![]() Few knew, but France blistered a tire at 150 mph during that practice session. France turned laps at a reduced speed in a Ford Torino provided by Holman Moody. Grand Touring race cars were there as a companion event for a 200-mile Saturday race made up of the lighter late 1960s Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros and Mercury Cougars. Richard Petty is still the king of NASCAR These days, Richard Petty continues to live in Level Cross, N.C. Then on Saturday morning, the PDA met with France one last time in hopes of a resolution they knew wouldn’t come. The PDA voted Friday evening to withdraw from the race. Restrictor plates didn’t come into NASCAR really until after 1987 when Bobby Allison got into the fence there at Talladega.” It was a major problem but even at reduced speeds the tires just weren’t holding up. Racing’s Old Guard now is an Even Older Guard. One way they might have gotten through that weekend was to have used a carburetor restrictor plate to slow them down but no one thought of it at that time. They were near the start of auto racing careers that would make them wealthy, internationally famous and iconic in the eyes of millions of fans and their peers. “We tried everything but just didn’t have a tire that would work for that track surface that weekend. “I worked for Firestone then as a field representative and I was in the middle of it,” said Humpy Wheeler. #Rochard petty driverIf there’s another (groove), I haven’t had time to find it. Referred to as the King of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), Richard Petty remains the driver in stock car racing history with. If we had as smooth a surface as we have at MIS (Michigan International Speedway) we could stand on it all the way around. When asked about the condition of the track that weekend, he replied, according to the January 1993 edition of American Racing Classics, “It’s in the trioval. 17 Ford, would eventually win his third NASCAR championship that season. The track’s rough surface was chewing them to pieces, especially right fronts, due to downforce loads as they entered the turns.ĭavid Pearson, driver of the Holman-Moody No. Lap after lap, tires simply wouldn’t hold together. Tire manufacturers Goodyear and Firestones made their best efforts to build tires that would hold up to the 190-mph speeds that engines were generating. The racing surface at the 2.66-mile track was immediately deemed too rough. 9, 1969, with qualifying scheduled for the next day. Practice began at Talladega on Tuesday, Sept. #Rochard petty drivers1., to sign more drivers into PDA membership. Meetings were held prior to the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sept. Leading up to the race at Talladega, a dozen drivers quit in protest over the distribution of prize money. HISTORY LESSONS: From bizarre races to breath-taking wrecks, Talladega has seen some of NASCAR's strangest momentsĬompetitors' concerns began to mount by late spring. ![]()
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