Milt Marion won the first Stock Car race on the Daytona Beach & Road course in a Ford V8. Marion covered the 241 miles in 4:54:42, averaging 48.94 mph. The 250 mile AAA sanctioned race was stopped 9 miles short due to detiorating track conditions. 1934 Indy 500 winner "Wild" Bill Cummings' Auburn was on the pole at 70 mph and Bill France finished 5th in a Ford.
Herb Thomas sat on the pole and led every lap in winning the 100 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the 1/2 mile dirt Harnett Speedway in Spring Lake, North Carolina by 3 laps in his Hudson Hornet.
Curtis Turner drove a T-Bird to the win in the 100 mile NASCAR GN race on the 1/2 mile dirt Concord Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Turner led from lap 16, crossing the line more than a lap ahead of second finisher Cotton Owens in a Pontiac.
Richard Petty survived a spin and a crash to win the NASCAR GN 'Carolina 500' on the 1.017 mile North Carolina Motor Speedway. The key event of the race came on the 402nd of 492 laps. Petty, leading by almost a lap, spun after getting clipped by Bobby Isaac while diving for the pits. Petty's spinning car was hit by 2nd running Cale Yarborough before coming to a rest on pit road. Petty received a push from another team, losing little time, but Yarborough lost 2 laps having sheet metal removed. Petty's Plymouth SuperBird finished 3 laps ahead of Yarborough's Wood Brothers Mercury. The win was the first for Petty since returning to Mopar after a year with Ford.
Don Garlits set an AHRA world record 1/4 mile elapse time of 6.57 seconds at Lions Drag Strip in Long Beach, California, USA, in his Swamprat 13 dragster. Later, in the final round won by Richard Tharp, Garlits' clutch explodes, cutting the car in half and in the process, cut off part of his right foot. This accident caused Garlits to design the first successful rear-engined Top Fuel dragster and changed the look of top fuel cars forever.
Dale Earnhardt wins the Miller High Life 400 over Geoffrey Bodine at the Richmond International Raceway , Richmond, VA. ( Click here for the race results. )
Joe Gaerte won the World of Outlaws Sprint Car race at the King's Speedway , Hanford, CA. Chuck Miller was second followed by Bobby Davis Jr, Steve Kent, Tim Green, Jeff Swindell and Cris Eash.
Jack Johnson won the DIRT-DIRT South Civil War Modified Stock Car race at the Battleground Speedway , Houston, TX. ( Click here for the race report. )
Lenny Martin ... Died ... Lenny was a popular stock car driver in New Jersey during the era of the 1960's and 70's and later a car owner for his sons.
Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR Nicorette 300 Nationwide Series race over Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Bobby Labonte at the Atlanta Motor Speedway , Hampton, GA. ( Click here for the race report. )
Jason Meyers won the 22nd annual Mini Gold Cup Sprint Car race at the Silver Dollar Speedway , Chico, CA. ( Click here for the race report. )
ONE DAY
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