Yeah, Petty seems to forget that accident ever happened, my dad saw him somewhere at some big-shit event(my dad was there when that accident happened) and Dad asked him about what happened at Southeastern Dragway, he said he don't remember that accident ever happening! I do not know, I was'nt there, but I will say, if that happened to me, I would admit to it, it was a racing accident! Thats all that can be said!
If memory serves me correctly, Petty's car had a tire failure which led to him losing control of the car. It was a shame, but having a spectator killed at a race track happens very infrequently. NASCAR didn't drop drag racing because of that event. They dropped it because more money was to be had with oval tracks, and they knew how to do that right. That's the only reason. I'd lighten up on Petty stretch1320, it could have been as simple a thing that his mind was somewhere else at the time; not some responsibility denial like you see it. Petty is a straight up guy and a man of integrity.
Spruce Creek airport ( now an exclusive fly in community ),was the site of the huge nascar/nhra nat'l event in Feb. 1963. ( Deland became the site after the back stretch of the International speedway was used...that was cool !) NASCAR's drag racing division was run by legendary promoter Ed Otto. Paul Jackson was a major part of the early nascar scene..formed TANA ...... Richard's accident had nothing to do with NASCAR dropping drag racing. ( it was tragic,obviously..... Unattended spectators ( if that was the case ),then and now often get hurt or worse.Why would anyone ask Richard about that horrible day? Nascar drag racing was great..I loved it. (The NASCAR ultra stock circuit was awesome ! )
I have'nt got on him hard yet, no, he has all of my respect, after all, they don't call him the "King" for nothing! But I'm not a NASCAR fan at all, and I'm not going through any denial at all! No hard feelings dude, I'm sorry if I offended you!
Not offended at all; I think I must not of been clear where I was going with that. I was saying Petty wasn't on some denial trip. I'm no NASCAR fan either, anymore. Not since the cars are no longer 'stock cars', but just purpose built race cars with NO FACTORY COMPONENETS. Same with NHRA drag racing, nothing but a sham, either one of them directly interchangable with WWF wrestling where fans cheer their favorite 'personality' rather than the brand. Racing to me was always about the car not the monkey behind the seat. Then again there will always be those gifted individuals that seem to naturally elevate themselves about all the others. Big Daddy, John Force, in drag racing (many others too, no to slight them) Richard Petty. A.J. Foyt, and even that guy who always wore sunglasses. But racing just hasn't been the same for me since they started with the restricter plates; when the sanctioning bodies started messing with the rules to "equalize" racing. What? I think that's called "T-ball"! The score doesn't matter, the gate reciepts matter. Oops! I think I got a bit O/T here.
It's All good. The cream always rises to the top. The neat thing about NASCAR drag racing was being a part of the biggest motorsports sanctioning body on the planet. (most popular) Like it or not NASCAR is the most popular form anywhere. Again, being a NASCAR drag racer was great. Super Days !
Amen bro, you hit the nail on the head, pretty much, it all sux right now! We run a heads up drag racing deal called ORSCA, (when I can afford it) If you get a chance, check it out at www.outlawracing.com , but thanks for clearing that up. I don't really like to offend or piss folks off, thanks again!
Cotton Owens was another one who went drag racing when NASCAR banned the Hemi. Here's a shot of his wagon running NHRA. I find it odd that any of these guys would be running their drag cars in NASCAR under the circumstances.
Curtis Turner, Fred Lorenzen and Fireball Roberts all drove Fords out of the Phil Bonner stable as far back as 1962. They mainly did booked in match races. Phil had two '63 Galaxies. The Lafyette Ford sponsored Galaxie was mainly used by the NASCAR guys for the match races.
I recently sold a Nascar Drag Race Division Rule Book from 1967. Almost 1/2 again as big as the NHRA books. As I recall they had different classes for stockers based on cubes and number of carbs rather than horsepower. I'm thinking Ed Eaton was involved after Wally kicked him out NHRA.
Lots of misinformation flying around. Here's the real story: http://www.dragracingonline.com/special/nascar_1.html As a point of clarification; the Pettys were not boycotting NASCAR, Chrylser Corp was. And since they were a defacto Chrysler factory team they had little choice but to go along. Since racing was their only income in those days they went drag racing to keep a paycheck coming in. They mostly match raced on outlaw tracks. The 1965 accident that took the life of the child did not cause NASCAR to drop drag racing as they continued sanctioning drags through '66 and into '67.
SNICKERS, Somehow I detect you are close to that tragedy. Am I right? I was not there but remember well when it happened. I felt equally bad for Petty as I did the boy. I believe he was quoted as saying he wished it could have been him instead of the boy.
Commenting on a very old post but I went to the drags at Spruce Creek but the last time they ran was at the Deland Airport in 1967. It was the greatest race Ive ever been to with all the factory race cars there. We won P/stock with a 283/185 59 Chevy Biscayne with a 4 speed in a heavy fog that we flat towed with my new HO 400/360 4 speed 67 GTO. The tow car was faster then the race car. Ford debuted the new 67 427 Fairlanes and it got down in the 30s late that night with heavy fog. A drunk died after falling asleep in the stands of hypothermia I heard the next day
right through the sixties, mostly central and SE. Some NASCAR Ultra Stocks... One of the best known, Chic Denninos Dodge Fever Charger Smoker Smiths "Big Red" Lee Smiths Roadrunner You get the idea. Kinda like NHRA Super Stock cars, but gutted all to hell, no headlights, plastic windows and solid front axles. When NASCAR folded up the drag deal, a lot of these guys wound up racing NHRA Pro Stock, with new cars of course. the Ultra Stocks were total non-starters as far as running NHRA. They would have run Altered classes due to the gutting, wouldn't have had a prayer, too big.
When St Marys County Drag-o-Way was under construction View attachment 3070370 View attachment 3070372 View attachment 3070372
Sam Auxier won the Nascar Ultra stock 4 class points championship in 1968 with Bondy Long's ex Tasca Mustang under lease. Bondy Long was Ned Jarrett's car owner in 1965 when he won the Nascar Points championship.
Is anyone familiar with St Mary's Drag-O-Way shown in the poster? I used to work in that area in the 70s but I never heard of that track. Is it an early version of Budds Creek?
In 1967, Connie Kalitta became the first and only person to triple crown in Top Fuel. He won the AHRA, NASCAR, and NHRA Winternationals with his Ford 427 SOHC powered digger.
http://wediditforlove.com/1960Winters.html http://eastcoastdragtimeshalloffame...-how-it-came-to-begin-the-drag-racing-season/
Thanks Calkins. I would like to see a compilation on this thread of all the NASCAR Winter Drag Races and the locations from 1960 through the last one I believe in the late '60s. I did not attend any of them but I believe one year it was on the backstretch of Daytona Speedway. More coverage like your 1960 post would be appreciated.
Budd's Creek, later known as Maryland International Raceway, was first called St. Mary's Drag-O-Way when it first opened in 1966. It was called Budd's Creek Raceway in 1967.
went to speed week in 1961 in daytona. there were drag races at the speedway, starting on turn 3 and racing back to turn 2.
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