June 19 - This day in Petty history

[pettycash]

Strap in, hold on, shut up, and race. June 19 is a doozy for Petty racing history.

1949 - Lee runs his and NASCAR's first Strictly Stock race at Charlotte (NC) Speedway and finishes 17th.He borrows a Buick from a friend, flips it, and hitches a ride home with his family.

1954 - Lee finishes 2nd to Herb Thomas in a 200 lap race at Hickory (NC) Speedway.

1955 - Lee wins a 200 lap race at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburg, NY. His brother, Julian Petty, finishes 16th - dead last. Julian's 2nd car, driven by Bob Welborn, finishes 4th.

1960 - Bobby Johns, driving a #46 Petty Enterprises Plymouth, finishes 3rd in the inaugural World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Lee and Richard are disqualified with several other drivers. Richard finishes 55th, and Lee finishes 56th.







The race is won by Joe Lee Johnson from Cleveland TENNESSEE!



1962 - Richard finishes 3rd behind Joe Weatherly and Ned Jarrett in a 200 lap race at Augusta (GA) Speedway.

1964 - Richard finishes 2nd to David Pearson in the Confederate 300 at Boyd Speedway in Chattanooga, TN.

1969 - Richard wins the Kingsport 250 in a Ford at Kingsport (TN) Speedway.

1977 - Richard finishes 2nd to Cale Yarborough in the CAM2 Motor Oil 400 at Michigan.

[ricklou]

Chase, you are doing great work by preserving the Petty's history in auto racing.

Those 60 Plymouth's are just awful to look at but still much better than seeing the COT.

The victory lane shot of Joe Johnson and Curtis Tuner tell so much of what it was back in the day. This was real.

[pettycash]

From all I've read, the track was terrible and hardly ready for its debut. The race was delayed a few weeks, and finally NASCAR said to ....ahem...uh... pee or get of the pot.

So they had the race, but the pavement came up in chunks. The Pettys expected it and put "cow catcher" grates on their grills and over their windshields to minimize expected damage.

Also, few of today's fans realize Charlotte as it is today was designed/built by Curtis. Bruton planned to build his own track elsewhere in Charlotte. Only after Curtis got in financial trouble did the two have a shotgun marriage. That's why Curtis and Bruton are both in the VL photo.

[songsmith1950]

Now this was a great post! Old time racing and fun! Yes, Rick, those 60's were pretty bad! But they were Plymouths and that made them alright with us!