Richard Petty's first win? In Charlotte, 50 years ago

Among NASCAR fans, maybe Feb. 28 ought to be considered a holiday.

That’s the date in 1960 when Richard Petty won for the first time.

The triumph came at the old Charlotte Fairgrounds, which included a half-mile dirt track at a location on North Tryon Street, now the site of a shopping center.

Petty, 22 at the time, got the lead on the 183rd of 200 laps and drove a Plymouth to the checkered flag six car-lengths ahead of runner-up Rex White, who was in a Chevrolet.

Many in a crowd estimated at 7,900 felt that White would have won except for an “assist” that Papa Lee Petty gave his son on the 187th lap.

The elder Petty had dropped out of the race on Lap 38 because of spark plug failure in his Plymouth. He then took over another Plymouth in relief of driver Doug Yates.

White rallied to challenge Richard for the lead on the 187th lap, but was nearly spun out when Lee Petty gave him a pop (pun intended).

The triumph came in Richard’s 36th big-time start.

“That being my first win, naturally I remember it pretty well, considering that it was 50 years ago,” Richard recalled recently.

“I remember Daddy starting from the pole (after qualifying at 62.11 mph). I started seventh.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to get around Rex, but the track was real rough and he hit a bump and bobbled.  This enabled me to get under him.”

Petty grinned at the mention of his papa relatively “punting” White.

“Bump and run goes back a long, long ways,” said Richard.

The late Lee Petty never was a man to mince words.  After finishing third in the race he had this to say of the contact with White: “Well, I didn’t really hurt Richard’s chances, did I?”

Richard might have scored his first victory about eight months earlier except for a controversial finish on June 14, 1959, at Lakewood Speedway, a one-mile dirt track near Atlanta.

Richard was flagged the winner in the 150-mile event, but the runner-up protested.  And the objection was upheld.

The protester in an incident that has become a rich part of NASCAR lore?

Lee Petty!

“Because of all the dust Daddy thought the scorers couldn’t see and had docked him a lap,” said Richard.  “It took NASCAR an hour to find the error, but turns out Daddy was right.

“He told me the biggest reason he did it was that he needed the extra points toward the season-long driving championship.”

Lee Petty did indeed win the title in ’59, his third and final championship.

“To me, being able to recall that race at Atlanta and the one in ’60 at Charlotte Fairgrounds is a strange sort of deal,” continued Richard Petty. “I remember things from that time span pretty well.

“But later on?  Not so good. They all sort of run together. I guess the earlier races made more of a lasting impression because I was younger and new to it and awfully excited.”

Richard’s first win came in the last race at the Charlotte Fairgrounds track. The Fairgrounds date was transferred to the new Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile paved track where the inaugural World 600 was held on June 19, 1960.

As stock car racing followers know, Richard Petty was destined to go on from that win on Feb. 28, 1960, to triumph a mind-boggling 200 times, a record very unlikely to be broken.

Along the way he won a record seven driving titles, a mark matched by Dale Earnhardt.

Petty's final triumph came in the Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984.

Hey! That IS a national holiday!