You have to wonder how some of the controversies of the past in NASCAR would be handled by today’s drivers and today’s NASCAR leadership. In two separate matters, NASCAR’s “King” found himself in a position of being at odds with NASCAR’s founder “Big” Bill France.
Richard Petty’s first championship in 1964 highlighted a banner year for Plymouth. What’s more, it was a sweep of the top three at the Daytona 500 for Plymouth and the 426 Hemi for Petty, Jimmy Pardue and Paul Goldsmith. While Ned Jarrett enjoyed fine success in a Ford, there were still looming threats of Henry’s brand pulling out of the sport.
In the Fall of 1964, Bill France announced a ban on the Hemi and the Ford 427 “hi riser.” Some accounts say it was for safety, to cut speed. Indeed, it was a year rife with tragedy, as NASCAR lost Joe Weatherly and Fireball Roberts. Others pointed to the fact that the 426 Hemi was not a full production engine, back at a time when when “what wins on Sunday, sells on Monday’ was the mantra, and there was at least an appearance of a commitment to the Grand National Series being “strictly stock,” no matter what kind of chicanery was going on in the shop.
The result was a boycott of NASCAR in 1965 by Plymouth backed teams, which would include Petty Enterprises. The reigning champ was beholden to the nameplate, so he was out. Being professional racers, the Petty clan turned to the drag strip with the “43 Jr.”, a Plymouth Barracuda, and a car they named “Outlawed.”
Petty enjoyed a high degree of success in his new venture. Fans packed the joint wherever he went and he lost only six times.
Tragedy marred Petty’s drag racing career, when an accident at Dallas, Georgia injured seven bystanders and killed an 8-year-old boy. It is said that the incident greatly affected Petty and soured his foray outside NASCAR.
Meanwhile, NASCAR slogged through a less than spectacular 1965 season. The Hemi ban failed to spark a return by GM, so it was a one-make show. Faced with unhappy fans, dissatisfied promoters and a season without spark, Bill France relented, and Petty was back- winning 4 of the 14 races he entered that year. It was also the same year Curtis Turner was re-instated after a “lifetime” ban for attempting to bring the Teamsters to NASCAR along with Tim Flock and Fireball Roberts.
Score one for Petty.
1969 would again find Petty at odds with France as the founder prepared to open what we know now as Talladega Superspeedway. Drivers were not convinced there was a tire safe enough to handle the new track.
The “Professional Drivers Association” was formed at Ann Arbor, Michigan in a secret meeting. Richard Petty was named president. They pleaded for a safer tire, or they’d boycott the race.
Big Bill was determined the show would go on. He even strapped on a helmet and took a car up to 175 miles per hour to demonstrate the safety of the track in a 100-mile test. France determined the race would go as scheduled, and if the drivers didn’t want to run, they could just go home.
Most of the top names left, opening the door for a Richard Brickhouse victory. Depending on who’s account you believe, fans either hated NASCAR for their stubbornness, or they laid the blame at the feet of Petty. Not only did it open the door for Brickhouse, Bobby Isaacs crossed lines, and a driver named Richard Childress debuted among among a cast of unkowns.
Whatever the case, the PDA was defanged and dead in short order. Further supporting France’s claims, the race ran without major incident.
Score one for France.
It goes to show you, controversy has been a part of NASCAR virtually from Day One. It may very well offer insight on why drivers have been reluctant to challenge the establishment since then.
Granted, the players have changed, and so has the leadership. Regardless of who you believe concerning the motivation, you have to admire men willing to take a stand, especially a champion with little to gain and a lot to lose.
Richard Petty had backbone. He proved more than once he could walk away. The people won’t stand with a cowardly king. Richard Petty was anything but yellow. Look at comments left by old school fans in earlier posts in this series on “The King” and it speaks volumes.
PHOTO CREDITS- “43 Jr.” by Bristol Motor Speedway, Petty with a ‘69 Ford Torino Talladega by drumsnme. To see more, click on the links, or visit flickr.com.
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I remember a copy of Mechanics Illustrated had an article on the 43 Jr. I was scouring that article over and over before, during, and after my haircut. Of course, being a Ford fan made 1965 a delight for me as they pretty much swept the races and Ned Jarrett was crowned the champ with 13 wins, 9 poles, 42 Top 5’s and 45 Tops 10’s. Beating out the much better funded Junior Johnson and Fred Lorenzen was Wendell Scott who finished in 11th place that season. The King did run 14 races that year, winning 4 of them and finishing 38th in points.
The return of Curtis Turner also did a lot to bring fans back to the stands. While Curtis was “banned for life”, track attendance was down drastically in NASCAR. Every race Turner ran in for other series was a packed house. With The King gone, the grandstands were even emptier. So money had a lot to do with dropping the ban on Curtis and Big Bill changing his mind about MoPar.
I made some money and beer over the years with some fans of the sport who said The King never drove a Ford when I produced a die-cast of his Torino Talladega which The King had autographed from my “bag of tricks”. Thanks for the beer guys.
@Mad Man- And from this we learn the cardinal lesson: “Never challenge a Mad Man when beer is on the line.” Good story man.