RACING’S ROYAL FAMILY – PART 4
Perhaps no big-name driver had less going
for him entering 1979 than Richard Petty. He’d come off a frustrating, winless
1978 season, and the Petty Enterprises team was only eleven races into running
the kind of General Motors racecars and engines that most of their competition
had spent years winning with.
Making it worse, Petty’s ulcer-wracked
stomach had plagued him for several years, but now it got to the point where he
needed major surgery, so in December 1978 Petty went under the knife, and 40% of
his stomach was removed. As a result he dropped to a malnourished-seeming 175
pounds.
So for the 1979 season no one thought
twice about a championship run by Richard Petty. Nonetheless the Petty team went
about preparing for the 1979 season. The season opener at Riverside went to
Darrell Waltrip, while Petty blew his engine.
Then came February Speedweeks. The ARCA
race a week before the 500 "seemed like a good place for Kyle to get
started," Richard wrote. "We went down to test the new Oldsmobile a
couple of weeks before Daytona Speedweeks, so we took along Kyle’s Magnum,
too." It was the same Magnum Richard had run to such frustration the
previous year, only now it was numbered 44 and had Valvoline sponsorship.
"We ran and ran, hour after hour," Richard wrote. "After a couple
of days of practice, Kyle turned 184. I took the car out to see how it felt, and
turned a 190.
"Kyle was holding a press conference about
every time he came in from practice. There was so much interest in the ‘Third
Generation Racing Petty’ that they swarmed all over him." To one reporters
query about Richard’s 190 MPH in the Magnum, Kyle said, "Well, it looks
like I’m gonna have to do a little better if I’m gonna run with him." So he
went out a ran 187.
The ARCA regulars were all running
year-old Winston Cup cars, "and they were going like blue blazes,"
Richard wrote. "They were almost as fast as the NASCAR boys, but it was a
much better place for Kyle to start, because there were a lot of other rookies –
at least, rookies as far as Daytona was concerned."
"Not only did Kyle want to go
racing," Richard added, "but he married Pattie Huffman, a former Miss
Winston who’d given me a lot of hugs after victories on the circuit. Things were
certainly changing in the Petty family." (For the record, Pattie Huffman’s
victory hugs for Richard came at Pocono and Rockingham in 1976, and Rockingham,
Atlanta, Charlotte, Riverside, and Daytona in 1977).
Before the ARCA 200 at Daytona, Kyle acknowledged,
"I’m not the favorite. I know I probably won’t win the race." But he
led most of the way and overhauled John Rezek in a four-lap dash to the win.
"A lot of people are going to be shaking their heads over this day for a
long time," Buddy Arrington told Richard afterward. "Don’t tell me
genes don’t have nothing to do with it," Donnie Allison said.
"Lynda wasn’t happy, knowing all too
well what was in store for Kyle." Nonetheless, she, Richard, Lee, and
Elizabeth joined Kyle, Pattie, and the crew in victory lane.
That, though, wasn’t enough. The Daytona
500, to be carried live in its entirety by CBS Television, was also on tap. The
overwhelming favorite was Buddy Baker, driving Harry Ranier’s Oldsmobile. When
qualifying was wrapped up with the 125s, Petty was lined up 13th, his worst
starting spot at Daytona since the 1975 Firecracker 400. Still, Petty felt he’d
do well in the race.
The race was delayed by a morning rain,
but got off and managed to complete without further precipitation. Buddy Baker
unexpectedly faltered on the start, and then while battling for the lead Bobby
and Donnie Allison got together and Cale Yarborough got into the wet backstretch
grass to avoid. All three lost laps stuck in the mud, with Cale getting the
worst of it at three laps down. But amid a torrid 18-car battle for the win
Donnie got his lap back and Cale eventually made up all three laps he lost.
Petty stayed in the top five all day but he and Darrell Waltrip lost a cylinder
and were content to finish in the top five.
But on the final lap Cale got under
Donnie, but Donnie would not give up the lead and both cars collided into the
third turn wall, and from twenty seconds back Petty and Waltrip were now in it
for the win. Petty beat Waltrip to the stripe by a full length. "He was
jumping up and down in his seat," Waltrip said afterward. Petty then picked
up his crew and carried them to victory lane, while CBS cameras caught a fight
erupt between Cale and Bobby Allison in Turn Three.
Cale and both Allisons were fined for the
Daytona fracas, and after the Richmond 400 was postponed by snow, Rockingham
beckoned, and several signs declared it the site of "Round Two." Sure
enough, on the tenth lap Donnie and Cale got together and collected Petty,
Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Buddy Baker, and Ricky Rudd. "Cale knocked the hell
out of Donnie," Waltrip said. "(Cale) drove (Donnie) right onto the
apron. It was what I call a misjudgment in driving," Richard said. For
their part, Cale and Donnie said there was no bitterness.
By the Rebel 500 at Darlington, Petty was
still in the top five in points behind Waltrip, Bobby Allison, and Cale. In the
500 Petty was the only driver able to consistently challenge Waltrip, and it
came down to a five-lap sprint. Petty passed Waltrip, then the two went at it in
the most amazing four laps ever seen at Darlington – on Lap 365 the lead changed
four different times, and Petty rode the Darlington wall to fight off Waltrip.
The lead changed three more times on the final lap and "We touched several
times," Waltrip said. He nonetheless gunned past Petty for good in Three as
Donnie Allison tried to take second.
The Rebel 500 also saw a bizarre pit
accident – David Pearson took off on Lap 302 with unsecured left side tires, and
didn’t make it out of the pits. "The Wood brothers were furious, and so was
Pearson," Petty wrote. The following Tuesday Pearson was released from the
#21, a decision both he and the Woods have regretted ever since. Neil Bonnett,
struggling with the demise of J.D. Stacy’s team early in 1979, was hired for the
#21.
"At Martinsville we finally got it
right," as Richard overhauled Buddy Baker, Waltrip, and the surprisingly
strong James Hylton for his first short track win since 1975. After getting
caught in a 17-car melee at Talladega Petty finished fourth, then lost at
Nashville to Yarborough in controversial fashion. Cale spun with the
surprisingly stout J.D. McDuffie on Lap 52; Cale spun out again after pit stops
around halfway. Yet he was scored as the leader at the end. "I still can’t
figure out how," Petty writes. "He lost one lap when he spun with
McDuffie, and then he lost 46 seconds when he spun out of the pits (on Lap 178).
I was running 22 second laps."
Bobby Allison, third in the race, agreed:
"Richard won this race and I finished second. I don’t know how they had
Cale winning."
Waltrip, meanwhile, was establishing
himself as the season’s dominator after the World 600. It was his third win of
the year after a Charlotte-record 60 lead changes. Petty fought it out with
rookie sensation Dale Earnhardt in the final lap for second and got the spot by
a car length. The 600 was doubly significant for the Pettys in that Kyle was
scheduled to make his Winston Cup debut, but Kyle crashed on successive days.
"I knew I was in trouble when I saw my gas tank pass me," he said
afterward.
Richard defended putting Kyle on big
tracks immediately. "If he did well on the short tracks, he’d have to
unlearn everything he learned when he finally came to a big track. And if he
can’t cut it here, there’s no sense in messing around on the short tracks."
Waltrip won again at Texas then finished
second to Allison at Riverside. At Michigan the lead changed hands 47 times and
"a bunch of us nearly came to grief" with five to go. "We were
three wide…..(then) Earnhardt made a very risky move on the apron. It nearly
took us all out." Petty had a close chat with Earnhardt afterward about it
after finishing fifth to Earnhardt’s sixth and Buddy Baker’s win.
Kyle tried again to qualify for Winston
Cup, this time for the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. But he slammed the wall on
his qualifying lap, and the Dodge Magnum was parked for repairs until the
Talladega 500. Richard finished fifth.
At Pocono Petty fought hard all day in a
race delayed to Monday by rain and seeing 55 lead changes. When Nelson Oswald
crashed with four to go Darrell Waltrip pitted from second for tires, and
finished seventh as the race surprisingly finished under yellow. The drop to
seventh cost Waltrip nineteen points – it would prove of fatal significance in
the title chase.
Kyle finally made his Winston Cup debut at
Talladega. He timed 18th and finished ninth on a scorching day filled with
engine failures. Richard came home fourth to Darrell Waltrip and was now 229
points out of the lead.
Petty had been stringing together
consistent finishes, but at Michigan he got a much-needed win by overpowering
Buddy Baker on the last lap. But by the Delaware 500 Petty was still 187 points
behind Waltrip in the title chase, "and we couldn’t nibble. We needed to
take a big bite out of Darrell’s lead….."
They got their chance when Waltrip slammed
the wall early on and ultimately finished 29th. Petty fought it out with Cale
and Donnie for the win all day, survived a spin, and edged Donnie by six feet.
"I’ve never seen Richard race this hard," journalist Gene Granger said
after the season.
Darrell Waltrip led 150 laps at
Martinsville, then blew his engine. The DiGard team changed engines and salvaged
11th, while Petty pounded on Buddy Baker all day en route to second. Petty was
now just 48 points behind Waltrip, but he needed another big bite in points. He
got it at North Wilkesboro when Waltrip punted race leader Bobby Allison, took
the lead, then was hooked into the wall at the stripe. Waltrip crowded Allison
after getting repairs and was black flagged several times for it. Benny Parsons
took the win over Allison and Petty finished third, but with Waltrip’s 13th
place, Petty was now 17 points out of the lead.
Crashes galore greeted the field at
Rockingham, and Waltrip split his oil pan and lost eight laps. Petty fought for
the lead all day, stormed past Cale and Benny with nine to go, and won by two
lengths. He now had the point lead by eight over Waltrip. "Our crew was
pumped. After the nightmare of the previous year, here we were with two races
left in the season, and we had the point lead….."
Waltrip took the lead back by two after
the Dixie 500 at Atlanta, but the pressure was on his team; Petty had nothing to
lose, since no one had expected him to be anywhere in the point chase.
"We’re going to Ontario to win the race," Petty said. "We’re
going to run hard all day."
The DiGard team, in contrast, were only
concerned with finishing. Waltrip’s chances disappeared when he spun to avoid
John Rezek at Lap 38. Waltrip pitted, but lost a lap as the pace car picked up
Bobby Allison. The DiGard team complained about that afterward, but Bill Gazaway
of NASCAR responded, "They weren’t paying any attention to where the leader
was."
Petty led five laps amid 40 lead changes
and finished fifth in a spirited five-car shootout for the win. "If I’d
have won the race, I’d be sky-high," Petty said afterward. "I wanted
to take the title by winning the race." Indeed, Petty seemed more concerned
after the race with something else – Dale Inman’s first comment after the race
was, "Hey, the Redskins won."
To close out the 1970s, Auto Racing Digest
magazine voted Richard Petty the racing driver of the decade. And with ever
greater attention being focused on NASCAR, Petty was the sport’s consummate
spokesman.
Though officially the beginning of a new
decade, 1980 was in reality the final year of the 1970s. In NASCAR, the cars
used in the 1970s had one final season to run, as NASCAR decreed that 110-inch
wheel base cars would have to be mandated for 1981 – a rule change originally
intended for 1978 or ’79, but pushed back as such body styles were not yet ready
for usage in the sport.
Darrell Waltrip vowed to win the Winston
Cup title in 1980, and he won two of the first three races. But then at Atlanta,
sophomore Dale Earnhardt roared from 31st, battled for the lead all day, escaped
the crash of leaders Donnie Allison and fellow sophomore Terry Labonte, and
pounced when race dominator Cale Yarborough lost power with 30 to go.
Richard Petty finally got on the victory
board with a win at North Wilkesboro. Kyle, meanwhile, finished eighth after
spinning out several times. "He done pretty good, but he’d a-finished
fourth or fifth if he hadn’t been goin’ in the wrong direction so much of the
time," Richard said afterward. Kyle was now driving a Chevrolet in a
limited 1980 season.
Richard won again at Nashville, benefiting
from a new rule forbidding tire changes under yellow on short tracks. The idea
was to cut costs, but the rule wound up putting cars a lap down and causing over
wear and blown tires. It also played havoc with the running order. "This
rule isn’t working. What’s resulted isn’t racing," Cale Yarborough said.
Petty agreed: "I don’t know who’s runnin’ where." Following Nashville
Dale Earnhardt led the points by some 121 over Yarborough with Petty third.
The rule was dropped and the season went
on. Petty finished second at Dover despite running the event’s final 200 laps on
seven cylinders. Then came NASCAR’s Longest Day – the 1980 World 600. Hour-long
rain showers played havoc with the day. The track’s new surface tore up tires
and there were crashes galore – by Lap 185 there had already been nine yellows.
Richard Petty lost a lap when he clipped Lennie Pond upon passing him on Lap Six
and both spun, Pond collecting Bill Elliott. Dale Earnhardt battled Darrell
Waltrip and others all day, but at Lap 275 a blown tire spun Earnhardt into the
path of Yarborough, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison. Waltrip then fought it out
with Benny Parsons in the final 20 laps in a stirring shootout won by Parsons in
the final two laps. Richard finished fourth, and Kyle finished seventh, his best
finish to date.
Richard finished second at Texas as
Earnhardt overheated and limped home ninth, and his point lead over Petty was
now down to 18. It was still 18 after the Michigan 400, but Earnhardt gained
some points in the next two races. Next up was the Pocono 500, a race promoted
by Indianapolis Motor Speedway in assistance to the financially troubled Pocono
track. Richard timed third, Kyle 13th, and Earnhardt 11th. Richard stormed into
the lead after 29 laps and seemed in control of the race, as Kyle worked his way
into the top ten and stayed there all day.
But at Lap 57 the right front wheel
snapped as Richard entered the track’s Tunnel Turn. Petty socked the wall, stood
on his left front tire, then was hit by Darrell Waltrip in the door on the
rebound. "I think I broke my neck," Petty radioed Dale Inman. He was
taken to the hospital and kept for two days. Upon release doctors said he had a
"severely sprained neck," but Richard later said his neck had indeed
been broken. Wearing a thick brace, Petty nonetheless entered the Talladega 500,
and lined Joe Millikan, rideless after L.G. DeWitt’s team closed its door the
previous April, as relief driver. Millikan had driven Petty Enterprises
Sportsman cars to several wins and had finished seventh in Grand National points
in 1979.
Richard gave way to Millikan as the race
began under yellow for rain, and once it began in earnest Millikan rocketed into
the lead pack and led on and off. He ultimately wound up 18th when the engine
blew after 154 laps.
Finishing ninth was Kyle, who had an extra
special guest with him at the Talladega 500 – a lovely three-week-old infant
son, Adam Kyler Petty. Adam was introduced to the world on CBS Television, which
was covering the race, and a joyous Pattie Petty was asked by Ned Jarrett if
Adam would be a race driver – "Well, Kyle seems to think so with those
hands, he grips pretty good."
Seeing that clip today, there is a
haunting irony.
Richard’s title hopes were effectively
ended, but he clawed and clawed and Millikan provided good relief when
necessary. In all Richard salvaged fourth in 1980 points as Earnhardt almost
threw away the title at Ontario with several botched stops and a lost lap.
For 1981 new cars with 110-inch wheel
bases were mandated, and upon the opening of tests for the new cars, it became
clear that they were a huge problem. The cars – the 1981 Buick Regal, Olds
Cutlass, Pontiac Grand Prix, Ford Thunderbird, and Chevrolet Monte Carlo – all
had rectangular greenhouses with steep rear glasses, and this created a vacuum
on the back of the car that made them unstable. This instability exploded during
early testing when rookie Greg Sacks, testing Richard Childress’ new Pontiac,
shot off Four on his third lap, slammed the inside guardrail, then tumbled
violently to the stripe – it was so bad a crash that Sacks’ helmet came off and
tumbled onto the track. Sacks was lucky to escape with a broken collarbone and
minor head injuries.
Petty decided to try something different –
a Dodge Mirada. Word that Petty was testing a Dodge brought a crowd of 15,000 to
Daytona for his mid-January test. Unfortunately the car was eight MPH off the
pace of the fast GM machines. "We built and massaged that thing but
good……we tried to make the Dodge work, but it didn’t." Petty
Enterprises went with Buick Regals for Richard and Kyle – how the sport would be
different if the Dodge has worked.
But then came the biggest surprise the
sport had seen in years. Overlooked by almost everyone was the fact that the
Pontiac LeMans, a car with a sloping rear glass similar to those on the previous
year’s 115-inch wheel base racecars, was eligible for Grand National racing. When
Bobby Allison’s son Davey, himself in his third season of racing at the tough
Birmingham Int’l Raceway in Alabama, suggested that his dad try a LeMans, Bobby
and his new team, Ranier Racing, built one in secret with Mike Laughlin (whose
shop was also supplying Petty Enterprises’ chassis) and tested it at Talladega,
with basically no one else looking on.
The test results showed right off the
trucks at Daytona, as Bobby took the 500 pole handily and consistently turned
speeds unapproachable by anyone else. "It was the best kept secret in
racing," said Donnie Allison. Bill Gazaway of NASCAR added, "All the
rest of them got outfoxed, and you’re going to have a heck of a time getting any
of them to admit it."
When some suggested that Dick Beaty had
informed teams that the LeMans was ineligible, Beaty exploded, "Who said
that?" and detailed all of his phone calls to racing teams in the 1980-1
off season, proving that he had said no such thing.
The cars proved unraceable with the LeMans
in the Busch Clash, and NASCAR added larger spoilers, to the tune of 34 extra
square inches. In the 125-mile qualifiers, Allison showed greater stability than
anyone else, but his LeMans took a backseat to the tumbles of Connie Saylor and
John Anderson, both of whom stood on their noses and flipped by themselves.
"These suckers weigh 3,700 pounds," a stunned Benny Parsons said. In
the second Twin the lead changed hands an astonishing 25 times. Darrell Waltrip
lost the lead on the last lap to Benny Parsons, but dove onto the apron of Turn
Four, nearly wiped out the field, and won, and got a blizzard of criticism for
it – "Darrell did some of the most stupid things I’ve ever seen anyone
do," Richard Petty said.
Following the 125s NASCAR added another 25
square inches to the spoilers. And when the 500 rolled around, the
gloom-and-doom predictions did not come to pass. Bobby Allison swapped the lead
with Neil Bonnett for the first 120 laps, then after nearly getting nailed by
slower lapped traffic, he put the hammer down. But Bobby ran out of gas on Lap
176 and pitted under green. Richard wound up with the lead during the exchange,
but when he pitted Dale Inman skipped a tire change, put in just one can of gas,
and sent Richard out with a ten second lead. He drove the final 66 laps on the
same set of tires and finished three seconds ahead of Allison at the flag, for
his seventh Daytona 500. "It was a deal of follow the leader, but we didn’t
follow," Petty said.
Dale Inman was unusually emotional about
the win, and many were puzzled why. The answer came in a shocking announcement
the following Tuesday – Inman had gone as far as he could go in the Petty
Enterprises team and had decided to join Rod Osterlund’s team. "It was a
huge blow to the team," Petty wrote. "Dale is my cousin, and we’d been
together since we were children. But a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do."
Inman chiefed for Petty for the next two
races – third places at Richmond and Rockingham; at The Rock Petty ran out of
gas while leading with three to go – then Wade Thornburg and Steve Hmiel became
co-crew chiefs at Atlanta. But then the struggles began. Engine failures greeted
the team at Atlanta and Bristol, then Petty overhauled the field to win North
Wilkesboro. More DNFs ensued before the STP #43 finished fourth at Texas. Now
the team hit a consistent string with third at Riverside, fifth in a wild melee
of a finish at Michigan, and third at Daytona. At Pocono a late yellow saw Petty
in the lead for a one-lap sprint. On the final restart Cale Yarborough, thinking
he was on the lead lap, passed Petty and brought Waltrip with him. This put
Waltrip into the win.
While Richard was clawing for more wins,
Kyle, now running the full season, was beginning to finish in the top ten with
more consistency, and he grabbed his first top five at the World 600.
Richard blew at Talladega while Kyle came
home seventh, then at Michigan a battle royale exploded. The lead changed hands
65 times among 14 drivers amid spins and crashes. Richard lost the lead on the
final restart with nine to go, but stormed from fifth into the lead with five to
go and held off seven tightly packed challengers for the win. "This wasn’t
the toughest race I’ve ever won, but it sure was the most aggravating,"
Richard said.
After that, however, Petty’s chances got
dimmer as more blown engines ensued. At Richmond Richard blew a tire and
collided with rookie Mark Martin in the final laps. While hounding Waltrip for
the lead at North Wilkesboro someone threw a beer bottle and Petty hit hit, blew
a tire, and crashed. Richard led on and off at Rockingham and finished fourth,
then battled tooth and nail with Neil Bonnett and Joe Ruttman for the lead at
Atlanta – a race being broadcast live flag to flag by a third-year cable network
out of New England, the Entertainment Sports Production Network. Richard
appeared to have the car to beat, but was felled by another blown engine. When
the season was over, Richard was eighth in points with three wins but only nine
other top fives. Kyle was 12th in points.
1982 then summoned the opening of a new
chapter in the sport. Ford had announced the previous November that it was
returning to NASCAR racing. Simultaneously, Pontiac also reentered racing and
signed Petty Enterprises. The early portion of 1982 was a struggle, as Richard
broke his foot in a multi-car crash at Daytona, then finished second at Richmond
and Atlanta. "At Martinsville we were fighting for the lead 3/4 of the way
through the race when the rear end gave out," Richard wrote.
Kyle wasn’t doing any better, though he
did lead six laps at Daytona. But in the Winston 500 it seemed Kyle now had his
season turned around. While Richard was felled by a broken fuel pump, Kyle
stormed to the lead pack, drafted all the way to second, and ultimately was
edged out by Benny Parsons for third at the stripe.
After that, though, the struggles
continued. Richard finally began flexing muscle in the inaugural Van Scoy 500 at
Pocono. He stormed to the front and battled lap after lap for the lead with
Bobby Allison and Benny Parsons, but with 40 to go Richard ran out of fuel and
was pushed to his pit by Kyle. The yellow then flew for rain (which had plagued
the race on and off all day) and Petty was two laps down. Richard blew at
Riverside, stormed into the lead on the start at Michigan and then broke late,
then in the Firecracker 400 Richard battled for the lead, but when Harry Gant
climbed the fence off Four Petty slowed up and then "Geoff Bodine tried to
kick our Pontiac for a field goal."
Kyle finished sixth at Michigan, but by
then the cost of running two teams and the strain on the crew was telling, and
Kyle stepped out of Petty Enterprises to run Hoss Ellington’s #1 on
superspeedways after Buddy Baker left. Kyle burned up the clutch at Daytona in
Hoss’ Buick, broke the rear end at Nashville in the Petty Pontiac, then finished
15th at Pocono’s Mountain Dew 500 in the Ellington Buick. The Pocono race was
one of the finest of the decade and one that got away from Richard. The lead
officially changed hands 46 times, Dale Earnhardt and Tim Richmond survived a
wild tumble where they tore open the boilerplate in Turn One, and Richard led 72
laps, more than anyone else, and could beat Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip at
will. But he began running out of gas with seven to go and had to pit for a
splash. Waltrip ran out on the final lap and Allison had the win.
Richard now had a string going. He passed
Cale, Terry Labonte, and Bill Elliott on the final lap to finish third in the
Talladega 500, then ran down Bobby Allison from ten seconds back to finish
second at Michigan. "When the engines held together and our luck wasn’t
awful, at least we knew we could still run at the front," Richard wrote.
Kyle timed eighth and finished 15th at
Michigan; there Hoss Ellington’s team fielded a Pontiac from the Petty shop.
Kyle finished 14th at Darlington in the Ellington car, while Richard stormed
into the lead with ten to go and finished a strong second – his fifth runner-up
finish of 1982.
At Dover Richard led 37 laps before the
steering broke. This day, though, seemed to be Kyle’s. Back in the PE #42, Kyle
led in the final 100 laps and was hounding Darrell Waltrip all day for the win.
Darrell won by two lengths, and said afterward, "I’ve got to hand it to
that boy. I think he drove a whale of a race."
Kyle followed up with a tenth at North
Wilkesboro while Richard took fourth. At Charlotte Kyle drove one final time in
Hoss Ellington’s Buick and broke at Lap 191. Richard, meanwhile, was hooked by
Dale Earnhardt and collected ten others, including Darrell Waltrip. Pointing to
yellow paint on his quarter panel in the garage, Petty growled, "See how
far I was by him? Look at that and you can see whose fault it was."
Richard finished third at Martinsville and
sixth at Rockingham while Kyle broke at both places. At Atlanta Richard stormed
to the front in a huge battle for the lead, then around Lap 103 Kyle stormed to
the lead under Morgan Shepherd, but was swamped in traffic by Tim Richmond. Kyle
blew after 156 laps while Richard returned to the lead and pulled away after 200
laps, but then the right rear blistered and Petty lost a lot of time, but he was
still battling for the win when the engine uncorked and he spun into traffic
with fifteen to go.
When it was over Richard was fifth in 1982
points, but running two cars had proven a strain. For 1983 the two teams were
segregated more in car preparation, but no one could know that it would be just
a precursor to even greater change.