cheerios Dodge in the Dodge / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.
Re: the race run at Meyer Speedway, here's a post at:
www.lonestarspeedzone.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t7915.html
I attended the Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Houston on Wednesday night, June 23, 1971. I don’t believe the event was a sanctioned NASCAR Grand National race (now called Nextel Cup). NASCAR did help conduct the race as a market research project to measure possible full sanctioned return races to Houston. NASCAR never returned to Meyer Speedway. Bobby Allison won the race. Richard Petty lost the lead when he had to pit for electrical system repair. Allison and Petty drove 427 CID Hemi Dodges.
The reason Meyer Speedway was able to attract the fourteen cars that it did, was because NASCAR had just held a sanctioned race on Sunday at Riverside Speedway in California. A Wednesday night race in Houston was selected because the teams who wished to compete would be returning home through Houston on I-10. A stop at the half mile Meyer Speedway would be convenient because in those days most NASCAR teams used short track cars for road races. They had the right type car with them on their open trailers, which most teams commonly used in those days. Several race teams opted to pass up the race because their car may have broken down in California or because the event was not a points race.
A note on the track configuration. Meyer Speedway was an half mile asphalt oval on east side of South Main Street in Houston. It was reasonably wide. The banking in the turns was progressive, that is, no bank on the inside of the turns which increased progressively to the steepest degree of banking at the guard rail. I don’t recall what the degree on banking was, but most drivers at speed ran the outside groove the entire lap. The track did use Armco guard rails for the entire outside length of the track as well as to protect the pit road, which couldn’t accommodate much more than a fourteen car field.
The electronic timing system was unique. Ed Hamblen developed a photo lab sweep hand clock that measured in tenths of a second. It was started and stopped by cars running over two pressure sensitive hoses (like those which rang the bell at full service gas stations). Ed’s system wouldn’t time but one lap at a time. The hoses were removed after time trials.
I have Richard petty cars 1/18 1/24 scales! Etc...
