Jules Ellingboe ... Born ... AAA driver from the 1920's
1936
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.
1953
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.
1958
Kirk Shelmerdine... Born ... NASCAR racer
1959
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.
1962
Percy Ford... Died ... AAA driver from 1917 to 1921. Ran the Indy 500 in 1921 and finished 3rd.
1970
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.
1976
Roscoe Rann... Died ... AAA driver from the 1950's
1987
Dale Earnhardt wins the Miller High Life 400 over Geoffrey Bodine at the Richmond International Raceway , Richmond, VA.
1992
Bill Elliott wins the Pontiac 400 over Alan Kulwicki at the Richmond International Raceway , Richmond, VA.