Happy 4/3 ('MURICA!)

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris) 04/03/2015 at 13:34 • Filed to: Richard Petty, 43, NASCAR, The King, 4/3, stock car, racing, race car, Plymouth, Road Runner, Superbird, Dodge, Charger, Pontiac, Grand Prix

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It's 4/3 damnit. All you Eurofats can get overyour backwards righting and wrong way driving and bow down to the TRUE King. On this 4/3 we honor none other than The King himself, Richard Petty; the winningest driver in all of NASCAR history. And to honor him proper, I'm giving you all a brief timeline of his different #43 liveried cars. 'MURICA!

First up we have the 1966/1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX. This car is actually a 1966, but was built to look like the 1967 model. Over the course of the '66 and '67 seasons, Petty drove this thing to 36 victories. Now here he is putting it through it's paces at the Goodwood Hill Climb last year.

Next we have one of the most iconic Petty cars (IMO), the 1970 Plymouth Superbird, seen here at the 1970 Daytona 500 where Petty would end up finishing 39/40 due to an engine failure on lap 7.

Skipping ahead a few years, we have The King's 1974 Dodge Charger, en route to winning his 5th Daytona 500 and later, his 5th NASCAR championship.

Skipping ahead another 4 years, we have The King at Michigan on August 26, 1978, debuting his 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. During the first half of the '77 season, Petty raced in a Dodge Magnum, but the car was an absolute mess. So halfway through the season, Petty decided to make the switch to Chevy. He bought this particular car from a privateer named Cecil Gordon, but the car didn't help. Petty went the entire '78 season without a single win; the first and only season that would happen until 1985.

Taking a little bit bigger jump, we move to 1984, and Richard Petty's 200th and final win in the NASCAR (insert sponsor here) Cup Series. He piloted a Pontiac Grand Prix to a thrilling finish, beating Cale Yarborough across the line by a fender.

And finally, we have The King's 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix from his last Cup race before he retired at Atlanta Motor Speedway on November 15, 1992. Petty finished 35/41 due to being collected in a wreck on lap 94. This race coincidentally was Jeff Gordon's first career start in the Cup series.

So there we go! Happy 4/3 everyone! Enjoy the true date and celebrate The King!

RedPir8Roberts > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 04/03/2015 at 13:46

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This one really needs to be in color, I think it's his most iconic car of all.

camaroboy68ss > RedPir8Roberts 04/03/2015 at 14:01

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I don't know the superbird is pretty iconic,

Brian, The Life of > RedPir8Roberts 04/03/2015 at 14:05

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You've given me a great idea! July 8th shall be Smokey Yunick Day on Oppo :D

RedPir8Roberts > Brian, The Life of 04/03/2015 at 14:36

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You just know he drove that there on the street with the dog riding shotgun, pipe puffing away.

B/Xmrrmvr > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 04/03/2015 at 15:00

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Oh you mean Strip Weathers:

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > RedPir8Roberts 04/03/2015 at 15:02

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Good point. I just pulled that particular picture because it was captioned as being at taken at the Daytona 500 that he would go on to win. Some of the other pictures I found had no information whatsoever attached to them. I really wish I could have found a good quality color photo of the Superbird too.