1964 Nascar Daytona 500

Daytona Beach Florida has been famous for over half a century as the place where Auto pioneers tested their dreams now only the sound of the surf recalls a roaring past when the beach became too slow for today's cars and the tides and winds too uncertain a new measure for automotive progress was built the Daytona International Speedway in 1959 Lee petty won the first Daytona 500 mile race at the then unheard-of speed of a hundred and thirty-five miles per hour in a stock car each year in February before the eyes of the motoring world speeds climb how fast can a stock car go a race does not start with the green flag as Lee petty can tell us what happened during the race was happen a long time before the race meaning by the preparation of the race Lee petty three times NASCAR national champion has retired from driving not racing he's crew cheaper his son Richard who has taken over the wheel I don't feel like now that I've got to prove to anybody I'm not special to myself that I was a pretty good driver back then and then have somebody in your own family come along as good her in fact I classify my lots better driver than I ever would although it was just as stiff back then as yesterday but they've got so much better equipment and to be able to beat everybody is quite accomplishment how do you know you're ready for the race mr. petty well I think you get rated for the race I think you turn all the boats and the nuts and tighten it up and get it prepared as good as as you know how you begin to go back on the old saying you hope everything's okay the only way to know what the car will do is to run and two weeks before the race number 43 is on the track for practice and qualifications Richard Petty won 15 out of 50 races last year but never a big win this is the time when they find out whether the months of work have paid off Richard drops into a corner wide open and turns a fastest laps ever run at Daytona and a stock car the competition is worried but not lead a hundred and seventy four point five miles per hour in a 64 Plymouth USAC stock car champion Paul Goldman takes off in another 64 Plymouth as last year's 500 winner tiny lon watches at these speeds control is the key control of the car control of Rita's goldsmith pours it on to qualify at almost a hundred and seventy-five miles per hour beating Petty's marked by half a mile by NASCAR rules all cars have the same 22 gallon tanks at racing speeds and with rich mixtures fuel consumption has to be figured carefully no one in the competition can match the speed of the Plymouth's but race strategy can win or lose a 500-mile race and tires the all-important four on the ground you not only have to go fast you have to go safe during time trials and practice every previous Daytona record is broken but not before the Big D takes its toll race day and over 80,000 motor fans crowd this great 450 acres Speedway to see what the best of Detroit can do pre-race festivities are climax by a trophy presentation from Speedway President Bill France to Pure Oil president Robert L Milligan for pure oil company's outstanding contribution to stock car racing the Daytona 500 is the first major event of the new model year and all the great drivers and the best of equipment are here the 46 entries line up two by two in the order of their qualifying speed the drivers stand by their cars with no eyes for the last of the parade going by the moment before a race is the time when drivers are most alone Richard Petty is ready fireball Roberts Paul Goldsmith Jim Hurtubise Jimmy Pardo Dan Gurney ready the starter gives a signal and the best drivers in the country with five million dollars of equipment move out for the parade lap before a running start behind the pace car goldsmith and number 26 plymouth and petty number 43 plymouth first row jr. Johnson number 3 dodge and pardhu number 54 Plymouth second row the pace car pulls off the track the field picks up speed and the race is on going into the first turn it's wheel-to-wheel Goldsmith jumps out in front and petit slips into his windstream right behind him papi isaac number 26 times charges in the third maari's petty Richards brother and we can only stand by now and watch the peel stretches out as the leaders hit a speed of a hundred and eighty miles per hour on the backstretch Goldsmith takes that one but not by much Betty is moving up Eddie passes there's a three-way battle for second place goldsmith Isaac pardhu go Smith pause back are doing Isaac are still rendered offender Isak a number 26 dodge breaks loose from pardhu and charges after petty Isaac catches penny penny pass Bobby Isaac takes first place but penny stays with him pity pours it on and barrels past Isaac to run in front again after 10 laps the average speed is over a hundred and seventy two miles per hour breaking all 500-mile records the race is young anything can happen 475 miles to go the leaders begin to lap the field trying to stay with the leaders other drivers go all out to stay within striking distance fireball Roberts number 22 Ford has transmission trouble in the first 40 minutes of the race 16 cars run out of iron 500 miles on this track is the equivalent of a hundred thousand miles on the highway and the 100-mile mark comes up it's Richard Petty running in first Dave Pearson number six dogs second point double O Ford right after him and Parnelli Jones 15 mercury 4 tanks 21 4/5 the average speed is still better than a hundred and seventy two miles an hour 100 miles and the leaders pit petty the first charges down the pit wall but dick Pines Park Baker in another petty car number 41 in the petty pit area but was supposed to pit after dick but he ran out of gas sooner than expected one crew two cars to be serviced on top Freight while the petty team sweats off the fueling and the precautionary tire changes on both cars other crews work frantically on Petty's competition seconds lost in the pits have to be made up the hard way on the track and time gain can win the race white with a 30-second stop is the first of the leaders to roar away Pearson charges right after him in second place at the 173 mile an hour pace it takes only 52 seconds to go around this two and a half mile course after a minute and a half on the pits number 41 and 43 finally get underway and petty has dropped to 15th place now it's his turn to chase the leaders and he does rim riding this highbank tank ran out at a hundred and seventy-five miles an hour Oh Dave Pearson hits the wall coming into the main straightaway he's alright and he wants to stay that way caution signal slow the field while the track is clear and petting is still charging a one-car stands between him and first place goldsmith and on lap 52 petit passes to take the lead again look out Johnny Rutherford tangled with Ned Jarrett and spins on his top for hundreds of feet is Johnny all right he climbs out segment spry thanks to seatbelts shoulder harness helmet and Robards required by NASCAR regulation the debris is swept off the track along with what's left of the car they're racing and he's still in front fire second place point double o for blows engine Michael Rehm number 14 mercury bounces off the guardrail on the Western there's the race grinds on what does a mechanic and a father think about I've got mine on a lot of things I've got mine on the tires and something doesn't fall on the track and he runs over and runs into the pants you build up a certain amount of doubt where you're able to run that far and that long that heart for three or three and a half hours because the car really is taking a lot of stress now white flying one more lap to go and Richard Petty is still moving along easy and strong Richard has one lap lead over second two laps over third and fourth crowd cheers as Richard takes the checkered flag going away Richard Peddie rolls into the winner's circle as his father did five years ago the jubilant petty crew runs to greet him this is their victory - they worked so long and so hard for the big one this has been a great show for Plymouth's who ran one two three party was second and goldsmith third this Firebird presents the victory flag and for the Petty's Lee and Richard there's nothing like checkered flags to make happy time besides the trophies Richard Petty earned thirty three thousand three hundred dollars in three hours fourteen minutes and 23 seconds as Lee said it's a big accomplishment to beat the best and this 500-mile race will long be remembered as not only the richest ever run at Daytona but the fastest ever run anywhere anytime

Channel: Michael Barr Jr.

Views: 59,939

Rating: 4.7951808 out of 5

Keywords: Nascar, 1964, Richard Petty, Daytona 500, CrossFire43, Golden Era of Racing, Motorsports, Racing, Stock Car, Classic Racing, Plymouth

Id: bPdOgM2MWsE

Length: 13min 57sec (837 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 21 2013