Richard Petty's Hemi Barracuda

"Goggles Pizzano" (gogglespizzano) 03/14/2014 at 19:09 • Filed to: Barracuda Friday

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NASCAR's ban of the Chrysler Hemi in 1965 caused a huge ripple effect across the racing world in America. Many factory Chrysler NASCAR drivers turned to the quarter mile to race because they were locked out of the high banks. One of those racers was Richard Petty. A huge draw at any track he was racing at, Petty jumped right into the southern match bash scene that was exploding at the time. After a few successful outings, Petty arrived at a race in Dallas, Georgia not knowing that his life would be changed forever by the end of the weekend.

While on a pass, Petty's car veered off the course (which had no guard walls), climbed an embankment and ran into the crowd. Either spectators were seriously hurt and an eight year old boy was killed in the chaos. Reportedly the car was cut to pieces and buried on the Petty property and has never been raised from its grave since.

A second car was built, presumably to allow Petty to finish his scheduled appearances for the year and when those commitments were fulfilled, Petty never turned a wheel at the drags again.

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JR1 > Goggles Pizzano 03/14/2014 at 19:55

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Tragic yet very interesting story. Always liked the old Barracudas.

Philbert/Phartnagle > Goggles Pizzano 03/15/2014 at 19:24

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I remember reading about this accident years ago. It was a terrible accident and very sad that an 8 year old was killed. I can understand why he did what he did and never drag raced again.

A high school friend of mine had a Barracuda like this one, but it was gold in color and didn't have a hemi in it. I think it had a 273? or other Chrysler small block V8 in it. Even though it was somewhat underpowered, it was still a neat and fun little car to drive. Ahh, the good old days.......